Psychology Chapter 1

Psychology

The scientific study if the mind, brain, and behaviour

__ are the most recognizable names when thinking of who is psychology.

Men

how many years has psychology been around

130

__ and __are hard to distinguish

Psychology and Philosophy

In the past psychology was only _ and lacked _

clinically based, experiments

people were fascinated with what two thing. But with research there was not __

Spirit mediums and psychics. No proof

Wilhelm Wundt (3)

• Beginning of psychology as a science

• Research focused on mental experiences

• Introscpection

who developed the first psych kab in Leipzig Germany?

Wilhelm Wundt

example of mental experiences

how long it takes us to react to sound

introspection

trained observers carefully reflect and report on their mental experiences (thoughts and feelings)

example of introspection

I am in a room with 100 snakes. What thoughts and emotions would I be feeling.

5 schools of psychology

• structuralism

• funcitonalism

• behaviourism

• psychoananlysis

• congitivism

E.B. TItchner (2)

• Structuralism

• Build on introspection which he thought could provide all of the information needed for a complete science of psychology

who was a british student of Wundts and immigrated to the states?

E.B Titchner

Structuralism

identify the basic elements of psychological experience

2 major problems with structuralism and say what they mean

1) Highly subjective - cannot agree on reports

2) Imageless though - some aspects lie outside of conscious awerness.

William James (2)

• “Stream of consciousness”

• Functionalism

Who was the first to teach psych courses in the states

William James

Who was the founder of american psychoogy

William James

stream of consciousness

persons thought and conscious reactions to events, perceived as a continuous flow (almost never stop thinking)

Functionalism

understand the adaptive purposes of psychological characteristics

difference between structuralist and functionalist

structuralist ask WHAT and functionalist ask WHY

Charles Darwin

Natural selection

Natural Selection

organisms that possess adaptions, survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other organisms.

who believed that natural selection applied to psychological characteristics too

Functionalists

Which two scientists were leading psychology down a misguided path

Titchner and James

John B. Watson (2)

• Behaviourism

• First to proclaim that psychology should be as scientific as physics, chemistry, and other “hard” sciences

Behaviourism

uncovering the general laws of learning by looking at observabel behaviour

where was behaviourism most dominant and then who also accepted it

North america, europe

Sigmund Freud (2)

• psychoanalysis

• uncounscious drives (sexual and agression)

psychoanalysis

internal psychological processes of which we are unaware.

psychoanalysis is opposite of

structuralism

example of a freud thought

called teacher mom because they remind us of our mom

what two scientists acknowledged psych is not always observable or unconcious

Watson and Freud

Jean Piaget and Ulric Neisser (3)

• cognitivism

• how people evaluate and interpret information is a critic component of their behaviour

cognitivism today

It is a thriving approach

Cognitivism

thinking is central to understanding behaviour

example of cognitivism

Student gets B+ on first exam. Is that good or bad? Based on interpretation.

why is psych refered to as multi disciplinary

Has 5 schools of psychology

how many psychologists are worldwide

500 000

How many members does the CPA have

More than 6000 members

What is canadas largest association of psychology?

CPA

When was CPA founded

1938

What does CPA stand for

Canadian Psychological Association

Canadian Psychological Associate provides:

high quality services

objective of CPA

improve health and wellfair of all canadians. Promote exellence in psychology research, education, practice, and research.

8 types of psychologists

1 Clinical uofr

2 experimental uofr

3 counselling

4 school

5 developmental

6 biological

7 forensic

8 industrial - organization

what do clinical psychologist do 2

• Assess, diagnose, and treat mental disorders

• conduct research on people with mental disorders

Where do clinical psychologists work 4

Colleges, Universities, mental health centers, private practices

experimental psychologist

experimental studies on memory, language, thinking, and social behaviours of

humans

where do experimental psychologists work 2

research settings and universities

Counselling Psychologist 2

• Marital, sexual, occupational stressor, career uncertaincy

• Counsel people experiencing temporary or relatively self-contained life problems

where do counselling psychologist work 3

counselling centres, hospitals, or private practices

School Psychologist 2

• Assist teachers, parents, and children to improve students’ behavioural, emotional, and learning difficulties

• Faculty of education rather than arts.

