Warm Up

(Biological, Evolutionary, Cognitive, Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Behavioral, Socio-cultural)

1. A psychologist believes her 40 year-old patient is severely depressed because of a chemical imbalance in her brain

2. Tim, a 25 year old husband and father of 3 has been arrested 5 times for domestic violence and has been ordered to see a psychologist. His psychologist believes his aggressive and abusive behavior stems from repressed memories of domestic violence in his childhood

3. According to Dr. Hossen, a well known psychologist, people’s sexual desires come from their natural desire to procreate and survive as a species.

4. Beth feels like she needs to be perfect in all aspects of her life. She believes she must be attractive, skinny, a good mother and wife, because of the way society portrays women on TV and in magazines

5. Johnny does not hit his sister when he is angry because he fears he will receive a spanking from his father.

6. Ken is having trouble in school, especially with long term memory. The school psychologist thinks he might have a leaning disability based on the way his mind encodes and stores information.

7. Karen’s parents have always believed in her, so Karen feels confident in her ability to succeed in college.

8. Mrs. Alfieri believes that her husband's irritability toward her results from his unconscious feelings of hostility toward his own mother. Mrs. Alfieri is interpreting her husband's behavior from a(n) ________ perspective

9. Mrs. Thompson believes that her son has become an excellent student because she consistently uses praise and affection to stimulate his learning efforts. Her belief best illustrates a ________ perspective

10. Which perspective is most concerned with the unique ways in which individuals interpret their own life experiences?

11. Professor Lopez believes that severe depression results primarily from an imbalanced diet and abnormal brain chemistry. Professor Lopez favors a ________ perspective on depression

12. Dr. Mills engages in basic research on why individuals conform to the behaviors and opinions of others. Which specialty area does his research best represent?

Notebook Tabs1. Prologue/Chapter 12. Chapter 23. Chapters 3 and 44. Chapters 5 and 65. Chapters 76. Chapter 87. Chapters 9 and 108. Chapters 11 and 159. Chapters 12 and 1310. Chapters 1411. Chapters 16 and 1712. Chapter 18

Warm Up

1. Get out your HW 2. Write down your HW 3. Pick up warm off of front desk.

You have 20 minutes to complete it.

Discussion Questions1. Why are answers that flow from the scientific

approach more reliable than those based on intuition and common sense?

2. What is descriptive research?3. Describe a Case Study? Come up with 1 pro and 1

con of a case study.4. Describe a Survey. Come up with 1 pro and 1 con of

a Survey. 5. Describe naturalistic observation? Come up with 1

pro and 1 con of naturalistic observation. 6. How do a Hypothesis and Theory differ? 7. How does a sample differ from a population?

Discussion Question

What is critical thinking?

How does it relate to psychology and this course?

Solve ME

A man is found shot to death in a room with a table, four chairs, and 53 bicycles. Why was he murdered?

There are 52 Bicycle playing cards in a normal deck. He was playing with an extra ace.

Solve ME

A man is traveling from work and wants to go home. He will not go home because there is another man in a mask waiting there for him. What does the first man do for a living?

The man is a runner at third base and he is trying to score a run

Let’s Make A Deal!

One Volunteer is Needed for A chance to win

1,334,499 Turkish “dollars!”

Let’s Make A Deal Shows Us That: Human Intuition is highly limited. Critically thinking rarely comes easily to us!

Critical Thinking: thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusionsexamines assumptionsdiscerns hidden valuesevaluates evidenceAn awareness to our own vulnerability

Lack of Intuition

Hindsight Bias: tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.

the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon

Lack Of Intuition Overconfidence: we tend to

think we know more than we do.

