1. What Isn’t Psychology?

3. Pseudopsychology Unscientific Astrology Horoscopes Polygraphs Psychics Fortune Telling

4. Pseudopsychology Confirmation Bias Listen to evidence that confirms our beliefs, and ignore evidence that contridicts it. Facilitated Communication Autism “Cure” revealed to be inneffective by research

5. What Is Psychology? The scientific study of behavior and the mind.

6. Psychology Behavior – yelling, smiling, running, eating, laughing, sweating, talking, etc. Mental Processes (the mind) – sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, feelings.

7. Psychology’s Roots Pre-scientific Psychology  Is the mind connected to the body or distinct?  Are ideas inborn or is the mind a blank slate filled by experience?

8. Socrates and Plato, 460-399 B.C. Both of these great thinkers loved logic and believed: Knowledge and the mind are “entirely distinct from the body” and thus able to survive its death. Some ideas are innate – we are born with them.

9. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.) Loved data Was an early scientist Believed knowledge was not preexisting Believed knowledge grows from experience that is stored in our memories

10. Psychology’s Roots  Empiricism  knowledge comes from experience via the senses  science flourishes through observation and experiment

11. History of Psychology Structuralism – Wundt and his student, Titchener Functionalism – William James Gestalt - Max Wertheimer Psychoanalysis – Sigmund Freud Behaviorism – Watson & Skinner

12. Psychology’s Roots  Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig (c. 1879)

13. Psychology’s Roots  Structuralism  Wundt used introspection (looking in) to explore the elemental structure of the human mind

14. So why didn’t structuralism last?

15. Psychology’s Roots  Functionalism focused on how behavioral processes function- how they enable organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

16. Gestalt, Max Wertheimer Began in Germany Defined psychology as the study of the immediate experience of the whole organism Founded as a revolt against Wundt and Structuralism Argued that the whole is different than the sum of its parts Initiated the study of insight and problem solving in animals and humans

17. Psychodynamic, Sigmund Freud Developed outside the university setting Focused on the development and treatment of abnormal behavior Concluded that psychological maladjustment results from unresolved, unconscious conflicts Used currently

18. Behaviorism, Watson United States. Argued that psychology should study only what could be observed and measured objectively No Introspection! How do people react to stimuli? Focused on how behaviors are learned and modified

19. Behaviorism, Skinner Influential in theories of learning Skinner believed that external influences shape behavior. Operant conditioning was the focus of much of his work He died in 1990.

20. Psychology’s Growth British Psychological Society membership

21. Contemporary Psychology

22. Biological View How does the physical makeup of the brain influence behavior? Also called Neuroscience

23. Developmental View Which counts more heavily, Nature or nurture? Child Development

24. Cognitive View How do we interpret our experiences? Thoughts, expectations, Perceptions, memories

25. Psychodynamic View The unconscious mind Focuses on mental disorders Sigmund Freud

26. Humanistic View People are motivated and influenced by their need for personal growth and fulfillment

27. Behavioral View Study people entirely from the outside. Focus on what they can observe directly

28. Sociocultural View Other people exert influence on each other Study things like loving, prejudice, aggression

29. Evolutionary View How does behavior change over time? Looks at people like Darwin looked at animals

30. Trait View Individual Differences result from enduring characteristics, or traits

31. Goals of Psychology Not just to describe and explain behavior but also to predict and control behavior.

32. What do psychologists do? ClinicalProvides Psychotherapy; administers and interprets psychological tests CounselingHelp with everyday issues (e.g. family, career) CognitiveResearch and teach mental processes (e.g memory) SocialResearch and teach how others affect us; human interaction PersonalityResearch and teach individual differences PhysiologicalResearch and teach brain and brain/body interaction Industrial/ Organizational Apply psychology to the work place SportApply psychology to improve athletic performance SchoolApplies psychology to improve development of kids

34. Why are you the way you are? or

35. Nature-Nurture Controversy  the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to development of psychological traits and behaviors

36. Description Psychologists describe behavior using case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation

37. Description  Population  all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study  Random Sample  a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

38. Description – Science??

39. Case Study One or more persons is studied in great depth. The goal is to learn something that can then be applied to all people.

40. Survey Asks people their opinion Asks people to describe their behavior Uses a representative, random sample *Wording of questions *Say one thing do another

41. Naturalistic Observation This involves watching and recording the behavior of organisms (people, animals) in their natural environment.

42. What Research Reveals About Love

43. Psychologists have found that separation weakens romantic attraction. As the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” What do you think?

44. What Research Reveals About Love Psychologists have found that separation strengthens romantic attraction. As the saying goes, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Now, what do you think?

