- Psychology- the scientific study of behavior and the mind
- behavior: observable actions
- mind: subjective experiences
- help understanding of why people think, feel, and act the way they do
- normal and abnormal behavior
- 1920s: science of mental life
- 1920s-1960s: science of observable behavior
- 1960s: combination of both above
- Pre-scientific psychology: how do mind and body relate?
- Socrates: mind as separate from body, continuing after death
- Aristotle used careful observations and determined soul is not separate from body
- Phrenology(1800s): different brain areas accounted for specific personality traits
- Types of Psychology/Psychologists
- Applied Psychologists
- by what is done
- apply theories in the field
- Experimental Psychologists
- by what is studied
- conduct experiments/studies to further theories in the field
- Able to Overlap
- The 13 types can overlap
- Distinctions not used
- Field is dynamic and areas are ever-changing
- Psychiatrist
- deals with abnormal behavior
- MD
- treats behavioral problems with medication/talk therapy
- predominant problems are bioloigcal
- Clinical Psychologist
- Ph.D/PsyD. in clinical psychology
- different types of therapy
- predominantly talk therapy
- Counseling Psychologist
- PhD. Ed.D Masters
- Historically vocational guidance
- Today more similar to clinical psych.
- School Psychology
- education, how to teach, school environment
- Sport Psychology
- motivation, coach interaction, teams, rehabilitation
- Cognitive Psychology
- how we process info and think about our environmental; judgments
- Developmental Psychology
- development of thoughts/behavior from birth to death
- Industrial/Organizational Psychology
- work settings, leadership, morale
- Learning and Memory Psychology
- conditioning, animal work, memory processes
- Psychobiology/Neuro/Psychophysiology
- how the mind and physical body work together(mostly brain)
- Quantitative Psychology
- mathematical theories of thought and behavior, statistics
- Social Psychology
- relationships, stereotypes, prejudice, attitudes, groups, the self
- Marketing/Consumer behavior
- how people make purchasing decisions, brand loyalty, decision choice set
- Is Psychology just common sense?
- Hindsight bias: tendency to believe that one would have foreseen something, after the outcome occurs
- "I knew it along"
- Example: Eyewitnesses
- Leads to Overconfidence
- Longstanding Issues in Psychology
- Free Will vs. Determinism
- Mind-Body Problem
- Stability vs. Change
- Nature/Nurture Issue
Methods
- Goals of Psych Research
- Description
- Causal Analysis
- Theory Building
- Application
- Origins of Research Ideas
- Observation
- Personal Experience
- Existing theory or data
- Hypothesis- testable relationship between two constructs
- specific to the particular study or experiment
- cannot prove a hypothesis true
- can only prove it not true
- through supportion by data and increased complexity, it becomes a theory
- Theory: organized set of principles used to explain observed phenomena
- direct relationship between predictions' success and confidence in theory
- Research Methods
- Psychologists try to observe representative groups of people
- Random Sample: fairly represents population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
- Observational
- Function: Describe behavior
- observe situation without trying to alter it
- pros:
- nice place to start
- cons:
- hard to implement
- doesn't explain why
- hard to quantify
- subject to bias
- Correlational
- Function: Predict behavior
- measure of how closely two or more variables vary and how well they predict each other
- Correlation Coefficient
- statistic that assesses the relationship between two variables
- 0-1; high= strong low= weak/none
- Positive Correlation
- direct relationship NE + sign
- Negative Correlation
- direct relationship SW - sign
- Experimental
- Focus: Causality
- did change in A cause change in B
- Requires:
- Manipulation of one or more variables
- hold all things constant except variables of interest and vary these across groups
- IV---------------DV ( independent variable; dependent variable)
- Independent variable: factor manipulated and interpreted as the cause of change in DV
- Dependent variable: outcome being studied/evaluated, response to IV
- Random Assignment
- practice of assigning subjects to conditions so that each subject has an equal chance of being in any condition
- control as many variables as you can
- necessary to establish causality
- assignment at random to different groups, no reason to expect difference; keep groups equal
- any difference following experimental manipulation must be caused by the IV
- NOT to be confused with random sampling
- each participant in the sample has an equal likelihood of being placed in any condition
- ex: random number generator, flip a coin, deck of cards
- Correlational vs Experimental
- Correlational
- IV: varies naturally
- Random Assignment: NO
- Test Causality: NO
- Experimental
- Manipulated by experimenter
- Random Assignment: YES
- Test Causality: YES
- Concerns about research: Validity
- measures the accuracy of study, effectiveness of methods
- two types
- Internal Validity: the effects in the DV are caused by the IV
- External Validity: degree to which research findings can be generalized to other situations ("real world" effects)
- Experimental Settings
- Experiments can very by setting:
- Field experiment examines behavior in its natural habitat
- Laboratory experiment is done in an artificial setting
- Dilemma of Psychologist
- Field experiments are high in external validity (since they take place in the 'real world'), but are low in internal validity
- Laboratory experiments are high in internal validity (since they take place in a controlled setting), but are low in external validity
- Solution
- do both
- Problem of Bias
- Experimenter bias
- subtle cues from the researchers may influence participants' behavior
- ex: Clever Hans- horse 'knew' math; horse read body cues for specific amount of trots
- Solutions
- 'blind' research assistants
- standardize research procedures
- Subject bias
- The mere fact of knowing one is being studied may alter one's behavior
- Solutions
- unobtrusive measures
- don't tell participants the goals or hypothesis
- Ethics in Psychology
- Ethical Guidelines for research mandates
- Informed Consent
- Debriefing
- restore subjects to same condition prior to experiment
- Weighing costs and benefits of the research
- expense of others is a cost that trumps any benefit