We can't always trust our common sense or intuition we need research

Research Strategies

Theory an explanation using an integrated set of

principles that organizes and predicts observations

Low self esteem contributes to depression Hypothesis

a testable prediction often implied by a theory Allows us to test and reject or revise the

theory People with low self esteem score higher on

a depression scale

Scientific Method

generate or refine

research and observations

lead to

hypothesis

theories

lead to

How to check our bias

Operational Definition a statement of procedures

(operations) used to define research variables

You want to be clear enough so that the test and observations can be replicated

To give the study more credibility it is usually done with different subjects in different situations

Make sure studies are valid and reliable

Research Strategies

1. Descriptive- making observations that describe behavior

2. Correlational- detecting relationships that help predict behavior

3. Experimental-doing studies that help explain behavior

Research Methods- Descriptive Case Study

an observation technique in which one person , or a small group, is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Longitudinal- Cross Sectional- Drawbacks of case study: individuals can be atypical and lead to false findings.Anecdotal Stories

Research Methods- Descriptive and Correlation Survey

technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people

usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them

Components of Survey

Population: all the individuals you are interested in knowing something about.

Sample: the individuals you actually question.

Sampling should always be taken randomly from the population so that it is representative, meaning each individual in the population had an equal chance of being selected.

Drawbacks of Surveys

1.) Improper Sampling2.) Question Wording Can Effect the

results of a survey.Ex: Should cigarette ads or pornography

be allowed on television?Ex. Mississippi River- Is the Mississippi

River longer or shorter than 500 miles? How long is the Mississippi River?

Is the Mississippi River longer or shorter than 3000 miles? How long is the Mississippi River?

Importance of Proper Sampling False Consensus Effect:

tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors.

Overgeneralizing extreme examples can lead you to false conclusions!

Types of Research-Descriptive Naturalistic Observation:

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

Drawbacks: hard to identify any type of causation since there is no controls.

Discussion Question

What is descriptive research? Discuss the various descriptive

research strategies (Survey, Case Study, naturalistic observation) and come up with 1 limitation and 1 strength of each type of descriptive research.

Discussion Question

What are positive and negative correlations, and why do they enable prediction but not cause-effect explanation?

Correlation Research

Correlation Research: research that looks at a relationship between two things. How well does one factor predict the other?

Ex: Consumption of Ice Cream and Drowning.

Types of Correlations

Positive Correlation: a relationship in which increases in one variable leads to increases in the other.

Ex: Amount of fat burned is positively correlated with amount of sit-ups completed

Negative Correlation: a relationship in which increases in one variable leads to decreases in the other.

Ex: As tooth brushing goes up, tooth decay goes down

Some More Correlation Examples

Married people tend to have higher measures of happiness.

Children who watch high amounts of television are more aggressive.

People with low self-esteem are more likely to be depressed.

What meanings can we make of these examples?

Correlations Continued

Correlation Coefficient: the statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together and thus how well either factor predicts the other. (number that measures strength of the correlation).

STRONGEST CORRELATIONS are +1 and –1. +1 is a perfect positive correlation while –1 is a perfect negative correlation.

Correlations are always between –1 and +1. A correlation of Zero means there is no relationship.

Correlation Scatterplots

Perfect positivecorrelation (+1.00)

No relationship (0.00) Perfect negativecorrelation (-1.00)

Indicates strengthof relationship(0.00 to 1.00)

Correlation coefficient

Indicates directionof relationship

(positive or negative)

r = +.37

R=+.37 R=-1.00 R=+.17 R= -.08

Correlation Measures Scatterplot

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables

the slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship

the amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation little scatter indicates high correlation

also called a scattergram or scatter diagram

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Temperamentscores

Height in inches

Height and Temperament of 20 Men

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10

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SubjectHeight in

Inches Temperament SubjectHeight in

Inches Temperament

Correlation and Causation Correlation does not prove causation Ex- negative correlation between self-esteem and

depression Heredity and brain chemistry might play a role

Among men, length of marriage correlates positively with hair loss- because both are associated with a third factor. Age Correlation indicates the possibility of a cause

and effect relationship, but DOES NOT prove causation

Research Strategies

Three Possible Cause-Effect Relationships(1)

Low self-esteemDepression

(2)Depression

Low self-esteem

Low self-esteem

Depression

(3)Distressing events

or biologicalpredisposition

could cause

could cause

could cause

or

or

and

Intuition Limit #976

Illusory Correlation: the perception of a relationship where none exists.

Sugar makes kids more hyperactive

Wet hair and cold hair cause a cold Don’t overgeneralize extreme

cases GET THE DATA!!

Warm Up

1. Get out HW 2. Write Down HW 3. take 10 mins to finish gathering data

One last check……………..

