Unit 1: The Science of Psychology

1. Unit 1: The Science of Psychology

2. Why study Psychology? • “Out of sight out of mind” or “absence makes the heart grow fonder”? • Why do we always feel like we “knew it all along”? • How do you remember information from class and recall it for tests? Is there a trick to do this better? • What causes good and bad moods? Disorders? What’s the difference?

3. Essential Questions • What are the fields within Psychology? • What are the “enduring issues” of Psychology? • What approaches to psychology have people taken throughout history? • Are psychological findings applicable across cultures? • What are the various research methods? • What kind of careers can you make out of Psychology?

4. What is Psychology? • Official definition: The scientific study of behavior and mental processes. • What does that mean? • Explain how people perceive, learn, remember, solve problems, communicate, feel, and relate to one another • Intelligence, motivation, mental and emotional disturbances

5. Psychology Personality Social Developmental Physiological Industrial/Organizational Clinical/Counseling Experimental

6. Psychological Organizations • APA – American Psychological Association • 53 Subdivisions (pg 6) • APS- American Psychological Society

7. Enduring Issues • What holds Psychology together? • Enduring Issues are shared throughout: • Person – Situation (You vs. Influence of surroundings) • Nature – Nurture (Were you born that way?) • Stability – Change (You now vs. you in 30 years) • Diversity – Universality ( You vs. Others) • Mind – Body (Ongoing interaction)

8. Psychology is a Science • Scientific Method • Describe, Understand, Predict, Control • Is there a link between an increase in social networking and a decrease in social skills? • Theory • Ex: Social networking causes adolescents to use social skills less, thus becoming less proficient. • Hypothesis • Ex: With more controls on social networking usage, children will develop better social skills.

9. History of Psychology • Psychology was around as philosophy since the time of Plato and Aristotle • Late 19th century – Psychology began as a science • 1879- William Wundt opens first psychology lab in Germany • Voluntarism- Our attention is controlled by intentions and motives. We “voluntarily” select what we will give our attention to.

10. History of Psychology • Students of Wundt spread psychology around the world • U.S. – G. Stanley Hall creates first psych lab at Johns Hopkins in 1883 • Titchenerand Structuralism • Stressed basic units of experiences • What is going on when we experience something (smell, sight, etc.) • Self-reflection

11. Get serious!! History of Psychology • William James and Functionalism • Put more emphasis on past experiences • Simple sensations don’t occur by themselves • Constant stream of consciousness • Use past experiences and perceptual abilities to function • Why do we experience things? • **Evolution**

12. At least I was the first prez… Women? • Mary Whiton Calkins was a doctoral student of James • When admitted to program, all men dropped out • Denied Ph.D. from Harvard • Became first female president of APA • Margaret Floy Washburn • Was a doctoral student of Titchener • First female to earn Ph.D. in Psychology (Cornell)

13. History of Psychology • Sigmund Freud and Psychodynamic Psychology • Believed ailments were largely psychology and not physiological • Free will is an illusion • Driven by unconscious instincts and urges

14. Turn of the Century --> Turn in Psychological Theory • Up to the early 20thc., it was all about mental processes • Enter John B. Watson and Behaviorism • Can’t measure something that can’t be observed • Based on Pavlov’s work on digestion • All mental experiences are changes caused by conditioning • Theoretically, you could train a child to be anything you wanted (tabula rasa)

15. Behaviorism (cont.) • B.F. Skinner adds reinforcement to conditioning • In summary, conditioning determines behavior • Why do we get “feelings” when we smell familiar scents (i.e. cologne, perfume) • Why does the crinkling of a potato bag make us hungry? • Why does the sound an alarm clock make us anxious or angry? • Dominates psychology into 1960s… problems? • Where is the impact of genetics? Evolution?

16. Cognitive Psychology Steps In • Behavior is piece of puzzle, but what goes on while learning takes place? • Cognitive = we are active in learning process (not passive learners) • Precursors: • 1. Gestalt • 2. Humanistic

17. Gestalt:“Whole” We see the big picture, i.e. patterns, and can complete a picture with a few cues Why do neon signs with alternating lights make the sign appear to move?

18. Humanism  Abe • Abraham Maslow • Feelings, yearnings, needs play a role in what we do • Depends largely on culture

19. Cognitive Revolution • Recap: Shift from behavior to mental processes that involves Gestalt and Humanistic theories. • What are mental processes? • Thinking, judging, learning, remembering • Use behavior to infer mental processes • I.E. Use recollection of a list of facts (behavior) to imply how facts were encoded (connection to other facts, location in list, etc.) • Brain-imaging techniques assist in studying parts of brain that are activated during different tasks

20. New Directions • Evolutionary Psychology • Origins of behavior patterns and mental processes- how are they adaptive? • Parenting, sexual attraction, mate selection, jealousy, violence

21. New Directions • Positive Psychology • Studying “the good life”- happiness, leadership, and the environments in which they take place • We know about mental illness, but what about wellness? • Be happy, rather than fix sadness • Critical thinking: autonomy

22. Multiple Perspectives • Today, psychologists explain events and phenomena by accessing all perspectives (behavioral, evolutionary, etc.) rather than sticking to one viewpoint • Biopsychosocial Approach – Use biological, psychological, and social explanations

23. Recap!! • What is behavioral psychology? • How does cognitive psychology build upon behavioral psychology? • We will return to this later!!