where do school psychologist work

• schools or universities

Developmental Psychologist 1

• Study people’s emotional, physiological, and cognitive processes and how/why these

change with age

where do Developmental Psychologist work 2

• private practices or universities

Misconception about developmental psychologists

They only work with children

Biological Psychologist

• Examine the physiological bases of behaviour in animals and humans

where do Biological Psychologist work 2

• research settings or universities

Forensic Psychologist 2

• Assess and diagnose inmates and assist with their rehabilitation and treatment

• research on eyewitness testimony or jury decision making

where do forensic psychologist work 3

• prisons, jails, and universities

Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 2

• hire productive employees, evaluate performance, examine the effects of different working or living conditions on people’s behaviour

• Design equipment to maximize employee performance and minimize accidents

where do Industrial-Organizational Psychologist work

• companies and businesses

What makes Psychology so challenging (5)

1. Difficult to predict

2. Psychological influences are rarely independent of

each other

3. Influenced by our thinking, emotion, personality, and

behaviour

4. Influenced by each other

5. Influenced by culture

example of how Psychological influences are rarely independent of each other

Why someone has an eating disorder - body imagine, role model etc.

Scientific theory definition

explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world, including the psychological world

importance of scientific theory

generates predictions based on new data that we have not observed yet and can be tested

hypothesis

testable prediction derived from a scientific theory

design of wason selection task

4 cards and each has a number on one side and a letter on the other

hypothesis of wason selection task

all cards have a vowel on one side and an odd umber of the other

procedure of wason selection task

Can only turn over 2 out of the 4 cards

confirmation bias

seek out evidence that supports our hypotheses and deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that contradicts them

belief perseverance

stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them

why do we partake in belief persverance

we do not want to be wrong

Pseudoscience

claims that seem scientific but are not

what two things are more prone in pseudoscience

confirmation bias and belief perseverance

7 warning signs of pseudoscience

1. Exaggerated claims

2. Overreliance on anecdotes

3. Absence of connectivity to other research

4. Lack of review by other scholars (called peer review) or

replication by independent labs

5. Lack of self-correction when contrary evidence is published

6. Meaningless “psychobabble” that uses fancy scientific-sounding

terms that don’t make sense

7. Talk of “proof” instead of “evidence”

exaggerated claims

self help books but in reality 95% have never been tested

Overreliance on anecdotes

This woman practiced yoga daily for three weeks and has not had a day of depression since!

Absence of connectivity to other research

Amazing new innovations in research have shown that eye massage results in reading speeds 10x faster than average! But where is the connection between these 2 ideas?

Apophenia

Perceiving meaningful connections among unrelated and even random phenomena

Example of apophenia

Thinking about and old friend and then receiving a call from them the next day and saying they must be connected

Pareidolia

Seeing meaningful images in meaningless stimuli - there is no connection

example of pareidolia

Looking at clouds and perceiving it as the shape of an animal

Lack of review by other scholars (called peer review) or replication by independent labs

Andrew Wakefield claimed there was a link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism but it had never been replicated.

In order for results to be considered legit what but be done?

results must be replicated

Lack of self-correction when contrary evidence is published

Andrew Wakefield with the autism and vaccines - the results cannot be replicated because he made them up.

what was the end result of Andrew Wakefield and why did he lie?

He lost his medical license. He was paid to prove it was unsafe.

Where was Andrew Wakefield first seen after hiding?

Donald Trump

Meaningless “psychobabble” that uses fancy scientific-sounding terms that don’t make sense

sounds too professional and unecesairy wording that does not always make sense.

Talk of “proof” instead of “evidence”

“Our new program is proven to reduce social anxiety by at least 50%!”

What word do researchers not use?

Proven

Logical Fallacies

deception in thinking that can lead to mistaken conclusions

3 types of logical fallacies

1. Emotional Reasoning Fallacy

2. Bandwagon Fallacy

3. Not Me Fallacy

Emotional Reasoning Fallacy

using our emotions as guides for evaluating the validity of a claim

Just because a scientific claim makes us feel uncomfortable or indigent does not mean

it is wrong

Bandwagon Fallacy

assuming that a claim is correct just because many people believe it

2 example of bandwagon fallacy

believe the sun revolved around the earth because it was “common knowledge” and the length of the lines

Not Me Fallacy

believe that we are immune from errors in thinking that afflict other people