CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODS

 

Understanding Psychology

v     What Is Psychology?

Ø      Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behavior.  Y uses direct observation and measurement, or Empiricism (both casual & systematic). 

Ø      Y is not:  Psychics, palm readers, and astrologers.

Ø      Part of what makes Y different from other fields that study behavior is empiricism.  Y is considered to be a science because it employs the scientific method, or scientific observation

Ø      Using the scientific method to answer questions is known as research. There is a diverse range of research topics in psychology.  Ex: Developmental psychologists, Learning theorists, Personality psychologists, Biopsychologists, Social psychologists

v     Psychology's Goals: Describe, Explain, Predict, and Change

Ø      Y 4 basic goals: describe, predict, explain, and change behavior. 

§         Describe: Description tells "what" occurred.  With description, it’s important to remember that it does not say why things happen. 

·        Ex: Bob is acting confused.

§         Explain: The "why."  You provide insight into the causes of behavior.

·        Ex:  Bob is acting confused because he just had 5 shots of tequila.

·        We recognize that the "why" may be due to an interaction of many factors

§         Predict: forecast what will come next.  Use the knowledge that you have gained to predict what might occur in the future. 

·        Ex: Bob will probably act this way next time he gets loaded.

§         Change: The change of behavior entails looking at what things have an effect on behavior, and bringing those things under our control.

·        Ex: To intervene in Bob's strange behavior, we could alter his drinking habits.

v     Careers In the Field

Ø      Psychologists have either a Master’s degree or a Doctorate.  Psychologists do counseling, research, and teaching in academic, business, and government settings.

§         Psychologists will be degreed with a Ph.D., Psy.D., Ed.D., M.S., or M.A.

Ø      Psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialize in mental health training.  M.D.

Ø      Counselors usually have a master’s degree and have done an internship. 

 

 

PSYCHOLOGY'S HISTORY AND CURRENT PERSPECTIVES

v     Experimental Psychology

Ø      Psych officially became a science in 1879 when Wundt developed the 1st Ygical laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.  Looking for elements of mind/how combined.  Studied this via introspection

v     Structuralism

Ø      Titchner and his followers were interested in the structure of the mind.  Looking for elements of experience to be analyzed.  They also used introspection. 

v     Functionalism

Ø      William James:  introduced practical application of psych. Focus on the functions of the mind, not how it is structured.  How does behavior serve to help us?  Influenced by evolutionary theory.  Functionalism broadened psychology's landscape.

v     Psychoanalytic Psychology

Ø      Sigmund Freud - interested in how the mind influences behavior.  Physiological symptoms could be caused by unconscious psychological conflict. This is what really influences our behavior

§         The psychodynamic theories developed as reactions to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory.  Jung, Alder, and Horney. 

v     Behaviorism

Ø      Behaviorism is interested in observable behav.  John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner. 

Ø      Watson - Founding Father of Behaviorism.  Watson was interested in stimulus-response relationships.  Study humans objectively as we study animals.  Associated with classical conditioning.

§         Skinner - behavior is ruled completely by its consequences, or what comes after it, not by thoughts or other mental processes. 

·        Ex:  Your dog pees on the floor and you rub his nose in it & say “Bad Dog!” 

§         Therapy can be derived from this point of view to use consequences to affect behavior. Ex:  The gold star system in elementary schools.  If you’re good, then you get gold stars. 

v     Gestalt (Max Wertheimer)

Ø      Researched perception - the interpretation of info from the senses.   Experiences can only be studied as whole units.  “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”  Ex:  Puzzle example from class. We experience things in whole units. You have to step back and look at the big picture to appreciate a situation fully, not just analyzed its discrete parts.

v     Humanistic Psychology

Ø      Other approaches overlooked the uniqueness of the human experience.  Maslow & Rogers.  Interested in how individuals perceive their lives.  Free will. 

Ø      Some important concepts to the Humanists are:

            -     self-image:  how you see yourself

-         self-actualization:  living up to your full potential.

 

 

PSYCHOLOGY'S PRESENT: SEVEN PERSPECTIVES & ONE UNIFYING THEME

The perspectives that currently dominate the field are listed in Table 1.5 on page 35 of your book.  It would be a good idea for you to familiarize yourself with the information in this table.

 

DOING RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY

v     The type of research can be divided into two broad groups: basic and applied.

Ø      Basic research is seeking knowledge for the sake of knowledge. 

