Unit 1: The Science of Psychology

Why study Psychology? “Out of sight out of mind” or “absence

makes the heart grow fonder”? Why do we always feel like we “knew it

all along”? How do you remember information from

class and recall it for tests? Is there a trick to do this better?

What causes good and bad moods? Disorders? What’s the difference?

Essential Questions What are the fields within Psychology? What are the “enduring issues” of

Psychology? What approaches to psychology have people

taken throughout history? Are psychological findings applicable across

cultures? What are the various research methods? What kind of careers can you make out of

Psychology?

What is Psychology? Official definition: The scientific study of

behavior and mental processes. What does that mean?

Explain how people perceive, learn, remember, solve problems, communicate, feel, and relate to one another

Intelligence, motivation, mental and emotional disturbances

DevelopmentalPhysiological

Experimental

Personality

Clinical/Counseling

Social

Industrial/Organizational

Psychology

Psychological Organizations APA – American Psychological

Association 53 Subdivisions (pg 6)

APS- American Psychological Society

Enduring Issues What holds Psychology together? Enduring Issues are shared throughout:

Person – Situation (You vs. Influence of surroundings)

Nature – Nurture (Were you born that way?) Stability – Change (You now vs. you in 30 years) Diversity – Universality ( You vs. Others) Mind – Body (Ongoing interaction)

Psychology is a Science Scientific Method

Describe, Understand, Predict, Control Is there a link between an increase in social

networking and a decrease in social skills? Theory

Ex: Social networking causes adolescents to use social skills less, thus becoming less proficient.

Hypothesis Ex: With more controls on social networking

usage, children will develop better social skills.

History of Psychology Psychology was around as philosophy

since the time of Plato and Aristotle Late 19th century – Psychology began as

a science 1879- William Wundt opens first

psychology lab in Germany Voluntarism- Our attention is controlled by

intentions and motives. We “voluntarily” select what we will give our attention to.

History of Psychology Students of Wundt spread psychology

around the world U.S. – G. Stanley Hall creates first psych

lab at Johns Hopkins in 1883 Titchener and Structuralism

Stressed basic units of experiences What is going on when we experience

something (smell, sight, etc.) Self-reflection

History of Psychology William James and Functionalism

Put more emphasis on past experiences Simple sensations don’t occur by

themselves Constant stream of consciousness Use past experiences and perceptual

abilities to function Why do we experience things?

**Evolution**

Get serious!!

Women? Mary Whiton Calkins was a doctoral student

of James When admitted to program, all men dropped

out Denied Ph.D. from Harvard Became first female president of APA

Margaret Floy Washburn Was a doctoral student of Titchener First female to earn Ph.D. in Psychology

(Cornell)

At least I was the first prez…

History of Psychology Sigmund Freud and Psychodynamic

Psychology Believed ailments were largely

psychology and not physiological Free will is an illusion Driven by unconscious instincts and

urges

Turn of the Century --> Turn in Psychological Theory Up to the early 20th c., it was all about

mental processes Enter John B. Watson and Behaviorism

Can’t measure something that can’t be observed

Based on Pavlov’s work on digestion All mental experiences are changes caused

by conditioning Theoretically, you could train a child to be

anything you wanted (tabula rasa)

Behaviorism (cont.) B.F. Skinner adds reinforcement to conditioning In summary, conditioning determines behavior

Why do we get “feelings” when we smell familiar scents (i.e. cologne, perfume)

Why does the crinkling of a potato bag make us hungry?

Why does the sound an alarm clock make us anxious or angry?

Dominates psychology into 1960s… problems? Where is the impact of genetics? Evolution?

Cognitive Psychology Steps In Behavior is piece of puzzle, but what

goes on while learning takes place? Cognitive = we are active in learning

process (not passive learners) Precursors:

1. Gestalt 2. Humanistic

Gestalt:“Whole”

We see the big picture, i.e. patterns, and can complete a picture with a few cues

Why do neon signs with alternating lights make the sign appear to move?

Humanism Abraham Maslow Feelings, yearnings, needs play a role in

what we do Depends largely on culture

Abe

Cognitive Revolution Recap: Shift from behavior to mental

processes that involves Gestalt and Humanistic theories. What are mental processes?

Thinking, judging, learning, remembering Use behavior to infer mental processes

I.E. Use recollection of a list of facts (behavior) to imply how facts were encoded (connection to other facts, location in list, etc.)

Brain-imaging techniques assist in studying parts of brain that are activated during different tasks

New Directions Evolutionary Psychology

Origins of behavior patterns and mental processes- how are they adaptive?

Parenting, sexual attraction, mate selection, jealousy, violence

New Directions Positive Psychology

Studying “the good life”- happiness, leadership, and the environments in which they take place

We know about mental illness, but what about wellness?

Be happy, rather than fix sadness Critical thinking: autonomy

Multiple Perspectives Today, psychologists explain events and

phenomena by accessing all perspectives (behavioral, evolutionary, etc.) rather than sticking to one viewpoint

Biopsychosocial Approach – Use biological, psychological, and social explanations

Recap!! What is behavioral psychology? How does cognitive psychology build

upon behavioral psychology? We will return to this later!!

Research Methods in Psychology Empirical Evidence-

Information derived from systematic, objective observation.

