Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (4th Ed)

1. Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (4th Ed) Chapter 1 Introduction: Thinking Critically with Psychology James A. McCubbin, PhD Clemson University Worth Publishers

2. What is Psychology? • Psychology • the science of behavior and mental processes • Nature-Nurture Issue • the long-standing controversy over the relative contribution of genes and experience to the development of psychological traits and behaviors

3. What is Psychology? • Basic Research • pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base • Applied Research • scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

4. What is Psychology? • Clinical Psychology • a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders • Psychiatry • a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders • practiced by physicians who provide medical (drug) treatment as well as psychological therapy

5. Why do Psychology? • Critical Thinking • thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions • examines assumptions • discerns hidden values • evaluates evidence

6. Why do Psychology? • Hindsight Bias • tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it • the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon • Overconfidence • we tend to think we know more than we do

7. The Scientific Method • Theory • an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations • Hypothesis • a testable prediction • often implied by a theory

8. lead to generate or refine research and observations hypothesis The Scientific Method

9. Research Strategies • Replication • repeating the essence of a research study to see whether the basic finding generalizes to other subjects and circumstances • usually with different subjects in different situations • Case Study • an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

10. Research Strategies • Survey • technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people • usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them • False Consensus Effect • tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

11. Research Strategies • Population • all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn • Random Sample • a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

12. Research Strategies • Naturalistic Observation • observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

13. Research Strategies • Correlation • a statistical measure that indicates the extent to which two factors vary together and thus how well either factor predicts the other • Illusory Correlation • the perception of a relationship where none exists

14. Conceive Do not conceive confirming evidence disconfirming evidence Adopt disconfirming evidence confirming evidence Do not adopt Illusory Correlation • Do you believe that previously infertile couples become more likely to conceive a child after adopting a baby?

15. Random Sequences • Your chances of being dealt either of these hands is precisely the same: 1 in 2,598,960.

16. Low Self-esteem Depression Depression Low Self-esteem Low Self-esteem Depression Distressing events or biological predisposition Correlation and Causation • Three possible cause-effect relations

17. Research Strategies • Experiment • a research method in which the investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe their effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable) while controlling other relevant factors by random assignment of subjects

18. Research Strategies • Experimental Condition • the condition of an experiment that exposes subjects to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable • Control Condition • the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental treatment • serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

19. 8 White Jerseys 3 Black Jerseys 2 1 0 Color Visible Color Not Visible Perceptions of Violence • Perception of illegal play when players seen to wear black

20. Research Strategies • Random Assignment • assigning subjects to experimental and control conditions by chance • minimizes pre-existing differences between those assigned to the different groups

21. Research Strategies • Independent Variable • the experimental factor that is manipulated • the variable whose effect is being studied • Dependent Variable • the experimental factor that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable • in psychology it is usually a behavior or mental process

22. The Design of the Second Frank and Gilovich Experiment Measurement Of Dependent Variable Manipulation of Independent Variable Condition Experimental Wear black jerseys Aggressiveness (game choice) Manipulation of Independent Variable Control Not wear black jerseys(wear white) Aggressiveness (game choice) Research Strategies

23. Research Strategies • Operational Definition • a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables • Placebo • an inert substance or condition that may be administered instead of a presumed active agent, such as a drug, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent

24. Subliminal tape content Self-esteem Memory Tape label Self-esteem Memory Research Strategies • Design of the subliminal tapes experiment

25. Research Strategies • Double-blind Procedure • an experimental procedure in which both the subject and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the subject has received the treatment or a placebo • commonly used in drug-evaluation studies • Culture • enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people • transmitted from one generation to the next

26. Duck or Rabbit? • Our preconceptions can bias our observations and interpretations

27. Studying Psychology • SQ3R • a study method incorporating five steps: • Survey • Question • Read • Rehearse • Review