Download What Is Psychology?

Essentials of Psychology,
by Saul Kassin
CHAPTER 1:
Introducing Psychology and its Methods
©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What Is Psychology?
– The scientific study of behavior and the
mind.
Historical Roots
Expansion of Psychology’s Horizons
A Diversity of Perspectives
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
Historical Roots
• Dualism
– The assumption that the body and mind are
separate, though perhaps interacting,
entities.
– René Descartes (1596-1650) was a dualist, and
believed that the mind could not be studied
scientifically.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
Historical Roots
• Pioneers in the Study of the Mind
– Wilhelm Wundt
• Established the first psychology laboratory
in 1879 and developed introspection.
– Wundt’s method of having trained observers
report on their conscious, moment-to-moment
reactions.
– William James
• Published Principles of Psychology, 1890.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
Historical Roots
• Pioneers in the Study of the Mind, continued
– Sigmund Freud
• Introduced psychoanalysis in The
Interpretation of Dreams, 1900.
• Psychoanalysis is Freud’s theory of personality and
method of psychotherapy, both of which assume the
importance of unconscious processes.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
Historical Roots
• The Behaviorist Alternative
– In 1913, John B. Watson defined psychology as
the study of behavior, offering an alternative to
mentalistic approaches and marking the start of
behaviorism in the United States.
– Behaviorism
• A school of thought that defines psychology as the
scientific study of observable behavior
– Focus on environmental influences
– Dominated psychology from the 1920’s to the
1960’s
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
Historical Roots
• The “Cognitive Revolution”
– Many types of evidence suggested that
behaviorism was too restrictive.
• These included studies of child development,
animal behavior, and brain studies
– Cognition
• A general term that refers to mental processes
such as thinking, knowing, and remembering.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
Expansion of Psychology’s Horizons
• Basic Research
– “Pure science” research that tests theories and
builds a foundation of knowledge.
• Applied Research
– Research that aims to solve practical human
problems.
• Examples of applied research areas include
health, education, business, law, etc.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
Expansion of Psychology’s Horizons
In addition to psychology
branching out in basic and
applied areas of research (as
seen in this graph of the
dramatic increase in the
number of published articles
in psychology), it has become
more diverse, including more
female and minority
psychologists and more
psychologists from other parts
of the world.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
Expansion of Psychology’s Horizons
• Psychology as a Basic Science
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Biological and Evolutionary Perspectives
Cognitive Perspectives
Developmental Perspectives
Social Psychological Perspectives
Clinical Psychology
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
Expansion of Psychology’s Horizons
• Psychology as a Responsive Science
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Health
Education
Psychology in the Workplace
Consumer Behavior
The Environment
The Legal System
– Sports, Politics, etc.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
A Diversity of Perspectives
• Discrimination impeded women and
minorities. Some did succeed.
– Harvard refused to grant the Ph.D. to Mary
Whiton Calkins (1890’s) who became the first
female APA President in 1905.
– In 1920, Francis Sumner was the first African
American to earn a Ph.D. in psychology.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
What is Psychology?
A Diversity of Perspectives
• Although psychology has faced a history of
discrimination in recruitment, today it is
more diverse.
• Diversity considerations are important for
both the areas of research and mental
health.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
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The Research Process
Research Settings
Psychological Measurements
Research Designs
Ethical Considerations
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
• Scientific methods unify the discipline of
psychology
• A basic goal in science is critical thinking
– An approach to information that involves
• challenging assumptions
• systematic observations
• a reliance on evidence
• a careful scrutiny of the methods used to
derive evidence
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
The Research Process
• The first step is to develop a theory.
– An organized set of principles that describes,
predicts, and explains some phenomenon.
• The second step is to form a hypothesis.
– A specific testable prediction, often derived from
a theory that provides operational definitions.
• An operational definition defines a research
variable in terms of the procedures needed to
control and measure it.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
The Research Process
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Research Settings
• Laboratory research
– Research conducted in an environment that
can be regulated and in which participants
can be carefully observed.
• Field research
– Research that is conducted in real-world
locations.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Psychological Measurements
• Self-Report
– A method of observation that involves asking people
to describe their own thoughts, feelings, or behavior.
• Behavioral Observation
– A form of research that is based on the firsthand
observation of a subject’s behavior.
• Archival Research
– A form of research that relies on existing records of
past behavior.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Research Designs
• No matter which research design is used in
a study, researchers rely on statistics to
analyze the results they collect.
– Statistics is a branch of mathematics that is
used for analyzing research data.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Research Designs
Descriptive Research
• Case studies
– A type of research that involves making in-depth
observations of individual persons.
• Survey
– A research method that involves interviewing or
giving questionnaires to a large number of people.
• Naturalistic observation
– The observation of behavior as it occurs naturally in
real-world settings
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Research Designs
• Correlation
– A statistical measure of how closely two
variables are associated.
– A correlation can range from -1.0 to +1.0.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Research Designs
Explaining a Correlation
• Start with 3 variables,
(X, Y, & Z) where X
and Y are correlated:
– X may cause Y
– Y may cause X
– Z may cause X and Y
• Correlations indicate
relationship patterns,
not causes
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Research Designs
Experiments I
– A research method in which the investigator
varies some factors, keeps others constant,
and measures the effects on randomly
assigned subjects.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Research Designs
Experiments II
• Independent Variable
– Any variable that the researcher manipulates in
an experiment.
– The proposed cause of change in the dependent
variable.
• Dependent Variable
– A variable that is being measured in an
experiment.
– Proposed to be affected by the independent
variable.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Research Designs
Experiments III
• Experimental Group
– Any condition of an experiment in which
participants are exposed to an independent variable.
• Control Group
– The condition of an experiment in which
participants are not exposed to the independent
variable.
• Random Assignment
– The procedure of assigning subjects to groups.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Research Designs
Literature Reviews
• Replication
– The process of repeating a study to see if the results
are reliable enough to be duplicated.
• Generalizability
– The extent to which a finding applies to a broad
range of subject populations and circumstances.
• Meta-Analysis
– A set of statistical procedures used to review a body
of evidence by combining the results of individual
studies.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Ethics Considerations in Human Research
• Deception
– A research procedure used to mislead participants
about the true purpose of the study
– If deception is used, debriefing is necessary.
• Informed Consent
– The ethical requirement that prospective
participants receive enough information to decide
freely whether to participate in a study
• And, data must be kept confidential, discomfort
must be minimized, and one must be free to
withdraw at any time.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Scientific Methods
Ethics Considerations in Animal Research
• Animal Welfare
– Minimization of pain and stress and humane
treatment are universally supported.
– Allegations of mistreatment in laboratories are
rarely supported by facts.
• Animal Rights
– There is no consensus over whether animals
have similar rights as humans.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Psychology Today
Psychology as a Profession
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Psychology Today
Biological Perspectives
• Evolutionary Psychology
– A subfield that uses the principles of evolution to
understand human social behavior.
• Behavioral Genetics
– A subfield that examines the role of genetic
factors on behavior.
• Behavioral Neuroscience
– A subfield that studies the links among the
brain, nervous system, and behavior.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing
Psychology Today
Sociocultural Perspectives
• Cross-Cultural Research
– A body of studies designed to compare and
contrast people of different cultures.
• Multicultural Research
– A body of studies designed to compare and
contrast of racial and ethnic minority groups
within cultures.
Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - ©2004 Prentice Hall Publishing