The World of Psychology Wood and Wood Introduction To Psychology Chapter 1 Copyright © Allyn &...

The World of PsychologyWood and Wood

Introduction To Psychology

Chapter 1

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002

Just what is Psychology?

Psychology conjures up images of mental disorders and abnormal behavior. Psychologists do study the strange and unusual, but they are interested in the normal and commonplace as well.Just what is psychology? Today psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Science or common sense?

1. Memory is more accurate under hypnosis.2. All people dream during a night of normal sleep.3. As the number of bystanders at an emergency increases, the time it takes for the victim to get help decreases.4. Humans do not have a maternal instinct.5. Older adults tend to express less satisfaction with life in general than younger adults.

6. Eyewitness testimony is often unreliable.7. Children with high IQs tend to be less able physically than their peers.8. Creativity and high intelligence do not necessarily go together.9. When it comes to close personal relationships, opposites attract.10. The majority of teenagers have good relationships with their parents.

Indicate whether each statement is true (T) or false (F).

Science or common sense?

All of the odd-numbered items are false, and all of the even-numbered items are true.

So, common sense, alone, will not take you very far in your study of psychology.

Scientific Method

Identify a Research Problem Design a Study Collect and Analyze Data Draw Conclusions Communicate findings

Copyright © Allyn & bacon 2002

How does the scientific method work?

The classical approach to solving anything in science starts with a "problem," which through experimentation and prediction, evolves through the "hypothesis" and "theory" stages into a scientific "law."

From: Ask GeoMan...

The Scientific Method

The scientific method consists of the orderly, systematic procedures that researchers follow as they identifya research problem, design a study to investigate the problem, collect and analyze data, draw conclusions, and communicate their findings.

(Formal Definition)


1. Wild and Crazy IdeaIf we assume that all science starts as science fiction, I like this terminology better than just calling it a ”research problem." Getting beyond this involves setting up experiments to verify your idea.

Ask GeoMan...


2. Hypothesis

If your experimental data fail to support your idea, you'll need to go back to Step 1. If your experiments do support your idea, move on to Step 3.

Ask GeoMan...


3. TheoryGreat, your experiments support your hypothesis, and you are now the proud owner of a theory. Getting beyond this into the law stage requires that you can use your theory to predict the results of additional work, and that your predictions hold. As before, if they don't, return to an earlier step and try again. If your predictions hold consistently, move on to the next stage.

Ask GeoMan...


4. LawThis is where most discussions of the scientific method end. However, I (GeoMan) feel two additional steps are almost guaranteed to occur.

“scientific law: 1. A natural phenomenon that has been proven to occur invariably whenever certain conditions are met. 2. A formal statement describing such a phenomenon and the conditions under which it occurs.” Also just called a law.http://www.webref.org/geology/s/scientific_law.htm

How does the scientific method work?5. Dogma

Laws tend to be supported to such an extent that they almost become dogma. Take gravity for example. When is the last time you dropped a pencil and it floated away. Pretty stupid idea, huh? We are all so sure that gravity is THE LAW that we don't even consider the possibility that there may be exceptions or situations when it breaksdown and doesn't work.

This leads to the last and final stage:


6. StagnationThis is the death of scientific thought, and should have no place in YOUR thoughts. Question all scientific laws, especially the ones that are the most firmly steeped in dogma. (But don't be stupid about it - throwing yourself off a cliff to test gravity doesn't make much sense!)

The Goals of Psychology

Description Explanation Prediction Control


Descriptive Research Methods

Naturalistic and Laboratory Observation Case Study Survey Research

Experimental method Correlational method Meta-Analysis


See table on Page 18!


Naturalistic and Laboratory Observation Descriptive Information Observer Bias & Influence Minimal control

Case Study Survey Research



Naturalistic and Laboratory Observation Case Study

Small sample but Deep Misintrepretation Time consuming

Survey Research


I disagree with authors here. Case Studies are frequently used in other disciplines. MBAs frequently use method.


Naturalistic and Laboratory Observation Case Study Survey Research

Descriptive Information Large numbers => good stats Bias possible but not by professionals

Again, the authors have a narrow view. This technique is frequently used in market research.

Experimental Method

Hypothesis Independent Variable Dependent Variable Experimental Group

Control Group Generalize Findings Problems

Selection Bias Placebo Experimenter Bias


Manipulate

Measure

The Correlational Method

Relationships not Causes Correlation Coefficient Correlation and Prediction


The Correlational Method


Correlation is NOT

Causation!

Correlation Example cont.1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr

East 20.4 27.4 90 20.4 0.234512West 30.6 38.6 34.6 31.6North 45.9 46.9 45 43.9 0.621825

East vs West

20

25

3035

40

45

50

0 20 40 60 80 100

East

Wes

t

West vs North

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

0 50 100

North

Wes

t

Correlation Examples

Yet another Correlation Example

pulmonary anatomical dead space

Psychological Research

Ethics in Research Human Participant in Psychological Research Bias in Psychological Research Use of Animals in Psychological Research


The History of PsychologySchools of Thought

Structuralism Functionalism Gestalt Behaviorism Psychoanalysis Humanistic Cognitive Evolutionary

Wundt & Titchener

William James

Wertheimer

Watson & Skinner

Freud

Maslow & Rogers

Chomsky

Cosmides and Tooby


Women and Minority Pioneers in Psychology

Christine Ladd-Franklin Mary Whiton Calkins Margaret Floy Washburn Francis Cecil Sumner Albert Sydney Beckham Kenneth Clark Jorge Sanchez


Modern Perspectives in Psychology

Biological Perspective

Neuroscience

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Behavioral Perspective

Cognitive Perspective

Humanistic Perspective

Evolutionary Perspective

Sociocultural Perspective


Holding Declining Increasing

Psychologists at Work

Clinical 44% Generalists 17.5% Counseling 11% Basic Research 7% Industrial/Organizational 4% School Psychologists 4% Other 4% Educational 3% Developmental Psychologists 3% Social Psychologists 2.5%


The World of Psychology Wood and Wood Introduction To Psychology Chapter 1 Copyright © Allyn &...

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Transcript of The World of Psychology Wood and Wood Introduction To Psychology Chapter 1 Copyright © Allyn &...