introduction to psychology zinstructor: ray hawkins, ph.d. yoffice: sea 2.208, mwf(2 pm - 3 pm &...

Introduction to Psychology

Instructor: Ray Hawkins, Ph.D. Office: SEA 2.208,

MWF(2 PM - 3 PM & by appt.)

Phone: 512-232-3354 TA: Kyle Stephenson Syllabus Web page:

http://homepage.psy.utexas.edu/homepage/class/Psy301/Hawkins

Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (7th Ed)

Chapter 1

Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

James A. McCubbin, PhDAneeq Ahmad, Ph.D.

(Modified by Ray Hawkins, Ph.D)Worth Publishers

Thinking Critically With Psychological Science

What is Psychology? Psychology’s Roots

Contemporary Psychology

Thinking Critically …

Why Do Psychology? What About Intuition and

Common Sense?

The Scientific Attitude

Critical Thinking


How Do Psychologists Ask and Answer Questions? The Scientific Method Description Correlation Experimentation


FAQs About Psychology

Tips for Studying Psychology

Psychology’s Roots

Prescientific Psychology Is the mind connected

to the body or distinct? Are ideas inborn or is

the mind a blank slate filled by experience?

Film

Psychology’s Roots Prescientific Psychology

Philosophy Greek - Roman conceptualization of human experience

as contemporary history-making, a philosophy of the moral life a “reason to excel” (David McCullough, C-SPAN interview, 8-7-05)

Empiricism knowledge comes from experience via the senses science flourishes through observation and experiment psychological science refutes three theories of human

nature (Pinker, 2005): Locke’s “blank slate,” Rousseau’s “noble savage,” and Descarte’s “ghost in the machine”


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

Structure vs. Function

Structuralism Analyze consciousness

into basic elements

IntrospectionSystematic, self-observation in response to tones, optical illusions, fruit…

Sensation & Perception

Functionalism Investigate purpose of

consciousness, not structure

Stream of consciousnessConsciousness is a continuous flow of thoughts, not static

Mental testing, development, education, individual differences


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


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

Academic vs. Popular Psychology; Historical overview of Psychology & the teaching of Introductory Psychology (some guiding anecdotes)


Myers’ Definition of Psychology The science of behavior (what we do) and

mental processes (sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings)

Psychology’s Big Question

Nature versus Nurture

The controversy over the relative contributions of biology and experience.

Nurture works on what nature endows.

Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis

Contemporary Psychology

Psychology’s Subfields: Research

Psychologist What she does

BiologicalExplore the links between brain and mind.

DevelopmentalStudy changing abilities from womb to tomb.

CognitiveStudy how we perceive, think, and solve problems.

Personality Investigate our persistent traits.

SocialExplore how we view and affect one another.

Psychology’s Subfields: Research

Data: APA 1997

Psychology’s Subfields: Applied

Psychologist What she does

ClinicalStudies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

CounselingHelps people cope with academic, vocational, and marital challenges.

EducationalStudies and helps individuals in school and educational settings

Industrial/Organizational

Studies and advises on behavior in the workplace.

Psychology’s Subfields: Applied

Data: APA 1997

A clinical psychologist (Ph.D.) studies, assesses, and treats troubled people with

psychotherapy.

Psychiatrists on the other hand are medical professionals (M.D.) who use treatments

like drugs and psychotherapy to treat psychologically diseased patients.

Clinical Psychology vs. Psychiatry

Why Do Psychology?

1. How can we differentiate between uniformed opinions and examined conclusions?

2. The science of psychology helps make these examined conclusions, which leads to our understanding of how people feel, think, and act as they do!

What About Intuition & Common Sense?

Many people believe that intuition and common sense are enough to bring forth

answers regarding human nature.

Intuition and common sense may aid queries, but they are not free of error.

Limits of Intuition

Personal interviewers may rely too much on their “gut

feelings” when meeting with job applicants.

Taxi/ G

etty Images

Hindsight Bias is the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon.

After learning the outcome of an event, many people believe they could have predicted that very outcome. We only knew the dot.com stocks would

plummet after they actually did plummet.

Hindsight Bias

Overconfidence

Sometimes we think we know more than we actually know.

Anagram

BARGEGRABE

ENTRYETYRN

WATERWREATHow long do you think it would take to unscramble

these anagrams?

People said it would take about 10 seconds, yet on

average they took about 3 minutes (Goranson, 1978).


The scientific attitude is composed of curiosity (passion for exploration), skepticism

(doubting and questioning) and humility (ability to accept responsibility when wrong).


Critical Thinking thinking that does not

blindly accept arguments and conclusions examines assumptions discerns hidden values evaluates evidence assesses conclusions

The Amazing Randi--Skeptic

Science or Pseudo-science?

How Do Psychologists Ask & Answer Questions?

Psychologists, like all scientists, use the scientific method to construct

theories that organize, summarize and simplify observations.

The Scientific Method

Theory an explanation using an integrated set of

principles that organizes and predicts observations

Hypothesis a testable prediction often implied by a theory

Research Process


Operational Definition a statement of procedures (operations)

used to define research variables example-

intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures


Replication repeating the essence of a research

study to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

usually with different participants in different situations

Description

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

Description

Case Study observation

technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principals

Is language uniquely human?

Description

Survey technique for ascertaining the self-

reported attitudes or behaviors of people

usually by questioning a representative, random sample of people

Survey

Wording can change the results of a survey.

Q: Should cigarette ads and pornography be allowed on television? (not allowed vs. forbid)

Wording Effects

Description

Survey

Random Sampling

If each member of a population has an equal chance of inclusion into a sample, it is called a

random sample (unbiased). If the survey

sample is biased, its results are not valid.

