Unit 0 Psychological Perspectives
Perspectives in Psychology
Biological: How the brain, body, and chemicals shape our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Example: How do messages travel through the body to create emotions?
Evolutionary: How behaviors and mental processes have evolved over time for survival and adaptation. Example: How has evolution influenced our fears and attractions?
Psychodynamic: How unconscious drives and conflicts influence our behavior and thoughts. Example: What hidden desires motivate our choices?
Behavioral: How we learn through rewards, punishments, and observation. Example: How do we develop phobias?
Cognitive: How we process information, think, reason, and solve problems. Example: How does our memory work?
Humanistic: How personal growth, potential, and self-image affect our behavior. Example: How can we achieve our fullest potential?
Social-Cultural: How social interactions and cultural norms shape our behavior and thinking. Example: How do different cultures view happiness?
Domains of Psychology (Psychologists)
Biological: Studies the link between the mind and body.
Developmental: Examines how behavior and mental processes change throughout life.
Cognitive: Focuses on how we perceive, think, and problem-solve.
Personality: Investigates our unique and enduring traits.
Social: Explores how people interact and influence each other.
Psychometric: Studies the measurement of psychological qualities.
Industrial-Organizational: Apply psychology to the workplace, focusing on productivity and employee well-being.
Educational: Specialize in how people learn and how to improve teaching methods.
Counseling: Help individuals cope with challenges in various areas of life (school, career, relationships).
Clinical: Assess, diagnose, and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders using psychotherapy.
Psychiatrists: Medical doctors who can prescribe medication and also use psychotherapy to treat mental illness.
Positive: Study the factors that contribute to happiness, well-being, and optimal human functioning.
Key Organizations and Figures
American Psychological Association (APA): The leading professional organization for psychologists in the United States.
Concepts to Know
Hindsight Bias: The tendency to believe, after an event occurs, that we knew it would happen all along. Example: "I knew they'd win the game!" (said after the game ends)
Overconfidence: We often think we know more than we actually do.
Pseudoscience: Beliefs or practices that seem scientific but lack evidence. Example: ESP (extrasensory perception)
Confirmation Bias: The tendency to seek out information that supports our existing beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts them.
The Scientific Mindset
Curiosity: A passion for exploring and understanding the world around us.
Skepticism: Questioning claims and demanding evidence.
Humility: Being open to the possibility of being wrong and changing our minds based on new information.
Critical Thinking: Carefully evaluating information and arguments instead of blindly accepting them.
The Scientific Method in Psychology
Theory: A well-tested explanation that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events. Think of it as a big idea supported by lots of research.
Hypothesis: A testable prediction, often derived from a theory. It's a specific statement about what we expect to find in our research.
Operational Definition: A precise description of how a variable will be measured or manipulated. This makes sure everyone understands exactly what we're studying.
Research/Observation: Conducting studies to test the hypothesis. We gather data to see if our prediction holds up.
Ethics in Psychological Research
Guiding Principles
American Psychological Association (APA) Code of Ethics (1953): A set of rules that all psychologists must follow to ensure ethical research practices.
Institutional Review Boards (IRB): Groups that review research proposals to make sure they are ethical before allowing them to proceed.
Protecting Human Participants
Informed Consent: Participants must be fully informed about the study and its potential risks or benefits before agreeing to participate.
Special Note for Minors: Children cannot give consent, so researchers must get permission from parents or guardians and regularly check in with the child to make sure they want to continue.
Limited Deception: Researchers can only mislead participants if it's absolutely necessary for the study and they must explain the deception afterward.
Protection from Harm: Researchers must minimize any discomfort or risk and take steps to prevent long-term negative consequences for participants.
Right to Withdraw: Participants can leave the study at any time.
Confidentiality: Researchers must keep personal information about participants private.
Debriefing: After the study, researchers must explain everything about it, answer questions, and correct any misunderstandings.
Ethical Use of Animals in Research
Why Animals?: Animal research can provide information that would be impossible or unethical to get from humans.
Humane Treatment: Animals should not be subjected to unnecessary pain or suffering. Any harm must be justified by the potential benefits to human welfare.
Animal Care Guidelines: Just like human research, there are strict rules about how animals must be cared for in research settings.
Understanding Research Methods in Psychology
Correlations
Positive Correlation: Two factors increase or decrease together. Example: More hours studied, higher test scores.
