The Science of Psychology

1. The Science of Psychology Chapter 1

2. What is psychology Section 1

3. Introduction • Psychology: the scientific study of behavior and mental process • Seek to explain how we perceive, learn, remember, solve problems, communicate, feel and relate to other people • Late 20th century psychology expanded dramatically—specializations, new behavior studies, etc.

4. Fields of Psych • Developmental Psych • study human mental and psychical growth from prenatal period until old age • Interested in universal patters—patterns of everyone, and cultural patterns • Physiological Psychology • Investigate the biological basis of human behavior, thoughts, and emotions • Look at heredity

5. Experimental Psych • Conduct research on basic psychological processes, including learning, memory, sensation, perceptions, cognition, motivation, and emotion • How do they remember and why do they forget? • They focus on the brain • Personality Psychology • Study the differences among individuals in such traits as anxiety, sociability, self-esteem, and the need for achievement and aggressiveness • Try to determine what causes peoples moods

6. Clinical and Counseling Psych • Clinical--Interested in the diagnose, cause, and treatment of psychological disorders • Counseling—deals with eh “normal’ problems that many of us face like choosing a career or dealing with martial problems. • Social Psych • Study how people influence one another

7. Industrial and Organizational Psychology • Issues like selecting and training personnel, improving productivity and working conditions

8. Psychology as a Science • Psychologists rely on the scientific method when seeking answers to questions. • Scientific Method: collecting data, generating a theory to explain the data, producing a testable hypothesis based on the theory, and testing those hypotheses • Theory: explanation of a phenomena, it organized facts, and predicts new facts • Hypothesis: specific testable predictions derived from a theory

9. The Growth of Psychology Section 2

10. The “New” Psychology: A science of the mind • Psychology was “born” in 1879 the year Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychological lab in Germany • Voluntarism and Structuralism • Wundt believed that our mental processes could not be studied scientifically, but set out to find ways that it could be studied scientifically • Voluntarism: attention is actively controlled by intentions and motives • Moved psych out of the realm of philosophy to the world of science

11. Edward Bradford Titchener • Student of Wundt • Ideas differed from Wundt • Structuralism: stressed the basic units of experience and the combinations in which they occur

12. William James: Functionalism • First academic to challenge structuralism • Functionalism Theory: mental life and behavior that is concerned with how an organism uses its perceptual abilities in its environments • We act out of habit, and the more we do something it becomes easier than the time before

13. Sigmund Freud: Psychodynamic Psychology • Most well know and controversial • We are motivated by unconscious desires • Saw unconscious as a mixture of primitive sexual and aggressive desires, forbidden desires, nameless fears and wishes, and traumatic childhood memories • Although repressed, they still come out in forms of dreams, mannerisms, slips of the tongue, and mental illness • Psychodynamic Theory: personality theories contending that behaviors result from psychological forces that interact within the individual, often outside the conscious awareness

14. Redefining Psych: THE Study of Behavior • John B. Watson: Behaviorism • Idea of mental life was superstition • You cannot see or define consciousness and if you cannot locate or measure something, it cant be studied scientifically • Behaviorism: studies only observable and measurable behavior • We can train, or condition people to do the thing we want them to do

15. B.F. Skinner: Behaviorism Revisited • Leader in behaviorists school of psychology • Added to the theory by rewarding his subjects for behaving the way he wanted them to

16. The Cognitive Revolution • Gestalt and Humanistic Psychology • Gestalt: studies how people perceive and experience objects as whole patterns • When we look at a tree that is what we see, we don’t see various branches and thousands of leaves individually • Humanistic: emphasizes nonverbal experiences and altered states of consciousness as a means of realizing one’s full human potential • Importance of love, belonging, self-esteem, self-expression,

17. Cognitive Psychology • Devoted to studying the mental processes but in the broadest sense • Thinking, feeling, learning, remembering, making decisions, and judgments • How people process information

18. New Directions • Evolutionary Psychology • Concerned with the evolutionary origins of behaviors and mental processes, their adaptive value, and the purpose that continue to serve • How did we get to where we are today? • Positive Psychology • Focuses on positive experiences, including subjective well-being, self determination, the relationship between positive emotions and physical health, and that factors that allow individuals, communities, and society to flourish

19. Women in Psychology • Many contributions to psychology came from women • They presented papers and joined the national professional association when it was formed in 1892 • Often faces much discrimination: • Some universities and colleges did not grant degrees to women • Professional journals were reluctant to publish their work • Teaching positioned where often closed to them

20. Classwork • In your textbook: • Read page 22 • Answer the following questions using the reading and the notes we just discussed • 1. What are 3 ways women were discriminated against in psychology? • 2. Select one of the following women and discuss who they are and why they are famous. • Christine Ladd-Franklin • Mary Whiton Calkins • Margret Floy Washburn • 3. Because many women found the doors closed to academic careers closed, what did they do instead? • 4. What historical event changed the cultural climate for women?

