Psych 001 – Chapter 1

Why Is Psychology Important to You?

Understanding and applying the principles

of psychology can affect us in critical ways

Psychology can help us understand other

people and ourselves

Psychology can help us improve our lives

What is Psychology?

Psychology is a word deriving from Greek

roots:

o Psyche – “soul” or “mind”

o Logos – “word”

Psychology is the systematic study of

behavior and experience (Mental

processes).

Psychologists engage in the study of

psychology in order to understand, explain

and predict behavior.

Critical thinking

o Systematically evaluating

information to reach reasonable

conclusions best supported by

evidence

o Three steps:

“What am I being asked to

believe or accept?”

“What evidence is provided

to support the claim?”

“What are the most

reasonable conclusions?”

Psychology Helps Us Succeed in School and

at Work

Academic success

o Learning about psychology’s major

issues, theories, and controversies

will help you succeed in your

academic work

Professional success

o Studying psychology will also

prepare you for success in your

professional life

How Can Psychology Help Me Study?

o The following learning strategies are

all based on psychological research:

The right goals lead to

success

A little stress management

goes a long way

Cramming is a crummy way

to learn

Learning is an active

endeavor

Explaining enhances

understanding

There are many ways to

learn

The goal of understanding human thought

and behavior actually originated in

philosophy

The Major Philosophical Issues

Free Will Versus Determinism

o Are the causes of behavior

knowable, and is behavior

predictable?

o Free will is the belief that behavior is

caused by an individual’s

independent decision-making.

o Determinism is the assumption that

everything that happens has a cause

or determinant in the observable

world.

o A believer in free will assumes that

even with complete information

regarding causes and conditions,

predictions regarding human

behavior can never be fully accurate.

o A determinist assumes that

everything that happens has a cause

that can be known.

o Benjamin Libet's experiment.

The Mind-Brain Problem

How is experience related to the brain?

o Dualism is the belief that the mind is

separate from the brain but

somehow controls the brain and

through it also the rest of the body.

o Monism is the view that conscious

experience is generated by and

therefore is inseparable from the

brain.

o Data from brain imaging research

suggests that brain activity and

mental activity are two aspects of

the same thing. Yet this question is

far from resolved.

The Nature-Nurture Issue

o How do differences in behavior

relate to differences in heredity and

environment?

o Nature. Differences in behavior are

due to the influence of genes.

o Nurture. Differences are a result of

aspects of the environment such as

culture, expectations, and resources.

o This issue shows up in virtually

every field of psychology, and

knowledge gained through research

seldom provides a simple answer.

History of Psychology

Experimental psychology began in 1879,

when Wilhelm Wundt established the first

psychology laboratory.

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o Although other psychology

experiments had been done, this

was the first laboratory devoted

exclusively to the activities of

psychological research.

o The purpose of the laboratory was

to identify the basic parts, or

structures, of the conscious mind.

o Wilhelm Wundt was trained as a

physician and did research on the

workings of the senses.

o He used:

o Reaction time

o Introspection - He presented

subjects with a variety of stimuli,

and asked them to look within

themselves, to introspect.

Edward Titchener was a student of

Wundt who immigrated to the United States

in 1892.

o He developed the approach he

called structuralism.

o In structuralism, the researcher

attempts to describe the structures

that compose the mind – the

sensations, feelings and images.

o Edward Titchener presented a

stimulus to his subjects and asked

them to analyze its separate

features.

o After his death in 1927, his research

methods were abandoned.

o There was no feasible way to check

the accuracy of his subjects’

observations.

American psychologist William James was

keenly interested in what the mind does,

rather than the elements the mind is made

of.

o He rejected the methods of Wundt

and Titchener.

o He wanted to learn how the mind

produces behaviors. He called his

approach functionalism.