45. Thinking Critically With Psychological Science  Hindsight Bias  we tend to believe, after learning an outcome, that we would have foreseen it  the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon  Overconfidence  we tend to think we know more than we do

46. Overconfidence “There is no reason for anyone to have a computer in their home.” (Ken Olson, president of Digital Equipment Company, 1977) “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” (Lord Kelvin, British mathematician, physicist, and president of the British Royal Society, 1895) “Reagan doesn’t have the presidential look.” (United Artists Executive when asked whether Ronald Reagan should be offered the starring role in the movie The Best Man, 1964) “A severe depression like that of 1920–21 is outside the range of probability.” (Harvard Economic Society, Weekly Letter, November 16, 1929)

47. Overconfidence “Impossible!” (Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder when asked whether Cassius Clay could last six rounds in his upcoming bout with heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, 1964) “We know on the authority of Moses, that longer ago than six thousand years, the world did not exist.” (Martin Luther [1483–1546], German leader of the Protestant Reformation) “Man will never reach the moon, regardless of all future scientific advances.” (Lee DeForest, inventor of the vacuum tube, 1957) “Nuclear powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within 10 years.” (Alex Lewyt, manufactures of vacuum cleaners, 1955)

48. Intuition Involves “hot and cold” streaks such as in: Sports Cards Gambling The stock market

49. Two Random Sequences  Your chances of being dealt either of these hands is precisely the same: 1 in 2,598,960.

50. Experimentation  Experiment  an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe their effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable)  by random assignment of participants the experiment controls other relevant factors

51. Experimentation  Double-Blind Procedure  both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo  commonly used in drug-evaluation studies  Placebo  an inert substance or condition that may be administered instead of a presumed active agent, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent

52. Experimentation  Random Assignment  assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance  minimizes pre-existing differences between those assigned to the different groups

53. Experimentation

54. Frequently Asked Questions about Psychology Why do psychologists study animals? Is it ethical to experiment on animals? Is it ethical to experiment on people?

55. Correlation When two or more things happen together. Correlation coefficient is the statistical relationship between them. Can be positive or negative (0 - +1.00 or -1.00) Examples: IQs of parents and their children, beauty and popularity, anxiety and test performance, crime and weather. What can you think of?

56. Correlation Three Possible Cause-Effect Relationships (1) Low self-esteem Depression (2) Depression Low self-esteem Depression (3) Distressing events or biological predisposition could cause or and

57. Illusory Correlation  Illusory Correlation  the perception of a relationship where none exists

58. Proving a Hypothesis What do you know about astrology? Do you know your zodiac sign? In the scientific method, the first task is to create a hypothesis. Can you create a hypothesis based on the assumptions astrologers make about human behavior? *2 1-a &b

59. The Scientific Method Hallmark of scientific psychology The Scientific Method involves: Theory—explains, organizes, predicts Hypotheses—testable predictions from theory Careful study Replication—follow up study

60. Experimentation  Independent Variable  the experimental factor that is manipulated  the variable whose effect is being studied  Dependent Variable  the experimental factor that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable  in psychology it is usually a behavior or mental process

61. Independent and Dependent Variables Independent variable (X): What you change/manipulate between different groups. You think it affects the dependent variable. Dependent variable (Y): What you measure from all groups. You think it is affected by the independent variable

62. Independent and Dependent Variables X affects Y: The independent variable is believed to affect the dependent variable. In other words, the value of the dependent variable is thought to DEPEND ON the independent variable.

63. Real-Life Practice Alcohol affects driving ability What variable “depends on” the other? This is the dependent variable. What variable affects the other variable? This is the independent variable.

64. Suppose you wanted to know whether tall people are better basketball players than short people. Method: You gather a random sample of people of various heights and ask them to shoot baskets from the foul line. The number of baskets they make out of ten shots will be your measure of basketball ability. Variables: Heights and number of baskets Independent Variable: The people in your sample. Dependent Variable: The number of baskets made. Examples Dependent and Independent Variables

65. Practice 1 - Variables An experimenter designs a study to assess whether teams wearing dark colors receive more penalties than teams wearing light colors. Hypothesis? Dependent variable? Independent variable?

66. Practice 2 - Variables A group of college students were given a short course in speed-reading. The instructor was curious if a monetary incentive would influence performance on a reading test taken at the end of the course. Half the students were offered $5 for obtaining a certain level of performance on the test, the other half were not offered money. Hypothesis? Dependent variable? Independent variable?

67. How Did you Do? Practice 2 Hypothesis: monetary incentive would influence student performance on a reading test taken at the end of a course. Independent variable: Monetary incentive ($5 or no money) Dependent variable: Performance on reading test

68. Practice 3 A government agency hires a psychologist to study whether raising the driving age to 18 would reduce the number of car fatalities Hypothesis? Dependent variable? Independent variable?

69. Practice 4 A social psychologist thinks that people are more likely to conform to a large crowd than to a single person. To test this hypothesis, the social psychologist had either one person or five persons stand on a busy walking path on campus and look up. The psychologist stood nearby and counted the number of people passing by who also looked up. Hypothesis? Dependent variable? Independent variable?

70. How Did you Do? Practice 4 Hypothesis: people are more likely to conform to a large crowd than to a single person. Independent variable: Size of group (5 people or 1 person) Dependent variable: Conformity (measured by number of people looking up)