Unit 1: History and Approaches

Psychology: scientific study of observable behavior and mental processes


GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY: 

  1. Describe behavior 

  2. Explain behavior

  3. Predict behavior

  4. Control behavior

    1. Basic approach (builds knowledge)

    2. Applied research (used to solve a problem or accomplish a goal)

Biopsychosocial Model 

  • Behavior or mental processes

  1. Biological Influences: brain injuries (CTE), hormones, chemical imbalances, genetics, mental illnesses

  2. Psychological Influences: emotional regulation, coping skills, stress levels 

  3. Social-cultural influences: bullying, environmental triggers, social media, family, trauma, friend influences


Early Psychology (late 1800s-early 1900s)

  1. Psychoanalysis (Freud)  → wasn't scientific 

    1. First major attempt to explain behavior 

    2. Focus on unconscious motives and early childhood 

    3. First to put the MIND in psychology

  2. Gestalt Psychology

    1. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”

    2. Early research on perception which foreshadowed the later study of cognition

Behaviorism (1920s-1960s)

  1. Watson and Skinner

    1. Argued psychology should only study observable behavior 

    2. Stimulus→response (mind is blackbox)

    3. First to approach psychology as a SCIENTIFIC FIELD and used experimental methods

    4. Ended around 1960s

    5. Conditioning→ Pavlov - Baby Alfred

The Cognitive Revolution (1960s onwards)

  • Psychologists realized behavior cant be explained without studying mental processes 

  • Brought the mind back into psych but with scientific rigor 

  • Mind is treated like an information processor (like a computer)


7 Approaches 

  1. Psychodynamic

    1. Individuals are in conflict due to opposing demands made by different parts of the personality. Behavior is largely determined by unconscious forces

    2. THE INDIVIDUAL IS SHAPED BY EARLY EXPERIENCES 

    3. Disturbance or neurosis caused by unresolved conflicts stemming from childhood 

  2. Cognitive 

    1. The human mind is like a computer. 

    2. People are INFORMATIVE PROCESSORS: selecting, coding, storing, and retrieving information when needed. 

    3. Memory, perception and learning are central 

    4. UNREALISTIC OR IRRATIONAL IDEAS AND BELIEFS ABOUT SELF AND OTHERS 

  3. Behavioral 

    1. Behavior is shaped by environmental forces and is a collection of learned stimuli

    2. DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS ARE SELECTIVELY REINFORCED AT DIFFERENT AGES 

    3. The learning of maladaptive responses or failure to learn adaptive ones in the first place 

  4. Social Cultural 

  5. Humanistic 

    1. Individual is unique, free, rational and self-determining 

    2. Ability to accept oneself, realize one’s potential, achieve intimacy with others, and to find meaning in life 

    3. Satisfaction of lower level needs as prerequisites for high-level needs 

    4. Anxiety stems from DENYING PART OF SELF 

  6. Biological 

    1. Behavior is determined by genetic, physiological, and neurobiological factors and processes 

    2. Stages of development based on CHANGES IN BRAIN GROWTH

  7. Evolutionary


SUBFIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic research: builds upon scientific knowledge 