Evolutionary Psychology

o An Evolutionary Psychologist tries to

explain behavior in terms of the

evolutionary history of the species,

and how specific behaviors are

selected through Natural Selection.

o In his presentation of compelling

evidence that humans and other

animal species were related, Charles

Darwin forced people working in

many disciplines to consider the

basic features held in common by

many or all animals, such as thinking

and intelligence.

o Comparative psychologists, who use

this perspective, are specialists who

compare different animal species.

o Early comparative psychologists

devised a number of experiments to

try to measure animal intelligence,

such as:

The delayed response

problem

The detour problem

The pattern recognition

problems

o Some species appeared to be gifted

in one set of tasks and highly

deficient in another.

o Eventually the inconsistencies in

performance between different tasks

across a single species suggested

that questions about animal

intelligence might be meaningless.

o This issue is similar to some of the

problems that we are encountering

in the controversial area of

measuring human intelligence.

Francis Galton was one of the first scientists

to try to measure human intelligence and

determine to what extent heredity

influenced variations in human cognitive

abilities.

o He studied the sons of accomplished

men and found that the offspring of

the talented and famous had a high

probability of being accomplished

too.

o He explained this as due chiefly to

the influence of heredity. Is this the

only possible explanation?

Alfred Binet devised the first useful

intelligence test in 1905, for use in

identifying children who might be in need of

special services.

o His test was imported to the United

States after his death, and was the

“template” for many tests of

intelligence.

Sigmund Freud proposed the existence of

an “unconscious mind” rooted in our animal

origins.

o He worked with his patients to

understand how this hidden part of

the mind influenced their mood and

behavior by analyzing their dreams,

fantasies, and exploring their

perceptions of their own early

childhood experiences.

o Although much of his theory has

been recently questioned or rejected

as unscientific, modern psychology

is still heavily influenced by his

ideas.

Gestalt Psychology: Experiencing the

“Whole”

o Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang

Kohler

o Gestalt psychology developed in

opposition to structuralism.

o Gestalt theory: The idea that the

whole of personal experience is

different from simply the sum of its

parts.

Structuralism was abandoned because it

was difficult to study the subjective

perception of experience.

Behaviorism is a field of psychology that

concentrates on observable, measurable

behaviors and not mental processes.

The earliest researchers in the field of

learning expected to find that it operated

using simple, basic and predictable laws,

comparable to Newton’s physical laws of the

universe.

Behaviorism dominated psychological

research well into the early 1960s

Ivan Pavlov

o Classical Conditioning.

John B. Watson

o Often considered the father of

Behaviorism.

o Conditioning of emotions like fear.

B.F. Skinner

o Radical Behaviorism.

o Operant Conditioning.

o No need for internal agents.

By the 1950s, researchers such as Alfred

Miller and Ulric Neisser were challenging

the behaviorists’ assumptions, arguing that

internal cognitive processes could and

should be studied by psychologists.

Early cognitive psychologists developed

techniques for measuring thinking and

reasoning processes objectively that are still

used by researchers today.

Cognitive neuroscience

o Cognitive psychologists, computer

scientists, philosophers, and brain

researchers.

Social Psychology

o Situations Shape Behavior

o Milgram Study

o Stanford Prison Experiment

Humanistic psychology, led by Abraham

Maslow and Carl Rogers in the 1960s, was a

reaction against both behaviorism and

Freud’s psychodynamic theory.

o Internal experience was important

for understanding behavior.

o Human nature is inherently good,

and people want to improve

themselves if they can.

o Humanistic approaches involved

treating clients as peers rather than

subordinates, and changing the

environment as a way to help

improve the individual.

Mary Calkins was one of the pioneering

women in the field of psychology . Her

graduate education in at Harvard was paid

for as part of her teaching salary at

Wellesley College.

o Although she never received the

Ph.D. that she earned from Harvard,

she went on to do research, study

the function of memory, and serve

as the president of the American

Psychological Association.

Christine Ladd-Franklin

o psychologist, logician,

mathematician, physicist and

astronomer

Leta Stetter Hollingworth

o Psychology of women and sex

differences

Margaret Washburn

o First PhD

o animal behavior

Karen Horney

Anna Freud

What Psychologists Do

There are many specialties in the broad

science of psychology.

o Teaching and Research

o Service Providers to Individuals

o Service Providers to Organizations

Teaching and Research

o Biological Psychologist (or

neuroscientist, etc.)

