1. The Science of Psychology
Unit 1
Lesson 4

2. Objectives Students will define psychology.
Students will identify the goals of psychology.
Students will explain why psychology is considered a science.
Students will analyze the scientific method.

3. Warm Up
Which school of psych is the best descriptor of human behavior? Why?

4. Review Eclectic – draw from multiple perspectives Biopsychosocial-
Psychoanalysis?
Freud
Unconscious
Behavioral?
Watson
Consequences & Connections, Observations
Cognitive?
Piaget
Input – Process - Output
Humanistic?
Maslow & Rogers
Hierarchy of Needs, Free Will
Neurobiological?
Genes, hormones, chemicals
Medication
Sociocultural?
Influences of group & society
Cultural expectations
Evolutionary?
Survival of fittest – adaptable traits
Eclectic – draw from multiple perspectives
Biopsychosocial-
Biological elements
Psychological elements
Social elements

5. Review Definition of psychology? Psyche – soul Logos – study Goals?
Scientific Study
Behavior
Mental Processes
Psyche – soul
Logos – study
Goals?
Describe
Explain
Predict
Control
Came from 2 Greek words : psyche = soul, logos = study
Psychology as independent term first used in 1500s (“Psychologia” 1520)
Goals related to behavior.
Basic Science – explore questions of interest, study to know more about
Applied Science – use what we know to solve practical problems

6. Making Research Scientific
Apply Scientific Method
Identify specific problem or question
Form a hypothesis
Conduct a study (research)
Analyze data
Construct theory
Retest
All research must be
Replicable
Falsifiable
Parsimonious
Scientists use the scientific method to test their theories about behavior & mental processes. Standardized way of making observations, gathering data, forming theories, testing predictions & interpreting results.
What do you want to know or explain?
Why do you think is the case? Hypothesis is a testable prediction about relationship between variables.
How will you test hypothesis – various ways to conduct research
How evaluate what you found out? Is it reliable, can it be generalized?
Theory is set of principles designed to explain/predict phenomenon.
Retest – evidence to support or negate theory!
All research must be replicable (others can repeat & get same results – do so by stating precisely how variables will be measured); falsifiable (stated in way that can be proven wrong so as to avoid confirmation bias); and parsimonious (simplest explanation possible).

7. Ethical Considerations
With humans
APA Guidelines
IRB
Informed consent
Safety
Confidentiality
Debriefing
When is deception ethical?
4 Basic Principles:
Informed Consent – participants must be informed in advance about general nature of research and if any potential risk exists. Participants have right to refuse participation or withdraw from research at any point. May be deceived about true nature of experiment if no other way to collect data exists.
Safety – right to be protected from harm and discomfort. Studies with harm/discomfort only conducted under certain circumstances & only with informed consent of partipicants.
Right of Confidentiality – individual data about research participants should never be discussed or released
Right to Debriefing – participats should receive complete explanation of research and findings at the end of the study. Extremely important if research involves deception.

8. Ethical Considerations
With animals
APA & Federal Guidelines
Clear benefit
Humane conditions
Least invasive procedures
Reasons for animal research:
Interest in animal behavior as topic of study
Data from animal studies may apply to human behavior
Easier to do some types of studies (genetics) due to shorter lifespan of animals
Easier to exercise more control over animal experiments than humans (don’t have complete control over subject)
Procedures that aren’t ethical to perform on humans may be considered acceptable when performed on animals
Must have clear scientific purpose
Must have clean housing with adequate ventilation, have appropriate food, be well cared for, & must be obtained legally (and disposed of properly)
Must use least invasive procedures – least amount of suffering possible, minimize the discomfort, infection, illness, pain.
Less than 10% of research is done with nonhuman animals. Of that 10% - 90% are rats, mice, & pigeons.

9. Descriptive Research: observe & Record
Case Study – in-depth info about one subject
Observation – naturalistic/directed (lab)
Survey – questionnaires & interviews
Test – standardized, reliable, valid
Descriptive Research helps us observe & record behavior & mental processes. Allow us to describe but not explain causes of behavior.
(“COST” – Case study, observation, survey, test)
Case Study - Delves into an in-depth examination of a single participant. Use interviews & records to gather facts about person. Family, medical, education, personal reports.
+Provides detailed knowledge, allows to examine rare & unusual cases
Subject & researcher bias, no generalization to larger population, costly & time consuming
Observation –
Natural: record what we see as it occurs in real setting, don’t intervene (parent watching playground, teacher/student in class, Jane Goodall chimps in forest (before she intervened)
Directed – watch behaviors & interactions in controlled, laboratory, environment (Sea World, Zoo)
Survey - Series of carefully designed questions – Ask in person, over phone, through mail – to assess behavior, attitudes, opinions among large #s of people. Could be about Social/Political Issue, TV viewing habits, Products you buy/use.
Looking for representative sample of a specific group.
Disadvatages: self-report data (social desirability bias), return rate (how many times hang up on phone!)
Test - Tests use standardized methods with reliability and validity to measure traits & characteristics
Reliability – same results over time
Validity – measure what claims to measure

