Scientific Foundations of Psychology

Psychologists Major Approaches

Structuralism - the structure (parts and how they fit together) of the mind, accomplished through introspection (self-reflection)

• introduced by Wilhelm Wundt and other early psychologists

Functionalism - what does the mind do and allow the person to do? also concerned with adaptation and survival (influenced by Darwin)

• introduced by William James as a response to structuralism

Psychodynamic - division of consciousness into conscious and subconscious

• emphasizes that subconscious thoughts and conflicts are at the root of most problems
• Major Psychologists: Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Carl Jung

Behaviorism - studying outward behavior, learning, and condition

• de-emphasizes thoughts and free will

• Major Psychologists: John B Watson, Ivan Pavlov, B F Skinner, Edward Thorndike

Biological - the biological influences (mostly brain, genetics, and nervous system) on thoughts and behavior

• emphasizes nature over nurture
• Major Psychologists: Wilhelm Wundt, Ivan Pavlov

Cognitive - the encoding/processing/storing/retrieval of memories and thought patterns

• emphasizes our interpretations of situations and our ability to change those thoughts
• Major Psychologists: Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Erik Erikson, Mary Calkins

Evolutionary - natural selection of behaviors and genes that led to ancestors’ survival

• emphasizes biological processes but can also include cognitive processes
  • ex. Jung’s collective unconscious
• Major Psychologists: Charles Darwin, Carl Jung

Humanistic - positive aspects of humanity, how we strive to meet our needs for love, acceptance, self-esteem

• led to major strides in therapy and treatment of disorders
• Major Psychologists: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Martin Seligman

Socio-cultural - differences in behavior and thinking across cultures

• emphasizes nurture over nature
• Major Psychologists: Stanley Milgram, Solomon Asch, Philip Zimbardo

Bio(psycho)social approach - combines the 3 into 1 approach to work together

Types of Psychological Research

The Case Study - study one person/small group in detail, over a long period of time; apply conclusions from that person/group to a whole population

• the oldest form of psychological research but is not used much anymore
• PROS:
  • cheap and easy, can reveal directions for further research, engaging and interesting
• CONS:
  • what if the person you’re researching is atypical, applying conclusions from one person to the whole population is basically stereotyping

Naturalistic Observation - observing/recording behavior while watching a normal situation

• great for describing behavior but can’t explain why the behavior is occurring
• PROS:
  • cheap and easy, more honest picture of behavior, engaging and interesting
• CONS:
  • can’t explain behavior, ethically questionable, lack of control conditions

Surveys - questioning a random sample of people that represents the group you’re trying to study; looks at lots of cases with less depth

• PROS:
  • easy and cheap, thousands of data points simultaneously, can establish correlations between variables
• CONS:
  • lack of depth, validity, reliant on self-reporting (problems with lying)

Framing - refers to the wording of a question or the way it’s presented and can have effects on the way people answer

Random Sampling - every person in the target population has an equal chance of being selected

• used to reduce sampling bias - the possibility that the group of people selected doesn’t accurately represent the population of interest

Experiments - usually done in a lab, the research manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) and observes their effect on something else (dependent variable)

• one group (experiment group) receives the treatment while the other (control group) does not

Double-blind procedure - neither the experimenter nor the participants know who is receiving the actual treatment and which is receiving the placebo

Placebo - people in control groups are given a false treatment and don’t know its false

• Placebo effect - if a person believes they got the real treatment sometimes they feel as if it’s real
• PROS:
  • clearly illustrate correlations between variables, considered most scientifically rigorous, anything can be studied
• CONS:
  • more expensive and time-consuming, more potential for ethical problems

Metanalysis - a “study of studies” in which a researcher takes data from several completed studies and looks for new patterns in the data

Ethics in Research

APA Guidelines:

1. Coercion - participants have to be volunteers and are allowed to leave the study

2. Informed Consent - must inform participants of all aspects of the study before it begins (within reason)

   1. with written or verbal consent from participants

3. Anonymity/Confidentiality - keep personal information confidential

   1. if possible participants should be anonymous

4. Risk/Harm - the amount of physical/emotional/psychological harm done to participants should be kept to a minimum

5. Deception - researchers have to be very careful about how much to deceive their participants

6. Debriefing - after the study is done the researcher has to sit down with the participants and debrief all aspects of the study

   1. the participants can ask questions
   2. meant to reduce/eliminate lasting psychological effects

7. Animal research - must be guaranteed health, comfort, and humane treatment and must minimize infection, illness, and pain

The IRB - (institutional review board) at every uni with psychological research; oversees/approves/denies research

• studies won’t be published without approval

Validity & Reliability

Validity - how well does a test measure what it says it measures?

1. Face validity - does the material on the test appear to measure what it’s supposed to? can someone look at it and tell what it’s testing?
2. Construct validity - how well does the test measure a construct (theoretical or hypothetical idea)?
3. Criterion-related validity - how well do the scores on this test correlate to another established test?
4. Predictive validity - how well does the test predict/forecast performance on a future task or test?

Reliability - does a test produce consistent results?

1. Test-retest reliability - can the test produce consistent scores in at least 2 administrations?
2. Parallel/Alternative form reliability - can 2 different versions of the test produce consistent results?
3. Inter-Rater/Grader reliability - can 2 different people interpreting the test come to consistent conclusions?
4. Internal consistency reliability - do different questions on the same test that measure the same concepts obtain similar results?

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