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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.