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1. Psy 213: General Psychology Introduction & Chapter 1

2. Today • Syllabus • Introduction Worksheet • Course Foundation • Start Chapter 1

3. Introduction Worksheet • Major (if undeclared, are you considering any specific majors yet?) • What are you looking forward to with respect to this course? • What are you worried about/not looking forward to with respect to this course? • Why CBU?

4. Chapter 1: What is Psychology? • Psych (soul, spirit) + ology (study of) • “The discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s physical state, mental state, and external environment” Why do we behave the way we do? Why do we think the way we do? (more than just conscious thought!) How does our behavior influence our thinking & vice versa? How do our physical surroundings influence our behavior, our thinking?

5. Course Foundation: God’s Design • Psychology 213 as a GE Course….why? And why psychology at a Christian university? • Psychology: A science of mind and behavior • “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Romans 12:2 • Psychology: A science of the minds’ and behavior of humans • “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” Genesis 1:26 • God’s response to the pinnacle of his creation: “…it was very good” (vs. 31)

6. Chapter 1: What is Psychology? • Psych (soul, spirit) + ology (study of) • “The discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s physical state, mental state, and external environment” Why do we behave the way we do? Why do we think the way we do? (more than just conscious thought!) How does our behavior influence our thinking & vice versa? How do our physical surroundings influence our behavior, our thinking?

7. What Psychology is Not • Pseudoscience • Many self-help books/tv shows • Astrology • Fortune-telling • Common Sense • Common beliefs • Assumptions • Why? • Unlike pseudoscience and common sense, psychology is based on empirical research • Observation, experimentation, measurement

8. Example Common sense/assumption • Babies who watch Baby Einstein are smarter. “Not only are Baby Einstein products trusted by parents and loved by babies, but they have been receiving top awards and national recognition by leading parenting magazines and organizations. “ (From Baby Einstein website)

9. Example Common sense/assumption • Babies who watch Baby Einstein are smarter. Research • But, when children in the targeted age range for Baby Einstein were exposed to a DVD to promote word learning more than 30 times over 6 weeks were no more likely to learn these words than children who did not watch these videos.

10. Psychology & Common Sense • Not all research findings are counter to common assumptions/beliefs/personal anecdotes • Won’t know until it’s tested • Bottom line: Uncertainty about untested assumptions and beliefs can be a good thing!

11. The Birth of Modern Psychology • Many (most? All?) great thinkers asked psychological questions, questions about how people… • Receive information • Use information • Solve problems • Are motivated to action • Not all great thinkers (most?) answered these questions with psychological methods • Empirical analysis

12. The Birth of Modern Psychology • Phrenology: the “study” of how bumps/grooves in the skull reflected brain differences and, thus, personality differences • Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) • Pseudoscience

13. Early Psychology: From The Natural Sciences • Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) • 1st psychology laboratory (1879) in Leipzig, Germany • Method: Trained introspection • William James (1842-1910) • Founding Father of American psychology • Functionialism • Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) • Method: Case study • Psychoanalysis/Psychosexual Theory of Personality Development

14. Psychology’s Present 5 major perspectives • Biological • Learning • Cognitive • Sociocultural • Psychodynamic

15. Psychology’s Present 5 major perspectives • Biological Perspective • How bodily processes affect behavior, feelings, and thoughts • Hormones, CNS signals, chemical substances • Ex. Cortisol, a stress hormone—Ch. 13 • Also see Ch. 4, 5 • Learning • Cognitive • Sociocultural • Psychodynamic

16. Psychology’s Present 5 major perspectives • Biological • Learning Perspective • How does the environment/experience affect actions? • Behaviorism: Rewards/punishments—Ch. 9 • Social-Cognitive Learning: Observational learning—Ch. 9 • Cognitive • Sociocultural • Psychodynamic

17. Psychology’s Present 5 major perspectives • Biological • Learning • Cognitive Perspective • What is happening inside people’s heads? How do we learn language, solve problems, form beliefs, etc. • Computer models (and metaphor)—Ch. 8 • Highly represented in psychology research • Also see Ch. 7 • Sociocultural • Psychodynamic

