UNIT 1

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PSYC

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UNIT OVERVIEW

- Pretest

- What is Psychology?- Divisions of Psychology- Fields of Psychology- Psychology as Science- Other Social Sciences

- The Growth of Psychology- History- Growth

- Research Methods in Psychology

- Ethics and Psychology

PRETEST

On your own sheet of paper please answer the following questions.

1. What are the major areas or subdivisions of psychology?

2. What is psychology?

3. What is the scientific method, and how does it apply to psychology?

4. How has psychology addressed human diversity, especially issues relating to gender, racial and ethnic, and cultural differences?

5. What methods are used by psychologists to conduct their research?

6. Is it ethical for psychologists to use people in psychological experiments without telling them? What about experiments on humans?

7. What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?

Psychology:

The scientific study of the mind and behavior (APA)

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?

FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Within the field of psychology there are several major subdivisions:

- Developmental Psychology

- Physiological Psychology

- Experimental Psychology

- Personality Psychology

- Clinical and Counseling Psychology

- Social Psychology

- Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCH

Study of human mental and physical growth from prenatal period through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age.

Three Divisions of Developmental Psych

- Child Psychologists

- Adolescent Psychologists

- Life Span Psychologists

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCH CONT.

Child Psychologists: Focus on infants and children

- Are babies born with distinct personalities and temperaments?

- How do infants become attached to parents and caretakers?

- At what age do sex differences in behavior emerge?

- Changes in meaning and importance of friendship during childhood

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCH CONT.

Adolescent Psychologists: Specialize in the teenage years

- How do puberty, changes in relationships with parents and peers, and the search for identity make this a difficult period for young people?

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCH CONT.

Life Span Psychologists: Focus on the adult years

- What are the different ways that individuals adjust to partnership and parenting, middle age, retirement, and death?

PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCH

Investigate the biological basis of human behavior, thoughts, and emotions.

Three Divisions of Physiological Psych

- Neuropsychologists

- Psychobiologists

- Behavioral Geneticists

PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCH CONT.

Neuropsychologists: Focus on the brain and nervous system

- Investigate questions like:

- Why can’t you taste food with a stuffy nose?

- What happens when a person has a stroke?

PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCH CONT.

Psychobiologists: Specialize in the body’s biochemistry

- Investigate questions like:

- How hormones, psychoactive medicines, and “social” drugs affect people

- Do changes in hormone levels – at puberty, before menstruation, at menopause- cause mood-swings?

- Exactly how does alcohol act on the brain?

PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCH CONT.

Behavioral Geneticists: Study the impact of heredity on both normal and abnormal traits and behavior

- Investigate questions like:

- To what degree is intelligence hereditary? What about shyness?

- Do illnesses such as alcoholism and depression run in families?

- To what extent are differences in the way men and women think, act, and respond to situations rooted in biology?

EXPERIMENTAL PSYCH

Conduct research on basic psychological processes, including learning, memory, sensation, perception, cognition, motivation, and emotion

Focus on:

- How do people remember and what makes them forget?

- How do people make decisions and solve problems?

- Do men and women go about solving complex problems in different ways?

- Why are some people more motivated than others?

PERSONALITY PSYCH

Study differences among individuals in such traits as anxiety, sociability, self-esteem, the need for achievement, and aggressiveness

Focus on:

- What causes some people to be optimists and others pessimists?

- Why are some people more outgoing and sociable whereas others are more reserved?

- Are there consistent differences between men and women on such characteristics as amiability, anxiety, and conscientiousness?

CLINICAL AND COUNSELING PSYCH

About half of all psychologists specialize in these fields

Clinical Psychologists: Interested primarily in the diagnosis, cause and treatment of psychological disorders

Counseling Psychologists: Concerned primarily with “normal” problems of adjustment that most of us face at some point.

- Choosing a career

- Marital problems

CLINICAL AND COUNSELING PSYCH CONT.Both clinical and counseling psychologists divide time between treating

patients and researching the causes of psychological disorders and the effectiveness of different types of psychotherapy and counseling

Controversies

- Drug Therapy vs. Psycho Therapy

- Development of new medications reflects our knowledge advances in the genetic and/or biochemical basis of many psychological disorders

Types of Medications

- Antipsychotic = Thorazine

- Antianxiety = Valium

- Antidepressive = Prozac

DRUG THERAPY VS. PSYCHO THERAPY CONT.Advocates

- Drugs are highly effective in relieving symptoms

- Especially schizophrenia and depression

- Foresee a day when psychotherapy will be obsolete

Opponents

- Drugs target symptoms not causes

- Psychotherapy is needed to help individuals understand events surrounding the onset of disorder

- Need help in dealing with outside problems- relationship, marital, friendship- caused by the disorder

- Side effects of medication

- The severely disturbed may stop taking medication

- Doctors overprescribe medications

SOCIAL PSYCH

Study how people influence one another

Focus on:

- First impressions

- Interpersonal attraction

- How attitudes are formed, maintained, or changed

- Prejudice

- Conformity

- How people behave differently in a group than when on their own

INDUSTRIAL & ORGANIZATIONAL (I/O) PSYCHConcerned with practical issues such as selecting and training

personnel, improving productivity and working conditions, and the impact of computerization and automation on workers.