There are many methods through which this is gained: Naturalistic Observation Case Study Survey Correlational Research Experimental Research

Naturalistic Observation Study human or animal behavior in natural context Pros:

Behavior is more likely to be genuine Cons:

Can’t manipulate environment or “freeze” the situation to study an event in depth

More difficult to be “systematic” Observer Bias

People distort perceptions unintentionally to “see what they want to see” or what they’re looking for

*Uninformed researchers

Case Study Detailed description of one or a few

individuals Can include interviews, observations,

tests, etc. Pros:

In-depth view of one individual Cons:

Observer Bias Tough to generalize from one person

Surveys Interviews or questionnaires through

which predetermined questions are asked Pros:

Can get a vast amount of information relatively easily

Cons: “leading questions” Subjects are conscious of others’

perception- can illicit inaccurate responses

Correlational Research Method used to find a relationship between

two or more variables Example: SATs and career success, Stress and

physical illness, heredity of illness Other examples? Pros:

Allows us to predict behavior, outcomes, or events

Cons: Correlation does not equal causation!!!!!

Experimental Research Can come after correlational research to

test predictions **Determine cause and effect!!!!!!** Example: I want to know if Gatorade

improves performance in a game... What’s my experiment???

Experimental Method: Step 1 Form a hypothesis!!!!

A statement that predicts the outcome. Should be an “IF – THEN” statement Example: If depressed students take pill

‘X’, then they will not experience symptoms as severely.

Taking electrolytes before a game will improve performance. – IF-THEN?

Create a hypothesis for our scenario!

Experimental Method: Step 2 Select participants

Eliminate any confounding variables Example:

Who could be my participants? What could be confounding variables?

Random Assignment Control vs. Experimental Groups

Requirement- GROUPS MUST BE THE SAME IN EVERY WAY ASIDE FROM MANIPULATION OF VARIABLE.

Experimental Method: Step 3 Set up your experiment What is the independent variable?

Dependent? Operational Definitions

Experimental Method: Step 4 Record results To avoid experimenter bias, have a

neutral person observe and score results

What do you think? Discuss: What are the strengths?

Weaknesses? Loopholes??

Multimethod Research Why not use all of the methods in one? You can!!! Observe in a naturalistic setting,

interview participants, compare events to establish a relationship, or correlation

Perform an experiment

Importance of Sampling Sample must be representative of the

entire population that you are studying. Random sample: Every person has an

equal chance of being selected for an experiment.

Representative sample: Researcher ensures that the sample reflects same demographics as the larger population

Sample me!!!

Ethics and Psychological Research Milgram Experiment- YouTube Why was this seen as controversial?

How did he “hurt” participants? http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpIzju84v24&feature=related

Zimbardo Experiment: http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndBnlj0bMFA&feature=related

Ethical concerns Milgram: “Teachers” were deceived Exhibited signs of stress (sweating, lip biting) Self-esteem was effected Zimbardo: Psychological Distress Watson: “Baby Albert” Landis: “Facial Expression” Dig for frog, get a shock Cut off the head of a rat

APA code of ethics: Participants must be informed of the nature of

research Informed consent must be documented Risks, adverse effects, and limitations on

confidentiality must be spelled out If participation is required by a university for course

credit, an alternative program must be offered No deception about aspects that would affect

willingness to participate Deception is only allow when it is necessary to the

integrity of the research**

Ethics in research on nonhuman subjects Used for:

Comparison Behavior principals Studies on the brain

PsyETA- Ethical treatment of animals

So what can you do with Psychology??? Academic and Applied Psychology Clinical Settings Social Work Counseling Clinical Psychology Psychiatry (M.D.) Psychoanalysis

**A major in psychology can help in a countless number of fields**

Do Now, Day 2:

Samantha has recently become withdrawn from her friends and is not as “happy go lucky” as she once was. Her friends jokingly call her “Debbie Downer,” which frustrates her. Unbeknownst to her friends, Sam’s parents have recently been divorced and her mother will be moving, along with Sam, to New York.

This morning, while Sam was walking through the hall, a girl that Sam has never gotten along with accidently brushed shoulders with Sam. Sam reacted quickly and pushed the girl against the wall, then stormed away.

The school is deciding how to punish this behavior. They decide to bring in the school psychologist to assess the situation.

In this situation, how might the “enduring issues” of psychology be considered when assessing Sam’s behavior and her future?

Do Now: Day 3

Describe what is going on in this picture from the psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and evolutionary perspectives.

Do Now: Day 4 Henry wants to know if there is a relationship

between wealth and good grades. Jade wants to know more about the eating

patterns of ants. Kylie wants to prove that healthy eating

causes people to suffer from less colds. Drake is interested in how Judy, who has

asthma, runs marathons in under 4 hours. Highlands’ student council needs to find out

how many people use their agendas.

So… what is each method used for??? Correlation…. Describing and

predicting! Naturalistic…. Observing and

describing! Case study….. Observing, describing,

and potentially predicting* Survey….. Describing!! Experiment….. PROVING CAUSE!!!

Consider the following: Dr. Doom wanted to know if caffeine increases performance on

word recall. He predicted that if he gave a group of people caffeine, their performance on word recall would be enhanced. He selected 100 thirty to forty year old Bergen County residents who had an IQ of 115. He split the group in half and gave one group caffeinated coffee and the other group decaffeinated coffee. He then measured their performance on solving math equations.

Where in this experiment is: The hypothesis? Random sample? Random assignment? Control group? Experimental group? Independent variable? Dependent variable? Placebo?

You create an experiment:Question: Does “Drug XYZ” reduce symptoms of depression in teenagers?

Where in this experiment is: The hypothesis? Random sample? Random assignment? Control group? Experimental group? Independent variable? Dependent variable? Placebo?