2018 lecture 2

The Complexities of Psychological Theories

• Psychology grapples with intricate human phenomena, leading to diverse theories.
• It's a relatively young science, under 200 years old.
• Psychological therapies are effective, but the underlying mechanisms aren't fully understood.
• Some therapies may prove ineffective over time, spurring the development of newer approaches.
• Competing theories attempt to explain phenomena like hypnosis, with ongoing research to uncover deeper understanding.

Neurotransmitter Imbalances: A Reevaluation

• The long-held belief that neurotransmitter imbalances cause mental disorders is being challenged.
• Recent evidence suggests a lack of credible support for this chemical imbalance theory.
• This doesn't deny the existence of psychological disturbances but questions a major explanatory theory.

Stress and Stomach Ulcers: A Historical Perspective

• Historically, stress was considered the primary cause of stomach ulcers.
• The prescribed treatment involved stress reduction and a bland diet.
• In the 1980s, an Australian physician discovered bacteria in the stomach of ulcer patients, suggesting a different cause.
• Initially met with skepticism, the physician ingested cultured bacteria himself, developing an ulcer and proving the bacterial link.
• This discovery significantly shifted the understanding and treatment of ulcers.

The Role of Theories in Research

• Theories guide research by generating specific questions.
• Experiments are designed to examine these questions in controlled settings.
• Published psychology articles often raise further questions, fueling ongoing research.

The Scientific Method and Hypothesis Generation

• The scientific method involves background research, hypothesis construction, experimentation, and reporting results.
• Sufficient background research is crucial, identifying key authors, references, and consistent findings.
• Science, including psychology, uses theories to explain and predict phenomena.

Theories of Personality: The Five-Factor Model

• The Five-Factor Theory is a current theory of personality, positing five broad traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
• Individuals possess these traits to varying degrees, shaping their unique personalities.

Applications of Prediction in Various Fields

• Law enforcement and armed forces use extensive vetting processes to predict candidate suitability.
• Graduate school admissions consider various factors to predict an applicant's success.
• Aptitude tests like the MCAT and LSAT predict performance in professional fields.

The Continuous Nature of Theory Development

• Theory development is an ongoing process of revision based on new evidence.
• Psychology maintains a cautious optimism and skepticism, constantly refining theories.
• Theories are modified with compelling information, and only unchanging theories become laws.

Defining a Scientific Theory

• A theory is an interrelated set of concepts explaining data and predicting future results.
• Good theories are descriptive, testable, and capable of predicting outcomes.
• Alien visitations are descriptive but lack testability.
• Theories should be parsimonious, embracing the simplest explanation.

Characteristics of Effective Theories

• Theories describe phenomena in detail and organize data into meaningful patterns.
• They generate testable hypotheses, although theories themselves aren't directly tested.
• Theories can be broad in scope, like personality theories applicable to everyone.
• Theories should be falsifiable, allowing for the possibility of being proven wrong.

Freud's Theory: A Case of Non-Falsifiability

• Freud's theory of personality, while broad, is not falsifiable.
• It relies on the concept of defense mechanisms, which are assumed to be present in everyone.
• This circular reasoning lacks a clear starting or ending point, leading to its limitations.
• Neo-Freudians built upon these limitations to develop their own theories and approaches.

Parsimony: The Simplest Explanation

• The simplest explanation is usually the correct one.
• Attributing crop circles to alien travel over vast distances is less parsimonious than attributing them to human creation with simple tools.

The Importance of Evidence-Based Reasoning

• Scientific inquiry requires objectivity and evidence-based conclusions.
• Beliefs should be supported by data and testable predictions.
• Flat Earth theories lack objective evidence, while contrail conspiracy theories lack sampled emissions data.

The Nature of Theories: Support and Revision

• Theories are not definitively true or false but are supported or unsupported by evidence.
• Consistent research results increase confidence in a theory.
• The general public often misunderstands theories, contrasting them with facts.

A Reevaluation of Neurotransmitter Imbalance Theory

• The idea that neurotransmitter levels are the sole cause of psychological disturbances needs reevaluation.
• Emerging evidence suggests that structural and functional changes is more relevant.

Key Aspects of Theories

• Theories are non-static and applicable to specific phenomena.
• They should allow for falsification and offer the simplest explanation.

