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Psychology
• the scientific study of the mind, behavior, and the relationship between them. Looks at how people think, learn, feel, act, and understand themselves
The Roots of Psychology
The dialectical evolution
of ideas: why do we look
at the past?
The Dialectic• often people propose and strongly believe
in one theory or point of view for a while until a contrasting view comes to light
• then the most attractive or reasonable elements in each are melded into a new view which gains acceptance.
• This new theory serves as a springboard for anew angle to the dialectic
•Based on the idea of a critical tradition: an established pattern of permitting current beliefs to be challenged by alternate, new, radical ideas which then lead to new ideas.
Ancient classical Greece
and Rome (600-300 BC)
•Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle
•Born out of the roots of two approaches to human behavior
Philosophy
•exploring and understanding
the general nature of aspects
of the world through
introspection-the self-
examination of inner ideas
and experiences.
Physiology
• the scientific study of living
organisms and their functions
and processes
The early Christian era (200-450
AD) and the Middle Ages (400-1300
AD)
•Basis of philosophical
discourse became God and
Christian doctrine
•Empirical demonstrations and
rational arguments were not
considered permissible if they
contradicted Christian doctrine
•Main Christian philosophers of
the time believed
introspection and prayer were
more important than
observation
The Renaissance (1300-1600 AD)
•Critical thought and empiricism
were reborn in the renaissance
•Scientific study became the only
important foundation for study
of philosophy
•Sir Francis Bacon
The beginnings of the
modern period
(1600-1850 AD)
Psychological perspectives:
the 1850s and beyond
•The merging of philosophy and physiology into modern psychology (1850-1900): by the 1800s, psychology is moving away from both philosophy and physiology
•The diverging perspectives of modern psychology: most perspectives built on or reacted to the perspectives that came before
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920))
•First modern psychological
experiment
Structuralism (Titchener)•1st major school of psych. •Wanted to understand the “Structure” of the mind. “What are the structures of the human mind?” Saw people as passive in analyzing incoming sensations
•Used introspection
Functionalism
(William James)
•First American school of psych
•Asked the question “what do
people do and why do they do
it?”
•Looked at adaptive thinking
and behavior
Sought to understand the
relationships between specific
earlier stimulus events
(things that prompt action)
and specific subsequent
response behaviors (actions
linked to the stimulus)
Twentieth Century
perspectives on
psychology
Each perspective assumes a different root cause of human behavior – see summary chart on page 9
Behaviorism
•only interested in observable human behavior, not human emotions
•Focuses entirely on the association between an observed stimulus and an observed response
Significant Behaviorists:
John Watson (1878-1958): US
• Used animal rather than human
experimentation subjects
•Believed a stimulus-response
relationship could be controlled
and established
Significant Behaviorists:
B.F. Skinner
•Operant conditioning/
reinforcement/
experimentation
The Cognitive Perspective• the study of how people learn,
structure, store, and use knowledge
• Believe that if we first understand how people think, we will then better understand why they behave the way they do
Biological Psychology /
Neuroscience•Assumes a mind-body link
•tries to understand biological impacts on human behavior
•Looks at specific brain regions and biochemicals as responsible for various behaviors
Social-Cultural
•How do thinking and behavior vary across cultures?
•How is our thinking and behavior affected by our culture?
Evolutionary psychology•Our behavior is adaptive – how does evolution influence our behavior?
•Behavioral genetics: how much are certain traits influence by our genes? How much are they influenced by our environment?
Psychodynamic Psychology
• AKA Psychoanalytic
• Founded by Freud
• How do subconscious desires, motivations and conflicts influence our behavior?
Behavioral Genetics Perspective
• How much are our traits and behavior influenced by our genetics?
• What traits and behaviors are more influenced by our environment?
Humanistic Psychology• Not in the text – but you need to
know it!
• Maslow, Rogers
• Human behaviors stems from our desire to fulfill out capabilities, reach our highest potential
Biopsychosocial Approach
Chapter 1 - What is psychology and
what do psychologists study?
