Introduction to Psychology
Chapter 1
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Studying Psychology
SQ3R Method
Survey
• Headings, Objectives, Tables, Charts,
summaries, Review and Reflect, etc.
Question
• Read learning objectives questions and “Try It”
Read
• Each section or segments if complex
Recite
• Write short summary, compare with objectives
Review
• Do “Remember It” then "Summary and Review”
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How Much Do You Know About Psychology?
1. Once damaged, brain cells never work again.
2. All people dream during a night of normal sleep.
3. As the number of bystanders at an emergency increases, the
time it takes for the victim to get help decreases.
4. Humans do not have a maternal instinct.
5. It’s impossible for human beings to hear a watch ticking 20 feet
away.
6. Eyewitness testimony is often unreliable.
7. Chimpanzees have been taught to speak.
8. Creativity and high intelligence do not necessarily go together.
9. When it comes to close personal relationships, opposites attract.
10. The majority of teenagers have a good relationship with their
parents.
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Science or Common Sense?
Definition of Psychology
• The scientific study of behavior
and mental processes
Scientific Method
• The orderly, systematic procedures that
researchers follow as they:
identify a research problem,
design a study to investigate the problem,
collect and analyze data,
draw conclusions,
and communicate their findings.
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The Scientific Method
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Steps in The Scientific Method
1. Observe / Theorize
2. Formulate a testable hypothesis
3. Design a study
4. Collect data
5. Results fail to support hypothesis
Modify hypothesis and retest
6. Results support hypothesis
Replicate
7. Modify theory
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Scientific Method
Theory
• General principle or set of principles
proposed to explain how a number of
separate facts are related
Replication
• Process of repeating a study with
different participants and, preferably, a
different investigator to verify research
findings
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Goals of Psychology
Description
• Tells what occurred as accurately and completely
as possible
Explanation
• An understanding of conditions
• Confirmed by ruling in or out alternatives
Prediction
• Must Identify all antecedent conditions
Influence
• Apply principle prevents unwanted occurrences or
bring about desired outcomes
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Goals of Psychology
Basic Research
• Conducted to seek new knowledge and
explore and advance general scientific
understanding
Applied Research
• Conducted specifically to solve practical
problems and improve the quality of life
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Psychology’s Roots
Structuralism
• First formal school of thought
• Endeavored to analyze basic elements of
conscious mental experience
• Wilhelm Wundt
“The father” of psychology
Pure sensations are basic elements of
consciousness
• Edward Titchener
Established Psychology lab in U.S. at Cornell
Consciousness reduced to basic elements
• Introspection
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Psychology’s Roots
Functionalism
• An early school of psychology concerned with
how humans and animals use mental processes
to adapt to their environment
• Included study of behavior, children, animals,
and individuals w/ impairments
William James
• First American psychologist
• Taught mental processes are fluid with
continuity not rigid, fixed, or structured
Charles Darwin
• Evolution theory as applied to psychology
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Pioneering Women
Christine Ladd-Franklin
(1847-1930)
Completed PhD in the mid 1880’s at
John Hopkins
• Did not receive her degree until
1926
Formulated a well-regarded,
evolutionary theory of color vision
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Pioneering Women
Mary Whiton Calkins
(1863-1930)
Completed the requirements for a doctorate at
Harvard
• Harvard refused to grant the degree.
Established a psychology laboratory at Wellesley
College
Developed the paired associates test
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Pioneering Women
Margaret Floy Washburn
(1871-1939)
Received her PhD from Cornell University
Taught at Vasser College
Wrote The Animal Mind (1908) and
Movement and Mental Imagery (1916)
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African Americans and Other Groups
Francis Cecil Sumner (1895-1954)
• The “father” of African-American
psychology
• First African American to earn a Ph.D. in
psychology
• Translated French, German, and
Spanish articles
• Chaired psychology department at
Howard University
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African Americans and Other Groups
Albert Sidney Beckham
(1897-1964),
A notable African American psychologist
Established first psychological laboratory at a
Black institution of higher learning – Howard
University.