24. Research Methods in Psychology • Empirical Evidence- • Information derived from systematic, objective observation. • There are many methods through which this is gained: • Naturalistic Observation • Case Study • Survey • Correlational Research • Experimental Research

25. Naturalistic Observation • Study human or animal behavior in natural context • Pros: • Behavior is more likely to be genuine • Cons: • Can’t manipulate environment or “freeze” the situation to study an event in depth • More difficult to be “systematic” • Observer Bias • People distort perceptions unintentionally to “see what they want to see” or what they’re looking for • *Uninformed researchers

26. Case Study • Detailed description of one or a few individuals • Can include interviews, observations, tests, etc. • Pros: • In-depth view of one individual • Cons: • Observer Bias • Tough to generalize from one person

27. Surveys • Interviews or questionnaires through which predetermined questions are asked • Pros: • Can get a vast amount of information relatively easily • Cons: • “leading questions” • Subjects are conscious of others’ perception- can illicit inaccurate responses

28. Correlational Research • Method used to find a relationship between two or more variables • Example: SATs and career success, Stress and physical illness, heredity of illness • Other examples? • Pros: • Allows us to predict behavior, outcomes, or events • Cons: • Correlation does not equal causation!!!!!

29. Experimental Research • Can come after correlational research to test predictions • **Determine cause and effect!!!!!!** • Example: I want to know if Gatorade improves performance in a game... What’s my experiment???

30. Experimental Method: Step 1 • Form a hypothesis!!!! • A statement that predicts the outcome. • Should be an “IF – THEN” statement • Example: If depressed students take pill ‘X’, then they will not experience symptoms as severely. • Taking electrolytes before a game will improve performance. – IF-THEN? • Create a hypothesis for our scenario!

31. Experimental Method: Step 2 • Select participants • Eliminate any confounding variables • Example: • Who could be my participants? What could be confounding variables? • Random Assignment • Control vs. Experimental Groups • Requirement- GROUPS MUST BE THE SAME IN EVERY WAY ASIDE FROM MANIPULATION OF VARIABLE.

32. Experimental Method: Step 3 • Set up your experiment • What is the independent variable? Dependent? • Operational Definitions

33. Experimental Method: Step 4 • Record results • To avoid experimenter bias, have a neutral person observe and score results

34. What do you think? • Discuss: What are the strengths? Weaknesses? Loopholes??

35. Multimethod Research • Why not use all of the methods in one? • You can!!! • Observe in a naturalistic setting, interview participants, compare events to establish a relationship, or correlation • Perform an experiment

36. Sample me!!! Importance of Sampling • Sample must be representative of the entire population that you are studying. • Random sample: Every person has an equal chance of being selected for an experiment. • Representative sample: Researcher ensures that the sample reflects same demographics as the larger population

37. Ethics and Psychological Research • Milgram Experiment- YouTube • Why was this seen as controversial? How did he “hurt” participants? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpIzju84v24&feature=related • Zimbardo Experiment: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndBnlj0bMFA&feature=related

38. Ethical concerns • Milgram: • “Teachers” were deceived • Exhibited signs of stress (sweating, lip biting) • Self-esteem was effected • Zimbardo: • Psychological Distress • Watson: • “Baby Albert” • Landis: • “Facial Expression” • Dig for frog, get a shock • Cut off the head of a rat

39. APA code of ethics: • Participants must be informed of the nature of research • Informed consent must be documented • Risks, adverse effects, and limitations on confidentiality must be spelled out • If participation is required by a university for course credit, an alternative program must be offered • No deception about aspects that would affect willingness to participate • Deception is only allow when it is necessary to the integrity of the research**

40. Ethics in research on nonhuman subjects • Used for: • Comparison • Behavior principals • Studies on the brain • PsyETA- Ethical treatment of animals

41. So what can you do with Psychology??? • Academic and Applied Psychology • Clinical Settings • Social Work • Counseling • Clinical Psychology • Psychiatry (M.D.) • Psychoanalysis **A major in psychology can help in a countless number of fields**

42. Do Now, Day 2: Samantha has recently become withdrawn from her friends and is not as “happy go lucky” as she once was. Her friends jokingly call her “Debbie Downer,” which frustrates her. Unbeknownst to her friends, Sam’s parents have recently been divorced and her mother will be moving, along with Sam, to New York. This morning, while Sam was walking through the hall, a girl that Sam has never gotten along with accidently brushed shoulders with Sam. Sam reacted quickly and pushed the girl against the wall, then stormed away. The school is deciding how to punish this behavior. They decide to bring in the school psychologist to assess the situation. In this situation, how might the “enduring issues” of psychology be considered when assessing Sam’s behavior and her future?

43. Do Now: Day 3 • Describe what is going on in this picture from the psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and evolutionary perspectives.

44. Do Now: Day 4 • Henry wants to know if there is a relationship between wealth and good grades. • Jade wants to know more about the eating patterns of ants. • Kylie wants to prove that healthy eating causes people to suffer from less colds. • Drake is interested in how Judy, who has asthma, runs marathons in under 4 hours. • Highlands’ student council needs to find out how many people use their agendas.

45. So… what is each method used for??? • Correlation…. Describing and predicting! • Naturalistic…. Observing and describing! • Casestudy….. Observing, describing, and potentially predicting* • Survey….. Describing!! • Experiment….. PROVING CAUSE!!!

46. Consider the following: • Dr. Doom wanted to know if caffeine increases performance on word recall. He predicted that if he gave a group of people caffeine, their performance on word recall would be enhanced. He selected 100 thirty to forty year old Bergen County residents who had an IQ of 115. He split the group in half and gave one group caffeinated coffee and the other group decaffeinated coffee. He then measured their performance on solving math equations. • Where in this experiment is: • The hypothesis? • Random sample? • Random assignment? • Control group? • Experimental group? • Independent variable? • Dependent variable? • Placebo?

47. You create an experiment: Question: Does “Drug XYZ” reduce symptoms of depression in teenagers? • Where in this experiment is: • The hypothesis? • Random sample? • Random assignment? • Control group? • Experimental group? • Independent variable? • Dependent variable? • Placebo?