ch. 1: psychology and research methods

8/14/2019 Ch. 1: Psychology and Research Methods

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Chapter 1:

Introducing Psychology

andResearch Methods



What Is Psychology?

• Psychology

– Psyche: Mind

– Logos: Knowledge or study

• Definition: The scientific

study of behavior and

mental processes



Behavior Types

• Directly observable

actions and responses

– Overt; i.e., can be

directly observed

(crying)

– Covert; i.e., cannot

be directly observed

(remembering);private, internal



Empirical Evidence

• Information gathered

from direct observation



Psychological Research

• Scientific Observation:

A systematic empirical

investigation that is

structured to answer questions about the

world

• Research Method:

Systematic approach toanswering scientific

questions



What Might a Psychologist Research?

• Development: Course of

human growth anddevelopment from

conception to death

• Learning: How and why it

occurs in humans andanimals

• Personality: Traits,

motivations, and individual

differences• Sensation and Perception:

How we come to know the

world through our five

senses



What Might a Psychologist Research?

Continued

• Social: Human socialbehavior

• Cultural: How cultureaffects human behavior

• Evolutionary: How our behavior is guided bypatterns that evolved

during human history



What Are the Goals of Psychology?

• Description of Behaviors: Naming and classifyingvarious observable, measurable behaviors

• Understanding: The causes of behavior(s)

• Prediction: Forecasting behavior accurately

• Control: Altering conditions that influence behaviors

– Positive Use: To control unwanted behaviors,

(e.g., smoking, tantrums, etc.)

– Negative Use: To control peoples’ behaviors

without their knowledge



History of Psychology: Beginnings

• Wilhelm Wundt: “Father” of Psychology

– 1879: Set up first lab to

study conscious

experience

– Stimulus: Any physicalenergy that affects the

person and provokes a

response

– Introspection: Looking

inward (i.e., examiningand reporting your

thoughts, feelings, etc.)

– Wundt’s ideas brought to

the U.S. by Tichener and

renamed Structuralism



History of Psychology:

William James and Functionalism• Functionalism: How the mind

functions to help us adapt to

our environment

– Functionalists admired

Darwin and his theory of

Natural Selection:

• Animals keep physical

features throughevolution that help

them adapt to

environments



History of Psychology: Behaviorism

• Watson and Skinner

– Psychology must

study observable

behavior objectively

– Watson studied Little

Albert with Rosalie

Raynor; Skinner

studied animalsalmost exclusively



History of Psychology: Gestalt

• “The whole is greater

than the sum of its

parts.”

• Key names:Wertheimer, Perls

• Wertheimer: Mistake to

analyze psychological

events into pieces;many experiences

cannot be broken into

smaller units



• FIGURE 1.2 The design you see here is entirely made up of broken circles.

However, as the Gestalt psychologists discovered, our perceptions have a

powerful tendency to form meaningful patterns. Because of this tendency,

you will probably see a triangle in this design, even though it is only an

illusion. Your whole perceptual experience exceeds the sum of its parts.



Psychoanalytic Psychology: Freud

• Our behavior is largely influencedby our unconscious wishes,thoughts, and desires, especiallysex and aggression

• All thoughts and actions are

determined; nothing is an accident• Freud performed dream analysis

and was an interactionist(combination of our biology andenvironment make us who we are)

• Recent research has hypothesizedthat our unconscious mind ispartially responsible for our behaviors



Repression

• Unconscious thoughts held out of awareness

because they are threatening



Humanism

• Rogers – Goal of psychology is tostudy unique aspects of theperson; focuses onsubjective human

experience. – Each person has innate

goodness and is able tomake free choices (contrastwith Skinner and Freud).

