Introduction to Psychology Chapter 1: Foundations for the Study of Psychology

What is Psychology?  Psychology is the science of behavior and the mind.  BEHAVIOR refers to the observable actions of a person or animal.  MIND refers to an individual’s sensations, perceptions, memories, thoughts, dreams, motives, emotional feelings, and other subjective experiences.  SCIENCE is the attempt to answer questions through the systematic collection and logical analysis of objectively observable data.

An Historical Perspective… Etymology  Derived from two Greek words:  Psyche = the soul  Logos = the study of The Ancients  1300 BCE (Egyptian) = The brain was considered a vestigial organ  387 BCE. = Plato suggests that the brain is the mechanism of mental processes  335 BCE = Aristotle suggests that the heart is the mechanism of mental processes

An Historical Perspective…  DUALISM (pre 18 th century) The body is part of the natural world, and can be studied scientifically, while the mind exists in the supernatural and does not operate according to natural law.  René Descartes ( )  Body as “complex machine”  “Cogito ergo sum”  PINEAL GLAND  Are there any issues with this theory?

An Historical Perspective… MATERIALISM  Thomas Hobbes ( )  The soul is nonexistent and all behavior can be understood in terms of physical processes  Thought as a byproduct of the brain’s machinery 19 th Century PHYSIOLOGY  Increased understanding of reflexes  Reflexology  I.M. Sechenov  Concept of localization of function in the brain  E.g., Broca’s area Behavior and mental experiences have physical causes, which can be studied scientifically.

An Historical Perspective…  EMPIRICISM (Locke, Hartley, Mill)  Knowledge arises from sensory experience  “tabula rasa”  ASSOCIATION BY CONTIGUITY: if a person experiences two environmental events at the same time or one right after another, those two events will become associated in the person’s mind The way a person behaves, thinks and feels is modified, over time, by the person’s experiences is his or her environment.

An Historical Perspective…  NATIVISM (von Leibniz, Kant)  Basic forms of human knowledge are innate and not based on experience  A priori: knowledge that is innate to the human mind and is not learned  A posteriori: knowledge gained from the environment  E.g. child learning a language  How does all of this a priori knowledge get there in the first place?

An Historical Perspective…  Charles Darwin ( ), The Origin of Species  Natural selection: Advantageous characteristics increase survival rate and are passed down to subsequent generations  This applies to physiology AND behavior!  Darwin’s theory helps us to scientifically understand the inborn universal traits that we as human beings share (i.e. emotions, drives, perception, learning, etc.)  Psychology recognized as a scientific discipline in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt opened the first university-based psychology laboratory. The body’s machinery, which produces behavior and mental experiences, is a product of evolution by natural selection.

Biological Causal Processes Neural Explanations Study individual neurons or neural pathways Behavioral Neuroscience Genetic Explanations Study individual differences in genes Behavioral Genetics Evolutionary Explanations Study the development of traits in the course of evolution Evolutionary psychology

Environmental Causal Processes Learning Explanations Study how prior experiences alter mind/behavior Learning psychology Cognitive Explanations Study how mental information alters mind/behavior Cognitive psychology Social Explanations Study how our mind/behavior is influenced by other people Social Psychology

Environmental Causal Processes Cultural Explanations Study how our mind/behavior is influenced by our culture Cultural Psychology Developmental Explanations Study how our mind/behavior is influenced by our age and development Developmental Psychology

Psychology as a Profession

Employment Settings

Introduction to Psychology Methods of Psychology Chapter 2: Methods of Psychology

Facts, Theories and Hypotheses FACT : is an objective statement, usually based on observation, that reasonable observers agree is true. THEORY : is a belief or set of interrelated beliefs that one has about some aspect of the universe, which is used to explain observed facts and to predict new ones. HYPOTHESIS : is a specific prediction about what will be observed in a research study, usually derived from a more general conception or theory. FACTS  THEORIES  HYPOTHESES (tested experimentally: The Scientific Method)  NEW FACTS  NEW THEORIES…

Further Lessons…  Do you believe organisms possess psychic abilities?  Has Paul been tested under controlled conditions?  How might our expectations influence Paul’s behavior?