21. Research Methods in Psychology Section 4

22. Introduction • All sciences—psychology, sociology, economics, political science, biology, and physics re quire empirical evidence • Empirical Evidence: information derived from systematic, objective observation • Various Research methods to gather Empirical Evidence • Naturalistic Observation • Case Studies • Surveys • Correlation Research • Experimental Research

23. Naturalistic Observation • Systematic study of animal or human behavior in natural settings rather in the laboratory • Advantage—behavior observed in everyday life is likely to be more natural, spontaneous, and varied then in a lab • Disadvantage—Observer Bias: expectations or biases of the observer that might distort of influence his or her interpretations of what actually happened • What twist what actually happened to fit your prediction of what would happen

24. Case Studies • Intensive description and analysis of a single individual or just a few individuals • Similar to naturalist observations, but uses a variety of methods to receive information—doesn’t just watch them • Disadvantages • Observer Bias • Cant draw general conclusion from just one person because everyone is different

25. Surveys • RESEARCH TECHIQUE IN WHICH QUESTIONAIRES OR INTERVIEWS ARE ADMINISTERED TO A SELECT GROUP OF PEOPLE • CAN BE DONE FACE-TO FACE OR ON A QUESTIONAIRE

26. Correlation Research • Research technique based on the naturally occurring relationship between 2 or more variables • Ex: The Air Force, is asked to predict which applicants for pilot-training program will make good pilots

27. Experimental Research • Experimental Method: research technique in which an investigator deliberately manipulates selected events or circumstances and then measures the effects of those manipulations on subsequent behavior • First step is to selecting participants—individuals whose reactions or responses are observed in an experiment

28. Then you follow the Scientific Methods to organize an experiment • Independent Variable: variable that is manipulated to test its effects on the other, dependent variables • Dependent Variable : variable that is measured to see how it is changed by manipulations

29. There are 2 groups of participants in an experiment • Experimental Group: the group subjected to a change in the independent variable • Control Group: the group not subjected to the change in independent variable

30. Ethic In Psychology • American Psychological Association first published the Code of Ethics in 1953 • The code is assed each year • Outlines the ethical outlines for research and teachings psych • Set ethical standards for psychologists who offer therapy and other profession services

31. APA Code of ethics • Participants must be informed of the nature of research in clearly understandable language • Informed consent must be documented • Risk, possible adverse effects, and limitations on confidentiality must be spelled out in advance • If participations is a condition of course credit, equitable alternative activities must be offered • Participants cannot be deceived about aspects of the research that would affect their willingness to participate, such as risks or unpleasant emotional experiences • Deceptions about the goals of the research can be used only when absolutely necessary to the integrity of the research

32. Careers in Psychology Section 5

33. Academics and Applied Psych • Pursue advances degrees in psych—master’s degree or doctorate • Usually works with colleges and universities • Work in applied settings like schools, health, industrial, commercial, and educational psych • Nearly half of all doctoral psychologists are clinicians or counselors who treat people experiencing mental, emotional or adaptation problems

34. Clinical Setting • Licensed Social Workers (LSW) • Counseling Psychologists (MFCC)—help cope with situational problems • Clinical Psychologists (Ph.D or Psy.D.)—asses and treat mental, emotional and behavioral disorders • Psychiatrists (M.D.)—diagnoses and treatment of abnormal behavior • Psychoanalysts—psychiatrists with additional specialization in psychoanalytical theory

35. Exit Slip: Variables • An experiment to see how the mass of the ball effects the distance it travels. • Independent Variable: • Dependent Variable: • An experiment to decide if you are more attracted to a person because they share similar interests in you. • Independent Variable: • Dependent Variable:

36. Identify the Independent and dependent variables. • Students want to test the whether listening to music while testing will increase your test scores or lower them. • A student wants to set up an experiment where they want to know if the number of visible tattoos a person has will determine the likelihood of getting a job. • Students wanted to know if a certain type of dog treat is more affective to use while training their pet to sit. • Teachers wanted to determine if the amount of students that came to class on time would increase if they were given a reward.