Introduction to Psychology: History, Science, and Contemporary Issues - Prof. C. Vinci, Study notes of Psychology

Download Introduction to Psychology: History, Science, and Contemporary Issues - Prof. C. Vinci and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! PSYC 2000 Spring 2012 Introduction to the History and Science of Psychology The Story of Psychology Module 1 Contemporary Psychology Psychology’s Big Debate Nature versus Nurture Darwin states that nature selects those traits that __________________________________and reproduce in a particular environment. D a rw in (1 8 0 9 -1 8 8 2 ) Nature vs. Nurture Scenario: The nature-only side states that personalities are ________________ ________________and remain consistent across the life span. The nurture-only side states that we are all essentially the same at birth, and we __________________________________ Experiences makes us who we are Anything is possible (ee peep of Analysis: Biopsychosocial Approach Biological influences: Psychological influences: ¢ natural selection of adaptive ¢ learned fears and other learned traits expectations ¢ genetic predispositions responding * emotional responses to environment © cognitive processing and © brain mechanisms perceptual interpretations ¢ hormonal influences L__.. Behavior or mental process — Social-cultural influences: ® presence of others ® cultural, societal, and family expectations * peer and other group influences * compelling models (such as in the media)  Research Psychologists Psychologist What she does Biological Explore the links between brain and iologica mind. Developmental Study changing abilities from womb to tomb. Coeniti Study how we perceive, think, and solve ogmitive problems. Personality Investigate our persistent traits. . Explore how we view and affect one Social another.  Applied Psychologists Psychologist What she does os Studies, assesses, and treats people with Clinical psychological disorders : Helps people cope with academic, Counseling vocational, and marital challenges. . Studies and helps individuals in school Educational . and educational settings Industrial/ Studies and advises on behavior in the Organizational workplace. Module 2 Thinking Critically with Psychological Science The hindsight bias is a tendency to believe, after learning about an outcome, that we would have foreseen it. Ex: We knew that the dot.com stocks would plummet, only after they did.  Also known as the “___________________” phenomenon “I knew LSU was going to win that game!” “I knew it was going to rain once I started washing my car!” Psychological Science Two reliable phenomena— hindsight bias and judgmental overconfidence — ________________________________and our need for scientific inquiry and critical thinking. The Need for Psychological Research Fallibility of intuition Hindsight Bias (“I knew it all along.”) Judgmental Overconfidence Illusory Correlation The Scientific Attitude Curiosity, Skepticism, Humility Critical Thinking Illusory Correlation: Does a stereotype exist? A psychologist sought to discover whether research would support the stereotype that females are more emotional than males. The psychologist found 16 studies in which either males or females were observed to be either quite emotional or non-emotional. Review the next slide. You will be asked to indicate what these data suggest about the relationship between gender and emotionality. Study Number Were the subjects women? Were the subjects emotional? 1 yes yes 2 no yes 3 yes yes 4 yes yes 5 yes yes 6 no yes 7 no no 8 yes yes 9 yes no 10 yes yes 11 yes yes 12 no yes 13 yes no 14 yes yes 15 yes no 16 yes yes Interpretation Most people conclude that the overall results of these studies show that, in comparison to men, women are slightly or moderately more likely to be emotional. That is an illusory correlation--that is, seeing a relationship where none exists. In comparison to men, women were neither more nor less likely to be emotional. Can you identify other popular beliefs that may reflect illusory correlations? The Need for Psychological Research Fallibility of intuition Hindsight Bias (“I knew it all along.”) Judgmental Overconfidence Illusory Correlation The Scientific Attitude Curiosity, Skepticism, Humility Critical Thinking Why do people believe strange things? The Scientific Method ____________—predicts behavior or events through an integrated set of principles Example: low self-esteem contributes to depression. Must lead to _____________________ E.g., People with lower self-esteem are more likely to feel depressed. Predictions that are _________________ E.g., the lower your self-esteem, the more likely you are to be depressed Replicable Disprovable Research The Research Process (1) Theories Example: Low self-esteem feeds depression. confirm, reject, or revise lead to (3) Research and observations Example: Administer tests of self-esteem and depression. See if a low score on one predicts a high score on the other. (2) Hypotheses Example: People with low self-esteem will score higher ona depression scale, / lead to Research Strategies: Description Case Study Survey Wording effects Random sampling Naturalistic Observation These strategies DESCRIBE behavior. Random Sampling Random sample (unbiased) = _____ ________________________ ________________________ _______________________. If the survey sample is biased, the results are questionable. The fastest way to know about the marble color ratio is to blindly transfer a few into a smaller jar and count them. Research Strategies: Description Case Study Survey Wording effects Random sampling Naturalistic Observation These strategies DESCRIBE behavior. Research Strategies: Correlation How two variables change together Correlation coefficient: “r” - 1.0 to + 1.0 Correlation Coefficient is a statistical measure of the relationship between two variables. The previous graph demonstrated a… 1. Positive correlation 2. Negative correlation 3. No correlation There is a moderate positive correlation of +0.63. Temperament scores 95: 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 DD. 60 65 70 75 80 85 Height in inches  Mean Annual Temp (C) Bi o — cn = oa on Nevada 4 eee .? 4 ". os © 9 4 ay, a. . os *,5 ene? : e.. o 500 1000 1500 2000 Elevation (m) 2500 Main points: Correlation is useful ________________ Correlation does __________________ Just because two things are related does not mean that one causes the other The closer to (+/-) 1.0 the stronger the relationship between two variables is The (+/-) only indicates the direction, not strength, of the relationship Research Strategies: Experimental Looking for CAUSE and EFFECT relationships Manipulate the ___________________ and observe its effect on the ________________. Exploring Cause & Effect Many factors influence our behavior. Experiments (1) _____________________that interest us while keeping other factors under (2) _____________. Effects generated by manipulated factors isolate cause and effect relationships. From the previous example, which of the following is the independent variable? 1. The number of words that the participants recalled 2. The type of words that were presented (pleasant versus unpleasant) 3. The amount of time given to recall the words Experimental Research Strategy Hold other factors constant Random assignment to: Experimental condition Control condition Ex.—Does cognitive therapy improve depression? One group assigned to cognitive therapy One group assigned to spend an equal amount of time with a therapist, but without cognitive therapy strategies Reporting Statistics Correlation Measures of central tendency: Mode Mean Median Variation: Range Standard deviation