  1. Biological psychologists

  2. Developmental psychologists

  3. Educational psychologists

  4. Personality psychologists

  5. Social psychologists

Applied Research: aims to apply knowledge in solving problems 

  1. Industrial-organizational- optimizing behavior in the workplace (Human factors psychology)

  2. Counseling psychology

  3. Clinical psychology- typically PhD; focuses more on therapy, cannot prescribe medication 

  4. Psychiatry: physicians; can prescribe medication 

  5. Positive psychology: leading people to living a good life; helping people thrive 

  6. Community psychology


Research Methods

  1. Why do we need science

    1. Hindsight bias

    2. Seeing order in random events

    3. Overconfidence 

  2. Terms and Concepts

    1. Researcher Bias

      1. Confirmation bias: tendency to look for, interpret or recall info that confirms existing belief 

      2. Leading/loaded questions

      3. Wording/framing effects

      4. Anchoring effect: giving a piece of info and it affects your later perception

    2. Participant Bias

      1. Demand characteristics: when participants act a specific way because they thought they had to 

  3. 4 Types of Research Methods 

    1. Descriptive Methods: good at describing but not explaining what it is 

      1. Naturalistic observation: observing subject in natural habitat without inference 

        1. Pro: Watches and gives info easily

        2. Con: Limited, some things you cannot observe, can’t add variables

      2. Case Study: intensive research on one or more participants

        1. Pro: lot of info, unique things that are unpractical or unethical in a lab experiment 

        2. Con: no generalizability

      3. Correlational methods:

        1. Measures the relationship between two variables. It can suggest a correlation between 2 variables

        2. Correlation does not infer causation

        3. Illusory Correlation: ice cream and drowning, related to summer not caused by one another

      4. Experimental Method 

        1. Testing in a lab setting- allowing researchers to have control

        2. Independent variable is manipulated→ allows you to infer causation

        3. Dependent variable is measured 

  4. Experimental Method

    1. Terms and Concepts 

      1. Hypothesis: falsifiable 

      2. Population vs. sample: representation sample allows for generalizability (Sample: a part of the population. Used in testing but is representative Population: all the people it affects)

      3. Variables: independent, dependent, confounding 

      4. Operational Definitions (allow for replication: very specific so people can replicate it 

      5. Experimental Group vs Control Group (random assignment) 

      6. Double Blind (researcher doesn't know who is either) vs. single blind (participants don't know what group they're in)

      7. Validity: does the experiment measure what it intends to measure 

  5. APA Ethical Guidelines

    1. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) screens procedure for review before accepting them 

    2. 4 Guidelines

      1. Informed Consent and the right to withdraw

      2. Protecting from Harm (Beneficence)

      3. Confidentiality

      4. Debriefing: after the study, remind them  about the study and offer care for any harm and allow them to see the results of the study

    3. Deception: when you lie about what the study is about. Only allowed when: 

      1. Absolutely necessary to protect the integrity of the experiment

      2. Fairly benign (not causing pain or distress)

      3. Must be thoroughly explained in debriefing and they have the right to withdraw

  6. Statistics 

    1. Descriptive Statistics

      1. Measures of Central Tendency

        1. Mean

        2. Mode 

        3. Median 

      2. Measures of Dispersion

        1. Range

        2. Standard Deviation 

    2. Correlations 

      1. A correlation is the statistical relationship between two variables 

      2. A positive correlation means that both variables move in the same direction

      3. A negative correlation means the variables move in opposite directions

      4. Correlations are usually shown with all the data points laid out on a scatter plot

      5. When looking at a scatter plot, we can tell the general direction of a correlation (positive or negative)

      6. Visually, the closer the points congregate along a positive or negative line, the stronger the correlation is 

      7. If the points are scattered so that there is no discernible pattern, then there is likely no correlation

    3. Correlation Coefficient 

      1. R is a statistical value which represents the correlation coefficient 

      2. The correlation coefficient tells us the strength of the correlation (strong or weak) and the direction of the correlation

      3. A perfect correlation is either -1 or 1 

      4. No correlation is 0 

      5. The closer r is to 0, the weaker it is 

    4. Problematic Correlations

      1. Spurious Correlations occur when two variables are mathematically related but not causally related. Correlation does not equal causation 

      2. Illusory Correlation: occurs when two variables are perceived to have a relationship when there is no logical reason for them to be correlated 

    5. Normal Distribution

      1. A standard against which other curves are measured

      2. A hypothetical line that cannot really exist: assumed that 100% of the population has been tested on a scale that is 100% valid and 100% reliable 

      3. In a perfect normal distribution, mean, median and mode are all the same 

      4. Standard deviation: value that describes data spread or variability from the mean 

      5. They can be negatively skewed, normal, or positively skewed 

    6. Graphs

      1. Histogram: solely quantitative data and is continuous 

      2. Bar Graph: qualitative, categorical, gap between bars 

      3. Frequency Polygon 

    7. Inferential Statistics

      1. Statistical Significance: “Is what I am seeing the result of chance?”

      2. Effect Size: “How BIG is the effect I’m seeing"