A bio-psychologist tries to

explain behavior in terms of

biological factors, such as

anatomy, electrical and

chemical activities in the

nervous system, and the

effects of drugs, hormones,

genetics and evolutionary

pressures.

Sample Question: How do

drug abuse, brain damage,

and exposures to

environmental toxins change

nervous system functioning

(and by extension,

behavior)?

o Cognitive Psychologist

A cognitive psychologist

studies the processes of

thinking and acquiring

knowledge.

Sample Question: What do

“experts” in a field know or

do that sets them apart from

other people?

o Social Psychologist

A social psychologist studies

how an individual influences

and is influenced by other

people

Sample Question: To what

degree to the demands and

expectations of authority

figures influence our

behavior? How strong is the

human tendency to conform?

o Developmental Psychologist

A developmental psychologist

studies the behavioral

capacities typical of different

ages and how behavior

changes with age.

Sample Question: What do

people do or know as adults

that they do not know as

children? Why did this

change occur? Was the

change due to biological

changes, increased

experience, or a combination

of these?

Service Providers to Individuals

o There are many types of

psychotherapists, professionals with

training in psychology who specialize

in helping people with psychological

problems, actually are trained in a

variety of disciplines.

o Clinical psychologists have advanced

degrees in psychology (PhD, PsyD),

with a specialty in understanding

and helping people with mental and

emotional problems.

They receive training in

intellectual and psychological

testing intended to aid in

diagnosis and treatment.

o Psychiatrists are trained as medical

doctors.

In addition to learning the

principles of psychology, they

are educated in how to use

prescription drugs to treat

psychological distress.

o Psychiatric nurses receive standard

nursing education plus additional

training in the care of emotionally

troubled individuals. They usually

work in medical clinics and hospitals.

o Psychiatric and clinical social

workers combine training in

traditional social work with

specialized knowledge of how to

treat emotionally disturbed people

and advocate for their well being

within the larger community.

o Psychoanalysts are psychotherapists

who use techniques that are based

on the theories and methods

pioneered by Sigmund Freud.

Freud believed that an

unconscious component of

the mind affects our

functioning in day-to-day life.

o Counseling psychologists have an

advanced degree in psychology and

help people with educational,

vocational, marriage, health, and

other important life decisions. They

receive training in therapy and some

types of psychological testing.

Service Providers to Organizations

o Forensic psychologists provide

advice and consultation to those

who work in the criminal justice

system.

o Industrial/Organizational

Psychologists study people’s

behavior in the workplace using a

combination of social, cognitive, and

motivational psychology principles,

and often employing psychological

tests.

Sample Question: Workers in

two separate departments at

an aerospace engineering

firm have started to withhold

information from each other

and this has been

detrimental to morale and

productivity. How can this

behavior be stopped without

terminating or reassigning

any employees?

o An ergonomist, or human factors

specialist, attempts to facilitate the

use of machinery and appliances so

that the average user can operate

them as efficiently and as safely as

possible.

Sample Question: How can

the design of a clerical

workstation in an office be

improved to minimize the

possibility of repetitive stress

related injuries occurring to

the employee who occupies

it?

o A school psychologist specializes in

the psychological condition of the

students, usually at the kindergarten

through secondary school levels.

They often use educational and

psychological tests to assist with

educational planning for individual

students.

Sample Question: Does a

fourth grade student whose

grades have been declining

over the past year have an

identifiable learning

disability, or is there an issue

related to the student’s

emotional well-being

affecting his performance?

Scientific Methods in Psychology

Psychologists cannot answer questions

based on beliefs, hearsay, rumor, or even

expert opinions

Folk Psychology

Psychology is a science

o Scientific method: A systematic

procedure of observing and

measuring phenomena (observable

things) to answer questions about

what happens, when it happens,

what causes it, and why. This

process involves a dynamic

interaction between theories,

hypotheses, and research methods.

