Course Syllabus PS124: Introduction to Psychology COURSE INFORMATION Term:1203B October 2012 Term Dates: Start Date: 10/17/2012End Date: 12/24/2012 Course Number/Section: PS124 –05 Introduction to Psychology Credit Hours: 5 Prerequisites: None Course Syllabus PS124: Introduction to Psychology 1

Introduction to Psychology Psychology as a Science The Evolution of Psychology: History, Approaches, and Questions Psychology – the scientific study of mind and behavior

Psychology as a Science Learning Objectives 1. Explain why using our intuition about everyday events is insufficient for a complete understanding of the causes of behavior. 2. Describe the difference between values and facts and explain how the scientific method is used to differentiate between the two.

Psychology as a Science Psychologists all rely on scientific methods. Research psychologists – use scientific methods to create new knowledge Psychologist-practitioners – use existing research to enhance the lives of others include counseling, clinical, and school psychologists

Psychology as a Science: The Problem of Intuition The “everyday” explanations we develop for behavior may not be accurate. People are prone to cognitive and motivational biases the influence perceptions and lead to erroneous conclusions. Hindsight bias – the tendency to think we could have predicted something that we probably could not have foreseen

Psychology as a Science: Why Psychologists Rely On Empirical Methods All scientists use empirical methods. These involve collecting, organizing, and drawing conclusions from data. Scientific method – the set of assumptions, rules, and procedures that scientists use to conduct empirical research

Psychology as a Science: Why Psychologists Rely On Empirical Methods Scientists draw a distinction between facts and values. Values – personal statements E.g., “Abortion should be illegal.” Facts – objective statements verified through empirical study E.g., “There were 16,000 homicides in the U.S in 2009.”

Psychology as a Science: Why Psychologists Rely On Empirical Methods Handguns should be outlawed. Quitting smoking is important. Values Facts In 2010, 30,000 U.S. deaths were caused by handguns. Smoking increases the incidence of cancer.

Psychology as a Science: Why Psychologists Rely On Empirical Methods Facts can shape values Values can determine the facts we find

Psychology as a Science: Levels of Explanation in Psychology Psychologists understand behavior at different levels, from lower-level biological factors to higher-level cultural factors. Higher: Cultural and Social Middle: Interpersonal Lower: Biological

Psychology as a Science: Levels of Explanation in Psychology Social and Cultural (e.g, gender influences on depression) Interpersonal (e.g., individual thought processes influence depression Biological (e.g., genes and neurotransmitters influence depression

Psychology as a Science: The challenges of Studying Psychology Predicting behavior is challenging because: People display individual differences on psychological dimensions. Behavior is multiply determined – it is produced by many factors. The causes of behavior are often outside conscious awareness.

Psychology as a Science Key Takeaways Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior Though it is easy to think that everyday situations have commonsense answers, scientific studies have found that people are not always as good at predicting outcomes as they often think they are. The hindsight bias leads us to think that we could have predicted events that we could not actually have predicted. People are frequently unaware of the causes of their own behaviors.

Psychology as a Science Key Takeaways, continued Psychologists use the scientific method to collect, analyze, and interpret evidence. Employing the scientific method allows the scientist to collect empirical data objectively, which adds to the accumulation of scientific knowledge. Psychological phenomena are complex and making predictions about them is difficult because they are multiply determined at different levels of explanation.

References Stangor, C. (2010). Introduction to Psychology. Irvington, NY: Flat World Knowledge.