Introductory Psychology PDF

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Professor William Billingsley Jr, PhD...

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Tulane University Fall Semester 2021 Instructor: William Billingsley Jr, PhD Email: [email protected]

INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY ___

Notes Psychology: An Overview and Brief History What is Psychology? -

Psychology is the scientific study of the behavior of humans and other animals

The Goals of Psychology -

We study psychology in order to understand, explain, and predict behavior -

What are some “real-world” examples of behaviors we would want to understand, explain, and predict?

Becoming a Psychologist -

Psychology is an academic, non-medical discipline -

Educational requirements can vary

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Being a “psychologist” requires a graduate degree -

Master’s degree = 2-3 years

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Ph.D./Psy.D. = 4-7+ years

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State licensure requirements

Studying Psychology -

Who should study psychology? -

Excellent major or topic of study for anyone interested in: -

Directly helping people -

Social work, public health, education, therapy

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Business

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Law

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Advertising

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Coaching

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Just about anything involving people or behavior

What Psychologists (Really) Do -

Being a “psychologist” can mean a lot of different things -

Provide services to individuals -

Clinical Psychologist -

Advanced degrees in psychology (PhD or PsyD); help people with mental and emotional problems; use psychological testing to diagnose/treat

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Sample issues: anxiety, depression, child behavior problems, schizophrenia, forensic/legal issues (forensic psychologist)

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Other individual service providers who are not psychologists -

Clinical social worker

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Master’s level therapist

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Psychiatrist (MD with residency in psychiatry; prescribe drugs)

Provide services to organizations/groups -

Industrial/Organizational Psychologist -

Study behavior in the workplace to help organizations

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Can use social, cognitive, and motivational psychology principles to describe and explain workplace behavior

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Sample issue: How to improve company morale or productivity?

Ergonomist or Human Factors Specialist -

Facilitates design of machinery and equipment so the average user can operate them efficiently and safely

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Sample issue: How can a computer workstation be designed to minimize repetitive stress injuries?

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School Psychologist -

Assesses students in grades K-12

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Uses developmental, learning, and motivational principles and educational and psychological tests to create plans for individual students

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Sample issue: Does a student’s declining grades indicate the presence of a learning disability or an emotional problem?

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Conduct research

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Teach

Where Psychologists Work

Types of Psychologists -

Biological psychology

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Clinical psychology

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Cognitive psychology

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Community psychology

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Counseling psychology

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Cultural psychology

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Developmental psychology

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Educational psychology

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Environmental psychology

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Evolutionary psychology

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Forensic psychology

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Health psychology

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Industrial/organizational

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Learning and motivation

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Personality psychology

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Positive psychology

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Quantitative psychology

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School psychology

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Social psychology

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Sport psychology

(Some) Intellectual Roots of Psychology -

Scientific -

Scholasticism: the law of parsimony (Occam’s Razor) William of Occam (1290-1350)

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Inductive Reasoning: from specific observations to a general conclusion or hypothesis (Francis Bacon, 1561-1626; also linked to skepticism of dogma and authority)

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Deductive Reasoning: from general conclusion to prediction of specifics or test of hypothesis (Galileo, 1564-1642)

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Physiological -

Psychophysics and the just noticeable difference: Ernst Heinrich Weber (1795-1878) and Gustav Fechner (1801-1887)

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Nerve induction and vitalism: Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894) measured the speed of the nerve impulse

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A pathway to neuroscience

Evolutionary -

Natural selection as a mechanism for evolution

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Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

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A pathway to testing & measurement, comparative animal behavior, and evolutionary psychology

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Philosophical -

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British empiricism: the mind is passive, a “tabula rasa” (blank slate) -

John Locke (1632-1704)

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Emphasis on how experience and the environment shape the individual

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Basis of the “Nurture” position in Nature/Nurture debates

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Pathway to development, learning, and behaviorism

Rationalism: the mind is an active agent with innate components -

Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716)

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A pathway to cognitive psychology

Major Historical Frameworks -

Structuralism (1879) -

Key Figure: Wilhem Wundt (1832-1920)

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Goal: By analogy with chemistry, psychology should describe the fundamental components, or structures, of mental experience

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Method: Experimental introspection, AKA experimental self-observation

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Wundt’s lab at the University of Leipzig in 1879 is often considered the origin of modern scientific psychology