There are 5 steps in the scientific method:

o Theory

o Hypothesis

o Testing the hypothesis

o Analyze the data

o Report results and embark on

further inquiry

Research design

o Descriptive -- Describe

Observational

Naturalistic Observation

Case Study

Self-report

o Correlational – Describe & Predict

o Experimental – Describe, Predict &

Explain

o Descriptive Methods Describe

What Is Happening

Observational

A research method

that uses systematic

and objective

description of what is

occurring

Naturalistic Observation:

Careful monitoring

and examination of

what people and

animals do under

more or less natural

circumstances.

Example: Dr. Jane

Goodall’s decades-

long observation of

chimpanzees in the

forest of Gombe,

recording their social

organization and

biological functioning.

Case Study:

A thorough

observation and

description of a single

individual,

appropriate only

when done for an

unusual condition or

circumstance.

Example: Example:

The case of Phineas

Gage, whose bizarre

and unfortunate

accident taught

medical doctors and

psychologists much

about the nature of

the prefrontal cortex

of the brain.

Self-report:

Survey, Interview

A survey is a study of

the prevalence of

certain beliefs,

attitudes, or

behaviors, based on

people’s responses to

specific questions.

Example: Example:

Albert Kinsey’s 1948

survey of the sexual

preferences and

habits of Americans

was ground breaking,

although not by any

means beyond

criticism.

A Few Concerns

About Self-report

Research:

o Problems with

obtaining a

random or

representative

sample

o Competence or

honesty of those

who respond

o The wording of

the questions

o Self-report bias

o Surveyor bias

o Correlation:

Correlation is a measure of

the relationship between two

variables which are both

outside of the investigator’s

control.

The numerical estimate of

the strength and direction of

a correlation is the

correlation coefficient.

The value of the correlation

coefficient can range from –

1.00 to +1.00.

The higher the absolute

value, the stronger the

relationship is, regardless of

the direction.

A negative correlation (-)

means that as one variable

increases, the other

decreases.

A positive correlation (+)

means that as one variable

increases, so does the other.

A zero or near zero

correlation means that the

variables have no

relationship; that changes in

one are not related to any

type of change in the other.

Some Problems with

Correlational Research:

Illusory Correlation:

An apparent

relationship based on

casual observations of

unrelated or weakly

related events.

Example: The belief

in “moon madness.”

The directionality

problem.

“Third Variable”

Correlation ≠

Causation:

Correlational research

only tells us if two

variables are related

and how strongly. It

does not tell us why.

Example: “The more

someone weighs, the

larger his or her

vocabulary is.” Do

you know why?

o Experiment:

A study in which the

investigator manipulates at

least one variable

(independent) while

measuring at least one other

variable (dependent).

Experimental methods test

causation.

Example: To test whether

the hormone adrenaline

enhances memory in

mammals, a researcher

teaches rats to run a maze.

She gives a randomly

selected portion of the rats a

drug to block production of

adrenaline. She then times

all the rats on the maze.

Example: A researcher wants

to know if men or women are

better at a particular set of

spatial relationship tasks. He

compares a randomly

selected group of 50 men

and 50 women on a test of

the task.

Example: A researcher wants

to know if a particular herbal

supplement is helpful for

improving memory. She

selects 100 college

sophomores who achieved

an average score on a

memory test, gives half of

them the herb for one

month, half of them an inert

pill, and then re-tests them

all.

Example: To test whether

the hormone adrenaline

enhances memory in

mammals, a researcher

teaches rats to run a maze.

She gives a randomly

selected portion of the rats a

drug to block production of

adrenaline. She then times

all the rats on the maze.

Other important terminology

Experimental group:

The set of individuals

who receive the

treatment that the

experiment is

designed to test.

Control group: The

individuals who are

treated in the same

way as the

experimental group

except for the

procedure that the

experiment is

designed to test.

Random selection: A

method that uses a

procedure based on

chance to select a

sample from a

population.