• Maslow: Self-actualization:Develop one’s full potentialand become the best personyou can be



Psychology Today

• Biopsychology: Our behavior can be

explained through

physiological processes

– Uses brain scans togather data (CT,

MRI, PET)

– Looks at

neurotransmitters• Positive Psychology:

Study of human

strengths, virtues, and

optimal behavior



Sociocultural Perspective

• Many thoughts and behaviors are influenced byour culture

• Psychologists need to be aware of the impactcultural diversity may have on our behaviors

• What is acceptable in one culture might beunacceptable in another

• Cultural Relativity: Behavior must be judged

relative to the values of the culture in which itoccurs

• Social Norms: Rules that define acceptable andexpected behavior for members of various

groups



• FIGURE 1.3 (a) Specialties in psychology (APA, 2005). Percentages areapproximate. (b) Where psychologists work (APA, 2000). (c) This chartshows the main activities psychologists do at work (APA, 2000). Anyparticular psychologist might do several of these activities during a workweek. As you can see, most psychologists specialize in applied areas and

work in applied settings.



Psychologists

• Usually have masters or doctorate. Trainedin methods, knowledge, and theories of psychology

– Clinical Psychologists: Treat psychologicalproblems or do research on therapies andmental illnesses

– Counseling Psychologists: Treat milder problems, such as poor adjustment at workor at school



Many Flavors of Psychologists

• Psychoanalysts: Receive additional Freudianpsychoanalytic training post-Ph.D. or post-

M.D. at an institute

• Counselors: Advisers who help solve

problems with marriage, career, school, or

work

• Psychiatric Social Workers: Many have

masters degrees and perform psychotherapy – Use social science principles

– Presently a very popular profession

• Not all psychologists perform therapy!



The Scientific Method

• Six Basic Elements – Observing

– Defining a problem

– Proposing a hypothesis (an educated guess that

can be tested) – Gathering evidence/testing the hypothesis

– Publishing results

– Building a theory



• FIGURE 1.5 Psychologists use the logic of science to answer questions aboutbehavior. Specific hypotheses can be tested in a variety of ways, includingnaturalistic observation, correlational studies, controlled experiments, clinical studies,and the survey method. Psychologists revise their theories to reflect the evidence

they gather. New or revised theories then lead to new observations, problems, andhypotheses.



Hypothesis

• Predictable outcome of an

experiment or an educated

guess about the relationship

between variables• Operational Definition:

States exact procedures

used to represent a concept.

Allows abstract ideas to betested in real-world terms



• FIGURE 1.4 Operational definitions are used to link concepts with concrete

observations. Do you think the examples given are reasonable operational

definitions of frustration and aggression? Operational definitions vary in how well

they represent concepts. For this reason, many different experiments may be

necessary to draw clear conclusions about hypothesized relationships inpsychology.



Limitations

• Observer Effect: Changes ina subject’s behavior causedby an awareness of beingobserved

• Observer Bias: Occurs whenobservers see what theyexpect to see or record onlyselected details

• Anthropomorphic Error:Attributing human thoughts,feelings, or motives to

animals, especially as a wayof explaining their behavior (e.g., “Anya my cat is actinglike that because she’sfeeling depressed today.”)



Correlations

• Existence of a consistent, systematic

relationship between two events, measures,

or variables



Positive Correlation

• Increases in one measure are matched by

increases in the other measure



Negative Correlation

• Increases in one measure are matched by

decreases in the other measure



Correlation and Causation

• Correlation does not demonstrate causation:

Just because two variables are related does

NOT mean that one variable causes the other to occur



Experiments

• A formal trial to

confirm/disconfirm ahypothesis and to

identify cause and effect

relationships



Performing an Experiment

• Directly vary a condition you might think

affects behavior

• Create two or more groups of subjects, alikein all ways except the condition you are

varying

• Record whether varying the condition has any

effect on behavior



• FIGURE 1.1 Results of an empirical study. The graph shows that aggravated

assaults in Los Angeles become more likely as air temperature increases. This

suggests that physical discomfort is associated with interpersonal hostility (Data fromSimister & Cooper, 2005.)



