Psychology: A Journey

Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Introducing Psychology and
Research Methods
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What Is Psychology?
• Psychology
– Psyche: Mind
– Logos: Knowledge or study
• Definition: The scientific study of behavior and mental
processes
– Behavior: Overt; i.e., can be directly observed (crying)
– Mental Processes: Covert; i.e., cannot be directly
observed (remembering); private, internal
• Empirical Evidence: Information gathered from direct
observation
• Psychology is a science (teach, conduct research) and a
profession (counseling, mental illness)
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Psychologists

Applied
Basic
(Clinician)
(Experimental Psychologists)

Many Specialty Areas

Developmental
Learning
Clinical Psychologists Counseling Psychologists Personality
Social
Cognitive

1. Where would you position psychiatrists on this org. chart?

2. What are the major differences in the duties of psychiatrists vs. psychologists?
3. How are clinicians and experimental psychologists different?
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What Might a Psychologist Research?

• Development: Course of human growth and
development

• Learning: How and why it occurs in humans and animals

• Personality: Traits, motivations, and individual

differences

• Sensation and Perception: How we come to know the

world through our five senses
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What Might a Psychologist Research?(cont’d)

• Social: Human and social behavior

• Cultural: How culture affects human behavior

• Cognitive: How reasoning, problem solving, and other

mental processes relate to human behavior

• Evolutionary: How our behavior is guided by patterns

that evolved during human history
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What Are the Goals of Psychology?

• Description of Behaviors: Naming and classifying various
observable, measurable behaviors
• Understanding: The causes of behavior(s)
• Prediction: Forecasting behavior accurately
• Control: Altering conditions that influence behaviors
– Positive Use: To control unwanted behaviors, (e.g.,
smoking, tantrums, etc.)
– Negative Use: To control peoples’ behaviors without
their knowledge
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History of Psychology (Brief!): Beginnings

• Wilhelm Wundt: “Father” of Psychology
– 1879: Set up first lab to study conscious experience
– Stimulus: Any physical energy that affects the person
and provokes a response
– Introspection: Looking inward (i.e., examining and
reporting your thoughts, feelings, etc.)
– Wundt’s ideas brought to the U.S. by Tichener and
renamed Structuralism
– Question: What are the building blocks of mental
experience? Structuralists disagreed, and no way to
prove who was correct!
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History of Psychology: William James

• William James (American) and Functionalism
Assumed consciousness is an ever-changing flow of
images and sensations so…
What does the mind do?
– How the mind functions to help us adapt to our
environment?
– Functionalists admired Darwin and his theory of
Natural Selection: Animals keep features through
evolution that help them adapt to environments
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History of Psychology:
Behaviorism and Cognitive Behaviorism
• Behaviorism: Watson and Skinner
– Psychology must study observable behavior
objectively
– Watson studied Little Albert with Rosalie Raynor;
Skinner studied animals almost exclusively
• Cognitive: Study thoughts, memory, expectations,
perceptions, and other mental processes
• Cognitive Behaviorism: Ellis and Bandura
– Our thoughts influence our behaviors; used often in
treatment of depression
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History of Psychology: Gestalt

• “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
• Key names: Wertheimer, Perls
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Figure 1.2 Chapter 1

FIGURE 1.2 The design you see here is entirely made up of broken circles. However, as
the Gestalt psychologists discovered, our perceptions have a powerful tendency to form
meaningful patterns. Because of this tendency, you will probably see a triangle in this
design, even though it is only an illusion. Your whole perceptual experience exceeds the
sum of its parts.
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History of Psychology: Freud

• Psychoanalytic: Freud
– Our behavior is largely influenced by our
unconscious wishes, thoughts, and desires,
especially sex and aggression.
– Freud performed dream analysis and was an
interactionist (combination of our biology and
environment make us who we are).
• Repression: Unconscious thoughts held out of
awareness because they are threatening
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History of Psychology: Humanism

• Humanism: Rogers and Maslow
– Goal of psychology is to study unique aspects of the
person; focuses on subjective human experience.
– Each person has innate goodness and is able to
make free choices (contrast with Skinner and Freud).
• Maslow: Self-actualization: Develop one’s full potential
and become the best person you can be
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Psychology Today
• Biopsychology: Our behavior can be explained through
physiological processes
– Uses brain scans to gather data (CT, MRI, PET)
– Looks at neurotransmitters
– Treats psychological problems with medications
• Positive Psychology: Study of human strengths, virtues,
and optimal behavior
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Cultural Awareness
• Many thoughts and behaviors are influenced by our
culture.
• Psychologists need to be aware of the impact cultural
diversity may have on our behaviors.
• What is acceptable in one culture might be unacceptable
in another.
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Psychologists Observe & Measure Behavior

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1. Silently choose a number between 2 & 9.