Conducted impressive studies on intelligence and
how it related to occupational fields
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African Americans and Other Groups
Kenneth Clark
Recent African American psychologist
National recognition for writings on the harmful
effects of racial segregation
Writings affected Supreme Court rulings declaring
rational segregation unconstitutional
Published classic writings on racial identification
and self-esteem with his wife, Mamie Phipps
Clark
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African Americans and Other Groups
George Sanchez (1906-1972
Hispanic American psychologist
Studied bias in intelligence testing during
the 1930s
Pointed out that cultural and language
differences work against Hispanic students
when they take IQ tests
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Native American & Asian Psychologists
Fastest growing minority group
Percentages of doctorates doubled from mid
1970’s to mid 1990’s
Marigold Linton
• Researches autobiographical memory
Richard Suinn
• Eminent research in behavioral psychology
• First Asian American president of American
Psychological Association
More Women obtain degrees in psychology
than men
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Schools of Thought in Psychology
The Founders of Psychology
John B. Watson - Behaviorism
Sigmund Freud - Psychoanalysis
Maslow & Rogers - Humanistic
George Miller - Cognitive
Wertheimer - Gestalt
Buss - Evolutionary
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Schools of Thought in Psychology
Behaviorism
• Views observable, measurable behavior as
the appropriate subject matter
• Emphasizes environment as key role in as
determinant of behavior
• Helped establish psychology as a science
• Founded by John B. Watson
• B. F. Skinner
Behaviors best understood by analyzing
conditions before they occur and consequences
that follow them
Coined phrase operant conditioning
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Schools of Thought in Psychology
Psychoanalysis
Term Freud used for his personality
theory and treatment of disorders
The unconscious is primary focus of
psychoanalytic theory
“Freudian slip” commonly known
NeoFreudians
• Developed own personality theories
Influential in psychology though
research volume diminishes
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Schools of Thought in Psychology
Humanistic Psychology
Focuses on uniqueness of human beings and their
capacity for choice, growth, and psychological health
Rejects behavioral and psychoanalytic views
Emphasizes positive view of human nature
• People are innately good and posses free will
Important in research of human motivation
Carl Rogers
• Developed cient-centered therapy
• Popularized group therapy
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Schools of Thought in Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Views humans as active participants in their
environment
One of the prominent theories of psychology
Studies mental processes,
• Memory
• Problem solving
• Decision making
• Perception
• Language
• Other forms of cognition
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Schools of Thought in Psychology
Gestalt Psychology
Individuals perceive objects and
patterns as whole units.
The perceived whole is more than a
sum of its parts.
Phi phenomenon
The mind interprets experiences in
predictable ways rather than simply
reacting to them.
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Schools of Thought in Psychology
Information-Processing Theory
Studies mental structures and processes
that uses the computer as a model for
human thinking
The brain processes information in
sequential steps, one step at a time.
The brain interprets information – doesn’t
just respond to it
Associations between new input and
previously acquired knowledge
Research artificial intelligence
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Evaluating Theories
Useful theories lead to:
• Testable hypotheses
• Development of solutions to real-world
problems
Heuristic values
• Spur creativity and curiosity through:
Stimulated debate among psychologists and
researchers
Motivating proponents and opponents to
pursue research related to it
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Evaluating Research
Goal: Equip students with tools needed to evaluate claims
based on psychological research
Critical thinking
• The process of objectively evaluating claims, propositions,
and conclusions to determine whether they follow logically
from the evidence presented
• Independent thinking
Not automatically accepting what is read or heard
• Suspension of judgment
Gathering relevant information on all sides prior to taking
a position
• Willingness to modify or abandon prior
judgments
Evaluating new evidence even if it contradicts held beliefs
• Anecdotal evidence
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Descriptive Research Methods
Research methods that yield
descriptions of behavior
Naturalistic observation
• Researchers observe and record behavior
in its natural setting with out influencing or
controlling it
• Limitations
Observer bias
• Expectations influence observations or interpretations
Must wait for behaviors to occur
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Descriptive Research Methods
The Case Study
• A single person or a small number of individuals
are studied in great depth
• Usually done over an extended period of time
• Uses observations, interviews, or psychological
testing
• Limitations:
Causes of behavior difficult to establish
Observer bias
Applicability to larger groups or different
cultures questionable
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Descriptive Research Methods
Survey Research
• Interviews or questionnaires are used to gather
information about attitudes, beliefs, experiences,
or behaviors of a group of people
• Population
Entire group of interest to researchers to which they
wish to generalize their findings
• Sample
Part of a population that is studied in order to reach
conclusions about the entire population
• Representative sample
Sample that mirrors the population of interest
Includes subgroups in the same proportion as found in
the population
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Descriptive Research Methods
Survey Research
Interviews and Questionnaires
• Results can be affected by wording, content, and
interviewer characteristics
• Questionnaires are less expensive and can gather
information from large groups quickly
• May or may not meet scientific scrutiny
Limitations
• Costly and time consuming
• Faulty information may be gathered
• “Social desirability response”
• Deliberately provide misleading information
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Descriptive Research Methods
The Correlational Method
Establishes the degree of relationship (correlation)
between two characteristics, events, or behaviors
Correlation Coefficient
• A numerical value that indicates strength and
direction of the relationship between variables
• Ranges from +1.00 (perfect positive correlation)
to -1.00 (a perfect negative correlation)
• Positive Correlation
Two variables vary in same direction
When stress increases illness usually increases
• Negative Correlation
One value’s increase associated with decrease in
another
Number cigarettes smokes and years expected to live
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Descriptive Research Methods
Correlational Studies
Correlation does not prove causation
• Cause-effect conclusions limited
Advantages
• Ethical reasons don’t allow direct studies
Researchers can’t ask pregnant women to
drink alcohol
• Variables of interest can’t be manipulated
Does gender cause differences in behavior?
