What Isn’t Psychology?

What Isn’t Psychology?

Pseudopsychology Unscientific Astrology Horoscopes Polygraphs Psychics Fortune Telling

Pseudopsychology Confirmation Bias

Listen to evidence that confirms our beliefs, and ignore evidence that contridicts it.

Facilitated Communication Autism “Cure” revealed to be inneffective

by research

What Is Psychology?

The scientific study of behavior and the mind.

Psychology Behavior – yelling, smiling,

running, eating, laughing, sweating, talking, etc.

Mental Processes (the mind) – sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, feelings.

Psychology’s Roots

Pre-scientific Psychology Is the mind

connected to the body or distinct?

Are ideas inborn or is the mind a blank slate filled by experience?

Socrates and Plato, 460-399 B.C.

Both of these great thinkers loved logic and believed:

•Knowledge and the mind are“entirely distinct from the body”and thus able to survive its death.

•Some ideas are innate – we are born with them.

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.)

Loved data Was an early scientist Believed knowledge was

not preexisting Believed knowledge grows

from experience that is stored in our memories

Psychology’s Roots

Empiricism knowledge comes from experience via the senses

science flourishes through observation and experiment

History of Psychology

Structuralism – Wundt and his student, Titchener

Functionalism – William James

Gestalt - Max Wertheimer

Psychoanalysis – Sigmund Freud

Behaviorism – Watson & Skinner

Psychology’s Roots

Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig (c. 1879)

Psychology’s Roots

Structuralism Wundt used

introspection (looking in) to explore the elemental structure of the human mind

So why didn’t structuralism last?

Psychology’s Roots

Functionalism focused on how behavioral processes function- how they enable organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

Gestalt, Max Wertheimer Began in Germany Defined psychology as the study of the

immediate experience of the whole organism Founded as a revolt against Wundt and

Structuralism Argued that the whole is different than the

sum of its parts Initiated the study of insight and problem

solving in animals and humans

Psychodynamic, Sigmund Freud

Developed outside the university setting

Focused on the development and treatment of abnormal behavior

Concluded that psychological maladjustment results from unresolved, unconscious conflicts

Used currently

Behaviorism, Watson United States. Argued that psychology should

study only what could be observed and measured objectively

No Introspection! How do people react to stimuli? Focused on how behaviors are

learned and modified

Behaviorism, Skinner Influential in theories of learning Skinner believed that external

influences shape behavior. Operant conditioning was the focus

of much of his work He died in 1990.

Psychology’s Growth

British Psychological Society membership

Contemporary Psychology

Biological View How does the physical makeup of

the brain influence behavior? Also called Neuroscience

Developmental View Which counts more heavily, Nature

or nurture? Child Development

Cognitive View How do we interpret our

experiences? Thoughts, expectations,

Perceptions, memories

Psychodynamic View The unconscious mind Focuses on mental disorders Sigmund Freud

Humanistic View People are motivated and

influenced by their need for personal growth and fulfillment

Behavioral View Study people entirely from the

outside. Focus on what they can observe

directly

Sociocultural View Other people exert influence on

each other Study things like loving, prejudice,

aggression

Evolutionary View How does behavior change over

time? Looks at people like Darwin looked

at animals

Trait View Individual Differences result from

enduring characteristics, or traits

Goals of Psychology

Not just to describe and explain behavior but also to predict and control behavior.

What do psychologists do?

Clinical Provides Psychotherapy; administers and interprets psychological tests

Counseling Help with everyday issues (e.g. family, career)

Cognitive Research and teach mental processes (e.g memory)

Social Research and teach how others affect us; human interaction

Personality Research and teach individual differences

Physiological Research and teach brain and brain/body interaction

Industrial/

Organizational

Apply psychology to the work place

Sport Apply psychology to improve athletic performance

School Applies psychology to improve development of kids

Why are you the way you are?

or

Nature-Nurture Controversy

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to development of psychological traits and behaviors

Description

Psychologists describe behavior using case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation

Description

Population all the cases in a group, from which

samples may be drawn for a study Random Sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Description – Science??

Case Study

One or more persons is studied in great depth.

The goal is to learn something that can then be applied to all people.

Survey

Asks people their opinion

Asks people to describe their behavior

Uses a representative, random sample*Wording of questions*Say one thing do another

Naturalistic Observation This involves watching and

recording the behavior of organisms (people, animals) in their natural environment.

What Research Reveals About Love

What Research Reveals About Love

Psychologists have found that separation weakens romantic attraction.

As the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.”

What do you think?

What Research Reveals About Love

Psychologists have found that separation strengthens romantic attraction.

As the saying goes, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

Now, what do you think?