10. Correlational Research
Statistical relationship between 2 variables
Positive Correlation- When 2 variables increase or decrease together
Negative Correlation- When 1 variable increases as the other decreases
Correlational Coefficient – # between +1.0 and Zero = no relation.
Correlational research allows us to explore relationships between variables.
It’s a measure of a statistical relationship between 2 variables.
Correlational Coefficient- # between and that expresses the strength of a relationship
Positive doesn’t mean good and negative doesn’t mean bad – means they move in same or opposite directions!
Strong correlation moves closer to 1 (either + or -). Closer it gets to 0, the less (or no) relationship is present!

11. Correlation is NOT causation!
Ex: Scary movie & nightmares
Correlation is NOT causation! Just b/c two things are related doesn’t mean one thing caused the other!
Frustration levels & Aggression – Positive
Stress Level & Quality of health – Negative
Time studying & Test performance – Positive
Amount garlic & onions in dinner & goodnight kiss – Negative
Smoking & incidence of lung cancer – Positive
Cutting class & GPA - Negative

12. Experimental Research
Experimental Method
Seeks to establish a cause and effect relationship.
Handout…
The only way to determine if 1 variable causes another is to conduct an experiment.

13. Experimental Research
Identify hypothesis “If A, the IV is presented or changed, then B, the DV will occur or change.”
Identify Population, Randomly Select Sample, Randomly Assign to Group
Manipulate the IV – Placebo
Compare the results – Measure the DV
Independent Variable- condition that is manipulated
Dependent Variable- behavior being measured
Identify population wish to study (1st grade boys) – randomly select sample (pick 6 from hat, computer) – randomly assign to groups:
Experimental Group- subjects that receive treatment
Control Group- subjects who don’t receive treatment, or receive “Placebo- bogus treatment’
Selection Bias occurs when differences between groups are present at the beginning of the experiment!
Confounding Variables – are differences between conditions at outset that may affect DV (differences between subjects, differences among settings)
Manipulate the variable – administer the pill or placebo
Measure the dependent variable – compare your results.

14. Experimental Method Vocab
Subject Expectancy- subject’s beliefs can influence his/her perception/behavior
Blinds- subjects are unaware of the treatment
Double-Blind Study- neither the subjects nor the experimenters know who has received the treatment
Do subjects know which group they’re in? No – why?
Subject Expectancy – Duck Quacks Don’t Echo “Shrimp on Treadmill” episode 1st segment
Subject bias is how subject’s expectations can affect/change behavior during research.
Social Desirability – describe self/behave in socially desirable way
Placebo Effect – believe they’re getting real drug or treatment (Necessary Roughness – pitcher afraid to fly, she gave him “pill that would calm him down – it was a skittle
How control from subject expectancy? Blind studies

15. Activity 1 – Apply Experimental Method
A psychologist studying memory wants to test the hypothesis that an herbal supplement aids memory. The research involves having 80 people complete a memory test. Half of these individuals first consumed the herbal supplement; the other half consumed a placebo pill.
Independent Variable?
Herbal supplement
Dependent Variable?
Memory Retention
Control Group?
Took placebo
Experimental Group?
Took herbal supplement

16. Activity 1 – Apply Experimental Method
An educational psychologist wants to explore whether a new math program, which uses textbooks with special colored pictures, will help high school students in learning geometry. Half of the students are randomly assigned to traditional textbooks, while the other half are assigned to the special textbooks. Scores on a standardized geometry test are measured at the end of the semester.
Independent Variable?
New math book
Dependent Variable?
Performance on geometry test
Control Group?
Traditional book
Experimental Group?
New textbook

17. Activity 2
In your groups, select two of the situations and decide which method of research would be best used to achieve the goal/objective of the situation. Explain.
Also, decide which of the methods would be the least effective for each of your situations. Explain

18. Methods of Research
You are interested in the honesty of people in America, especially with regards to stealing or taking objects which aren’t theirs. How could you determine how honest people are, including what % of the population can be trusted at any given time?
You’re interested in finding out what effects the moderate use (3-5 x’s per week) of marijuana has on high school students, including effects on academic performance, social relationships, motivation and accomplishments.
You wish to ascertain the effects of high Vitamin C on older (65+) peoples’ health.
You are ready to develop a romantic relationship with someone and you want to find the best person to meet your needs. How would you go about this?
You think your partner is cheating on you and you want to find out if this is true and, if so, with whom.
You want to find out who the smartest person is in the senior class.
You’ve been hired to determine the effects of caffeine on the mental alertness of truck drivers for a large cross-country shipping firm.

19. Closure
Do you think it is ethical to use animals in psychological research? Why or why not?