Myers EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY 7th Ed

1. Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (7th Ed) Chapter 1 Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

2. Psychology’s Roots Prescientific Psychology Questions Is the mind connected to the body or distinct? Are ideas inborn or is the mind a blank slate filled by experience?

3. Psychology’s Roots Prescientific Psychology moves toward Empiricism: Empiricism believes that knowledge comes from experience via the senses science flourishes through observation and experiment

4. Psychology’s Roots Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig (c. 1879) and is frequently considered the father of empirical psychology

5. Psychology’s Roots Structuralism used introspection (looking in) to explore the elemental structure or building blocks of the human mind

6. Psychology’s Roots Functionalism, founded by William James, focused on how behavioral processes function - how they enable organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

7. Other Early Pioneers – Freud: focused on Psychodynamic, unconscious conflicts, complexes, dream analysis Piaget: focused on Cognitive development Watson: focused on Behaviorism

8. Psychology’s Roots Definition of Psychology The science (uses the scientific method of study) of behavior (what we do and/or what is observable) and mental processes (sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, information processing, decision making, and feelings)

9. PSYCHOLOGY ROOTS Goals of Psychology: 1. Describe behavior and mental processes 2. Explain or understand behavior and mental processes 3. Predict behavior and mental processes 4. Change or influence behavior and mental processes

10. Contemporary Psychology Nature-Nurture Controversy in Psychology the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to development of psychological traits and behaviors Nurture works on what nature provides Every psychological event is simultaneously a biological event

11. Contemporary Psychology Each perspective contributes to the overall understanding of behavior and mental processes. Remember, no one perspective can explain all behavior or mental processes. It is only through on-going research that the contributions of each perspective can be evaluated.

12. Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis

13. Psychology’s Current Perspectives

14. Psychology’s Current Perspectives

15. Contemporary Psychology Subfields Psychology’s Subfields focus on one or both: Basic Research pure science that aims to increase the knowledge base Applied Research scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

16. Psychology’s Subfields: Research

17. Psychology’s Subfields: Research

18. Psychology’s Subfields: Applied

19. Psychology’s Subfields: Applied

20. Contemporary Psychology Two frequently confused fields: Clinical Psychology branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders Psychiatry (not a branch of psychology) a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders practiced by physicians who sometimes use medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychotherapy

21. Why Study Psychology? Psychologists, like all scientists, use the scientific method to construct theories that organize observations and imply testable hypotheses Psychologists use the science of behavior and mental processes to better understand why people think, feel and act as they do.

22. Common Sense Test 1. To change the way people act, you must first change their attitudes. TF 2. The greater the reward promised for a boring activity, the more one will come to enjoy the activity. TF 3. Most people rate themselves as below average when comparing themselves to others on socially desirable characteristics (such as attractiveness). TF

23. Common Sense Test 4. Most people disobey a person in authority who orders them to hurt a stranger. TF 5. In a debate, it is always to your advantage to be the last speaker instead of going first (you want to have the last word). TF

24. Common Sense Test 6. People pull harder in a tug-of war when they are part of a team than when they are pulling by themselves. TF 7. Groups will generally make more moderate decisions than a single individual. TF 8. Opposites attract. TF

25. Common Sense Test 9. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. TF 10. People are LESS likely to help another person when they are alone than when there is a group around. TF 11. Children who grow up in a family with gay parents are more likely to become gay. TF

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

27. The Scientific Attitude Critical Thinking thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions examines assumptions discerns hidden values evaluates evidence assesses conclusions

28. The Scientific Attitude The scientific attitude is composed of curiosity (passion for exploration), skepticism (doubting and questioning) and humility (ability to accept responsibility when wrong).

29. 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

30. The Scientific Method

31. The Scientific Method Operational Definition a statement of procedures (operations) used to define research variables example- intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures

32. The Scientific Method Replication repeating the essence of a research study to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances usually with different participants in different situations

33. Description Psychologists describe behavior using case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation

34. Description Case Study observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principals

35. Case Study Problems: Individual may be atypical Extraordinary anecdotal cases have a way of overwhelming general truths To discern general truths other methods must be used

36. Description Survey technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people usually by questioning a representative, random sample of people Problems: wording and sampling can also be used for correlations

37. Description Population all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study Random Sample a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

38. Description Naturalistic Observation observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

39. Correlation Correlation Coefficient a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus how well either factor predicts the other

40. Correlation Correlation Coefficient a statistical measure that indicates the extent to which two factors vary together and thus how well either factor predicts the other

41. Correlation Value indicates strength .00 indicates no relationship 1.00 indicates strongest relationship Sign indicates direction or relationship + is positive and indicates variables vary in same direction ?? ?? - is negative and indicates variables vary in opposite direction?? ??

42. Correlation Three Possible Cause-Effect Relationships

43. Illusory Correlation Illusory Correlation the perception of a relationship where none exists

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

45. Experimentation Experiment an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe their effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable) by random assignment of participants the experiment controls other relevant factors

46. Exploring Cause & Effect Many factors influence our behavior. Experiments (1) manipulate factors that interest us, while other factors are kept under (2) control. Effects generated by manipulated factors isolate cause and effect relationships.

47. Experimentation Double-Blind Procedure both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo commonly used in drug-evaluation studies Placebo an inert substance or condition that may be administered instead of a presumed active agent, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent

48. Experimentation Experimental Condition the condition of an experiment that exposes participants 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

49. Experimentation Random Assignment assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance minimizes pre-existing differences between those assigned to the different groups

50. Experimentation 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

51. Experimentation

52. Research Strategies Design of the subliminal tapes experiment

53. Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology Can laboratory experiments illuminate everyday life?

54. Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology Culture - the shared ideas and behaviors that one generation passes on to the next

55. Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology Why do psychologists study animals? Is it ethical to experiment on animals? Is it ethical to experiment on people?

56. Milgram Study The following slides describe and demonstrate an actual experiment on obedience that was conducted by Stanley Milgram.

57. Milgram Study Stanley Milgram’s Experiment . ."Obedience and Individual Responsibility" . Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, conducted a study focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. He examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused at the World War II, Nuremberg War Criminal trials. Their defense often was based on "obedience" - - that they were just following orders of their superiors.

58. Milgram Experiment In the experiment, so-called "teachers" (who were actually the unknowing subjects of the experiment) were recruited by Milgram. They were asked administer an electric shock of increasing intensity to a "learner" for each mistake he made during the experiment. The fictitious story given to these "teachers" was that the experiment was exploring effects of punishment (for incorrect responses) on learning behavior. The "teacher" was not aware that the "learner" in the study was actually an actor - - merely indicating discomfort as the "teacher" increased the electric shocks.

59. Milgram Experiment Was this an ethical experiment? How many subjects or teachers do you think actually administered dangerous shock to the learners? The following slides gives you the results

60. Milgram Experiment What right does a researcher have to expose subjects to such stress? What activities should be and not be allowed in marketing research? Does the search for knowledge always justify such "costs" to subjects? Who should decide such issues?

61. Ethics for Research Obtain informed consent Protect from harm and discomfort Treat all information confidentially If you must deceive subjects, must debrief afterwards Participants have right to stop participating at any time for any reason Fully explain results to subjects

62. Ethics APA Ethics can be found at http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html

63. Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology Is psychology free of value judgments?

64. Tips for Studying Psychology Distribute your time Learn to think critically In class, listen actively Over learn Be a smart test-taker