What is Psychology?

Psychology

Psyche: Mind

Logos: Knowledge or study

Definition: The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Behavior: Overt (i.e., can be directly observed, as with crying)

Behavior: Covert - Mental Processes: cannot be directly observed, as with remembering, day dreaming etc.

Empiricism: The Goals

To measure and describe behaviors

To gather empirical evidence: Information gained from direct observation and measurement

To gather data: Observed facts

Research Method

A systematic procedure for answering scientific questions

Types of  Psychologists

Biopsychologists              

Clinical

Community

Consumer

Cognitive

Comparative

Developmental

Educational

Engineering

Environmental

Forensic

Gender

Health

Industrial/ Organizational

Medical

Personality

School

Social

Animal Model

When an animal’s behavior is used to derive principles that may apply to human behavior

What Are the Goals of Psychology?

Description of Behaviors: Naming and classifying various observable, measurable behaviors

Understanding: Being able to state the causes of a behavior

Prediction: Predicting behavior accurately

More Goals of Psychology

Control: Altering conditions that influence behaviors

Positive use: To control unwanted behaviors (e.g., smoking, tantrums, etc.)

Negative use: To control people’s behaviors without their knowledge

Critical Thinking

Ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information

What would you expect to see if the claim were true?

Gather evidence relevant to the claim

Evaluate the evidence

Draw a conclusion

      Often used in research

Critical Thinking: Key Principles

Few truths transcend the need for empirical testing

Evidence varies in quality

Authority or claimed expertise does not automatically make an idea true

Critical thinking requires an open mind!

Pseudopsychologies

Pseudo means “false.”  Any unfounded “system” that resembles psychology and is NOT based on scientific testing

Palmistry: Lines on your hands (palms) predict future and reveal personality 

Phrenology: Personality traits revealed by shape of skull

        Graphology: Personality traits are revealed by your handwriting

       Astrology: The positions of the stars and planets at birth determine   

      personality traits and affect your behavior

Uncritical acceptance: Tendency to believe positive or flattering descriptions of yourself

Fallacy of positive instances: When we remember or notice information that confirms our expectations and forget the discrepancies

The Barnum Effect

Barnum effect:  Tendency to consider personal descriptions accurate if stated in general terms

Always have a little something for everyone.  Make sure all palm readings, horoscopes, etc. are so general that something in them will always apply to any one person!

Separating Fact from Fiction

Be skeptical

Consider the source of information

Ask yourself, “Was there a control group?”

Look for errors in distinguishing between correlation and causation (are claims based on correlational results yet passed off as causations?)

Be sure to distinguish between observation and inference:

A person is crying, but do we know why he/she is crying?

Inference -  Sad or Happy

Beware of oversimplifications, especially those motivated by monetary gain

An example is not proof!

The Scientific Method

Form of critical thinking based on careful measurement and controlled observation

The Scientific Method

Six Basic Elements

Observation

Defining a problem

Proposing a hypothesis (an educated guess that can be tested)

Gathering evidence/testing the hypothesis

Publishing results

Building a theory

Some Terms

Hypothesis testing: Scientifically testing the predicted outcome of an experiment or an educated guess about the relationship between variables

Operational definition: Defines a scientific concept by stating specific actions or procedures used to measure it

Theory

Theory: A system of ideas that interrelates facts and concepts, summarizes existing data, and predicts future observations

A good theory must be falsifiable (i.e., operationally defined) so that it can be disconfirmed

History of Psychology: Beginnings

Wilhelm Wundt: “Father” of psychology

1879: Set up first lab to study conscious experience

Introspection: Looking inward (i.e., examining and reporting your thoughts, feelings, etc.)

History of Psychology: Behaviorism

Watson and Skinner

Psychology must study observable behavior objectively

Studied relationship between

Stimulus: Environmental events

Responses: Any identifiable behavior(s)

Watson/ Pavlov – classical conditioning – Little Albert / Dogs

Skinner – Operant conditioning – studied animals almost exclusively

Behavioral Perspectives

Biological View – Human and animal behaviors are the result of internal, physical, chemical and biological processes.  (The mind is a physical construct made up of chemical and physical structures.)

