The Science of Psychology

Chapter 1
Myers 7th ed.
Summary
The limits of intuition and common
sense

 What makes something a science?

 Intuition and common sense are often wrong.
 Hindsight Bias
– People often think something was obviously going
to happen AFTER it happens. After people know
an answer they will look for reasons to explain
and justify it, even if it’s the wrong answer they
will become more convinced it’s the right answer.
The limits of intuition and common
sense

 Overconfidence
– People tend to
think they know
more than they
do.
– Even after
people are
shown to be
wrong they often
insist they were
right or partially
right
The Scientific Attitude

 Being skeptical but not cynical

 Being open but not gullible
 Having humility
 Valuing the truth over being “right”
 Critical thinking – examining the evidence
– “SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE!”
The Scientific Method
 Scientific Theory
– An evolving explanation that accurately predicts
and organizes observable phenomenon. A
scientific theory is only as valuable as its ability to
predict outcomes accurately.
The ability to predict an action is proven through
experimentation – controlled and logical testing
that can be repeated by anyone so they can see
for themselves the theory works.
Experimentation

 Operational Definitions – very specifically

describes critical concepts in an experiment
so that people will be able to replicate it
exactly.
 Hypothesis
– A testable prediction
– An experiment can be very valuable and provide
critical information even if it “fails.”
Psychological Research
 Psychologist try to gather information
using case studies, surveys, and natural
observation.
 Case studies
– Provides in depth information on one subject
– Good: provides a lot of detailed information
– Bad: information only definitely applies to
that one person and might not be valid for
others

Skull of Phineas Gage,

famous psychological case study
Psychological Research

 The Survey
– Gathers information on many subjects but with
less detail.
– Good: Can be used to easily gather a lot of
information on a lot of people
– Bad: Information is not that in depth, results
might be tainted by wording effects, or sampling
issues
Sampling issues

 Survey’s are a very common powerful tool for

research but they can often give misleading
information due to sampling issues.
 You must find the correct population to draw
your sample from.
 Within that population you must use random
sampling. This avoids the false consensus
effect.
Naturalistic Observation

 Observing subjects in their natural setting

without trying to control anything. Simply
“watching.”
 Good – a lot of information can be revealed
about how subjects actually act.
 Bad – limitations of observer and physically
where they are and what they can see.
Correlation

 Psychologists use statistics and correlation to

show the strength of a relationship between
two things.
 However, there are illusionary correlations
and cause and effect are still
undeterminable.
 Correlation does NOT equal causation.
Correlation Coefficient
 The correlation coefficient is just a mathematical way
to show how two things relate.
 A +1.00 coefficient is a perfect positive correlation.
So every time thing A happens thing B happens too.
 A -1.00 is a perfect negative. So every time thing A
happens thing B does not.
 Anything in between expresses a variation of the
above. (+.5) means that half the time A occurs B
occurs etc.
 Although correlation does not show effect it does
reveal how things relate and is a very useful tool.
Illusory Correlations

 When we believe there is a relationship

between two things we are likely to recall and
notice instances that confirm our beliefs.
 For example, perceiving order in random
events… lottery, exact change etc.
Experimentation

 In order to determine cause and effect an

experiment must be done.
 To find cause and effect experiments attempt
to manipulate factors of interest and control
all other factors.
Experimental Factors

 Bias – the double blind procedure provides that

neither the participants nor the scientists are not
aware of who is actually being tested to remove all
bias.
 Placebo effect – a well documented effect in
humans, if a patient believes he is getting treatment
around 30% of the time he will get better even if he
is not. The placebo effect always wears off and is
unusable for long term effects.
Experimental and Control groups

 Experimental subjects are randomly selected

to be part of the experimental group (the
group that will get the experimental
treatment) and a Control group (the group
that will get a placebo)
 This procedure shows the results of the
experimental group in contrast to the control
group and make for a reliable study of
effects.
Independent/Dependant variables

 Independent variable – the thing that will

be changed in the experiment between the
experimental group and the control group.
 Dependant variable – the thing that will be
measured in both groups to determine the
effect of the independent variable
Basic Stats.

 Stats are used in almost every psychological

research paper so they are important to know how to
read and interpret.
 Measures of Central Tendency
-Mode: Most frequently occurring number
-Median: The number at which half the numbers are
above it, and half below.
-Mean: The arithmetic average of all numbers
Stats

 Standard Deviation: A
computed score that tells
how scores vary around the
mean score.
 Statistical Significance: A
statistical statement that
tells you how likely a result
was made by chance (as
opposed to actually affected
by an independent variable
in an experiment.)