Ask questions like:

- Is it possible to determine in advance who would be good in a certain job?

- Do organizations operate differently under male and female leadership?

- Research shows workers with high morale are more productive than those with low- are there specific strategies managers can use to improve morale?

DIVISIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Psychologists are drawn together by their common interest in a number of fundamental questions about behavior that cut across their areas of specialization

- The APA has 54 divisions or interest groups organized by members. Some represent subdisciplines of psychology (e.g., experimental, social or clinical) while others focus on topical areas such as aging, ethnic minorities or trauma.

Divisions of Psychology

FIVE ENDURING ISSUES

- Person-Situated

- Heredity-Environment

- Stability-Change

- Diversity

- Mind-Body

PERSON-SITUATED

To what extent is behavior caused by internal processes?

- Thoughts, emotions, motives, attitudes, values, personality, genes

To what extent is behavior controlled, caused, or triggered by external factors?

- Incentives, environmental cues, presence of other people

Seen mostly in: Behavior genetics, learning, emotion and motivation, personality, social psychology

HEREDITY-ENVIRONMENT

“Nature vs. Nurture”

- To what extent do genetics (nature) and environment or experience (nurture)influence behavior?

Seen mostly in: Behavior genetics, intelligence, development, personality, abnormal psychology

STABILITY-CHANGE

To what extent do people stay relatively unchanged throughout their lives?

- How much do we change?

- Can you teach an old dog new tricks?

- Is each day a new beginning with the possibility for significant change?

Seen mostly in: Developmental psychology, personality, adjustment, abnormal psychology, therapy

DIVERSITY

The extent to which every person is, in certain respects, a) like all other people b) like some other people c) like no other person

Questions asked:

- Does our understanding apply equally well to every human being?

- Does it apply only to men or women, or only to particular racial, or ethnic groups, or particular societies?

- Do we need different psychologies to account for the wide diversity of human behavior?

MIND-BODY

The relationship between what we experience (thoughts and feelings) and biological processes (activity in the nervous system)

Seen mostly in: Psychobiology, sensation and perception, altered states of consciousness, emotion and motivation, adjustment/health psychology, and disorders and therapy

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Despite their apparent differences, psychologists are drawn together in part because of their common interest in enduring questions such as these.

In addition, psychologists share a common belief that the scientific method is the most promising way to gain insight into the causes of behavior.

PSYCHOLOGY AS SCIENCE

Psychology: The scientific study of the mind and behavior

- Behavior and mental processes

Scientific Method: An approach to knowledge that relies on collecting data, generating a theory to explain the data, producing testable hypotheses based on the theory, and testing those hypotheses empirically

- Used to describe, understand, and predict

- Eventually achieve a degree of control

Theory: systematic explanation of a phenomenon; it organizes known facts, allows us to predict new facts, and permits us to exercise a degree of control over the phenomenon

Hypothesis: Specific, testable predictions derived from a theory

EXAMPLE: MALE/FEMALE AGGRESSION

1. Find out whether men and women actually differ in aggressive behavior

- Evidence seems conclusive:- Women and girls may yell but boys and men are far more

likely to fight

2. Explain Differences

- Each explanation stands as a theory about sexual differences in aggression

- Each theory allows us to make a number of new hypotheses

EXAMPLE: MALE/FEMALE AGGRESSION

3. Make Predictions/Hypotheses

- Speculating about the phenomenon in question (gender aggression)

4. Test Predictions/Hypotheses through Research

- Results indicate whether one theory is better than another at accounting for new facts and predicting new facts

5. Analyze and Control

- If one or more theories is supported by research evidence it should be possible to control (aggressive behavior)

RULES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION1. Define the problem or question being investigated

2. Suggest a theory or reasonable explanation for the problem

3. Collect and examine all the available evidence

4. Analyze assumptions

5. Avoid oversimplifying

6. Draw conclusions carefully

7. Consider every alternative interpretation

8. Recognize the relevance of research to events and situations

SCIENCE VS. NON-SCIENCE

Psychology differs from various nonscientific explanations of human behavior

Example of Non-science

- Common sense

- Philosophy and Religion

- Pseudoscience

COMMON SENSE

A collection of untested cultural assumptions and sayings that cover almost any situation