Evolutionary View – Our behaviors are due to the process of evolution.  The behaviors that helped us survive are still seen and some are not adaptive today.  (Natural Selection)

Psychological Perpectives

Behavioral Perspective (Watson, Skinner and Pavlov)-  we are shaped and molded by experience.  Our behaviors are controlled by our environment. (We are not masters of our own behaviors – rewards and punishments are key here.)

Cognitive View – Our behaviors can be understood in information processing

Cognitive – Behaviorism  (Ellis and Bandura) – our behaviors are based on what we (think) expect will happen. Our thoughts influence our behaviors; used often in treatment of depression.

Cognition (thinking) and conditioning are combined to explain behavior

Psychological Perspective

Psychodynamic View (Freud) – Our behaviors are elicited by forces within ourselves which are usually hidden or unconsciousness

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Our behavior is largely influenced by our unconscious wishes, thoughts, and desires, especially sex and aggression

All thoughts, actions, and emotions are determined

Freud performed dream analysis and was an interactionist (combination of our biology and environment makes us who we are

Psychodynamic View

Repression: When threatening thoughts are unconsciously held out of awareness

Recent research has hypothesized that our unconscious mind is partially responsible for our behaviors

History of Psychology:

Humanism

Goal of psychology is to study unique aspects of the person

Focuses on human experience, problems, potentials, and ideals 

Each person has innate goodness and is able to make free choices (contrast with Skinner and Freud)

Key Names: Rogers and Maslow

Humanism: Some Key Terms

Self-image (Rogers): Your perception of your own body, personality, and capabilities

Self-evaluation: Positive and negative feelings you have about yourself

Frame of reference: Mental perspective used for interpreting events

Self-actualization (Maslow): Fully developing one’s potential and becoming the best person possible

Psychology Today

Biopsychology: Purports all of our behavior can be explained through physiological processes

Uses brain scans to gather data (CT, MRI, PET)

Positive Psychology: Study of human strengths, virtues, and optimal behavior

Looks at positive side of human behavior

Sociocultural: Focus on importance of social and cultural contexts influencing our behavior

Cognitive: Study thoughts, memory, expectations, perceptions, and other mental processes

Cultural Awareness

Many thoughts and behaviors are influenced by our culture

Psychologists need to be aware of the impact cultural diversity may have on our behaviors

What is acceptable in one culture might be unacceptable in another

Cultural relativity: Behavior must be judged relative to the values of the culture in which it occurs

Social norms: Rules that define acceptable and expected behavior for members of various groups

Many Types of Psychologists

Psychologists: Usually have master’s or doctorate degree; trained in methods, knowledge, and theories of psychology

Clinical psychologists: Treat more severe psychological problems or do research on mental disorders

Counseling psychologists: Treat milder problems, such as school or work troubles

More Helping Professionals

Psychiatrists: MD; usually use medications to treat problems; generally do not have extensive training in providing “talk” therapy

Psychoanalysts:  Receive additional training post-PhD or MD at an institute for psychoanalysis

Psychiatric social worker: Mental health professional who applies social science principles to help people in clinics and hospitals

Presently a very popular profession

Counselor: Advisor who helps solve problems with marriage, school, and so on.

Not all psychologists perform therapy!

Experiments – Most Powerful Research Method

To identify cause-and-effect relationships, we conduct experiments

Directly vary a condition you might think affects behavior

Create two or more groups of subjects, alike in all ways except the condition you are varying

Record whether behavior varies between groups of subjects when you apply  the condition to one group and not the other

Hypothesis

An educated but tentative guess predicting or attempting to explain  an observation

Used as basis for research

The experimental method begins with the hypothesis

Operational Definition

In order to measure a behavioral concept we need to define it in a way that can be measured. 