Clever Hans: A Lesson in Skepticism

• Clever Hans, a horse that appeared to perform arithmetic, illustrates the need for skepticism.
• The horse was responding to subtle cues from its owner, nodding his head up and down in counting mode.
• When separated from the owner, Clever Hans lost its ability.

Assisted Communication: A Controversial Example

• Assisted communication, where facilitators help individuals with communication challenges, is controversial.
• When facilitators are removed and neutral parties introduced, communication often becomes nonsensical.
• This suggests that the facilitator, not the individual, is driving the communication.

Temperature and Aggression: A Testable Theory

• The theory that physiological systems become excited with temperature increases can be examined through the relationship between temperature and aggression.
• Violent acts reported to police can be correlated with seasonal temperature changes where after a certain point this relation stop because it is too hot to be outside.
• Research has confirmed this relationship up to a certain temperature threshold.

Hypothesis Generation and Experimentation

• A hypothesis is a tentative idea about variable relationships.
• Experiments either support or refute hypotheses, influencing the support for underlying theories.
• Crowding and task performance can be studied by comparing performance in close and spread-out groups.

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

• Scientific reports often state theories to explain existing knowledge.
• Predictions should align with expected and unexpected observations.
• Deduction goes from general to specific. Induction does the opposite.

Inclusion and Generalizability

• Science emphasizes induction, generalizing from specific observations.
• Psychology often studies undergraduates, requiring caution in generalizing results.
• Generalizability requires inclusion of diverse populations.

Operational Definitions and Testable Hypotheses

• IQ is an indirect measure, inferred from responses to questions.
• It provides one aspect of overall function and can be used to predict outcomes.
• Theories about cognitive and environmental influences can be tested through hypothesis.

Common Pitfalls in Scientific Inquiry

• Discard untestable concepts and claims lacking empirical support.
• Avoid dead ends, fringe topics, and wishful thinking.
• Be wary of claims with limited evidence, such as apple cider vinegar's purported health benefits.

The Importance of Replication and Extension

• Replicating studies strengthens confidence, while failure weakens it.
• Extending studies by exploring new facets adds value to the field.

The Schachner-Singer Experiment: Emotion and Arousal

• The Schachner-Singer experiment (1960s) explored how physiological arousal influences emotion.

• Participants injected with adrenaline or saline were exposed to euphoric or angry confederates.

• The study aimed to determine if arousal amplifies emotional responses dictated by environment.

• Ethical concerns and replication challenges surround the Schachner-Singer experiment.

The Importance of Multi-Study Evidence and Drug Study Bias

• Scientific conclusions require cumulative evidence rather than single studies.
• Drug studies often rely on male animal models, limiting the generalizability to women.
• Small sample sizes and limited populations hinder broad application of results.

Operational Definitions: Measuring Intangible Concepts

• Operational definitions translate abstract concepts into measurable terms.
• Frustration can be operationally defined through behaviors like button pressing.

Quantitative vs Qualitative Data

• Quantitative Measures how fast, slow how long.
• Qualitative is opinions and feelings.

Key Components of Research Articles

• Research article components include different areas like abstract, introduction, method, results, and discussion.
• APA is mainly the only one what use method not methods.

Abstract: Summarizing Research

• Abstracts contain a concise summary of the research.
• There should be about what's done, why, and how.

Introduction: Setting the Stage

• The introduction introduces the topic of the research.

Method: Providing Detail

• Give participant, measures, and procedure.

Results: Outcomes of Data

• If quantitative use data analyses with appropriate stats
• Qualitative use examples and frequncies

Discussion: Concluding Research Paper

• The discussion wraps up the research article.
• It concludes with agreeing, disagreeing, supporting, adding, and limitations.

The Importance of References

• Give credit to other sources when due.
• Give all possible information for finding those references like DOI, year, page, published.

Ways of Searching Publications

• PsychINFO provides publications with abstracts only
• PsychARTICLES are the artiles its self from publications.

What Should be Published and Known

• Free publications are PubMed, ERIC, MEDLINE, and More!
• There are also several review journals.

Sources and Articles

• Primary resources are research journal articles while secondary are textbook and new ones.

Framework: How to Use Research

• These are guides and overviews of how articles work and how to make them work.
• They can be different and should be compared against each other.

Appendices of Research

• Used so we can see different stimuli, computer screens and more!
• They can be hard to find due to unwritten rule.