18. Psychology’s Present 5 major perspectives • Biological • Learning • Cognitive • Sociocultural Perspective • How do social/cultural factors outside of the individual influence behavior/mental processes?—Ch. 10 • The individual is still at the center of study • Not: • Sociology (study of social groups) • Anthropology (study of people groups) • Psychodynamic

19. Psychology’s Present • 5 major perspectives • Biological • Learning • Cognitive • Sociocultural • Psychodynamic Perspective • How do unconscious dynamics within the individual influence behavior/mental processes? • The “thumb” of the 5 perspectives • See Ch. 3, 11, 12

20. Psychology’s Present 5 major perspectives • Biological • Learning • Cognitive • Sociocultural • Psychodynamic • General consensus across these perspectives: • Rejection of supernatural explanations as causal • Importance of gathering empirical evidence

21. What Psychologists Do • Teach/Conduct research in academic settings • Requires graduate degree, usually doctoral-level • Basic psychology (research) or applied psychology (research) • Conduct research in nonacademic settings • May or may not require a graduate degree • Applied psychology • Provide mental health services • Doctoral (clinical psychology) or Master’s level degree (LCSW, MFT)

22. Type of Psychologists • Clinical Psychologist • Psychotherapist • Psychiatrist • Psychoanalyst • Counseling Psychologist • School Psychologist

23. Critical & Scientific Thinking • Critical thinking is the ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons and evidence, rather than emotion or anecdote • Exercise: Fitness :: Practice : Clear Thinking • Hebrews 5:11-14— 11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

24. 8 Essentials to Critical Thinking • Review these and the key terms covered in this section • Hypothesis • Operational definitions • Principle of falsifiability • Confirmation bias

25. Psychological Studies • Empirical Techniques • Descriptive • Correlational • Experimental

26. Types of Descriptive Studies • Case Studies • Observational Studies • Laboratory vs. naturalistic • Psychological Tests • Written vs. oral • Objective vs. Projective

27. Psychological Tests • Is it… • Standardized? (Normed/norm-referenced) • Reliable? • Valid?

28. Surveys • Questionnaires (written) and interviews (oral) • Ex. Gallup Polls or write-in responses to a question from Cosmo • Volunteer Bias • Social Desirability Bias • Critical thinking about “research shows….” statements

29. Overview Gives a specific type of data

30. Descriptive Studies: DATA • Qualitative • Quantitative

31. Correlational Studies • Correlation: a numerical measure of the strength and direction of the relationship between two (numerically measured) things (variables) • Co-occurance, co-relationship • Measured with a correlation coefficient • Scores from -1.0 to +1.0 - .98 + .15 -.04 + .54 - 1.0 +1.0 Indicates Direction Indicates Strength (size)

32. Picturing correlations Remember: “Correlation is NOT causation!”

33. Overview

34. Experimental Design • Hypothesis: Drinking caffeine improves memory. • Independent Variable? • Dependent Variable?

35. Experiment INDEPENDENT VARIABLE TASK DEPENDENT VARIABLE Placebo Digit Span Memorization 250 mg Memory 500 mg

36. Experiment INDEPENDENT VARIABLE TASK DEPENDENT VARIABLE Placebo M = 9, SD = 1.2 Digit Span Memorization n = 20 M = 18, SD = .5 250 mg n = 20 M = 12 SD = 2.3 500 mg Descriptive Statistics Inferential Statistics Significance Tests Effect Size n = 20

37. What Makes An Experiment “Experimental?” • Manipulation of an IV(s) • Random assignment • Experimental Group(s) • Control Group(s) • Controlling for experimenter effects • Blind experiment • Double-blind experiment • Can talk about causality

38. (Final) Note about Designs TIME 1 5-year-olds • Cross-sectional • Two common designs • Cross Sectional • Longitudinal 7-year-olds 9-year-olds

39. (Final) Note about Designs • Longitudinal TIME 1 TIME 2 TIME 3 @ 9 years @ 5 years @ 7 years

40. (Final) Note about Designs TIME 3 TIME 1 TIME 2 @ 9 years @ 7 years 5-year-olds Longitudinal 7-year-olds 9-year-olds Cross-sectional