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Unit 1 The History and Science of Psychology Defining Psychology Initial emphasis was philosophical and introspective Later, the state of the mind was seen as associated with the body Eventually, psychologists believed that human behavior could only be understood by evaluating actual behavior The end result? Psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. The Birth…and Afterbirth of Psychology Aristotle initially looked for a relationship between the body and mental state Wilhelm Wundt Merger of philosophy and physiology First psychology lab, 1879 at the University of Leipzig Examined introspection, or the analysis of one’s conscious experiences The Birth and Afterbirth: Early Schools of Thought Structuralism E.B. Titchener (Wundt’s student) Introspection Break down immediate sensation, past memories, feelings Self-Report technique unreliable Functionalism William James (1st American) Darwin’s influence Holla! Conscious experience is adaptive Stream of consciousness Break it down! Titchener No, Beotch! Examine why is it ADAPTIVE? James The Birth and Afterbirth: Schools of Thought Behaviorist School I torture babies! John Watson, Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner Observable, measurable behavior Und zen zie child becomes neurotic! Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud Role of the unconscious Sex and aggression Importance of early childhood events Evolved into psychodynamic school Sigmund Freud Behaviorist John B. Watson Schools of Thought: Classics Gestalt Max Wertheimer, Fritz Perls Human tendency to perceive patterns “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” Useful in understanding process of perception Black spots, or a dalmatian? The Birth and Afterbirth: Schools of Thought FYI…I AM A DUDE. Humanistic School Cognitive School Cognitive psychologist Jean Piaget Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow Human potential for growth Importance of free will Here and now Need for acceptance Jean Piaget, Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck Importance thoughts and thought processes Perception, thinking, memory, language Schools of Thought: Biological and Evolutionary Biological Looks to the body and its processes to explain human behavior Genes, hormones, neurotransmitters, and organ structure/function Evolutionary Psychology Examines human behavior through processes of adaptability, survival value and reproductive value How has human behavior changed to ensure survival? The Birth and Afterbirth: Schools of Thought Today, contemporary schools of thought have expanded to also include the following: Neuroscience – how does the brain and its chemicals regulate behavior? Behavioral Genetics – how do genes and experiences combine to make each of us unique? Social-Cultural – How is behavior shaped by our surroundings, i.e. the people around us, our ethnic traditions, values, and beliefs? Schools of Thought: The Biopsychosocial Approach Regardless of the particular school of thought, contemporary psychology has come to embrace the biopsychosocial approach Biological influences of genes, hormones, brain Psychological influences of emotions, learned information, and cognitions Social-Cultural influences of other people, culture, family, groups, media Schools of Thought: The Biopsychosocial Approach Each particular school of thought may emphasize one area more than another Which area/s do you think each school would emphasize? Gimme my Ph.D. or I’ll shank ya! Schools of Thought: Women’s Contributions? Mary Whiton Calkins Margaret Floy Washburn First woman granted Ph.D. Second female APA President First female APA president Denied Ph.D. from Harvard Student of William James Notable research on memory The Animal Mind Mary Cover Jones Pioneer in behavior therapy Desensitization Rosalie Rayner Accomplished behaviorist Behaviorist who worked with John Watson on Baby Albert experiment Tragic early death Women overcame limitations on access to education, restrictions on awarding advanced degrees, and exclusion from psychological societies Today, women earn the majority of Ph.D.s in psychology and hold nearly half of the leadership roles in psychological societies Enduring Issues in Psychology Psychologists representing all schools of thought debate what shapes behavior Some on-going debates include the following: Nature vs. Nurture – Which shapes behavior more? Biology or experience? Plato vs. Aristotle? Descartes vs. Locke? Person vs. Situation – Is behavior dictated by forces within us or does it constantly change and shift based on our surroundings? Mind vs. Body – Do our thoughts or our bodies have more control over our behavior? Diversity – Which is more important? What makes us similar, or what makes us unique? Psychology Careers: Education and Work Settings Note: The chart represents employment settings for those with recent doctorates in psychology. Totals amount to 97 percent due to rounding and exclusion of 17 "not specified" responses. Adapted from