The tests themselves in an experiment are the operational definition.

Example: A police officer gives a sobriety test, which has many parts, to a suspected drunk driver.  The operation definition is the tests whichconsists of touching nose while raising foot, walking a straight line, saying the alphabet backwards.  It is not the scores on the tests but the actual tests that make up the operational definition.

Variables

Any conditions that can change, and might affect an experiment's outcome

Types: Independent

 Dependent

 Extraneous

Can you explain the difference between these?

Types of Variables

Independent variable: Condition(s) altered by the experimenter; experimenter sets their size, amount, or value; these are suspected causes for behavioral differences

Dependent variable: Demonstrates effects that independent variables have on behavior

Extraneous Variables

Conditions that a researcher wants to prevent from affecting the outcomes of the experiment (e.g., number of hours slept before the experiment)

Experimental Group

The group of subjects that gets exposed to the independent variable

Control Group

The group of subjects that gets all conditions EXCEPT the independent variable

Random Assignment

Subject has an equal chance of being in either the experimental or control group

Evaluating Experiments’ Results

Statistically significant: Results gained would occur very rarely by chance alone.  The difference must be large enough so that it would occur by chance in less than 5 experiments out of 100

Meta-analysis: Study of results of other studies

Placebo

A fake pill (sugar) or injection (saline)

Placebos alter our expectations about our own emotional and physical reactions

If placebo has any effect, might be based on suggestion, not chemistry

Placebo Effect

Changes in behavior that result from belief that one has ingested a drug

These expectancies then influence bodily activities

Herbal remedies may be based on placebo effect

Experiment Types

Single-blind experiment: Only the subjects have no idea whether they get real treatment or placebo

Double-blind experiment: The subjects AND the experimenters have no idea whether the subjects get real treatment or placebo, Best type of experiment, if properly set up

Experimenter Effects

Experimenter effects: Changes in behavior caused by the unintended influence of the experimenter

Self-fulfilling prophecy: A prediction that leads people to act in ways to make the prediction come true -Common problem

Naturalistic Observation

Observing a person or an animal in the environment in which they/it lives

Problems

Observer effect: Changes in subject’s behavior caused by an awareness of being observed

Observer bias:  Occurs when observers see what they expect to see or record only selected details

Anthropomorphic Fallacy

Anthropomorphic fallacy: Attributing human thoughts, feelings, or motives to animals, especially as a way of explaining their behavior

(My dog who is such a lover bug, is acting down because she’s feeling depressed today.

My cat is upset because I am petting my other cat and she is getting jealous and angry.)

Correlational Studies

Studies designed to measure the degree of a relationship (if any) between two or more events, measures, or variables

Cannot show cause and effect (Experiment only when you are controlling extraneous variables.)

Positive Correlation – when two events increase together or when two events decrease together.

Negative Correlation – when one event increases as the other decreases

  Coefficient of Correlation

Statistic ranging from –1.00 to +1.00; the sign indicates the direction of the relationship

The closer the statistic is to –1.00 or to +1.00, the stronger the relationship

Correlation of 0.00 demonstrates no relationship between the variables

Correlations

Positive correlation: Increases in one variable are matched by increases in the other variable

Negative correlation: Increases in one variable are matched by decreases in the other variable

Correlation does not demonstrate causation: Just because two variables are related does NOT mean that one variable causes the other to occur

The Clinical Method

Case study: In-depth focus on all aspects of a single person

Natural clinical tests: Natural events, such as accidents, that provide psychological data

Survey method: Using public polling techniques to answer psychological questions

Sampling

Representative sample: Small group that accurately reflects a larger population

Population: Entire group of animals or people belonging to a particular category (e.g., all married women)

Internet surveys: Web-based research; low cost and can reach many people

Courtesy Bias

Problem in research; a tendency to give “polite” or socially desirable answers