Negative Correlation: Two factors move in opposite directions. Example: More video games played, lower grades.
Scatterplots: Graphs that show the relationship between two variables. The closer the dots are to a straight line, the stronger the correlation.
Correlation Coefficient: A number that indicates the strength and direction of a correlation.
Perfect positive: +1
Perfect negative: -1
No correlation: 0
Remember: Correlation does not prove causation! Just because two things are related doesn't mean one causes the other.
Research Methods
Naturalistic Observation: Watching and recording behavior in its natural setting.
Strengths: Provides realistic data.
Weaknesses: People may act differently if they know they're being observed. Observer bias can occur.
Case Studies: In-depth investigation of a single person or situation.
Strengths: Useful for studying rare or complex cases.
Weaknesses: Results may not apply to others.
Surveys: Questionnaires or interviews to gather self-reported information from a group of people.
Strengths: Efficient way to collect a lot of data.
Weaknesses: People may not answer honestly or accurately. Questions can be biased.
Quasi-Experiment: Similar to an experiment, but participants are not randomly assigned to groups.
Strengths: Allows researchers to study variables that cannot be ethically manipulated.
Weaknesses: Cannot determine cause and effect with the same certainty as a true experiment.
Experiments in Psychology
Experiments are the most reliable way to determine cause-and-effect relationships.
Building a Representative Sample
Goal: Select participants who accurately reflect the larger population you're studying.
Random Sample: Everyone in the population has an equal chance of being chosen.
Stratified Sample: The population is divided into subgroups, and a random sample is taken from each to ensure representation.
Why Random Sampling Matters: It allows researchers to generalize their findings, meaning they can confidently apply the results to the larger population.
Experimental Design
Random Assignment: Once the sample is chosen, participants are randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. This helps to minimize differences between the groups before the experiment starts.
Experimental Group: Receives the treatment or intervention being studied.
Control Group: Does not receive the treatment, serving as a comparison.
Independent Variable (IV): The factor the researcher manipulates (the "cause").
Dependent Variable (DV): The factor that may change in response to the IV (the "effect").
Placebo: A fake treatment given to the control group to account for the "placebo effect," where expectations can influence results.
The Null Hypothesis: The starting assumption that there is no real difference between groups. Researchers aim to reject this hypothesis to show that their findings are meaningful.
Controlling Bias in Research
Single-Blind Study: Only the participants don't know which group they're in (experimental or control).
Double-Blind Study: Both participants and researchers are "blind" to who's in which group. This helps prevent bias from influencing the results.
Confounding Variables: Factors other than the independent variable that might affect the dependent variable. Researchers need to control for these to get accurate results.
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Descriptive Statistics: Using numbers to summarize and describe the characteristics of a group of data.
Measures of Central Tendency:
Mean (average): The sum of all scores divided by the number of scores.
Median (middle): The score that falls exactly in the middle when data is ordered.
Mode (most frequent): The score that occurs most often.
Choosing the Right Measure:
Mean: Best for symmetrically distributed data.
Median: Better for skewed data (outliers can distort the mean).
Mode: Only used for nominal data (categories).
Longitudinal Study: Follows the same group of individuals over a long period.
Cross-Sectional Study: Compares different age groups at a single point in time.
Statistical Significance
What It Means: The difference between groups is likely due to the experimental manipulation, not just random chance.
The 5% Rule: Results are considered statistically significant if there's less than a 5% chance the difference occurred by chance alone. (p < .05)
Understanding Data: Measures of Variation
Range: The simplest measure of variation, calculated by subtracting the lowest score from the highest score.
Standard Deviation: The average distance of each data point from the mean. A larger standard deviation means the data is more spread out.
Normal Distribution (Bell Curve): A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve where the mean, median, and mode are all the same. Key percentages to remember: 34.1% of data falls within one standard deviation of the mean, 13.6% within two standard deviations, and so on. (1 sx = 68%, 2sx = 95%, 3sx = 98%)
Skewed Distribution: When data is unevenly distributed, with a tail on one side.
Positive Skew: Tail to the right (outliers are high values).
Negative Skew: Tail to the left (outliers are low values).
Inferential Statistics: Making Decisions About Populations
Purpose: To determine if findings from a sample can be applied to the larger population from which it was drawn.