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The approach focused upon sensation and perception, where perhaps some progress was made (e.g., components of taste include bitter, sweet, salty, sour)

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But the method approach was ultimately unproductive due to multiple issues -

Introspection itself altered experience

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Researchers obtained different results

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The framework offered no solutions to problems of everyday life

Functionalism (1890) -

Key Figure: William James

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Goal: Informed by Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, psychology should describe how mental processes help people adapt

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Method: Collect data from observations of humans and animals

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An emphasis on individual differences and how they inform behvior

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A focus on practical application, with intent to help people function better in day-to-day life

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Published influential textbook, The Principles of Psychology, in 1890

Psychoanalysis (1900) -

Key Figure: Sigmund Freud

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Goal: Understand personality as a product of largely unconscious processes, particularly dynamic conflicts involving hidden urges (usually sexual), early family experiences, and societal demands; apply this understanding in a clinical setting. Also known as the psychodynamic approach.

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Method: Case study and patient observation; talk therapy; little in the way of experimental research

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Groundbreaking for promoting the notion of the unconscious

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Helped legitimize the study of human sexuality

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Psychoanalysis still continues as a clinical practice

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Widely criticized for lack of empirical rigor; considered pseudoscientific in some quarters

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Behaviorism (1913) -

Key Figures: John Watson & B.F. Skinner

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Goal: The proper focus of psychology is the study of observable behavior, which is understood to be the product of environmental determinants (reinforcers).

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Method: Lab-based experimentation, often involving animal models

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Dismissed structuralism and introspective techniques as too subjective: treated the mind as a “black box”

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Influenced by Ivan Pavlov & Edward Thorndike, behaviorists sought the general laws of learning, which link environmental events (“stimuli”) to the organism’s behavioral responses

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Tremendous practical application, still influential

Cognitivism (1950’s) -

Key Figures: Many, including George Miller & Ulric Neisser

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Goal: understand the mental processes that allow people to make decisions, set goals, plan, and create

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Method: lab-based experimentation, with Neisser stressing need for “ecological validity”

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Deliberately sought to open the “black box” of the mind

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Heavily influenced by computer science and the notion that behavior and mental events could be understood in terms of information-processing.

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The mind actively engages with the environment to solve problems

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George Miller’s key paper (1956): “The Magical Number Seven: Plus or Minus Two”

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Neisser’s influential textbook (1967): Cognitive Psychology

What is the relationship between the brain and the mind? {brain as in physical matter and mind as in personality and self} What is personality? Can we measure it? If so, how? Is intelligence really measurable? Research Methods in Psychology The Scientific Method -

The scientific method is a systematic procedure for obtaining knowledge about the world.

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A key goal of the method is to identify cause-and-effect relationships

Psychology as a Science -

Sciences require rigorous and systematic methods of study to ensure: -

Claims are firmly grounded in evidence

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Revisions reflect improved understanding

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Example: Astrology is not science. It makes predictions, but the theory & methods aren’t changed when the prediction is inaccurate or completely fails

Overview of the Method

Theories vs. Hypotheses -

What is a theory? -

Comprehensive explanation of observable events and conditions. A good theory ties data together.

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A good theory is: -

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Falsifiable -

Precise

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Evidence can be used to confirm/contradict

Parsimonious -

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Small number of underlying assumptions

Generative

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Guides future research

Scientific Theories -

Example of a falsifiable and parsimonious theory: -

Gravity is a force that pulls objects in the universe towards each other.

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This theory states that larger and more massive objects pull smaller objects towards them.

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Example of a theory that is NOT falsifiable and parsimonious: -

The sun goes around the earth. Little gnomes push it around the sky every day.

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We can’t see them because they are invisible to the human eye.

Scientific Hypotheses -

How do we support theories scientifically? -

We seek evidence that will support or disprove hypotheses that are consistent with the theory -

Hypothesis = testable prediction of what should occur under a precisely stated set of conditions.

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Should be specific and falsifiable.

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Includes an independent variable and a dependent variable, both of which should be well-defined and measurable.

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An example: -

Theory = The onset of schizophrenia can be explained by a combination of genetic predisposition and exposure to stress -

Two basic hypotheses that come from this theory: -

Schizophrenia will be more common among people with an identical twin with schizophrenia than among people with an identical twin without schizophrenia (genetic factor).

