CHAPTER 1 HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY. JOURNAL PROMPT Define, in your own words, what psychology is.

C H A P T E R 1

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

JOURNAL PROMPT

Define, in your own words, what psychology is

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?

• Gk. psykhe- "breath, spirit, soul" (see psyche) + logia "study of" (see -logy). Meaning "study of the mind" first recorded 1748• The scientific study of behavior and mental

processes

PRESCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY

• Buddha- asked how sensations combine to form ideas• Confucius- stressed the powers of ideas• Socrates/Plato- the mind is separable from the

body and knowledge is built within us• Aristotle- the mind is not separable from the

body and that knowledge is NOT preexisting

PRESCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY

• Rene Descartes- believed fluid in the brain contained spirits that flow through nerves to provoke muscle movement• Francis Bacon- Observation and

experimentation is the key to science• John Locke- thought the mind at birth was a

blank slate

PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE IS BORN

• Wilhelm Wundt- establishes the first psychology laboratory and conducts the first psych experiment• Sigmund Freud- publishes Interpretation of

Dreams and founds psychoanalysis• Ivan Pavlov- begins publishing studies of

conditioning in animals• B. F. Skinner- publishes The Behavior of Organisms

which describes behaviorism in animals

C H A P T E R 2

PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

LIMITS OF INTUITION AND COMMON SENSE

Why are answers from the scientific approach more reliable than those based on intuition?


1. Read the word scrambles and try and guess how long it would have taken you to unscramble them

2. Write down the time but keep it hidden from the other half of the class

WREAT → WATERETRYN → ENTRYGRABE → BARGE

EXPERIMENT


1. Unscramble the words2. Write them down in your notes and raise your

hand to signify when your are finished

WREAT →ETRYN →GRABE →

EXPERIMENT

Hindsight Bias- the hindsight bias reflects a tendency to overestimate your own ability to have predicted or foreseen an event after learning about the outcome.*Point to Remember: Hindsight bias leads us to overestimate our intuition. But scientific inquiry, fed by skepticism helps us sift reality from illusion

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

How do psychologists use the scientific method to construct theories?

A Quick Review

Theory- an explanation using an integratedset of principles that organizes and predictsobservations*Hypothesis- a testable prediction, oftenimplied by a theory

*Theories EXPLAIN results! They are not hunches, they are proven through experimentation

CONSTRUCTING THEORIES

Methods that Psychologists Use:Case Study- an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principlesNaturalistic Observation- observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and controlSurvey- a method of gathering self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a random samplePopulation- the group that the survey taker hopes to represent (the whole group)Random Sample- a sample that fairly represents the population


The Survey:• The random sample must be chosen carefully:• EX: Taking a survey about libraries right in front of

the library might skew results• EX: Taking a survey about a Democratic President in

a primarily Republican area might skew results• Wording effects can skew results:• EX: people would rather approve aid to “the needy”

than “welfare,” “affirmative action” than “preferential treatment,” and “revenue enhancers” than “taxes.”

• A small representative sample is better than a large non-representative sample


Correlation and Causation:• Correlation indicates the possibility of a cause-effect

relationship, but it does not prove causation!• Examples:• Smiling promotes longevity• Drinking coffee causes cancer• Candy leads to violence• Credit cards can make you fat

Illusionary Correlation- the perception of a relationship where non exists


Experiment1. Analyze the three sets of cards2. Put them in order from the most likely to least

likely to be dealt randomly

A B C

Answer: All three sets have the same chance of being dealt: 1 in 2,598,960


Perceiving Order in Random Events:• We look for order in random events• We can easily deceive ourselves by seeing what is not

there• Sometimes called the “Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy”• A farmer shoots randomly at a barn. After seeing the clusters,

he draws circles around them. Showing his friends, he looks like a sharpshooter!

• The most famous example is the Lincoln/Kennedy assassination

CHAPTER 1 HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY. JOURNAL PROMPT Define, in your own words, what psychology is.

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