- Opposites attract

- Extremely intelligent people are social misfits and eccentrics

Research and psychology often contradict common sense

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

Deal with important issues such as ethics, human values, aesthetics, and the nature of life- issues that cannot be resolved through research, but are matters of faith or logic

- Psychology does not seek to compete with, or replace philosophy and religion

- Psychologists strive to describe and explain human thought and behavior

- Questions of right and wrong, good and evil, and value judgments are beyond the scope of science

PSEUDOSCIENCE

A theory or body of knowledge that portrays itself as science but is not based on empirical observation or is inconsistent with broader scientific theory

- Astrology

- Palm-reading

- Fortune telling

Psychologists would be interested in how a horoscope affects a person’s attitude and behavior

- Goal would be to investigate the power of persuasion

OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES

Psychology is not alone in applying the scientific method to the study of behavior. The behavioral sciences are so closely related that it is often hard to tell where one ends and another begins

Behavioral Sciences

- Sociology

- Anthropology

- Political Science

- History

- Psychology

- Economics

- Sociology:- The study of society.- Goal is to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity

- Anthropology: - The academic study of humanity.- Anthropologists study topics including Homo sapiens origin and

evolution, the organization of human social and cultural relations, human physical traits, how humans behave, the variations among different groups of humans, how the evolutionary past of Homo sapiens has influenced its social organization and culture, and so forth.

- Political Science- The study of the state, government, and politics- Deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the

analysis of political systems and political behavior

- History - The discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of

information about past events.- Uses a narrative to examine and analyze the sequence of events- Often attempts to investigate objectively the patterns of cause

and effect that determine events.

- Psychology- The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

- Economics - Analyzes the production, distribution,

and consumption of goods and services.

HOW DO DIFFERENT SOCIAL SCIENTISTS VIEW A SIMILAR EVENT?

EVENT: A campus protest in response to a racial incident

Describe how each type of behavioral scientist would view this event.

HUMAN DIVERSITY

Why does human diversity matter?

- Knowing the scientific bases of human diversity will allow you to separate fact from fiction in your daily interactions with people

- Once you understand how and why groups differ in their values, haviors, approaches to the world, thought processes, and responses to situations, you will savor the diversity around you.

- The more you comprehend the extent of human diversity, the more you will appreciate the many universal features of humanity.

GENDER

Refers to one’s biological makeup

The physical and genetic facts of being one sex or the other

Sex vs. Gender

Some use sex to refer exclusively to biological differences in anatomy, genetics, or physical functioning and gender to refer to the psychological and social meanings attached to being biologically male or female

GENDER STEREOTYPES

Masculine

preferences, attributes, and interests that are typically associated with being a male in our society.

Feminine

preferences, attributes, and interests that are typically associated with being a female in our society.

Gender Stereotypes

characteristics that are assumed to be typical of each sex

Gender Roles

behaviors that we expect males and females to engage in

CULTURE

Refers to two different aspects of a society:

- Tangible goods produced in a society

- art, inventions, literature, and consumer goods

- Intangible processes

- shared beliefs, values, attitudes, traditions, and behaviors

- are communicated from one generation to the next within a society

RACE AND ETHNICITY

Race

- an individuals biological heritage

Ethnicity

- A common cultural heritage, including religion, language, and/or ancestry, and is shared by a group of individuals

Ethnic Identity

- The aspect of an individual’s self-concept that is based on his or her awareness of being s member of a particular ethnic group

WHY IS DIVERSITY IMPORTANT?

The gender, race, or ethnicity of the experimenter may introduce a subtle, unintended biases.

Though research methods and the scientific process strive for objectivity, subjective values- whether they derive from race, gender, or cultural background- influence human behavior, whether the human in question is the designer of or the participant in the research.

HOMEWORK: THESIS STATEMENT

Answer the following prompt in the form of a thesis statement:

Psychological research is better now than it was in the 1950's. What changes in research have occurred since the 1950's that would lead one to agree with this statement? (Operationally define "better" in your answer.)

