PSYCHOLOGY’S ROOTS, BIG IDEAS AND CRITICAL

THINKING TOOLSCHAPTER 1

MYERS AND DEWALL

CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW

PSYCHOLOGY’S ROOTS

FOUR BIG IDEAS IN PSYCHOLOGY

WHY DO PSYCHOLOGY

ASKING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS – RESEARCH

PSYCHOLOGY’S ROOTS

Wilhelm Wundt created psychology’s first experiment

Early Pioneers

Charles Darwin

Ivan Pavlov

Sigmund Freud

William James

Mary Whiton Calkins

PSYCHOLOGY’S ROOTS – DEFINITIONS AND APPROACHES

Psychology’s Roots - originally defined as the science of mental life

Behaviorism– the scientific study of observable behavior (John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner)

Freudian Psychology – the study of the unconscious mind and childhood experiences

Humanistic Psychology – the study of how our environment helps or hinders our personal

and emotional growth (Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow)

Cognitive Psychology – the scientific study perception, memory, and information processing

MODERN PSYCHOLOGY

Modern Psychology – the science of behavior and mental processes

Modern Perspectives:

Neuroscience – brain and body’s effects on emotions, memory, senses

Evolutionary – how natural selection influenced genetic traits

Behavior Genetics – combination of genes and environment; individual differences

Psychodynamic – unconscious drives and conflicts

Behavioral – learning observable responses

Cognitive – encode, process, store information

Social-Cultural – how behavior changes across situations

FOUR BIG IDEAS IN PSYCHOLOGY

#1 Critical Thinking – examining assumption, values, weighing evidence and conclusions

#2 Biopsychosocial Approach – using biology, psychology, and social-cultural factors to explain

and predict

Nature and Nurture Issue – nature (biology) and nurture (experiences) that determine who you

are

#3 Dual Processing Theory – our mind simultaneously operates consciously and unconsciously

Dual Attitude System – we have two sets of attitudes systems that influence behavior

Implicit Attitudes (unconscious) often differ from our Explicit Attitudes (conscious)

Implicit Egotism – preference for things that are self-referencing

#4 Positive Psychology – study of human strength, skill, and meaningfulness

WHY STUDY PSYCHOLOGY?

Is Psychology Simply Common Sense?

Our intuitions are limited and prone to errors

Hindsight (20/20) Bias – tendency to think you could have predicted an outcome, after

having learned the outcome “I knew it all along”

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder?”

“Out of sight out of mind?”

Overconfidence – this bias leads to overconfidence and increased blame towards others

Perceiving Order in Random Events – we like to notice patterns, streaks in life events and

assume they are meaningful/real

PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Scientific Attitude - Curiosity, Skepticism, Humility

The Scientific Method - Forming and Testing Hypotheses

Theory – a set of principles or ideas that seek to explain or predict an observation

Good theories summarize behaviors and make clear predictions

Hypotheses – testable components of a theory that describes a relationship(s)

Operational Definitions – clearly worded concepts and terms (e.g. memory)

TESTING HYPOTHESES: DESCRIPTIVE METHODS

Descriptive Research – watching, observing, and describing thoughts and behaviors

Case Study – in depth examination of a person or group

Naturalistic Observation – observing and describing naturally occurring behaviors

TESTING HYPOTHESES: DESCRIPTIVE METHODS

Surveys – having individuals in a population self-describe their behaviors and attitudes

TESTING HYPOTHESES: DESCRIPTIVE METHODS

Surveys Problems

Small and Unrepresentative Samples lead to inaccurate conclusions

Random Sampling – every person in the population has an equal

chance of taking the survey

Wording Effects – wording and order can affect the responses to

question

TESTING HYPOTHESES: CORRELATIONAL METHODS

Correlational Studies – describe how two naturally occurring events/factors related to one

another

No Correlation – no relationship between two variables

Negative Correlation – two variables change/move in opposite directions (-1.0 – 0.0)

Self-esteem and Depression

Positive Correlation – two variables increase/decrease together (0.0 - +1.0)

Diet soda consumption and heart disease

Golf courses and divorce

Ice cream sales and murder

Correlation and Causation

Correlation Does Not

Equal Causation

TESTING HYPOTHESES: EXPERIMENTS

Experimental Research – laboratory/controlled simulations that test cause and effect

relationships

Manipulating/altering one or more variable) to see if it affects another variable(s)

Independent Variable – the factor(s) that is manipulated/altered by the researcher to create

multiple groups/conditions (Experimental and Control)

Dependent Variable – the variable(s) that is measured

TESTING HYPOTHESES: EXPERIMENTS

Experimental Research Issues:

Experimental Control – removing potential problems (confounds) from experiments

Confound #1 – Unequal Groups/Conditions

Random assignment –placing participants randomly into the experimental group(s)

and/or control group

Randomization insures that all groups are equivalent except for the manipulation

TESTING HYPOTHESES: EXPERIMENTS

Cofound #2 - Placebo Effect – anticipating an effect can cause you to experience the

expected outcome

Double-Blind Procedure – controls for anticipation/placebo effects

TESTING HYPOTHESES: CORRELATION OR EXPERIMENT?

• You can only conduct an experiment when you

are able to use random assignment