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What is psychology?
The scientific study of mind & behavior
Both natural science (biological) and social science (influenced socially)
Theory
The best understanding of the natural world
What is psychological science based on?
Empirical evidence & measurable data
Empirical method
Based on observation, experimentation, rather than only logical arguments or previous authorities.
Tangible and replicable evidence
What are aspects of critical thinking?
Abstract reasoning, skepticism, recognizing personal biases, logical thinking & observations
Wilhem Wundt
1832
First psychologist
defined psychology as the conscious experience
Introspection
Believed in free will of patients in experimentation to understand intentions
Observed basic experiences (pain, pressure temp) by scientific processes
Scientific process in psych
Scientific method prevents us from fooling ourselves: subjective, bias, memory
Objective to base future scientific knowledge upon
conformation bias
seeks answer & evidence to support preexisting beliefs
distorts information
belief perseverance
persists your idea although contradicting evidence is presented
naive realism
assuming ones experiences & perception are common to all
eg: feels still-earth is moving, earth seems flat
systemic observation
involves a scale and physiological measures
eg: how to measure attraction
Structuralism
by Edward Titchener (Wundt’s student)
Contents of mental processes rather than their function
basic elements of consciousness
Studied reaction time from a stimulus
Functionalism
William James, John Dewey, and Charles Sanders Peirce
Inspired by Darwin: Natural selection
Seeks to understand adaptive purpose of psychological characteristics
Mental processes that allow for an organism to fit/survive in environment
Eg: Why do we get jealous?
Opposite of structuralism: focus on the mind as a whole instead of individual parts
Critique of Structuralism
Introspection remained subjective due to little agreement between individuals
Limited knowledge of own behavior
Introspection has bias
reflexivity: behavior changes when being observed
Psychoanalytic Theory
Sigmund Freud
Unconscious mind causes behavioral problems
Treatment of psychological disorders by focuses on unconscious mind and early childhood experiences
Mostly discredited due to lack of testability
Ivan Pavlov
1849–1936
Early study of behaviorism
Classical conditioning
Reaction to a stimulus to produce a reaction. Works with similar stimuli
Eg: Salivation response in dogs when hearing the bell
John B. Watson
1878-1958
BEHAVOIRISM
Believed consciousness was flawed objective analysis of the mind was impossible,
Anything inside of the mind is outside scientific study
Focus on observable behavior such as punishment and reward
Common in animals
Behaviorism
focus on observing and controlling behavior
Established psychology as a scientific discipline
used in cognitive behavioral therapy and classroom setting
BF. Skinner
1904-1990
Behaviorist
Reinforcement and punishment driving behavior
Skinner box: animal pushes button receiving food or noise
Humanism
Psychologists felt that behaviorism was pessimistic and simplified
Perspective within psychology that emphasizes the innate potential for good in all humans
Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
Qualitative research on happiness, self-concept, meditation
Deterministic
all actions driven by the unconscious
Behaviorism is deterministic at its core: human behavior as determined by genetics and environment
Abraham Maslow
(1908–1970)
Hierarchy of human needs
basic needs: shelter food water
higher level needsL moticate beahoir
highest is self acrualization:
Carl Rogers
(1902–1987)
Therapeutic technique known as client-centered therapy
Client takes a lead role in therapy session
Therapist needs to display: unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy
Client center session commonly used today
The Cognitive Revolution
1950s
Work of humanists redirected psychology away from behaviorists external study and back the the human
Linguistics, neuroscience and computer science influenced the study of the mind
interdisciplinary approach: the cognitive sciences
Reestablish collaboration between European and American psychologists
Noam Chomsky
Influential in cognitive revolution
American linguist
Believed psychology’s focus on behavior was limited and must integrate mental functioning
Mary Whiton Calkins
completed all requirements towards PhD in psychology
Harvard refused to award her because she was a woman
First woman president of American Psychological Association
Studied memory and consciousness
Margret Floyd Washburn
1st woman to obtain pHD
Studied animal cognition
Ruth Howard
1st African American woman to complete psych doctorate
Developmental history of triplets
Why is Psychology difficult?
Behavior is difficult to predict
Behavior is multiply determined (caused by many factors)
Individuals are different in groups
Influences go unnoticed
Determinants are not independant
Concepts are ill defined eg: love
Particapants act diffrently when being studied
Cocktail party Effect
Brain can filter and process many things without it being the main form of information
Eg: when you are not paying attention and someone mentions your name, you are then focused onto that
American Psychological Association (APA)
professional organization representing psychologists in the United States
biopsychology
study of how biology influences behavior
biopsychosocial model
perspective that asserts that biology, psychology, and social factors interact to determine an individual’s health
clinical psychology
area of psychology that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and other problematic patterns of behavior
cognitive psychology
study of cognitions, or thoughts, and their relationship to experiences and actions
counseling psychology
area of psychology that focuses on improving emotional, social, vocational, and other aspects of the lives of psychologically healthy individuals
developmental psychology
scientific study of development across a lifespan
dissertation
long research paper about research that was conducted as a part of the candidate’s doctoral training
empirical method
acquiring knowledge based on:
observation
experimentation
rather than a method based only on forms of logical argument or previous authorities
forensic psychology
area of psychology that applies the science and practice of psychology to issues within and related to the justice system
functionalism
focused on how mental activities helped an organism adapt to its environment
introspection
process by which someone examines their own conscious experience in an attempt to break it into its component parts
personality psychology
study of patterns of thoughts and behaviors that make each individual unique
personality trait
consistent pattern of thought and behavior
sport and exercise psychology
focuses on the interactions between mental and emotional factors and physical performance in exercise
Gestalt psychology
Influential in Europe
Wertheimer, Koffka, and Köhler immigrated to the US due to Nazi power
Brough ideas of sensation and perception US
early 20th century
I/O Psychology
industrial and organizational psychologist
focus on the behavior of employees in the workplace
deductive reasoning
ideas are tested with real world observations
begins with a generalization- hypothesis
then used to reach logical conclusion
eg: all living things require energy to survive. ducks are living things, therefore ducks require energy to survive
inductive reasoning
real-world observations lead to new ideas
empirical observations to conduct broad generalizations
used to formulate theories which are then tested with deductive reasoning
eg: apples and oranges grow on trees therefore all fruits grow on trees
hypothesis
testable prediction about how the world will
Naturalistic Observation
Ensure researchers presence is not felt during a study
observing behavior in its natural setting
eg: mics on kids at a playground to observe the others
provides higher degree of validity and realism
rules out observation bias (acting differently when being studied)
Difficult to set up and control
observer bias
people who act as observers are closely involved in the research project may unconsciously skew their observations to fit their research goals
surveys
larger sample size
information may be inaccurate: lie, misremember, answer differently
archival research.
