1. Psychology in Everyday Life

2. Psychology’s Roots, Big Ideas, and Critical Thinking Tools Chapter 1

3. Psychological Science is Born
Freud ( )
Sigmund Freud, and his followers emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind and its effects on human behavior. His views became the basis for the psychodynamic perspective in psychology.

4. Psychological Science Develops
Behaviorists- Behavioral Perspective
Skinner ( )
Watson ( )
Ivan Pavlov a Russian Physiologist, James Watson and Skinner were all instrumental in developing the science of psychology and emphasized behavior instead of mind or mental thoughts. From 1920 to 1960, psychology in the US was heavily oriented towards behaviorism.
Watson and later Skinner emphasized the study of overt behavior as the subject matter of scientific psychology.

5. Psychological Science Develops
Humanistic Psychology- Humanistic perspective
Maslow ( )
Rogers ( )
Maslow and Rogers emphasized current environmental influences on our growth potential and our need for love and acceptance.

6. Psychology Today
We define psychology today as the scientific study of behavior (what we do) and mental processes (inner thoughts and feelings).
We use science- observation and evaluation, to draw conclusions about behavior and mental processing.

7. Psychology’s Current Perspectives
Focus
Sample Questions
Neuroscience
How the body and brain enables emotions?
How are messages transmitted in the body? How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?
Evolutionary
How the natural selection of traits the promotes the perpetuation of one’s genes?
How does evolution influence behavior tendencies?
Behavior genetics
How much our genes and our environments influence our individual differences?
To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and vulnerability to depression attributable to our genes? To our environment?
Although debates arise among the psychologists working from differing perspectives, each point of view addresses important questions.

8. Psychology’s Current Perspectives
Focus
Sample Questions
Psychodynamic
How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts?
How can someone’s personality traits and disorders be explained in terms of sexual and aggressive drives or as disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas?
Behavioral
How we learn observable responses?
How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, say to lose weight or quit smoking?

9. Psychology’s Current Perspectives
Focus
Sample Questions
Cognitive
How we encode, process, store and retrieve information?
How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Problem solving?
Social-cultural
How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures?
How are we — as Africans, Asians, Australians or North Americans – alike as members of human family? As products of different environmental contexts, how do we differ?

10. Four Big Ideas in Psychology
Critical Thinking is Smart Thinking
Behavior is a Biopsychosocial Event
3. We Operate with a Two-Track Mind (Dual Processing)
4. Psychology Explores Human Strengths as Well as Challenges
Preview Question 3: What four big ideas run through this book?

11. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking does not accept arguments and conclusions blindly.
It examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions.
“4 out of 5 students prefer Miss King as their social studies teacher.”
Ask, who did they survey? Who were the students polled? How was the question worded?
All of these will change the results of the survey!

12. Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis

13. Nature vs. Nurture
Controversy over the relative contributions that genes (nature) and experience (nurture) make to the development of psychological traits and behavior
Nurture works on what nature endows

14. The Two-Track Mind
Dual Processing- information is processed on two levels; conscious and the unconscious (information that is processed without awareness)
Visual Perception- recognize things and future actions
Visual Action- guides our moment to moment actions

15. Psychology’s Subfields: Research
Psychologist
What she does
Biological
Explore the links between brain and mind.
Developmental
Study changing abilities from womb to tomb.
Cognitive
Study how we perceive, think, and solve problems.
Personality
Investigate our persistent traits.
Social
Explore how we view and affect one another.

16. Psychology’s Subfields: Research
Data: APA 1997

17. Psychology’s Subfields: Applied
Psychologist
What she does
Clinical
Studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders
Counseling
Helps people cope with academic, vocational, and marital challenges.
Educational
Studies and helps individuals in school and educational settings
Industrial/
Organizational
Studies and advises on behavior in the workplace.

18. Psychology’s Subfields: Applied
Data: APA 1997

19. Clinical Psychology vs. Psychiatry
A clinical psychologist (Ph.D.) studies, assesses, and treats troubled people with psychotherapy.
Psychiatrists on the other hand are medical professionals (M.D.) who use treatments like drugs and psychotherapy to treat psychologically diseased patients.

20. Why Do Psychology?
How can we differentiate between uniformed opinions and examined conclusions?
The science of psychology helps make these examined conclusions, which leads to our understanding of how people feel, think, and act as they do!

21. What About Intuition & Common Sense?
Many people believe that intuition and common sense are enough to bring forth answers regarding human nature.
Intuition and common sense may help answer questions, but they are not free of error.
Why are the answers reached by thinking critically more reliable than ordinary common sense?
Preview Question 4: Why are the answers reached by thinking critically more reliable than ordinary common sense?

22. Limits of Intuition
Personal interviewers may rely too much on their “gut feelings” when meeting with job applicants.

23. Hindsight Bias is the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon.
After learning the outcome of an event, many people believe they could have predicted that very outcome. We only knew the housing market would plummet ONLY after it actually did plummet.
“Anything seems commonplace, once explained.” Dr. Watson to Sherlock Holmes.
Two phenomena – hindsight bias and judgmental overconfidence – illustrate why we cannot rely solely on intuition and common sense.
“Anything seems commonplace, once explained.” Dr. Watson to Sherlock Holmes.
Two phenomena – hindsight bias and judgmental overconfidence – illustrate why we cannot rely solely on intuition and common sense.