Variables

• Any condition that can change and that might

affect the outcome of an experiment



Independent Variable

• Condition(s) altered by the experimenter;

experimenter sets their size, amount, or

value. These are suspected causes for behavioral differences



Dependent Variable

• Measures the results of the experiment;

Condition is affected by independent variable



Extraneous Variables

• Conditions that a researcher wants to prevent

from affecting the outcomes of the

experiment (e.g., number of hours sleptbefore the experiment)



• Figure 1.9 Experimental control is achieved by balancing extraneous variables for the

experimental group and the control group. For example, the average age (A),

education (B), and intelligence (C) of group members could be made the same for

both groups. Then we could apply the independent variable to the experimental

group. If their behavior (the dependent variable) changes (in comparison with thecontrol group), the change must be caused by the independent variable.



Groups

• Experimental Group:The group of subjects

that gets the

independent variable

• Control Group: Thegroup of subjects that

does NOT get the

independent variable

• Random Assignment:Subject has an equal

chance of being in

either the experimental

or control group



• FIGURE 1.8 Elements of a simple psychological experiment to assess the effects of music during study on test scores.



Placebo

• A fake pill (sugar) or

injection (saline)

• Placebo Effect:

Changes in behavior that result from

expectations that a drug

or other treatment will

have some effect; thebelief that one has

taken an active drug



Experimenter Effects

• Changes in subjects’

behavior caused by the

unintended influence of

the experimenter’sactions

• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:

A prediction that leads

people to act in ways tomake the prediction

come true



The Clinical Method

• Case Study: In-depth focus of all aspects of a

single subject

• Natural Clinical Tests: Natural events, suchas accidents, that provide psychological data



• FIGURE 1.10 Some of the earliest information on the effects of damage to frontal

areas of the brain came from a case study of the accidental injury of Phineas Gage.



The Survey Method

• Using public polling techniques

to answer psychologicalquestions

• 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)• Courtesy Bias: Problem in

research; a tendency to give

“polite” or socially desirable

answers



• FIGURE 1.11 If you were conducting a survey in which a person’s height might be an

important variable, the nonrandom sample of shorter people would be very

unrepresentative. The random sample, selected using a table of random numbers,better represents the group as a whole.



Critical Thinking

• Ability to analyze,

evaluate, compare,

critique, and synthesize

information



Critical Thinking Principles

• Few truths transcend

the need for empirical

testing

• Judging the quality of

evidence is crucial

• Authority or claimed

expertise does not

automatically make an

idea true

• Critical thinking requires

an open mind



How to Critically Evaluate New

Information

• Ask the following:

– What claims arebeing made?

– What test (if any) of these claims hasbeen made?

– Who did the test;how good is theevidence?



How to Critically Evaluate New

Information Continued

• Ask the following:

– What was the nature and quality of the tests? Are

they credible and can they be repeated?

– How reliable and trustworthy were the

investigators?

– How much credibility can the claim be given?



Pseudo-Psychologies

• Pseudo means “false.” Anyunfounded “system” that

resembles psychology and is

NOT based on scientific

testing (“Pseudo” means

false)

• Phrenology: Personality traits

revealed by shape of skull

and bumps on your head

• Palmistry: Lines on your

hands (palms) predict future

and reveal personality



Pseudo-Psychologies Continued

• Graphology: Personality traits

are “revealed” by your

handwriting

• Astrology: The positions of the

stars and planets at the time of

your birth determine your

personality and affect your

behavior

– Extremely popular today

(“What’s your sign?”)• Uncritical Acceptance: Tendency

to believe positive or flattering

descriptions of yourself



Fallacy of Positive Instances

• When we remember or

notice things that

confirm our

expectations and forgetthe rest



Barnum Effect

• Always have a little

something for everyone.

Tendency to consider a

personal descriptionaccurate if it is stated in

very general terms

P h l i th M di



Psychology in the Media:

Separating Fact from Fiction

• Be skeptical

• Consider the source of

information

• Ask yourself, “Wasthere a control group?”

• Look for errors in

distinguishing between

correlation andcausation (are claims

based on correlational

results yet passed off

as causations?)



Psychology in the Media:

Separating Fact from Fiction- Cont.

• Be sure to distinguish

between observation and

inference (e.g., Robert is

crying, but do we know whyhe is crying?)

• Beware of

oversimplifications,

especially those motivatedby monetary reasons

• “For example” is no proof,

i.e., one example is not proof

ch. 1: psychology and research methods

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