Due: Wed 9/26

RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY

The Experiment:

The only research method capable of showing cause and effect

-Includes a hypothesis

- A statement about the relation between two or more variables

- Must be testable, verifiable and refutable

Independent variable:

Variable manipulated by the experimenter

Dependent variable:

Measured variable influenced by the independent variable

Experimental group:

Group that receives the treatment

Control group:

Group that does not receive treatment (or receives a treatment presumed to be ineffective, e.g., placebo)

- Serves as the basis for comparison of results from the experimental group

- Also serves to eliminate alternative explanations of the results

Confounding variable:

- Any variable besides the independent variable that could influence the results of an experiment

- Influence is unwanted

Population:

- The larger group of people or animals from which samples are drawn

Sample:

- Set of subjects drawn from particular population

Control Measures

- Counterbalancing: Controls for order effects of conditions

- Single-blind: Controls subject awareness of group assignment

- Double-blind: Controls subject and experimenter awareness of group assignment

- Randomization: Selection and assignment of subjects to groups through random or chance procedure

NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION

- Behavior is observed in the environment in which it occurs naturally

- Typically, behavior is not interfered with or altered

Example: W.H. Whyte (1956) wanted to learn how people in suburban communities chose their friends.

- Read social column in the local newspaper to find parties and lists of those invited

- Noticed a pattern based on proximity

NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION

A D V A N T A G E S

Provides a great deal of firsthand behavioral info that is more likely to be accurate than the reports after the fact.

The subjects behavior is more natural, spontaneous, and varied than behaviors taking place in the laboratory.

A rich source of hypotheses

L I M I T A T I O N S

The presence of an observer may alter the participant’s behavior

The observer’s recording of the behavior may reflect a preexisting bias

It is often unclear whether the observations can be generalized to other settings and subjects

CASE STUDIES

- Behavior of one person or a few people is studied in depth

Example:

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

- Carefully studied each of his 3 children as they grew and changed during childhood.

CASE STUDIES

A D V A N T A G E S

Yields a great deal of detailed descriptive information

Useful for forming hypotheses

L I M I T A T I O N S

The case(s) studied may not be a representative sample

Can be time-consuming and expensive

Observer bias is a potential problem

SURVEYS

- A large number of participants are asked a standard set of questions- Questionnaires or interviews

Example: Polls taken before big elections

- Estimates of the percentage of people that are likely to vote for a certain candidate

SURVEYS

A D V A N T A G E S

Enables an immense amount of data to be gathered quickly and inexpensively

L I M I T A T I O N S

Sampling biases can skew results

Poorly constructed questions can result in answers that are ambiguous, so data is not clear

Accuracy depends on ability and willingness of participants to answer questions accurately

CORRELATION RESEARCH

- Employs statistical methods to examine the relationships between two or more variables

Example: Psychologist asked to predict which applicants for a pilot training program will make good pilots.

- Select 100 trainees

- Give them a variety of aptitude and personality tests

- Compare results to performance in training school

- Would tell if there is some characteristic that correlates with eventual success as a pilot

CORRELATION RESEARCH

A D V A N T A G E S

May clarify relationships between variables that cannot be examined by other research methods

Allows prediction of behavior

L I M I T A T I O N S

Does not permit researcher to draw conclusions regarding cause-and-effect relationships

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH- One or more variables are systematically manipulated, and the effect of

that manipulation on other variables is studied

Experimental Method: Research technique in which an investigator deliberately manipulates selected events or circumstances and then measures those manipulations on subsequent behavior

Subjects or participants: Individuals whose reactions or responses are observed in an experiment

Independent Variable: The variable that is manipulated to test its effects on the other, dependent variables

Dependent Variable: The variable that is measured to see how it is changed by manipulations in the independent variable

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Experimental Group: In a controlled experiment, the group subjected to a change in the independent variable

Control Group: In a controlled experiment, the group not subjected to a change in the independent variable; used for comparison with the experimental group

Experimenter Bias: Expectations by the experimenter that might influence the results of an experiment or its interpretation

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Example: Why students memories are poorer on Monday than on other days of the week.

Hypothesis: Difficulty remembering facts and ideas on Mondays is due to lack of sleep on the weekend

Experimental Method: Used to gather evidence to support hypothesis

Design Memory Task: Geometry task

Subjects/Participants: Group made up of equal number men/women that scored between 520 and 550 on the verbal section of their College Boards

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Manipulation: Control (manipulate) the amount of time the subject sleeps

Independent Variable: Amount of sleep a subject gets

Dependent Variable: Number of correct answers on memory task

Experimental Group: will be kept awake until 4:00am and woken up at 7:00am

Control Group: Allowed to sleep whenever they please

Experimenter Bias: To combat this, has a neutral party with no knowledge of experiment grade task

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

A D V A N T A G E S

Strict control of variables offers researchers the opportunity to draw conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships

L I M I T A T I O N S

The artificiality of the lab setting may influence subject’s behavior

Unexpected and uncontrolled variables may confound results

Many variables cannot be controlled or manipulates

SAMPLING

Sample

- Selection of cases from a larger population used to conduct a study

Random Sample

- Sample in which each potential participant has an equal chance of being selected

Representative Sample

- Sample carefully chosen so that the characteristics of the participants correspond closely to the characteristics of the larger population