2. Multiply that number by 9.
3. Add the 2 digits of the resulting number.
4. Subtract 5 from that result.
5. Think of the letter of the alphabet that corresponds to
the number arrived at in step 4.
6. Write the name of a country that begins with this letter.
7. Write the name of an animal that begins with the last
letter of this country.
8. Write the name of a color that begins with the last
letter of that animal.
9. Look at & concentrate on the listed country, animal,
and color.
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The Scientific Method

• Six Basic Elements
– Observing
– Defining a problem
– Proposing a hypothesis (an educated guess that can
be tested)
– Gathering evidence/testing the hypothesis
– Publishing results
– Building a theory
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Some Terms
• Hypothesis: Testable hunch or educated guess about
behavior
• Operational Definition: States exact procedures used to
represent a concept. Allows abstract ideas to be tested
in real-world terms.
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Figure 1.4 Chapter 1

FIGURE 1.4 Operational definitions are used to link concepts with concrete observations. Do
you think the examples given are reasonable operational definitions of frustration and
aggression? Operational definitions vary in how well they represent concepts. For this
reason, many different experiments may be necessary to draw clear conclusions about
hypothesized relationships in psychology.
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• Operational definitions

– Which of the following might be used as an

operational definition of “attraction?”
• A feeling of affection when two people are together. (1)

• The number of minutes during which two people are touching

each other over a four-hour period. (2)

(2)
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What is a double-blind study?

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Figure 1.5 Chapter 1

FIGURE 1.5 Psychologists use the logic of science to answer questions about behavior.
Specific hypotheses can be tested in a variety of ways, including naturalistic observation,
correlational studies, controlled experiments, clinical studies, and the survey method.
Psychologists revise their theories to reflect the evidence they gather. New or revised theories
then lead to new observations, problems, and hypotheses.
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Experiments
• To identify cause-and-effect relationships, we conduct
experiments.
• A formal trial to confirm/disconfirm a hypothesis
– Directly vary a condition you might think affects
behavior.
– Create two or more groups of subjects, alike in all
ways except the condition you are varying.
– Record whether varying the condition has any effect
on behavior.
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Figure 1.8 Chapter 1

FIGURE 1.8 Elements of a simple psychological experiment to assess the effects of music during
study on test scores.
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Critical Thinking
• Ability to analyze, evaluate, compare, critique, and
synthesize information
• Based on four principles
– Few truths transcend the need for empirical testing
– Judging the quality of evidence is crucial
– Authority or claimed expertise does not automatically
make an idea true
– Critical thinking requires an open mind
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How to Critically Evaluate New Information

• Ask the following:
– What claims are being made?
– What test (if any) of these claims has been made?
– Who did the test; how good is the evidence?
– What was the nature and quality of the tests? Are
they credible and can they be repeated?
– How reliable and trustworthy were the investigators?
– How much credibility can the claim be given?
– Can we rule out other alternative explanations?
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Pseudo-Psychologies
• Pseudo means “false.” Any unfounded “system” that
resembles psychology and is NOT based on scientific
testing
– Palmistry: Lines on your hands (palms) predict future
and reveal personality
– Phrenology: Personality traits revealed by shape of
skull and bumps on your head
• Graphology: Personality revealed by your handwriting.
• Astrology: The positions of the stars and planets at birth
determine your personality and affect your behavior.
– Extremely popular today (“What’s your sign?”).
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Why are there so many believers?

• Uncritical Acceptance: Tendency to believe positive or
flattering descriptions of yourself
• Fallacy of Positive Instances: When we remember or
notice things that confirm our expectations and forget the
rest.
• Barnum Effect: Always have a little something for
everyone. Make sure all palm readings, horoscopes,
etc. are so general that something in them will always
apply to any one person!
• (e.g., “Crossing Over with John Edward”)
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Separating Fact from Fiction

• Be skeptical.
• Consider the source of information.
• Ask yourself, “Was there a control group?”
• Look for errors in distinguishing between correlation and
causation (are claims based on correlational results yet
passed off as causations?).
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Separating Fact from Fiction (cont’d)

• Be sure to distinguish between observation and
inference (e.g., Robert is crying, but do we know why he
is crying?).
• Beware of oversimplifications, especially those motivated
by monetary reasons.
• “For example” is no proof, i.e., one example is not proof