D. Michaels, J. Kohout, M. Wicherski & B. Hart (2011), 2009 Doctorate Employment Survey (Table 3) (PDF, 33KB). Taken from http://www.apa.org/careers/resources/guides/careers.aspx?item=4 The Degrees BA – 4 year study MA – 2-3 Years beyond BA Ph.D./Psy.D./Ed.D. – 6-7 years beyond BA M.D. – Psychiatrists (prescribe medication) – medical school Increased career opportunities for advanced degrees Admission is competitive! Strong GPA and GRE scores Related work or volunteer experience Close relationships with professors Publish if possible! Psychology Careers: Fields of Study Research vs. Applied Psychology? The majority of psychology professionals work as therapists in some capacity Clinical Psychologists Counselors Psychiatrists Psychology’s Diverse Subfields Biological Cognitive Community Developmental Educational Experimental Human Factors Industrial/Organizational Personality Psychometric School Social Conducting Research Goals of Psychology Pitfalls of intuition and “common sense” explanations Describe Explain Predict Control Hindsight bias i.e. “I knew it all along…” Overconfidence Remember psychology’s definition: “The scientific study of behavior and mental processes” Conducting Research The Scientific Attitude: Rely on Empiricism! Curiosity: passion to explore and understand Skepticism: questioning results; retesting Humility: understanding humans’ limitations and the possibility for error Ultimately, psychologists must be critical thinkers Do not accept “truths” without first testing them Look at evidence, question assumptions, filter out bias The Scientific Method Generate a question Formulate a theory Develop a hypothesis (if-then) Test hypothesis Operational definitions Clear and concise Replication of results Descriptive Research Methods Case Study In-depth Research Can we generalize? Survey Lots of information – FAST! Population Random sample Stratified Sample Wording Naturalistic Observation Hawthorne Effect minimized Observer bias Interobserver reliability Control? Correlational Methods What is the relationship between two factors? Allows prediction, but NOT cause and effect! Correlation vs. causation A positive or negative relationship does not establish cause and effect It does not PROVE the if-then (association does not prove causation) Measuring the Strength of Relationship Correlation Coefficient Indicates strength and direction of a relationship between two factors Between -1 and 1 Stronger relationships are closer to -1 or to 1, closeness to 0 indicates weak or no relationship Positive correlation vs. negative correlation Scatterplots Reading Scatter Plots: Match the Correlation Coefficient with the Graph! A. .86 B. -1.0 C. 0 D. .99 Correlational Studies: Pitfalls Illusory Correlations We can be influenced to see correlations when we believe they exist Fueled by confirmation bias, the tendency to only remember examples that support what we already believe is true. Can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, when we inadvertently set something up to happen because we believe it will. E.g. “Old people are cheap!” Experimental Method Researcher deliberately manipulates selected variables and then measures the effects of these manipulations Because the researcher has this level of control, the experiment can establish causation However, the level of control can be somewhat artificial, and results may not generalize to the real world outside the lab Also, it may be unethical to manipulate certain variables The Experiment: An Example Situation: New insomnia drug called DROWZ’s…does it work? Want to establish a cause and effect relationship or if-then, SO we must do an… EXPERIMENT! Personnel - Who is involved? Experimenter Subjects/Participants Runs and/or designs the experiment Those being tested Sample - group that represents the larger group we are generalizing about (i.e. insomniacs) Random Selection - everyone has an equal chance of being chosen! Confederates People who help the experimented administer the experiment E.g. Milgram experiment – the “learner” was a confederate Variables - What is happening? Independent Variable Dependent Variable The variable being TESTED Experimenter can manipulate it E.g. exposure to DROW-Z’s The RESULT What happens as a result of exposure to the independent variable E.g. do subjects on DROW-Z’s SLEEP better? Confounding Variable Throws off results Unwanted! Experimental vs. Control Groups Experimental Group Control Group The group exposed to manipulation of the independent variable E.g. receives the DROW-Z’s Group NOT exposed to manipulation of the independent variable; used for COMPARISON E.g. does NOT receive DROW-Z’s May instead receive a PLACEBO Random assignment to groups All subjects have an equal chance of being in either the control group or experimental group! Operational Definitions, Etc. Operational Definitions What are we measuring and how? How are we defining VARIABLES (IV/DV)? Allows experiment to be replicated by others E.g. what is a “better” night’s sleep? Sample Size: the bigger the better! What