PSY 111AR Introduction to Psychology

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PSY 111AR Introduction to Psychology

• Introduction and syllabus
• http//www.campus.houghton.edu/depts/psychology
  /intros01.htm
• Questions and discussion
• What is psychology?
• Where does it fit?
• Why do psychologists believe as they do?

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What isnt psychology

• Why is there rain?
• How do bumblebees fly, anyway?
• Is Kants categorical imperative an adequate
  basis for framing moral and ethical judgments in
  the 21st century?
• Comment va dire, The rain in Spain stays mainly
  in the plain?

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What is psychology?

• Psychology is the field that studies behavior
  and mental processes.
• Psychology is about life.
• Psychology is about mental illness.
• Psychology is about how we learn.
• Psychology is about relationshipsand sex.

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Fields of Psychology
Academic Psychology
Applied Psychology
Biological Psychology Developmental Psychology
Personality Psychology
Industrial/ Organizational/ Engineering,
Educational, and Health Psychology
Cognitive Psych Memory Psycholinguistics
Cross-cultural Psychology
Behavioral Psych Behavioral Analysis Behavior
Genetics Behavioral Medicine
Mental health services Counseling, Clinical,
Community Psych Clinical Social Work Psychiatry
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Where does psychology fit?

• Historical and philosophical roots
• Ionian cosmologists and empiricism
• Socratic philosophers and rationalism
• Rene Descartes (1596-1650) and dualism
• John Locke (1632-1704) and environmentalism
• George Berkeley (1685-1753) and rational
  inference
• James Mill (1773-1836) and materialism

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Biological roots of psychology

• Descartes hydraulic model
• Luigi Galvanis (1737-1798) electrical model
• Johannes Muller (1801-1858) and experimental
  physiology
• Pierre Flourens (1774-1867) and ablation
• Paul Brocas (1824-1880) human example
• Helmholtz

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The emergence of psychology

• Structuralism and experiment Wundt
• Functionalism William James
• Psychoanalysis Freud
• Behaviorism Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner
• Reactions
• Cognitive psychology
• Humanistic psychology

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Psychologys ongoing issues

• Stability vs. change
• Rationality vs. irrationality
• Nature vs. nurture
• Perspectives of paradigms

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Critical Thinking in Psychology

• Cultivate skepticism and humility
• Analyze the source of claims and beliefs
• Beware biasing attitudes
• Intuition
• Hindsight bias
• Overconfidence

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Research methods in psychology

• The scientific method
• Research strategies
• Description
• Correlation
• Experimentation

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"When I Heard The Learn'dAstronomer (Walt
Whitman)

• When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
• When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in
  columns before me,
• When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to
  add, divide, and measure them,
• When I sitting heard the astronomer where he
  lectured
• With much applause in the lecture-room,

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Whitman, continued...

• How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
• Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by
  myself,
• In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to
  time,
• Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

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The scientific method

• 1. Hypothesis formation
• Specify the research question or problem
• Study the research literature
• Formulate a hypothesis as a possible answer
• 2. Design the research
• Generate predictions
• Select a method

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Scientific method...

• 3. Conduct the study, collect the data
• 4. Analyze the data to assess the predictions
• 5. Explain what the assessment of the predictions
  says about the truth of the hypothesis.
  Communicate your study to the scientific
  community.

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Descriptive research

• The case study
• Depth over breadth
• Risk of overgeneralization
• May disprove a hypothesis
• The survey
• Effects of wording and method
• Sampling can overcome false consensus
• Naturalistic observation

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Research methods in psychology

• Research strategies
• Description
• Correlation
• Experimentation

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Correlation

• What does correlation mean?
• Illusory correlation
• Confirmation bias
• Spurious correlations
• Correlation and causation

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Research methods in psychology

• Research strategies
• Description
• Correlation
• Experimentation

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Experimentation

• Random selection for representative sample
• Random assignment for equivalent groups
• Control or comparison condition
• Manipulation of independent variable
• Measurement of dependent variable

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Making explanations

• The nominal fallacy and circular explanation
• Operational definition of variables
• Independent variable How is it manipulated?
• Dependent variable How is it measured?
• Validity of operational definitions
• Reliability of measurements
• Interrater reliability

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Confounding variables Reaction time to shapes
How could we use counterbalancing to remove the
confounding in this study?
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Two experiments

• Hypothesis one Speaking out in class will kill
  you.
• Hypothesis two Men have faster reaction times
  than women.