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Definition of psychology
study of behavior and mental processes
What did psychology develop from?
physiology and philosophy
What is the timeline of psychology?
1900 - study of consciousness
1920 - study of behavior
1960 - study of mental processes
1980 - study of behavior and mental processes
What is behavior?
anything an organism does
What are mental processes?
any internal, private, experiences
What are the four goals of psychology?
describe, explain, predict, and change behavior and mental processes
What are the three major ideas of the scientific method?
Theory
Hypothesis
Replication
What is a theory?
set of concepts, principles, ideas, etc. that organize and explain data
What is the basis for a hypothesis?
a theory
What is a hypothesis?
a testable question
What is replication?
getting the same results more than once, preferably by a different researcher
How do you use the scientific method in psychology?
Formulate a research question
Develop a testable hypothesis
Test hypothesis
Draw conclusions
Make findings available to others
Apply to the development of theory
What are the research methods used to collect data?
experiment
observation
case study
interview or survey
biological measures
some combination of the above methods
What is skepticism?
doubt; the idea of critical thinking
Who had the 1st psychological laboratory that published?
Wilhelm Wundt
Where was the 1st publishing psychological laboratory located?
Leipzig Germany
What was Wilhelm Wundt known for?
speed of thought experiment (pendulum that measured reaction time)
What are the most important historical schools of psychology?
structuralism
functionalism
gestalt psychology
Who formed the school of structuralism?
Edward Titchener
What is structuralism?
determine WHAT consciousness was by determining the basic elements of consciousness
What are the elements of consciousness?
the basic building blocks of thought
What is introspection?
self-report of experience
What method did Titchener use to determine the basic elements of consciousness?
introspection
What were the issues with structuralism?
Titchener was the final authority
Introspection is not always accurate
Titchener ended with thousands of elements of consciousness, way too many to be useful
Who formed functionalism?
William James
What is functionalism?
determine WHY people were conscious
What is the stream of consciousness?
consciousness is about the big picture rather than the elements that make it up
What does the stream of consciousness indicate?
consciousness can never be understood just by understanding the “pieces”
consciousness can never be completely captured
trying to stop consciousness to understand it changes the nature of consciousness
Who founded Gestalt psychology?
Wertheimer, Kohler, Koffka
What is Gestalt psychology?
experiences are perceived as wholes rather than individual parts
What is famous phrase in Gestalt psychology?
“the whole is greater/other than the sum of its parts”
What is the phi phenomenon?
the perception of movement when it did not occur
What are the current perspectives of psychology?
behaviorism
psychoanalysis
humanistic
cognitive
biological
evolutionary
cultural
Who founded behaviorism?
John Watson
What is behaviorism?
all behavior is learned through conditioning
What is behaviorism also known as?
stimulus - response psychology
Who founded psychoanalysis?
Sigmund Freud
What is psychoanalysis?
childhood experiences and unconscious conflicts affect our personalities and behaviors
Who founded humanistic psychology?
Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
What is humanistic psychology?
humans are innately good and strive to better themselves and society
What is humanistic psychology also known as?
positive psychology
Who founded cognitive psychology?
number of individuals
What time period is the “cognitive revolution?”
late 1950s and early 1960s
What is cognitive psychology?
thought and thinking processes
What is learning?
behavior; what you can do
What is cognitive?
thought process; anything that goes on in your mind
What is biological psychology?
the physical workings of the nervous system and how it results in behavior
What is evolutionary psychology?
natural selection, adaptation, and evolution of behavior patterns
What is cultural psychology?
behavior is influenced by the cultural context
How many divisions of psychology are there?
50+
Where do psychologists work?
academia
clinical settings
business and government
schools
What degree does a clinical psychologist have?
Ph.D.
Psy.D.
Ed.D.
Who can prescribe medications?
psychiatrist
What degree does a psychiatrist have?
M.D.
What are psychoanalysts?
psychiatrists with a specialization in psychoanalysis
What degree does a social worker have?
M.S.W.
What degree does a counselor have?
M.A.
Inductive reasoning
creating a general conclusion from specific observations
Deductive reasoning
deriving a specific conclusion based on a general principle
Basic research
conducted for knowledge’s sake alone
Applied research
Conducted to solve a real-world problem
Experimental studies
research design in which the researcher CONTROLS and MANIPULATES variables to determine cause-and effect relationships
What is the only research design that can make causal statements?
Experimental studies
Descriptive studies
research design in which the research describes the relationship between variables
Can descriptive studies determine cause-and-effect relationships?
No
What are all the parts of an experiment?
independent variable
dependent variable
experimental condition
control condition
random sample
Independent variable
variable that is controlled by the experimenter (the “cause”)
Dependent variable
variable that is measured (the “effect”)
Experimental condition
condition in which the participants are exposed to the independent variable
Control condition
Condition in which the participants are NOT exposed to the independent variable
Random sample
every member of the population of interest has an equal chance of being selected as a participant AND to be placed in the experimental and control conditions
Good points of experimental studies
ONLY way to determine cause-and-effect
Bad points of experimental studies
lacks ecological validity
experimenter/participant bias
difficulty with operational definitions
ethnocentrism
random sampling is difficult
What are the types of descriptive research?
naturalistic observation
surveys + tests
case studies
Naturalistic observation
systematic recording of behavior in participant’s natural state or habitat
Good points of naturalistic observation
ecological validity
may see unexpected behaviors
Bad points of naturalistic observation
no cause-and-effect
time-consuming
experimenter bias
subject reactivity
difficult to use with rarely-occurring behaviors
Surveys + tests
sample behaviors and attitudes of a participant
Good points of surveys + tests
quick and easy
large amount of data in a short time
Bad points of surveys + tests
no cause-and-effect
ambiguity of questions
framing of questions to lead participants to wanted answers
difficult to compare responses
use of forced-choice questions
sample bias
no way to determine truthfulness of replies
Case studies
in-depth study of a single research study (or very few), usually over many years or a life-time
Good points of case studies
great for very rare behaviors or conditions
Bad points of case studies
no cause-and-effect
lack of generalization from single subject to population as a whole
Correlational
a statistical method used to describe the relationship between variables
Correlation coefficient
the number that is generated by statistical analysis of descriptive data
What does the correlation coefficient indicate about the relationship between variables?
strength of the relationship
direction of the relationship
Strength
how closely related the two variables are
|0.00|
no relationship
|1.00|
perfect relationship
|0.20 - 0.30|
slight relationship
|0.30 - 0.40|
moderate relationship
|0.60+|
strong relationship
Direction
indicates how the variables are related
Positive correlation
the changes in both variables occur in the same direction (++ or --)
Negative correlation
the changes in the variables occur in the opposite direction (+-)
Does correlation equal causation?
Correlation does NOT equal causation
Confounding variable
a third, unknown variable that is the cause of the relationship
Illusory correlation
detected relationship between two variables when there is no relationship between them
What is superstitious behavior considered?
illusory correlations
Confirmation bias
the tendency to seek information which agrees with what one already believes to be true
Note 
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