is the difference between groups? Replication? Avoiding Pitfalls Double- and Single-blind procedures Single - subject doesn’t know who is in control group and who is in experimental group Double - subject and confederate administering experiment don’t know who is in which group Placebo Reduces confounding variable Reduces demand characteristics (subject bias) Analyzing Results: Statistical Analysis Statistics Defined Be skeptical of sweeping generalizations A branch of mathematics used to organize and analyze data Necessary to use statistics to understand what results actually MEAN – if they mean anything at all… E.g. “Males are better at math and science than females” How was this measured? Descriptive vs. Inferential Statistics? Descriptive helps us to make sense of a data set (e.g. mean, median, range, skew, standard deviation) Inferential allows us to make generalizations about a population based on a sample. Significance is a measurement that would be of importance here. Statistical Analysis: Scales of Measurement Nominal Scale Ordinal Scale Scale that indicates relative position; ranks data E.g. class rank Interval Scale Set of categories for classifying E.g. types of cars in the student lot Scale with equal distance between values, but without a true zero E.g. temperature Ratio Scale Scale with equal distance between values, but WITH a true zero E.g. Inches of rain Statistical Analysis: Descriptive Statistics Frequency Distribution A count of the number of scores that fall within each series of intervals Frequency histogram and Frequency Polygraph Descriptive Statistics: Measures of Central Tendency This is a single score that represents a set of scores Mode Mean Most frequently occurring score Average Median The midpoint – half the scores fall below, and half are above Sample Data Set: 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5 Mode = ? Mean = ? Median = ? This is a NORMAL (BELL) CURVE, where all measures 3 of central tendency are equal! Descriptive Statistics: The Skewed Distribution Frequency distribution is asymmetrical Mean, median and mode are different values Negative (left) – just a few very low scores Positive (right) – just a few very high scores How can a few atypical scores distort data? Descriptive Statistics: The Bimodal Distribution As the name implies, a bimodal distribution has TWO modes Descriptive Statistics: Measures of Variation Range – the difference between the highest and lowest score in a distribution What does it tell you? What DOESN’T it tell you? Standard Deviation – how much do scores vary from the mean in a distribution? (see table 1.4 in text p. 36) 1. Calculate mean 2. Calculate each scores deviates from the mean 3. Square that difference 4. Add the sum of the squares 5. Divide by the number of scores in the distribution 6. Take square root of this 7. The number is equal to the value of ONE standard deviation Descriptive Statistics: Measures of Variation So what? In a normal curve, this number reveals the percentage of scores that falls within a particular range 68% fall within one standard deviation from the mean 96% fall within two standard deviations from the mean 99% fall within three standard deviations from the mean What must the standard deviation be for this distribution of IQ scores? Inferential Statistics: Statistical Significance Significant Difference What is the difference between the experiences of the control and the experimental groups? What is the chance that the difference happened due to chance? .05 P-Value generally accepted (1 in 20 due to chance) If it IS a significant difference, how important is that difference (e.g. difference between IQ scores of first- and later-born children is significant, but due to its very small value, it is not important. WITHIN vs. BETWEEN group variation? Statistical significance vs. significant difference Inferential Statistics: Reliability When can we generalize about a population based on the results from our sample? Sample is a representative sample The less variation in the data, the more reliable (if variability is high in a distribution, the mean becomes less meaningful) The more examples the better! (ask 2 friends how they like the class vs. asking 25) Research and Ethics Setting Standards APA (American Psychological Association) Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUCs) How did Milgram, Landis, Watson, and Zimbardo challenge ethical standards? Animal Subjects: Compliance with current laws and regulations in acquisition, care and disposal of subjects. Staff trained in the care, maintenance and handling of the species being used. Minimize the discomfort, infection, illness and pain of animal subjects. Use a procedure subjecting animals to pain, stress or privation only when an alternative procedure is unavailable and the goal is justified. Use of anesthesia and antiseptic methods during and after surgery. Minimize duration and pain of euthanasia. Human Subjects: Informed Consent Confidentiality Use of deception? Protection from harm/discomfort Debriefing