Ø      When research is oriented toward solving a practical problem, then it is called applied research.  Basic research can lead to applied research. 

v     The Scientific Method: A Way of Discovering

Ø      Ygists employ the scientific method to come to valid conclusions about questions when they are doing research.  This method involves 6 steps, illustrated on page 11, Figure 1.3.

§         Step 1: Literature Review/Informal Questions

·        review scientific literature.  Formulate informal questions about your research topic of interest.

§         Step 2: Develop a Testable Hypothesis

·        Hypothesis: tentative explanation about what happened.

¨      A hypothesis must be testable - you've got to state it in very specific terms. You also have to operationally define what it is that you're going to study. (Often, studying variables that are intangible, ex: intelligence. Must operationally define it so you know when it is present)

Ø      Definition:  a definition of a variable in terms of the methods used to create or measure that variable.

§         Ex: I will know giftedness is present because I have defined it as a certain score on a test

§         Step 3: Design the Study and Collect the Data

§         Step 4: Analyze the Data and Accept or Reject the Hypothesis

·        Data is organized with statistics.  With statistics, you can find out if all your work turned out results significant enough to support your hypothesis.

§         Step 5: Public, Replicate, and Seek Scientific Review

·        Scientists publish their work, and this is usually done in scientific journals. Then replication is possible - attempt to repeat the study.

§         Step 6: Build A Theory - And Then the Cycle Continues

·        At this point, you may want to again refer to Figure 1.3.

 

Research Methods

v     Descriptive Research: Naturalistic Observation, Surveys, and Case Studies -meets the "describe" goal of Y. 

Ø      Naturalistic Observation

§         Observations in the natural setting – this means that the researcher goes out to watch stuff happen in the environment in which it usually occurs.  Ex: students in a classroom, dogs at the park..

§         Allows the researcher to get data about truly natural behavior. 

§         This method has drawbacks

·        the observer effect

·        observer bias

Ø      Surveys

§         Involves conducting a poll of people.  An advantage to the survey method is that it allows you to get information from a large group of people rather quickly.  

§         Has limitations

·        Sample bias –sample is not representative of the population. 

·        Social desirability - another roadblock to getting honest, valid answers

Ø      Case Studies

§         Case study – this is a detailed & descriptive study of an individual. 

v     Experimental Research:  Looking for the Causes

Ø      The only way you can determine cause & effect.

Ø      Key Features

§         Subjects, or participants, are divided into at least two groups:

·        Control group – these people do not receive the treatment you are investigating.  Experimental groups - they do receive the treatment. 

§         Independent and Dependent Variables

·        The Independent variable (IV):  the condition that the experimenter manipulates.

·        The dependent variable (DV):  the results of the experiment, what you are measuring. (The DV is dependent upon what happens with the IV).

·        Extraneous variables:  variables that you want to exclude because they could effect the outcome of the experiment. 

Ø      Experimental Safeguards

§         Researcher Problems

·        Experimenter Bias - Sometimes the experimenter can unintentionally influence the outcomes of an experiment because of his own beliefs. 

¨      How can you deal with this problem?  You can arrange a single-blind study- either the observer or the participant don't know who is getting the experimental treatment.  Even better is double-blind experiment.  This means that neither the experimenter nor the subject knows who’s getting the treatment. 

·        Ethnocentrism - where you see everything from the viewpoint of your own culture. 

§         Participant Problems

·        Sample bias - just like we discussed earlier, you want to get a group of people that will represent the population you are studying.  Fix it: random sampling & random assignment

·        Participant Bias - problems with social desirability response. 

v     Correlational Research: Looking for Relationships

Ø      Correlational studies look at the relationship between two or more things (expressed as a #)

Ø      Correlation indicates relationship, not causation.  A correlational study finds the degree of relationship between the factors.  Ex:  School grades and the amount of school you miss are correlated. 

Ø      Correlation Coefficients

§         correlation coefficient: expresses strength and direction. Ranges -1 to +1.

·        A positive correlation means variables are moving in same direction.  Ex: the more hours you study, the better your grade will be in my class. 

·        A negative correlations means that as one thing goes up, the other goes down.  Ex: as absences increase, grade decreases.

§         Number indicates strength (closer to +1 or -1, the stronger it is).  Sign indicates direction, or type.

 

v     Ethical Problems: Protecting the Rights of Others

Ø      Respecting the Rights of Human Participants

§         Informed Consent & Voluntary Participation -

§         The use of deception - Use debriefing is deception is involved

§         Confidentiality - Information acquired in experiments or through psychotherapy has to be kept confidential except in a few rare instances. 

 

 

This is not meant to take the place of your notes from class lectures or the textbook.  I reserve the right to modify, add, or delete material at any time.