Research Strategies Research Design Experiments Correlational studies Descriptive studies Setting Field Laboratory Data-collection method Self-report Observation

Research Designs: Experiments EXPERIMENT : method for testing hypotheses about cause-effect relationships which the researcher manipulates one variable in order to assess its affect on another variable. (Assumption: Determinism). INDEPENDENT VARIABLE : the condition that the researcher varies in order to assess its affect upon some other variable DEPENDENT VARIABLE : the variable that is believed to be dependent upon (or affected by) another variable (the independent variable). E.g. Drug study

Experimental Subtypes Within-Subjects  One subject is tested under varying conditions (e.g. Clever Hans)  A group of subjects are tested in each condition of the IV Between-Subjects  Manipulations of the IV (e.g. different dosage levels) are applied to different groups of subjects  Random assignment

Effect of Treatment Condition on Depression

Research Designs: Correlational Studies  CORRELATIONAL STUDY : study which the researcher observes or measures (without manipulation) two or more variables to find relationships between them  Why not manipulate the IV?  Implausible, impossible, or unethical  Correlational studies can identify relationships between variables, which allows us to make predictions about one variable based on knowledge of the other…

Correlational Studies: Limitations CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION!!!

Research Designs: Descriptive Studies  DESCRIPTIVE STUDY : any study in which the researcher describes the behavior of an individual or set of individuals without systematically investigating relationships between specific variables

Research Settings LABORATORY STUDY : any research study in which the subjects are brought to a specially designated area (laboratory) that has been set up to facilitate the researcher’s ability to control the environment or collect data. FIELD STUDY : Any scientific research study in which data are collected in a setting other than a laboratory.

Data-Collection Methods Self-report methods  Subjects being studied are asked to rate or describe their own behaviors or mental states  Questionnaires  Interview Observational Methods  The researcher directly observes the behavior of interest rather than relying on the subject’s self- descriptions  Naturalistic  Tests

Descriptive Statistics  Mathematical models for summarizing sets of data. Frequency Percentage Mean Average Median Center Score Standard Deviation Variability among your data

Inferential Statistics Statistics is a game of chance! Level of significance Or p, is a probability statistic that demonstrates the level at which the observed results are due to chance. Statistical significance where: p ≤.05 p is determined by a number of factors such as sample size and amount of variability Mathematical methods for helping researchers determine how confident they can be in drawing general conclusions (inferences) from specific sets of data.

Error vs. Bias  ERROR : random variability in research results  BIAS : nonrandom (directed) effects on research results, caused by some factor or factors extraneous to the research hypothesis

Types of Bias A subset of the population that is not representative of the population as whole Sampling Bias Reliability: yields similar results each time Validity: measures what it’s supposed to measure Measurement Bias Bias that derives from the researcher’s desire or expectation that a subject or set of subjects will behave in a certain way Expectancy Bias

The Facilitated-Communication Experiment

Avoiding Expectancy Effects Observer Expectancy  BLIND : those who collect data are deliberately kept uninformed about aspect’s of the study’s design that could lead them to (un)consciously bias the results. Subject-Expectancy  BLIND  DOUBLE-BLIND EXPERIMENT  PLACEBO : an inactive substance given to subjects assigned to the nondrug group.

Ethical Issues in Psychological Research Research with Humans 1.The person’s right to privacy 2.The possibility of discomfort or harm 3.The use of deception Institutional Review Board (IRB) Respect for Persons Beneficence Justice

Ethical Issues in Psychological Research Research with Animals Animal research used to study specific animal behavior, to learn about general behavioral patterns, to test hypotheses that could not be tested on humans Most studies require the sacrifice of experimental animals at their conclusion