Random assignment:

A selection method

that assigns subjects

to groups using a

procedure based on

chance.

Operational

definition: Detailed

description of the

variables

Operational definition

Sometimes what we

study in psychology is

not tangible. We call

these “constructs”.

In order to accurately

measure these

constructs, we

develop behavioral or

observable definitions

of them.

We call these

definitions operational

definitions.

An operational

definition is a way to

give an intangible

idea a numerical

value

Operational definition

So if we are

investigating the

effect of watching

violence on television

on children’s

aggressive behavior:

We need to

operationalize

“violence” on

television.

We need to

operationalize

“aggressive

behavior.”

Violence might be

operationalized as

“the number of times

in a one-hour show

that one person

threatens or injures

another person.”

Aggressive behavior

might be

operationalized as

“the number of

insults, threats and

assaults by the

subject over a 24-

hour period after

watching a particular

television program.”

Populations & Samples

Usually in research

we are asking

questions that are

pertinent to a large

population of interest

such as:

o Seven to ten-

year-old children

o People diagnosed

with depression

But it is not practical

to study all the

individuals in the

population.

We take a relatively

small number of

observations or

individuals from the

population, and we

generalize from that

small number.

The small number of

individuals or

observations is called

a sample.

There are several

types of samples and

sampling procedures:

o A convenience

sample is a group

chosen because of

its ease of

availability and

study.

o A random sample

is one in which

every individual in

the population

has an equal

chance of being

selected.

Manipulation of Variables

Control is necessary

to determine causality

A properly performed

experiment depends

on rigorous control

Confound: Anything

that affects a

dependent variable

and that may

unintentionally vary

between the study’s

different experimental

conditions

Experimenter Bias

Because (fallible)

humans do the

research, we need to

keep in check the

various tendencies

that can lead to

erroneous research

findings or

interpretations of

findings.

Experimenter bias is

the tendency of an

experimenter to

unintentionally distort

the procedures or

results of an

experiment based on

the expected or

desired outcome of

the research.

For example: You are

a researcher testing

the hypothesis that

children who have

been diagnosed with

learning disabilities

(LD) are on average

more creative than

children who have no

diagnosis.

You may find it hard

to “ignore your

hypothesis” as you

observe the children

with LD going about

whatever tasks you

have devised to

operationalize

“creativity.”

Methods are used to

help counteract these

normal human

tendencies that

create bias:

o Using blind

observers who

record data

without knowing

what the

researcher is

studying.

o Using a placebo

control. A placebo

is a pill or other

sham treatment

that makes it

difficult for the

subjects (single-

blind) or the

subjects and

experimenter

(double-blind) to

know who has

received the

treatment and

who has not.

Demand Characteristics

Demand

Characteristics: Cues

that tell a subject

what is expected of

him or her, and what

the researcher hopes

to find.

Example: If the

subject knows that

the drug being tested

is supposed to

improve mood, he or

she may “feel better.”

Placebo Effect: When

people react to a

treatment they

believe they are

getting, but is not

actually being given.

o Example: A

patient feels

better when he

starts getting pills

for his illness that

he believes will

make him feel

better, but which

are in fact just

sugar pills.

Nocebo Effect: When

people don’t react to

a treatment they

believe they are not

getting, but is actually

being given.

o Example: A

patient still feels

pain after a shot

of morphine

because she

believes the shot

was an antibiotic.

Hawthorne Effect:

When people react to

any treatment.

o Example:

Employees at a

coffee shop can

make

mochachinoatos

faster after new

lights are

installed, because

they are told the

new lights will

improve their

productivity.

Clever Hans Effect:

When behavior

appears intelligent,

but it’s not. At least

not in the way you

thought it was.

o Example: A parrot

always says “very

pretty” to his

owner when she

wears a particular

blue dress. She

believes the

parrot is really

paying her a

compliment, when

in fact the parrot

has learned that if

he makes the

noise “very

pretty” when his

owner wears that

dress, he is likely

to get a cracker.