What is Psychology? education-portal/what-is-psychology.html Why Psychology?

1. Research Methods: Thinking Critically with Psychological Science..\Critical Thinking and History of Psych\A Brief History of Psychology by Johanna Evenson.flv

2. What is Psychology? education-portal/what-is-psychology.htmlWhy Psychology? To satisfy one’s curiosity about people & to remedy one’s own woes?

3. The Need for Psychology as a SCIENCE How can we separate uniformed opinions from examined conclusions? Why isn’t intuition enough? we focus on the times we were right & ignore the times we were wrong Anecdotes vs. examined conclusion portalpsychology-is-a-science

4. Did We Know It All Along? Hindsight Bias • Hindsight Biasthe tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. • Also known as the “I knew it all along” phenomenon. • “Out of sight, out of mind” • “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” • ..\Critical Thinking and History of Psych\An Introduction to Psychology - Part 1.flv

17. Overconfidence • Overconfidence • Together with hindsight bias, can lead to overestimate our intuition Flaws in these aspects of thinking fuel the need for SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY- fed by curious skepticism & by humility, can help us sift reality from illusion

18. The Scientific Attitude • Three main components • Curious eagerness • Skeptically scrutinize competing ideas • Open-minded humility before nature

19. Critical Thinking • Critical Thinking - thinking that does not blindly accept arguments & conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, & assesses conclusions. • “Smart thinking” • Four elements • Examines assumptions • Discerns hidden values • Evaluates evidence • Assesses conclusions ..\Critical Thinking and History of Psych\Research Methods in Psychology, Part 1.flv

20. How Do Psychologists Ask & Answer Questions?portal.two-early-approaches-functionalism-and-structuralism..\Critical Thinking and History of Psych\Psychology 101 - Wundt & James_ Structuralism & Functionalism - Vook.flv

21. The Scientific Method • Theoryan explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations & predicts behaviors or events. Organizes & isolates facts, simplifies things. Offers a useful summary. • “mere hunch” • Hypothesis- a testable prediction, often implied by a theory. Must imply testable prediction. Gives direction to research. • Can be confirmed or refuted

22. The Scientific Method • Operational Definition - a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables. • i.e. Human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures. • Replication (repeat)- repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

27. The Scientific Method • A good theory is useful if it: • Effectively organizes a range of self-reports and observations • Implies clear predictions that anyone can use to check the theory Scientific Method: Theory>>> Hypothesis >>> research/observation >>> confirm/refine theory

28. DescriptionThe Case Study • Case Study – Research Method an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles. • Used in early brain studies • Used by Freud in Personality Theories • Used by Piaget for childhood development Suggest HYPOTHSESES further study Cannot discern general truths can be misleading & lead to false conclusions

29. DescriptionThe Survey • Survey- a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group. • Looks at many cases at once often in less depth

30. Wording effects-asking ?’s can be tricky • Subtle changes in word order, word usage (neg/pos), word phrasing can all affect results • Sampling • False Consensus-effect tendency to overestimate others’ agreement with us • Representative sample-cross section of pop. • Population- all the cases in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn. • Note: Except for nat’l studies, it does NOT refer to a country’s whole population. • Random Sample-sample that fairly represents a pop. b/c each member has an = chance of inclusion.

31. DescriptionThe Survey • Random Sampling • Can be remarkable accurate. • But large sampling that is not random can be misleading. A large sample is NOT enough • It must be random to increase accuracy

32. DescriptionNaturalistic Observation • Naturalistic Observation- observing & recording behavior in naturally occurring situations w/out trying to manipulate & control the situation. • Describes behavior • Does not explain behavior • Should use operation definition- must define exactly what is being observed • Often used to describe behavior • Can also be used with correlational research

33. Correlationportalhow-to-interpret-correlationsDescribing behavior is a first step toward predicting it • Correlationa measure of the extent to which 2 factors vary together, & thus of how well either factor predicts the other. (correlation coefficient) a statistical index of the relationship btwn 2 things (from -1 to +1). • How well does A predict B • Positive versus negative correlation • Strength of the correlation • -1.0 to +1.0 • Scatterplot

34. CorrelationDescribing behavior is a first step toward predicting it • Scatterplot- a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation). • Statistics- help us “see” what we may not “see”. Statistical Illumination

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43. CorrelationCorrelation & Causation • Correlation helps predict only • Does not imply cause & effect • Indicates the possibility of causation only

48. Correlation • Illusory Correlation - the perception of a relationship where none exists. Occurs when we rely on only 1 element of evidence. • Over sensitivity to dramatic events = increases likelihood of noticing & or remembering • Perceived non- existent correlation • Can occur due to pre determined ideas • A random coincidence

49. CorrelationPerceiving Order in Random Events • Comes from our natural need to make sense out of the world. We search for order/patterns • Coin flip • Poker hand 1..\Critical Thinking and History of Psych\Correlation and Causation.flv

50. Experimentationportaltypes-of-research-design.html • Experiment- a research method in which an investigator manipulates 1 or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors. • Many factors influence behavior • Experiments can isolate cause & effect by statistically controlling for other factors • Control of factors (statistically removing differences) • Manipulation of the factor(s) of interest • Hold constant (“controlling”) factors