PSY 2012 General Psychology Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D. Associate Professor The Department of Psychology The University of West Florida

What is Psychology? Science of mind and behavior Science with multiple subspecialties Science with focus on both generation and application of knowledge

What psychology is and what it is not What it is NOT Common sense Faith or belief Personal hunch Folk lore What it IS Scientific Skeptical Publicly evaluated Empirical Systematic Analytic

Student Learning Objectives (Chap1) Understand the roles of psychologists; Understand historic (text only) and contemporary perspectives (text & lecture) held by those in the field of psychology; Understand the scientific approaches used by those conducting research in the field of psychology; Understand the ethical considerations as they apply to the science and practice of psychology

Roles of Psychologists Researchers –Basic Researchers –Applied Researchers Professors/Teachers –University –Community/Junior College –High School Applied Fields –Industrial/Organizational Psychology –Human Factors Psychology –Clinical Psychology (different from Psychiatry) –School Psychology –Sports Psychology –Health Psychology

Contemporary Perspectives on Psychology Biological— understanding how evolutionary, genetic, and physiological, forces impact one’s thoughts, feelings and behavior Developmental— understanding how the individual’s processes of maturation interact with the culture to impact one’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior across the lifespan

Contemporary Perspectives on Psychology Cognitive— understanding how the mind senses, interprets, and processes information from the environment and from our memories; Cognitive Neuroscience—understanding how brain functions and structures are related to our thoughts, behaviors, and feelings.

Contemporary Perspectives on Psychology Clinical— understanding mental health and mental disorders –Psychoanalytic—mental disorders derive from unconscious forces within the individual; –Humanistic—individuals are self-directed and their behavior is related to inner feelings, self concept, etc., –Cognitive Behavioral—mental disorders are based on one’s interpretations of events and behavioral responses to those interpretations

Contemporary Perspectives on Psychology Behavioral— understanding how events in the environment impact our behaviors; little or no concern with internal states Trait— understanding how stable dimensions of personality relate to behaviors Sociocultural— understanding how the social and cultural forces impact mental and behavioral outcomes

Contemporary Perspectives on Psychology Biopsychosocial —this perspective reflects much of the current thinking in psychology, particularly among cognitive behavioral, developmental, sociocultural, and biological perspectives

Sociocultural Biological Psychological Current Perspective

The Science of Psychology Science: –systematic inquiry into natural phenomena Psychology: –science of mind and behavior Science of Psychology: –systematic inquiry into the mind and behavior

Values of a Psychological Scientist Empirical— can be observed or measured using the senses Skeptical— never quite completely convinced Public— methods and results are made public Evaluative— research findings and conclusions are evaluated by others Tentative— always realize that there is more to know Rational— logically consistent arguments with no internal contradictions

Scientific Method Develop the hypothesis or research question –Includes a rationale based on existing research and theory Perform a test of the hypothesis or study to answer the question –Methodology that leads to empirical data Gather and tabulate data –Data collection with reliable and valid methods

Scientific Method Analyze data –Use analyses appropriate for the type of data and the hypothesis Interpret findings –Interpretations are objective and based on the analyses not personal bias Publish and subject study to critique –Methods, findings, and interpretations are open to public scrutiny and criticism

Categories of Psychological Research Experimental: –Manipulation of key independent variables (the causes of a change in the dependent variable) –Control of other related variables –Measurement of dependent variable (the variable affected by the independent variable) –Random assignment of participants to various manipulations of the independent variable. –With a true experiment, cause-effect relationships can be inferred.

Categories of Psychological Research Correlational Studies –Usually designed to assess The strength of the relationship between two or more variables The direction of the relationship between two variables (positive, negative, or zero correlation) –Variables typically cannot be manipulated –Participants typically cannot be randomly assigned –Cause-effect can NOT be inferred

Categories of Psychological Research Other Methods of Conducting Psychological Research –Surveys—self reports by the participants about their thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, etc.; can lead to large numbers of respondents; –Naturalistic Observations—individuals observe participants in their natural setting (e.g. classroom, park, store) with no intent on manipulating the setting. –Case Studies—researcher gathers in-depth data on a single individual, group, or organization.

Sources of Bias in Research Personal bias Observer bias Expectancy bias Bias could affect the way an experimenter designs a study, collects data, or interprets results Researchers must also attempt to control confounding variables

Ethical Issues in Psychological Research For human participation: –Researcher must guarantee that Participation is Voluntary Results are confidential Results are anonymous Participant may withdraw from study at any time with no penalty Benefits of the research outweigh the risks Participants may receive final report of the study

Ethical Issues in Psychological Research Protected classes may not give voluntary consent: –Minors under the age of eighteen; –Individuals who have been judged not competent to give consent (e.g. mental health issues) –Prisoners In these cases those with legal custody must provide consent in addition to the participant.