Chapter 1 psychology PDF

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Chapter 1

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The Science of Psychology Chapter Preview This chapter covers the history of psychology and research methods used by psychological scientists Please understand that this PowerPoint is not thorough; your future test questions will address concepts in greater depth than is presented here. However, the course PowerPoints will serve as study guides, to help guide you in your reading of the book, and to provide examples for challenging concepts where needed Definition of Psychology Your book defines psychology as “the scientific study of behavior and mental processes” However, much of the definition of the field is more specific to the work one is doing, and the perspective from which one operates • E.g. a researcher may subscribe to the definition above, but a therapist may be more focused on helping people deal with problems The following slide highlights some of the many different domains within which people work in the diverse field of psychology Settings in Which Psychologists Work Definition of Psychology So, psychology is different things to different people. As scholars of psychology, we will work with your textbook definition, but keep in mind that the field is very broad in the practical, everyday definitions of psychology. These definitions have also varied over the history of psychology. The following slides highlight some important historical perspectives on psychology. You should study these in more depth within your textbook. Structuralism Identifies elements, or structures, of mental processes • Strongly influenced by the industrial revolution. As machines became more significant in culture, so this first major school of thought took a mechanistic view of psychology • Primary research method was introspection Significant figure: • Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) • German philosopher-physician • Established first psychology laboratory (1879) Functionalism Identify purposes, or functions, of the mind • Influenced by the publication of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”, which proposed that species evolve characteristics that help them adapt and survive in their environment. Functionalists took an evolutionary approach to human thought • Studied natural flow of thought, stream of consciousness Significant figure • William James (1842-1910), American psychologist and philosopher • Wrote “Principles of Psychology”, one of the first major textbooks in the field Psychodynamic Approach Emphasis on:

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• Unconscious impulses • Conflict between biological drives and society • Childhood family experiences • How these can be applied in psychotherapy through his model of psychoanalysis Significant figure: • Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) • Built his model through study of people he was treating within the “mind cures” approach Contemporary Approaches Functionalism, structuralism and the psychodynamic approach all were historically influential. However, they were often lacking in scientific rigor, as we understand it today. So, most of today’s psychological research takes place within several newer, more contemporary perspectives, some of which are listed on the next slide. These will be briefly outlined here, but you should read about them in greater depth in your book. Contemporary Approaches

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Behavioral Humanistic Cognitive Biological Evolutionary Sociocultural Behavioral Approach Emphasis on observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants • Having learned from the shortcomings of the historical approaches, strict behaviorists said that psychology could only be truly scientific by focusing on observable, measurable behavior. Internal mental processes could not be observed, and thus were not subject to empirical study Notable behaviorists • John B. Watson (1878-1958) • B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) Humanistic Approach Emphasis on: • Positive human qualities. capacity for positive growth, and freedom to choose any destiny • The humanistic approach emerged as a rebellion of sorts, calling itself a “Third Force” against the dark, pessimistic approach of Freud, and the cold science of the behaviorists • The humanists wanted to restore the focus of psychology to that which is valuable about being human Notable humanistic psychologists • Carl Rogers (1902-1987) • Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) Cognitive Approach Emphasis on mental processes involved in knowing, including attention, perception, memory, and problem solving • Also emerged as a rebellion, against the limited scope of the behaviorist approach to scientists. By contrast, the cognitive approach asserted that internal mental processes could in fact be studied within empirical science Significant figure

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Ulric Neisser (1928-2012)

Biological Approach Focus on brain and nervous system via neuroscience • Structure, function, development, genetics, biochemistry of nervous system • Brain and nervous system are central to understanding behavior, thought, and emotion • Development of successively better tools to study the structure and activity of the brain has allowed the biological approach to emerge as one of the most significant approaches in this history of psychology Evolutionary Approach Use of evolutionary ideas such as: • Adaptation • Reproduction • Natural selection Used as a basis for explaining specific human behaviors • Similar in inspiration to Functionalism, but more rigorously focused on modern sciences of evolutionary and behavioral genetics Sociocultural Approach Examination of ways in which social and cultural environments influence behavior Focus on comparisons of behavior across countries, and across ethnic and cultural groups within countries • Early history of psychology was more purely Western in approach, and often made broadly general statements about human nature that didn’t necessarily apply to people from all cultures. The sociocultural approach looks for commonalities and differences between cultures. The Scientific Method The remainder of this presentation will briefly review the scientific method as it is applied to the study of psychology Each of these slides is only a brief highlight; please study these in more depth within your textbook Steps in the Scientific Method Scientific Method: Observation