• Less time consuming to conduct
Correlational Copyright
studies often less complex
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The Experimental Method
Experimental Method
The only research method to identify cause-effect
relationships between two or more variables or
conditions
Variable
• Any condition or factor that can be manipulated,
controlled, or measured
Hypothesis
• A prediction about cause-effect relationship
between two or more variables
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The Experimental Method
Independent Variables
• A factor or condition deliberately manipulated to
determine whether it causes changes in another
behavior or condition
• Researcher deliberately manipulates the IV
Dependent Variable
• Any condition or factor that can be manipulated,
controlled, or measured
• It is measured at the end of the experiment
Operational Definitions
• Specifying how variables in an experiment will be
observed and measured
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The Experimental Method
Experimental group
• The group that is exposed to an independent
variable
Control group
• A group similar to the experimental group
• Exposed to the same experimental environment
• Not given the IV
• Used for comparison purposes
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Sources of Bias in Research
Confounding variables
• Extraneous variables (time of day, type of subject, experimenter bias)
Selection bias
• Assignments to groups so systematic differences are present
Random assignment
• All participants have equal chance of being assigned to each condition
Placebo effect
• Response to treatment is due to a person’s expectations not the treatment itself
Placebo
• An inert substance given to control group to control for placebo effect
Experimenter bias
• Experimental results influenced by the researcher
Double-blind procedure
• Neither researchers nor participants are aware of who is in control of experimental
groups
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Research Methods in Psychology
Insert Review and Reflect pp 27 or
delete slide
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Research Methods in Psychology
Legality: research must conform to applicable laws
Institutional approval: required clearance from institution/school
Informed Consent: participants must be informed of the purpose and
any potential harm
Deception: only used when necessary and no other means available
Debriefing: participants are informed of any deception after end of research
Clients, patients, students, and subordinates:
steps used to assure participants are not damaged in any way by participating
Payment for participation: fully informed what is expected
Publication: findings must be made available to others for verification
Use of animals: required adherence to laws and appropriate care
Minimization of discomfort: ethical duty to minimize discomfort
to animals and to euthanize in humane manner when necessary
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Psychologists at Work
Specialties in Psychology
Clinical
• Specialize in diagnosis and treatment of mental and behavioral
disorders such as anxiety, phobias, and schizophrenia
Counseling
• Help people who have adjustment problems (marital, social, or
behavioral) that are generally less severe
Physiological, Biological, or
Neuropsychologists
• Study the relationship between physiological processes and
behavior in humans and animals
Experimental
• Conduct experiments, work in laboratories, teach and conduct
research at colleges or universities
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Psychologists at Work
Specialties in Psychology
Developmental
• Study how people grow, develop, and change throughout
life
Educational
• Specialize in teaching and learning
Social
• How individuals feel, think, and behave in
social settings
Industrial/Organizational
• Relationships between people and work environments
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Summary and Review
How can the SQ3R method help you study more
effectively?
What process do scientists use to answer
questions about behavior and mental processes?
What are the goals of psychology?
What roles did Wundt and Titchener play in the
founding of psychology?
Why is functionalism important in the history of
psychology?
In what ways have women and minorities shaped
the field of psychology?
How do behaviorists explain behavior and mental
processes?
What do psychoanalytic psychologists believe
about the role of the unconscious?
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Summary and Review
According to Maslow and Rogers, what motivates
human behavior and mental processes?
What is the focus of cognitive psychology?
How do psychologists evaluate theories?
How can critical thinking be used to interpret
media reports of psychological research?
How do psychological researchers use naturalistic
and laboratory observations?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
the case study?
How do researchers ensure that survey results
are useful?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
correlational method?
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Summary and Review
Why do researchers use experiments to test
hypotheses about cause-effect relationships?
How do independent and dependent variables
differ?
Why are experimental and control groups
necessary?
What kinds of factors introduce bias into
experimental studies?
What are the limitations of the experimental
method?
In what ways can participants bias research
results?
What ethical rules must researchers follow when
humans are involved in studies?
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Summary and Review
Why are animals used in research?
What is the main idea behind evolutionary
psychology?
How is biological psychology changing the field of
psychology?
What kinds of variables interest psychologists
who take a sociocultural approach?
What are psychological perspectives, and how are
they related to an eclectic position?
What are some of the specialist working within
psychology?
What kinds of employment opportunities are
available for psychology majors?
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