You need to make sure your study is reliable and valid.

1. Reliability-if your study was replicated would you get the same results?

2. Validity- Does the study or experiment test what it is designed to test.

Summing Up Surveys, Naturalistic Observation, Case Studies, and Correlation Research All of these methods look to describe the behavior not to explain it!

Experimental Designed research is the only research that gets at causation…NEXT TIME!

Warm Up

Get out your homework

5 – 8 mins to finish up your correlation study.

Write down your hw

Random Sequences

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

Warm Up

For the following research methods list one positive and one negative

1. Corelational Study 2. Case Study 3. Naturalistic Study 4. Survey 5. Experiment

Experimentation and

Statistics

Experiments

Experimentation Experiments are the best way to

isolate cause and effect the investigator manipulates one or more

factors (independent variables) to observe their effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable) while controlling other relevant factors by random assignment of subjects

by random assignment of participants the experiment controls other relevant factors.

Breast Milk Example

Experimentation

Research Strategies Double-blind Procedure

both the subject and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the subject has 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, such as a drug, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent

Placebo Effect- the effect of positive thought and willpower on an experiment

ExperimentationResearch Strategies Experimental Condition

The group that is exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable ( real drug)

Control Condition The group that contrasts with the

experimental treatment . Get the placebo, or possible nothing

serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

Example- Viagra

Experimentation

Research Strategies

Random Assignment assigning subjects to experimental and control conditions by chance

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

Want similar age, attitudes…….

ExperimentationResearch Strategies 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 It can vary depending on what happens during the

experiment Cause/effect…… If/Then

Experimentation Confounding Variables-

Variables that cause changes in the DV besides the IVBreast Feeding Example

Operational Definitions Example Viagra

IV- Viagra or placebo- time, amount

DV- Sex- ………………………..

ExperimentationProblems- Sometimes not feasible or ethical

1. Obtain consent2. Protect from harm 3. Confidential 4. Fully explain research after the exp.

Animals? Results may not overgeneralize to

other contexts

Warm UP

1. get out HW 2. Pick up warm up off of the front bookcase- goes on page 10

Statistics

Describing Data

Researchers first need to organize their data

Pie Chart, Bar graph Descriptive Statistics-

describe the data, but don’t focus or the relationship

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100%

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Percentagestill functioningafter 10 years

Brand of truck

Our Brand Brand Brand Brand X Y Z

100%

90

80

70

60

50

40

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20

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Percentagestill functioningafter 10 years

Brand of truck

Measure of Central Tendency 3 measures of Central Tendency- Mode ,

Mean and Median Mode- the most frequently occurring score Mean- average Median- the middle score, when you

arrange the score in order from the highest to lowest

Be Careful- can a few extreme score through off any one of the central tendencies?

What's wrong with- income for 62% is below average

15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 90 475 710

70

Mode Median Mean

One Family Income per family in thousands of dollars

Measures of Variation Need to know the variation in the

data, how diverse or similar the scores are. 2 ways- Range and Standard Deviation

Range– the gap between the highest and lowest score

Remember extremes scores can skew the data

475,000 and 710,000

Find the mean, median, mode and range

5, 16, 2, 7, 4, 11,2,2

Measures of Variation The more useful measure is Standard

Deviation It gauges if scores are packed together

or dispersed Uses info from each score Smaller Standard Deviation for more

similar Data Higher Standard Deviation for more

diverse Data Results are not consistent

Standard deviation is the square root of variance

Sample Question

Question: What would be the percentage breakdown for one standard deviation of 10 points on an IQ test with the mean of 100

Example Question: one standard deviation of 10 points on an IQ test with the mean of 100 , would mean 68% of your results are within 90 and 110 points

When is an Observed Difference Reliable?

1. Representative samples are better than biased samples

2. Less variable observations are more reliable than those that are more variable

Score are more consistentLow small standard deviation or low range

3. More Cases Are better than few

When is Difference Significant?

statistical significance (p) is a measure of the likelihood that the difference between groups results from a real difference between the 2 groups rather than from chance

If statistically significant …..the differences are probably not due to chance

Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a result will happen by chance. It does not indicate the importance of the result

Ethics