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Choose a variable • Phenomenon studied by scientists • Anything that can change Develop a theory • Idea that attempts to explain observations • Seeks to explain why something happened • Can be used to make predictions • Based on previous body of research Scientific Method: Hypothesis

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Formulate a hypothesis • Derived from theoretical model • Prediction that can be tested • Can lend credibility to theory if supported, but can undermine the theory if data do not support it • This principle of falsifiability is a hallmark of the scientific method. Whatever you are

testing, it must truly be a test, in that the data have the capacity to potentially support or undermine the hypothesis

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Scientific Method: Research Establish an operational definition • Objective description of variable, and a set of rules for defining how it will be measured • These can often be challenging and complex, especially as we try to observe human behavior in its natural environment. If you make the operational definition too specific, you’ll end up excluding some behavior that should otherwise be counted. But, if you make it too loose, you may end up counting behaviors that really shouldn’t be counted. Collect and analyze data Scientific Method: Conclusions Draw conclusions • Is theory supported? • Should theory be changed? • One study alone may not refute an entire theory. But, if a theory is undermined, subsequent research will try to explore the extent to which the theory needs to be modified or completely replaced. This may take many years. Evaluate conclusions • Publication and review Types of Psychological Research Descriptive research • Finding out about some variable, describing the way things are • Cannot be used to infer cause-effect relationships Correlational research • Discovering relationships between variables Experimental research • Establishing cause-effect relationships Descriptive Research Describing some phenomenon, without answering questions of how and why • Observation • Surveys and interviews • Case studies Correlational Research Examines whether variables are related and change together Correlation Coefficient is a statistic, labeled r, represented by a number between -1.00 and +1.00 • The strength of the correlation (how closely the numbers vary together) is represented by how far the number is from zero, regardless of whether it’s positive or negative • The sign (+ or -) shows the direction of the relationship. • Plus means both numbers go in the same direction together: as one increases, the other increases; as one decreases, the other decreases • Minus means both numbers go in the opposite direction together: as one increases, the other decreases Figure 1.4 - Scatter Plots Showing Positive and Negative Correlations

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Correlation and Causation Correlation does not mean causation • It may be difficult to tell which variable is causing the changes in the other • Or, a third variable may be affecting both • Third variables also called confounds Longitudinal Designs Obtaining measures of variables of interest in multiple waves over time Very useful in study of human development Can suggest potential causal relationships • Causal variable would come first in time • However, causal relationships are not completely clear, potentially because of the third variable problem Experimental Research Determines whether causal relationship exists between variables Experiment • Manipulation of one or more variables (e.g. X) that are believed to influence some other variable (e.g. Y) • Measure Y under different conditions of X. If values of Y change under different conditions of X, then we conclude that changes in X cause changes in Y Random Assignment • Researchers assign participants to groups by chance • Random assignment helps establish causation Experiments and Causation Independent variables  those that are manipulated Dependent variables  those that are measured • An experiment may have multiple independent and dependent variables Experimental groups • Experience the manipulation of the independent variable Control groups • Serve as baseline for comparison Experimental Research: Validity Any experiment must face the challenge of being valid • External validity • Do experimental results apply, or generalize, to real world? • Internal validity • Are changes in dependent variables actually caused by the manipulation of the independent variables? Experimental Research: Bias Experimenter bias • Experimenters must guard against biasing results, even inadvertently • Any aspects of a study that communicate to the participants how the experimenter wants them to behave. Research participant bias • The influence of participants’ thoughts about how they are expected to behave in an experiment • Placebo effect – situation where the participants’ expectations, rather than the

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experimental manipulation, produce the experimental outcome Research Samples Population Sample Random samples likely to be representative of population • To allow generalizing of research results Research Settings Laboratory research • Affords more control, but it’s harder to get truly naturalistic behavior in the lab Naturalistic observation • Has the advantage of a real-world setting, but in the real world it is harder to systematically manipulate independent variables, and it is harder to control potentially confounding variables. Ethical Research History: World war II Research participants have certain rights • Human participants • Animal research Institutional review board (IRB) APA Ethics Guidelines Understand the following principles in research ethics, as outlined in your textbook. You will be applying these in this week’s discussion board. • Informed consent • Confidentiality • Debriefing • Deception...