relies on looking at past records or data sets to look for interesting patterns or relationships.
Longitudinal research
data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time.
survey a group of individuals about their dietary habits at age 20, retest them a decade later at age 30, and then again at age 40.
cross-sectional research
researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time.
researcher might directly compare different groups of people by age.
Correlation
there is a relationship between two or more variables
does not mean cause and effect
when one variable changes, so does the other
from -1 to +1, represented as the letter r
positive correlation
variables move in the same direction.
one variable decreases so does the other
eg: exercise increases health benefits
negative correlation
variables move in opposite directions
eg: the later you wake up, the lower the likelihood of catching the bus
confounding variable
other variable that may distort or mask the effects of another variable
cause and effect
correlation does not equal causation
seems clear and intuitive but is merely an assumption
Illusory Correlations
false correlations, occur when people believe that relationships exist between two things when no such relationship exists
eg: astrology
expermiental resresearch
controlling the environment establish causation
manipulate variables
variables need to be equivalent (same age, same up brining
requires: manipulation of potential factors affecting behavior
measurement of behavior
controlling all aspects
Designing an Experiment
experimental group: gets the experimental manipulation
control group: receives no manipulation
changes presented are due to experimental manipulation rather than chance
Experimenter bias
refers to the possibility that a researcher’s expectations might skew the results of the study
single-blind study
meaning that one of the groups (participants) are unaware as to which group they are in (experiment or control group)
double-blind study
both the researchers and the participants are blind to group assignments.
independent variable
manipulated or controlled by the experimenter
random assignment
eg: learning style
Dependent variable
researcher measures to see how much effect the independent variable had
controlled results
eg: learning exhibited by participants
placebo effect
people's expectations or beliefs influence or determine their experience
statistical analysis
analysis determines how likely it is that any difference found is due to chance (not valid)
eg: same results with placebo and not= not effective
statstically signficant if “false positive” claims 5% or less
Reliability
ability to consistently produce a given result.
inter-rater reliability (diffrent items on a survey correlate)
internal consistency (diffrent items on a survey)
test-retest reliability (consistancy)
Validity
the extent to which a given instrument or tool accurately measures what it’s supposed to measure
ecological reliability (if captures real world)
construct validity (if captures goal of measurement)
face validity (seems valid on the surface)
institutional review board (IRB)
any research upon humans must have acess to an IRB
review proposals for research that involves human
informed consent form
a written description of what participants can expect during the experiment, including risks
Deception
can be necessary to preserve the experiment
maintains integrity of experience
not harmful
debriefing must be provided upon conclusion
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
ensures that all experimental proposals require the humane treatment of animal research subjects.
clinical case study
studying few individuals for extended period of time
depth of information
generalization is problematic
operational definition
description of what actions and operations will be used to measure the dependent variables and manipulate the independent variables
natural selection
organisms that are better suited for their environment will survive and reproduce
Evolutionary psychology
psychological phenomena
may have evolved as adaptations, including fear response, food preferences, mate selection, and cooperative behaviors
behavioral geneticists
individual differences arise, in the present, through the interaction of genes and the environment.
genetic variation
contributes to a species adaptation to its environment
human: begins with 100 million sperm, fertilization and egg
Chromosomes
23 pairs of chromosomes
long strings of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
make up genes that control visible traits
allele
specific version of a gene
eg: gene code for blue eyes
genotype
genetic makeup of the individual
phenotype
inherited physical characteristics
combination of genetic and environmental influence
homozygous
having 2 copies of the same allele
BB
heterozygous
combination of alleles for a gene
Bb
dominant allele
results in phenotype if one dominant allele is present
Bb BB
recessive
results in phenotype only if homozygous with recessive allele
“bb”
sickle cell anemia
Pairing of 2 RESSIVE GENES
heterozygous carriers: develop blood resistance to malaria
homozygous: can die due to sickle cell presence
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
recessive
(each parents must have at least one recessive allele)
condition in which individuals lack an enzyme that normally converts harmful amino acids into harmless byproducts.
untreated results in reduced cognitive functioning, seizures, increased risk of psychiatric disorders
Polygenic
controlled by more than one gene.
eg: height, skin color, weight
mutation
sudden, permanent change in a gene
cons: can be harmful or lethal
pros: gene variability in a population, advantage over those without mutation
gene diversity
without diversity, a drastic change in the environment would cause the same reaction throughout the population
allow individuals to preform better (creates advantages and disadvantages)
Range of reaction
genes set the boundaries for our capabilities, environment dictates our potential within such range
eg: being born with intellect but raised without stimulation
some disagree: genes do not set a limit on a persons potential, reaction norms are by environment
abuse/neglect resulting in psychological conditions in life