The fastest way to know about the marble color ratio is to blindly transfer a few into a smaller jar and count them.

Description

Naturalistic Observation observing and

recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Descriptive Methods

Case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation describe

behaviors.

Summary

Correlation

Correlation Coefficient a statistical measure of the extent to which

two factors vary together, and thus how well either factor predicts the other

Correlation coefficient

Indicates directionof relationship

(positive or negative)

Indicates strengthof relationship(0.00 to 1.00)

r = +.37

or

Correlation and CausationCorrelation does not mean causation!

Illusory Correlation

Illusory Correlation the

perception of a relationship where none exists (Gilovich, 1991, Myers’ text p. 20)

Conceive Do not conceive

Adopt

Do notadopt

disconfirming evidence

confirming evidence

disconfirming evidence

confirming evidence

Idea Generation (adapted from Niederhoffer, 1-28-04, “Research Methods”)

Personal Living Spaces (PLS) are rich with information about personality, values, abilities, and lifestyle

H1: People’s dispositions are revealed in their behavioral residues

H2: Observers use information in PLS to form impressions about people

Personality** I see myself as someone who is…

Extraverted Outgoing, animated, sociable, assertive

Agreeable Helpful, cooperative, pleasant

Conscientious Self-discipline, duty, order

Emotionally Stable Anxiety, depression, moodiness, vulnerability

Open to new experiences

Intellect, imagination, curiosity, creativity

Uncluttered

Well-organized

Neat

Organized clothing

Relatively empty

Organized CDs

Organized books

Organized stationary

Clean

Inviting

Comfortable

Good condition

Cheerful

Colorful

r = .81

Judg

e-R

epor

ted

Con

scie

ntio

usne

ss

Con

scie

ntio

usne

ss

r = Correlation

Can observers accurately judge conscientiousness from living spaces?+1 = the more conscientious people said

they were, the more their rooms were rated as conscientious.

-1 = the more conscientious people said they were, the less their rooms were rated as conscientious.

0 = no relation at all

.81 --- yes, observers can accurately judge conscientiousness from living spaces

Given random data, we look for order and meaningful patterns.

Order in Random Events

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

Order in Random Events

Given large numbers of random outcomes, a few are likely to express order.

Angelo and Maria Gallina won two California lottery games on the same day.

Jerry Telfer/ S

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hronicle

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 “Water, water everywhere”

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

Film

Experimentation

Experimental Condition the condition of an experiment that

exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable

Control Condition the condition of an experiment that

contrasts with the experimental treatment serves as a comparison for evaluating the

effect of the treatment

Experimentation

Random Assignment assigning participants to experimental

and control conditions by chance minimizes pre-existing differences

between those assigned to the different groups

Experimentation

Like other sciences, experimentation is the backbone of psychological research.

Experiments isolate causes and their effects.

Exploring Cause and Effect

Many factors influence our behavior. Experiments (1) manipulate factors that interest us, while other factors are kept

under (2) control.

Effects generated by manipulated factors isolate cause and effect relationships.

Exploring Cause & Effect

In evaluating drug therapies, patients and experimenter’s assistants should

remain unaware of which patients had the real treatment and which patients

had the placebo treatment.

Evaluating Therapies

Double-blind Procedure

Assigning participants to experimental (breast-fed) and control (formula-fed) conditions by random assignment minimizes pre-existing

differences between the two groups.

Evaluating Therapies

Random Assignment

An independent variable is a factor manipulated by the experimenter. The effect of the independent

variable is the focus of the study. For example, when examining the effects of breast

feeding upon intelligence, breast feeding is the independent variable.

Independent Variable

A dependent variable is a factor that may change in response to an independent variable. In psychology, it is usually a

behavior or a mental process.

For example, in our study on the effect of breast feeding upon intelligence,

intelligence is the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable

ExperimentationA summary of steps during experimentation.

Comparison

Below is a comparison of different research methods.

FAQ

Q1. Can laboratory experiments illuminate everyday life?

Ans: Artificial laboratory conditions are created to study behavior in simplistic terms. The goal is to find underlying principles that govern behavior.

FAQ

Q2. Does behavior depend on one’s culture and gender?

Ans: Even when specific attitudes and behaviors vary across cultures, as they often do, the underlying processes are much

the same. Biology determines our sex, and culture further bends the genders. However, in many ways woman and man

are similarly human.

Am

i Vitale/ G

etty Images

FAQ

Q3. Why do psychologists study animals, and is it ethical to experiment on animals?

Ans: Studying animals gives us the understanding of many behaviors that may have common biology across animals and

humans. From animal studies, we have gained insights to devastating and fatal diseases. All researchers who deal with animal research are required to follow ethical guidelines in

caring for these animals.

D. Shapiro, © Wildlife Conservation Society

FAQ

Q4. Is it ethical to experiment on people?

Ans: Yes. Experiments that do not involve any kind of physical or psychological harm beyond normal levels encountered in daily

life may be carried out.

FAQ

Q5. Is psychology free of value judgments?

Ans: No. Psychology emerges from people who subscribe to a set of values and judgments.

© Roger Shepard

Survey: What you are about to read, including chapter outlines and section heads.

Question: Ask questions. Make notes. Read: Look for the answer to your questions by reading

a manageable amount at a time. Rehearse: Recall what you’ve read in your own words.

Test yourself with quizzes. Review: What you learn. Read over notes and quickly

review the whole chapter.


Psychology can teach you how to ask and answer important questions.

Survey, Question, Read, Rehearse and Review (SQ3R)

Distribute your time. Learn to think critically. Listen actively in class. Overlearn. Be a smart test-taker.


Additional Study Hints

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