CHAPTER 1: THE SCIENCE OF

PSYCHOLOGYPSY 200 15PR

JSRCC

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?

• What is Psychology?

• The study of our inner feelings and behaviors

• Scientific study of behavior and mental processes

• Critical Thinking

• The process of thinking deeply and actively; asking questions. And evaluating the evidence

• Critical thinkers question ant test what some people say are facts

• Also, comes into play when scientist consider the conclusions they draw from research

• Asses claims on the basis of well-supported reasons and evidence – not on emotional or anecdotal reasoning

WHAT IT PSCHOLOGY?

• Empirical (Scientific) Method

• Gaining knowledge through the observation of events the collection of data and logical reasoning

• Scientist would say, that empirical question means that hard evidence is required to answer the question

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

• Wilhelm Wundt

• Founded the first psychology laboratory in 1879 at the University of Leipizing in Germany

• Discover the basic elements or structures of the mental process

• Structuralism

• The basic elements of the mind

• Structuralism- analyze consciousness into basic elements and study how the are related

• Neurospepection

• Introspection

• Introspection means to look in the inside oneself

• Also a technique used in which subjects report a response to stimuli

• Introspection- self-observation of one’s conscious experiences

HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

• James’ Functionalism

• William James the first American psychologist, felt that structuralism was too limited

• James founded functionalism, which studied how complex the mid processed evolve because of life preserving functions

• Functionalism- investigate the function, or purpose of consciousness rather than its structure

• Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection

• Reparations of common ancestry among animals

• Use of rats and other animals for psychological experiments

• Position of humans within the animal kingdom, rather than above it

CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO PSYCHOLOGY

CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO PSYCHOLOGY

• Nature/ Nurture debate

• Biological Approach

• Approach to psychology emphasizing the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants

• Focuses on organism’s visible interactions with the environment that is, behavior not thoughts or feelings

• Neuroscience

• Neural aspects of basic processes

• Growing field or psychopharmacology

• Neuroscience: the scientific study of the structure, function development, genetics and biochemistry of the nervous system

NATURE VS NURTURE

• Nature

• Intistintic

• Genetics

• Heredity

• Biological

• Factors

• innate

• Nurture

• Learned

• How you were raised

• Where you were raised

• Environment

• Experiences

CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO PSYCHOLOGY• Behavioral approach

• Approach to psychology emphasizing the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants’

• Focuses on organism’s visible interactions with the environment-that is, behavior not thought or feeling

• Psychodynamic approach

• Emphasis on unconscious interapsychic dynamics

• Belief in the importance of early childhood

• Belief that development occurs in fixed stages

• Focus on fantasies and symbolic meanings of events

• Psychodynamic approach: emphasizes unconscious thoughts the conflict between biological drive

• Freud

• Sigmund Freud’s Psychodynamic perspective focused on unconscious determinant of behavior

• Freud also developed a treatment approach known as psychoanaylysis

CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO PSYCHOLOGY• Sociocultural Approach

• Approach psychology that examines the influences of social and cultural environments on behavior

• Cognitive Approach

• Approach to psychology emplacing the mental processes involded in knowing; how we direct our attention, perceive, remember, think, and solve problems

• Humanistic Approach

• Approach to psychology emphasizing a persons' positive qualities, the capacity for positive growth

• Maslow/Rogers’

• Abraham Maslow: personality gradually develops towards self- actualization

• Carl Rogers: our inner experience of ourselves may different from what we show others

TYPES OF RESEARCH

TYPES OF RESEARCH• Descriptive Research

• Naturalistic Observation

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

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• Surveys and Interviews

• The survey

• A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them

• Best basis for generalizing is from a representative sample of cases

• Pros:

• Data can often be collected and analyzed fairly quickly

• The results from the sample can be generalized to the entire population

• Surveys can provide reliable information for planning programs and messages

• Surveys can be anonymous, which is useful for sensitive topics

• Cons;

• They can only provide correlation, not cause and effect

• They can be very costly

• Random samples may not be random

• Wording on the survey itself may bias the results

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SOCIAL DESIRABILITY RESPONSE

SOCIAL DESIRABILITY RESPONSE

• Case Studies

• An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in hope of revealing universal principles

• Case Studies—four use

• A source of insights and ideas

• To describe particularly rare phenomena

• Psycho-biographies with psychological concepts applied to understand famous people

• Provides illustrative anecdotes to demonstrate principles for teachers and researchers

• Pros:

• Provides a wealth of information

• Relatively easy and inexpensive

• Writes up as a narrative

• Cons:

• Useless in proving a theory

• Tend to rely on the observations of a single investigator

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH • Correlational Research

• Tells whether the values of two variables are related

• 1. Correlational Coefficient

• A measure of the relationship between two variables

• Found from case studies, surveys and naturalistic observations

• 2. Positive v. Negative Correlations

• Positive correlation

• Means that two sets of scores, such as height and weight, tend to rise or fall together

• Negative Correlation

• Means that two things relate inversely. If one things goes up, the other goes down

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• 3. Third Variable Problem

• 4. Longitudinal Designs

• Longitudinal studies- periodic tests on the same participants over a number of years

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

• Experimental Research

• Purpose is to identify cause and effect through the manipulation of variables

• 1. Random Assignment

• `2. Independent and Dependent Variables

• Independent Variable

• A factor that can be selected and manipulated by the experimenter

• Dependent Variable

• A measurable behavior exhibited by the participant in the experiment. It will change because of the IV’s

• 3. Confederates

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

• 4. Experimental v. Control Groups

• In proper experiments, you will always have a control group by which you anchor the rest of the experiment

• Experimental groups will experience the independent variables as determined by the researchers

• Experimental controls- control group, experimental group, avoid extraneous varibles

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• Quasi-Experimental Designs

• Not considered true experiments because of the inability to randomly assign participants to the experimental and control groups

CAUTIONS ABOUT EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH• Experimenter Bias

• Predisposed beliefs of the experimenter can confound the research findings

• Creates a self-fulfilling prophesy

• Demand Characteristics

• D. Participant Bias

• When participants try to present themselves in a good light or deliberately attempt to mislead the researcher

• Offer confidentiality double blind studies don’t tell them what they are really being tested for

• Placebo Effect

• The phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior

• Subject’s expectations lead them to believe some change has occurred

• Double-Blind Experiments

• A study in which neither the experimenter nor the subjects know if the subjects are in the experimental or control group

• Research Samples

• A sample that fairly represents a population because each member of the population has an equal chance of being included