Psychology
• the scientific study of the mind, behavior, and the relationship between them. Looks at how people think, learn, feel, act, and understand themselves
Subfields of Psychology
• Basic Research – add to knowledge base
• Applied Research – look at solving practical problems
• Counseling – help people cope with problems
• Clinical – assess and treat mental disorders
• Psychiatrists – may prescribe meds to treat disorders
What is applied psychology?
Kenneth Clark and the Brown vs. Board of Ed decision
Careers in Psychology
Be sure to review Appendix A that covers careers in Psychology and the required education.
Questions psychologists ask
•How do we see ourselves?
•What prompts us to do what we do?
•How do we think?
•Why do people act the way they do?
Psychology as a natural science
and a social science
•What makes psychology
different from other sciences
that study human behavior
and different from other
nonscientific studies of human
behavior?
Social sciences:
•study of the laws of the thoughts, feelings, behaviors of humans and animals.
Natural sciences:
•study the laws of nature. Psychology looks at the genetic, physical, biological, biochemical influences on behavior
•Uses the scientific method and controlled experiments
What do we mean when we say
that psychology is scientific?
Verifiable▫there must be some way of confirming the findings. The experiment or study must be able to be replicated
Reliability
•the same procedure produces
the same results time after
time
Validity
•the study examines and tests
what it claims to
Accurate reporting of findings
Cumulative science
•scientists build on the work of those who came before
Misconceptions about science
Science is always correct
•many scientists have been wrong, what is believed to be true at one point may later be disproved. Science is dynamic and evolving.
Science is always conducted via
an idealized method
•scientific method the way we learned it in school is very rarely used in the linear way it is described, often work in fits and starts
Science is always conducted
with perfect objectivity
•Confirmation bias: tendency
to seek to confirm rather than
refute existing beliefs
•Values affect the way
research is conducted
Science is merely a collection of
facts
•Theories-the analysis of
general principles explaining
particular events-make
science much more than just
a simple listing of facts and
figures
The goals of psychological
research and practice
1. Observe
2. Describe
3. Explain
4. Predict
5. Control
Research methods in psychology
• Descriptive Methods:▫ Naturalistic observation▫ Case studies▫ Tests, questionnaires and surveys
• Correlation Methods:▫ Use statistics to seek relationships
between data
• Causal Methods
▫ Experiments
What are the steps
scientists follow in
understanding and solving
problems?
The problem-solving cycle
• Identifying & define the problem
▫ Operational definition: describes as specifically as possible the precise elements and procedures involved in solving a specific research problem
▫ Hypothetical construct: an abstract concept that is not itself directly measurable or observable but gives rise to measurable phenomena.
Experiments
• Independent variable: aspect of the experiment that are manipulated by the experimenter while other aspects are held constant
• Dependent variable: aspect of the experiment that changes in response to changes in the independent variable
Confounding variables
• When something other than the independent variable is affecting the dependent variable
Example:
▫ When ice cream sales increase, murder and rape rates go up
▫ True, but ice cream does not cause violent crime
▫ Correlation does not equal causation
Populations, Things to Consider
• Size
• Randomness
• Volunteer Bias
Video Clip
Video Clip 2
•Experimental group:
▫people who are subjected to the variables
•Control group:
▫people who do not receive the treatment or are not subjected to the variable
Making Experiments Reliable and Valid
• Single & Double Blind procedures
• Placebo Effect
Figure 1.7 The Experimental Conditions in the Lang Study. The taste of vodka
cannot be discerned when vodka is mixed with tonic water. For this reason it was
possible for subjects in the Lang study on the effects of alcohol to be kept blind as to
whether or not they had actually drunk alcohol. Blind studies allow psychologists to
control for the effects of subjects’ expectations.
Other things to keep in mind when
doing research…
• Hindsight Bias
• Overconfidence phenomenon
• False Consensus
Ethics in Research
• Informed Consent
• “Do no harm”
• Animals
