What is psychology

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What is psychology?

• Just talking to people? Nope
• Psychology mind control? Maybe a little
• Pink Floyd
• We dont need no education
• We dont need no thought control
• Hey, teacher! Leave those kids alone.

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• Psychology treating mental illness? Not really.
• The real answer Psychology is the study of mind,
  brain and behavior
• Mind Mental activity, such as thoughts, feelings
  and perceptions
• Brain The physical organ inside your head that
  produces mental activity
• Behavior Any observable reaction or response

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Levels of analysis in psychology
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A few historical highlights

• Introspection Research participants
  systematically explain their own mental
  experience
• Structuralism The idea that conscious experience
  can be broken down into basic underlying
  components
• Functionalism Focuses on the adaptive purpose or
  function of mind and behavior

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Psychology science

• At least we like to think so, but we are not an
  exact science

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Psychology as science in two pretty pictures

• The research process
• Formulate Hypothesis -gt Design Study -gt Collect
  Data -gt Analyze Data -gt Disseminate Results
• The research cycle
• Theory -gt Hypothesis -gt Data, until you get very
  dizzy

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An exciting interlude on psychological truth

• We do statistical tests to assess whether our
  results are genuine or due to chance
• So, am I psychic or not?
• Are you sure?
• Replication Repeating and confirming the results
  of previous studies
• Now are you sure?

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Some research terminology

• Variables Things in the world that can be
  measured and can vary
• Operational Definition A way to quantify
  variables of interest in order to measure them

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Three kinds of psychological research

• Experiment Involves measured and manipulated
  variables in order to examine how manipulating
  one variable (the Independent Variable) changes
  another (the Dependent Variable)
• Confound Anything that influences the dependent
  variable that might unintentionally vary in
  different conditions of a study
• Random assignment Each participant has an equal
  chance of being assigned to any level of the
  independent variable

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• Correlational Study Variables are examined that
  are naturally related in the world, without any
  attempt by the experimenter to change these
  variables
• Correlation does not imply causation

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• Descriptive (observational) Study The
  experimenter observes and notes the actual
  behavior of people or animals