Introduction to Psychology

Chapter 1

What is Psychology?

Psychology - scientific study of behavior and mental processes. (psyche & logos)

Behavior - outward or overt actions and reactions. Mental processes - internal, covert activity of our minds. Prevent possible biases from leading to faulty observations Precise and careful measurement
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Psychology is a science

Psychologys Four Goals

1.

Description
What is happening?

2.

Explanation

Why is it happening? Theory - general explanation of a set of observations or facts

3.

Prediction
Will it happen again?

4.

Control
How can it be changed?
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Pseudopsychologies

Pseudopsychologies - systems of explaining human behavior that are not based on or consistent with scientific evidence.

Phrenology and Physiognomy reading bumps on the skull; width of the forehead. Palmistry reading palms.
Graphology analysis of personality through handwriting.
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Science or common sense?

Answers F T F

Indicate whether each statement is true (T) or false (F)

Once damaged, brain cells never work again. All people dream during a night of normal sleep. As the number of bystanders at an emergency increases, the time it takes for the victim to get help decreases. Its impossible for human beings to hear a watch ticking 20 feet away. Eyewitness testimony is often unreliable. Chimpanzees have been taught to speak. Creativity and high intelligence do not necessarily go together. When it comes to close personal relationships, opposites attract. The majority of teenagers have a good relationship with their parents.

F T F T

F
T

Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2005

Psychology and the Scientific Method

Scientific method - system of gathering data so that bias and error in measurement are reduced. Steps in the Scientific Method:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Perceive the question. Form a hypothesis tentative explanation of a phenomenon based on observations. Test the hypothesis. Draw conclusions. Report your results so that others can try to replicate repeat the study or experiment to see if the same results will be obtained in an effort to demonstrate reliability of results.
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The Scientific Method

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Experiment - a deliberate manipulation of a variable to see if corresponding changes in behavior result, allowing the determination of cause-and-effect relationships.

The Experiment
Definition: Aggressive play

Operational definition - definition of a variable of interest that allows it to be directly measured.

Independent variable (IV) - variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter.

Dependent variable (DV) - variable in an experiment that represents the measurable response or behavior of the subjects in the experiment.

IV: Violent TV

DV: Aggressive play

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Experimental group - subjects in an experiment who are subjected to the independent variable. Control group - subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and who may receive a placebo treatment (controls for confounding variables).
Random assignment - process of assigning subjects to the experimental or control groups randomly, so that each subject has an equal chance of being in either group.

The Experiment
Control Group: No TV

Exp Group: Watch TV

Controls for confounding (extraneous, interfering) variables.

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Descriptive Methods

Naturalistic observation watching animals or humans behave in their normal environment. Participant observation - a naturalistic observation in which the observer becomes a participant in the group being observed (to reduce observer effect). Major Advantage:

Disadvantage:

Realistic picture of behavior.

Observer effect - tendency of people or animals to behave differently from normal when they know they are being observed

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Laboratory observation watching animals or humans behave in a laboratory setting. Advantages:

Descriptive Methods

Control over environment. Allows use of specialized equipment.

Disadvantage:

Artificial situation that may result in artificial behavior.

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Descriptive Methods

Case study - study of one individual in great detail.

Advantage: tremendous amount of detail. Disadvantage: cannot apply to others. Famous case study: Phineas Gage.

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Descriptive Methods

Surveys researchers will ask a series of questions about the topic under study. Given to a representative sample - randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects.

Population - the entire group of people or animals in which the researcher is interested.

Advantages:

Data from large numbers of people. Study covert behaviors. Have to ensure representative sample (or results not meaningful). People are not always accurate (courtesy bias).

Disadvantages:

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random sampling from population

INFERENCE POPULATION SAMPLE

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Finding Relationships

Correlation - a measure of the relationship between two variables.

Variable - anything that can change or vary. Measures of two variables go into a mathematical formula and produce a correlation coefficient (r), which represents two things:

direction of the relationship. strength of the relationship.

Knowing the value of one variable allows researchers to predict the value of the other variable.
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Schools of Psychology

Structuralism - focused on structure or basic elements of the mind. Wilhelm Wundts father of modern psychology Developed the technique of objective introspection process of objectively examining and measuring ones thoughts and mental activities. Edward Titchener

Wundts student; brought structuralism to America.

Structuralism died out in early 1900s.

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Functionalism

Functionalism - how the mind allows people to adapt, live, work, and play. Proposed by William James. Influenced the modern fields of:

Educational psychology Evolutionary psychology Industrial/organizational psychology

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Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt good figure psychology. Started with Wertheimer, who studied sensation and perception. Gestalt ideas are now part of the study of cognitive psychology, a field focusing not only on perception but also on learning, memory, thought processes, and problem solving.
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Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis - the theory and therapy based on the work of Sigmund Freud.

Freud stressed the importance of early childhood experiences.

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Behaviorism

Behaviorism - the science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only.

Must be directly seen and measured. Based much from work of Ivan Pavlov who demonstrated that a reflex could be conditioned (learned).

Proposed by John B. Watson.

Watson believed that phobias were learned.

Case of Little Albert taught to fear a white rat.

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Modern Perspectives
1. Psychoanalytic approach (modern version of psychoanalysis) - This perspective states that much of our behavior stems from unconscious processes. People may be unaware of their fears or desires but these nevertheless influence behavior. These affect our dreams, slips of speech, mannerisms and even manifest themselves in emotional problems.