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There should be some pairs of identical twins in which one has schizophrenia and one does not (stress factor).

Pseudoscience -

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A set of claims that seems scientific but isn’t. -

No scientific method

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Lacks scientific safeguards

Warning signs: -

Ad hoc immunizing hypothesizing: Hypothesizing loopholes

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Overreliance on anecdotes

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Lack of self-correction

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Psychobabble

Science vs. Pseudoscience

6 Classic Principles of Scientific Thinking -

Ruling out rival hypotheses -

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Have important alternate explanations for the finding been considered?

Correlation is NOT causation -

Two things occur together

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Can we be sure A causes B

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The classic example: Ice-cream sales and violence -

Third variable problem

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Falsifiability -

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Replicability -

Can the results be reproduced?

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Report results in sufficient detail

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence -

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Can the claim be disproven?

Compare with existing evidence

Occam’s razor -

Does a simpler explanation fit the data just as well?

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How many variables should be in our model?

A New Emphasis: Open Science -

Make materials (survey items, experimental manipulations) and data publicly available. This is the principle of transparency.

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Make statistical code publicly available (for easier reproducibility)

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Preregister studies: Make clear the theory, hypotheses, methods, and analysis plan before collecting data.

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Scientists can use tools like the Open Science Framework (OSF), supported by the Center for Open Science, to do all of this. [www.osf.io]

Scientific Methods in Psychology So, a researcher has a theory in mind, or has observed a phenomenon that raises questions. The researcher then comes up with a specific, testable hypothesis. Now what?

General Guidelines & Procedures -

Define variables -

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Select (or create) measures of the variables -

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A research study requires an operational definition Use valid and reliable measures

Determine the population to which the hypothesis should generalize, and sample from that population -

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Population vs. sample

Select an appropriate, and feasible, design -

Consider strengths and weaknesses of various designs

Operational Definition An operational definition is “an objective description of how a research variable is going to be observed and measured” (Santrock, 2003) -

Example: We are investigating the effect of watching violent TV on children’s aggressive behavior. -

Definition of “watching violent TV”? -

# of times in a 1-hour show that one person threatens or injures another person.

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Definition of “children’s aggressive behavior”? -

# of threats and assaults by the child over a 24-hour period after watching a particular TV show.

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What are other words these psychologists would need to operationally define? -

Clinical Psychologist -

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School Psychologist -

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Stress, Depression, Grief, Substance Abuse Achievement, Attention, Learning

Industrial/Organizational Psychology -

Teamwork, Cooperation, Job Performance

Measures: Validity and Reliability -

Validity: extent to which a measure assesses what is claims to measure

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Reliability: consistency of measurement -

Test-retest reliability: do people score similarly on the same test over time?

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Internal consistency: during a single administration of the measure, does the same individual tend to score similarly on items that purport to assess the same variable?

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Self-report -

Example: “How many sexual partners have you had over the past year?” -

Sensitive to format/wording; participants may lie or respond in a socially desirable way; inaccurate recall or introspective access

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Other-report -

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“How well does [Student X] get along with his/her peers?”

Indirect Measures -

Make inferences based on, for instance, reaction time

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Useful for topics where desirable response is unexpected (e.g., attitudes about race)

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Behavioral Measures -

Less common than self-report

Populations vs. Samples -

A population is the entire set of individuals of interest to the researcher

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It’s not practical to study everyone -

So, we use a small sample (a selected subset) of the population.

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We generalize our findings from that small number of observations to the population

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Types of samples and sampling procedures: -

Convenience sample -

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Easy to get

Representative sample -

Characteristics of the sample approximately match those of the population

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Random sample

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Every individual in the sample has an equal chance of being selected

For Psychology, Sampling is a Serious Problem -

Psychological research often samples from people who are WEIRD. -

Western

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Educated

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Industrialized

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Rich

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Democratic

Study Designs -

Many different methods can be used to study psychological concepts and phenomena.

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2 general categories -

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Non-experimental -

Naturalistic observation

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Case history

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Survey

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Correlational

Experimental

Correlation Coefficient

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Value ranges from -1.00 to +1.00

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Size (and direction) matters!

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Value ranges from -1.00 to +1.00

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Size (and direction) matters!

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Value ranges from -1.00 to +1.00
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