Thinking Critically With Psychological Science

Hindsight Bias we tend to believe, after learning an

outcome, that we would have foreseen it

the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon Overconfidence

we tend to think we know more than we do

Overconfidence “There is no reason for anyone to have a computer

in their home.” (Ken Olson, president of Digital Equipment Company, 1977)

“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” (Lord Kelvin, British mathematician, physicist, and president of the British Royal Society, 1895)

“Reagan doesn’t have the presidential look.” (United Artists Executive when asked whether Ronald Reagan should be offered the starring role in the movie The Best Man, 1964)

“A severe depression like that of 1920–21 is outside the range of probability.” (Harvard Economic Society, Weekly Letter, November 16, 1929)

Overconfidence “Impossible!” (Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder when

asked whether Cassius Clay could last six rounds in his upcoming bout with heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, 1964)

“We know on the authority of Moses, that longer ago than six thousand years, the world did not exist.” (Martin Luther [1483–1546], German leader of the Protestant Reformation)

“Man will never reach the moon, regardless of all future scientific advances.” (Lee DeForest, inventor of the vacuum tube, 1957)

“Nuclear powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within 10 years.” (Alex Lewyt, manufactures of vacuum cleaners, 1955)

Intuition

Involves “hot and cold” streaks such as in:

Sports Cards Gambling The stock market

Two Random Sequences

Your chances of being dealt either of these hands is precisely the same: 1 in 2,598,960.

Experimentation

Experiment an investigator manipulates one or

more factors (independent variables) to observe their effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable)

by random assignment of participants the experiment controls other relevant factors

Experimentation Double-Blind Procedure

both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo

commonly used in drug-evaluation studies Placebo

an inert substance or condition that may be administered instead of a presumed active agent, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent

Experimentation

Random Assignment assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance

minimizes pre-existing differences between those assigned to the different groups

Experimentation

Frequently Asked Questions about Psychology

Why do psychologists study animals?

Is it ethical to experiment on animals?

Is it ethical to experiment on people?

Correlation When two or more things happen

together. Correlation coefficient is the

statistical relationship between them. Can be positive or negative (0 -

+1.00 or -1.00)Examples: IQs of parents and their

children, beauty and popularity, anxiety and test performance, crime and weather. What can you think of?

CorrelationThree Possible Cause-Effect Relationships

(1)Low self-esteem

Depression

(2)Depression

Low self-esteem

Low self-esteem

Depression

(3)Distressing events

or biologicalpredisposition

could cause

could cause

could cause

or

or

and

Illusory Correlation Illusory

Correlation the perception of

a relationship where none exists

Proving a Hypothesis What do you know about astrology? Do you know your zodiac sign? In the scientific method, the first

task is to create a hypothesis. Can you create a hypothesis based

on the assumptions astrologers make about human behavior?

*2 1-a &b

The Scientific Method Hallmark of scientific psychology The Scientific Method involves:

Theory—explains, organizes, predicts

Hypotheses—testable predictions from theory

Careful study Replication—follow up study

Experimentation Independent Variable

the experimental factor that is manipulated

the variable whose effect is being studied Dependent Variable

the experimental factor that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

in psychology it is usually a behavior or mental process

Independent and Dependent Variables Independent variable (X): What

you change/manipulate between different groups. You think it affects the dependent variable.

Dependent variable (Y): What you measure from all groups. You think it is affected by the independent variable

Independent and Dependent Variables X affects Y: The independent

variable is believed to affect the dependent variable.

In other words, the value of the dependent variable is thought to DEPEND ON the independent variable.

Real-Life Practice Alcohol affects driving ability What variable “depends on” the

other? This is the dependent variable. What variable affects the other

variable? This is the independent variable.

Suppose you wanted to know whether tall people are better basketball players than short people.

Method: You gather a random sample of people of various heights and ask them to shoot baskets from the foul line. The number of baskets they make out of ten shots will be your measure of basketball ability.

Variables: Heights and number of baskets Independent Variable: The people in your sample.Dependent Variable: The number of baskets made.

ExamplesDependent and Independent

Variables

Practice 1 - Variables

An experimenter designs a study to assess whether teams wearing dark colors receive more penalties than teams wearing light colors.

Hypothesis? Dependent variable? Independent variable?

Practice 2 - Variables A group of college students were given a

short course in speed-reading. The instructor was curious if a monetary incentive would influence performance on a reading test taken at the end of the course.  Half the students were offered $5 for obtaining a certain level of performance on the test, the other half were not offered money. 

Hypothesis? Dependent variable? Independent variable?

How Did you Do? Practice 2

Hypothesis: monetary incentive would influence student performance on a reading test taken at the end of a course. 

Independent variable:  Monetary incentive ($5 or no money) 

Dependent variable:  Performance on reading test 

Practice 3 A government agency hires a

psychologist to study whether raising the driving age to 18 would reduce the number of car fatalities

Hypothesis? Dependent variable? Independent variable?

Practice 4 A social psychologist thinks that people are

more likely to conform to a large crowd than to a single person.  To test this hypothesis, the social psychologist had either one person or five persons stand on a busy walking path on campus and look up.  The psychologist stood nearby and counted the number of people passing by who also looked up.  

Hypothesis? Dependent variable? Independent variable?

How Did you Do? Practice 4

Hypothesis: people are more likely to conform to a large crowd than to a single person.

Independent variable:  Size of group (5 people or 1 person) 

Dependent variable:  Conformity (measured by number of people looking up)