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2. Behavioral perspective when we attempt to understand an event, we need to look at the observable behavior. Ex. Children are more likely to repeat an aggressive response such as hitting another child if they are rewarded (spectators cheers) than when their responses are punished (reprimanded by adults)

Modern Perspectives
3. Humanistic perspective

Early founders:

Humanists held the view that people have free will, the freedom to choose their own destiny. Belief is that an individuals principal motivational force is a tendency toward growth and full realization of his or her potentials

Abraham Maslow Carl Rogers

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Modern Perspectives
4.

5.

Biopsychological perspective attributes human and animal behavior to biological events occurring in the body, such as genetic influences, hormones, and the activity of the nervous system. Cognitive perspective - focuses on memory, intelligence, perception, problem solving, and learning.

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Modern Perspectives
6.

Sociocultural perspective - focuses on the relationship between social behavior and culture.

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Example

An emotion such as anger can be viewed using the different perspectives/approaches

Biological study the brain circuits that trigger the physical state of being red in the face or the possible effect of drugs on a persons mood Behavioral observable behavior such as facial expressions and body gestures that accompany anger

Cognitive how the different ways we perceive a frustrating situation affect he intensity of anger, and how an angry mood affects our thinking. Psychoanalytic anger is an outburst of unconscious hostility or an inborn need to express aggression Humanistic report what it means to experience and express anger from the individuals point of view.

Types of Psychological Professionals

Psychiatrist - a medical doctor who has specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders. Psychoanalyst - either a psychiatrist or a psychologist who has special training in the theories of Sigmund Freud and his method of psychoanalysis. Psychiatric social worker - a social worker with some training in therapy methods who focuses on the environmental conditions that can have an impact on mental disorders, such as poverty, overcrowding, stress, and drug abuse. Psychologist - a professional with an academic degree and specialized training in one or more areas of psychology. Can do counseling, teaching, and research and may specialize in any one of a large number of areas within psychology. Areas of specialization in psychology include clinical, counseling, developmental, social, and personality, among others.
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AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION IN PSYCHOLOGY

Personality Psychology

The study of consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within the individual (individual

differences).

Personality is consistent.

Developmental Psychology

A field of psychology that examines the impact of maturational processes and experience on behavior. Focus on child development from infancy through adolescence. Adult development and aging.

Abnormal Psychology (Clinical Psychology)

An area of psychology that studies the four Ds: deviance, distress, dysfunction, and danger. Deviant - different, extreme, unusual, or bizarre. Distressful unpleasant and upsetting to the individual. Dysfunctional disruptive to the persons ability to conduct daily activities in a constructive manner. Dangerous potential to inflict harm on themselves or others.

Biopsychology

The field that relates behavior to bodily processes, especially the workings of the brain. The main goal of this area of study is to understand behavior and experience in terms of their biological source.

Cognitive Psychology

The study of mental processes such as perceiving, remembering, thinking and reasoning. The study of mental processes is important because these processes are responsible for much of the behavior we find interesting.

Industrial Organizational Psychology

Social Psychology applied to the workplace setting. Studies individual differences in behavior and job performance, and with measuring and predicting such differences. Topics include but are not limited to: Motivation,

performance appraisal, employee satisfaction, personnel, employee selection, work-family conflict.

Counseling Psychology

A field of psychology that provides services to moderately disturbed patients. Less clinical. More working with people who just want to talk and less clients with psychological diagnoses.

School Psychology

A field of psychology involving psychoeduational testing and evaluating, and other related services in a school setting.

Example

Scenario: A student gets handed back an exam at school with a failing grade. The student bursts into tears and runs out of the classroom.

How would different areas of psychology interpret this event?

A Social Psychologist would say:

This student maybe had a bad day up until this point. Perhaps they recently experienced an argument with a family member or friends. They were vulnerable to react in this manner due to situational influences (the power of the situation).

A Personality Psychologist would say:

This student individual has a tendency to overreact regardless of the situation. Even as an infant, their temperament could have predicted this type of reaction.

A Developmental Psychologist would say:

This student is obviously less mature than other students their age. They are at a maturation level in which they are unable to put a poor grade in perspective. They are developing and maturing at a slower rate than their peers.

An Abnormal (or Clinical) Psychologist would say:

This student is obviously suffering from major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, or bipolar disorder.

A Biopsychologist would say:

This students parents probably behaved in a similar manner when they were students. This behavior is probably a result of genetics. Parents that overreact are bound to produce children who overreact.

A Cognitive Psychologist would say:

This student was probably repeating maladaptive (negative) thoughts over and over in their head all morning. They were probably thinking:

I am going to fail that test, and when I do, I will make a fool of myself and run out of the room crying. I just know I will cause a scene when I receive that failing test grade.

An I/O psychologist would say:

A happy worker is a productive worker, and this student is not happy in school, therefore they are experiencing failure academically. The emotional reaction is due to work-stress.

A Behavior Oriented Psychologist would say:

The failing grade is the unconditioned stimulus that provoked the unconditioned response (crying and running out of the room).
In the future when the teacher passes back tests or papers (conditioned stimulus) the student will continue to run out of the room crying (conditioned response).

A Counseling Psychologist would say:

This is a reaction that needs to be addressed in individual or group counseling. Talking about and processing the incident through counseling will lead to individual growth.

A Statistician would say:

We need to collect data on the frequency, duration, time of day, antecedents, and consequences of this particular incident and any proceeding incidents of similar nature. Perhaps through inferential statistics and regression equations, we can better understand and predict this type of behavior in the future.

A School Psychologist would say:

It is important to determine whether or not this behavior is impacting this students ability to learn. A functional behavioral assessment should be conducted and a behavior intervention plan should be implemented. If this behavior continues to occur and negatively impact this students education, a CSE referral may be warranted.