24. Sometimes we think we know more than we actually know.
Overconfidence
Sometimes we think we know more than we actually know.
How long do you think it would take to unscramble these anagrams?
Anagram
WREAT
WATER
People said it would take about 10 seconds, yet on average they took about 3 minutes
On the next slide, estimate how long it will take you to unscramble five anagrams.
ETYRN
ENTRY
GRABE
BARGE

25. Try it!
TTIIINNOU
RlGNELAN
I E P C R
TANTOTSR
MSLESL

26. The Scientific Attitude
The scientific attitude is composed of curiosity (passion for exploration), skepticism (doubting and questioning) and humility (ability to accept responsibility when wrong).
Preview Question 5: What are the three key attitudes of scientific inquiry?

27. Scientific Method in Psychology
Psychologists, like all scientists, use the scientific method to construct theories that organize, summarize and simplify observations.
Preview Question 6: How do psychologists construct theories?

28. For example, low self-esteem contributes to depression.
Theory
A theory is an explanation that integrates principles and organizes and predicts behavior or events.
For example, low self-esteem contributes to depression.

29. People with low self-esteem are apt to feel more depressed.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a testable prediction, often prompted by a theory, to enable us to accept, reject or revise the theory.
People with low self-esteem are apt to feel more depressed.

30. Research Observations
Research would require us to administer tests of self-esteem and depression. Individuals who score low on a self-esteem test and high on a depression test would confirm our hypothesis.

31. Research Process

32. Operational Definitions
A statement of procedures used to define research variables
Leads to Replication- repeating of research to see if the findings were accurate

33. Is language uniquely human?
Description
Case Study
A technique in which one person, or small group of people, is studied in depth to reveal underlying behavioral principles.
Preview Question 7: What three techniques do psychologists use to observe and describe behavior?
Is language uniquely human?

34. Case Study Suggest directions for further study
Show us what can happen
Individual cases may mislead us because they are atypical

35. Survey
A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people usually done by questioning a representative, random sample of people.

36. Wording can change the results of a survey.
Wording Effects
Wording can change the results of a survey.
Q: Should cigarette ads and pornography be allowed on television? (not allowed vs. forbid)

37. Survey Random Sampling
If each member of a population has an equal chance of inclusion into a sample, it is called a random sample (unbiased). If the survey sample is biased, its results are not valid.
The fastest way to know about the marble color ratio is to blindly transfer a few into a smaller jar and count them.

38. Naturalistic Observation
Observing and recording the behavior of animals in the wild and recording self-seating patterns in a multiracial school lunch room constitute naturalistic observation.
Courtesy of Gilda Morelli

39. Descriptive Methods Summary
Case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation describe behaviors. They are known as descriptive methods of research>

40. (positive or negative)
Correlation
When one trait or behavior accompanies another, we say the two correlate.
Indicates strength
of relationship
(0.00 to 1.00)
Correlation
coefficient
r = +
0.37
Preview Question 8: Why do correlations permit prediction but not explanation, and what is an illusory correlation?
Correlation Coefficient is a statistical measure of the relationship between two variables.
Indicates direction
of relationship
(positive or negative)

41. Correlation
Positive Correlation- (0 and +1) direct relationship; two things increase and decrease together
Negative Correlation- (0 and -1) indicates an inverse relationship, one thing increases the other decreases
Zero Correlation- (around 0) weak relationship; little or no relationship

42. Correlation and Causation
Correlation does not mean causation! or

43. Illusory Correlation
The perception of a relationship where no relationship actually exists. Parents conceive children after adoption.
Ex. Length of Marriage and Hair Loss

44. Given random data, we look for order and meaningful patterns.
Order in Random Events
Given random data, we look for order and meaningful patterns.
Your chances of being dealt either of these hands is precisely the same: 1 in 2,598,960.

45. Order in Random Events
Given large numbers of random outcomes, a few are likely to express order.
Jerry Telfer/ San Francisco Chronicle
Angelo and Maria Gallina won two California lottery games on the same day.

46. Exploring Cause and Effect
Experimentation
Exploring Cause and Effect
Like other sciences, experimentation is the backbone of psychological research. Experiments isolate causes and their effects.
Preview Question 9: How do experiments clarify or reveal cause-effect relationships?

47. Exploring Cause & Effect
Many factors influence our behavior. Experiments (1) manipulate factors that interest us, while other factors are kept under (2) control.
Effects generated by manipulated factors isolate cause and effect relationships.

48. Double-blind Procedure
Evaluating Therapies
Double-blind Procedure
In evaluating drug therapies, patients and experimenter’s assistants should remain unaware of which patients had the real treatment and which patients had the placebo treatment.

49. Evaluating Therapies Random Assignment
Assigning participants to experimental (breast-fed) and control (formula-fed) conditions by random assignment minimizes pre-existing differences between the two groups.

50. Independent Variable
An independent variable is a factor manipulated by the experimenter. The effect of the independent variable is the focus of the study.
For example, when examining the effects of breast feeding upon intelligence, breast feeding is the independent variable.

51. Dependent Variable
A dependent variable is a factor that may change in response to an independent variable. In psychology, it is usually a behavior or a mental process.
For example, in our study on the effect of breast feeding upon intelligence, intelligence is the dependent variable.

52. A summary of steps during experimentation.

53. Placebo Affect Positive results caused by expectations alone
Thinking you are getting a treatment.

54. Below is a comparison of different research methods.