Psychology 100.18

1
Psychology 10014
Chapter 1 Introduction to Psychological Science
2
Outline

• Introduction
• Two quizzes
• Are you ready to study psychology?
• The Psychology is common sense quiz?
• Themes of Psychological Science
• Seven levels of analysis

Study Questions I will give a study questions
before each lecture. Approximately half of the
short answer questions on the two exams will be
based on these questions.
3

• http//www.stfx.ca/people/pamccorm/web/P100.html

4
The Are you ready to study Psychology Quiz.

• The following short quiz consists of 4
  questions and will tell us if you are ready to
  study Psychology

5
1) How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?
6
The Correct Answer

1. Open the refrigerator,
2. Put in the giraffe,
3. Close the door.

This question tests whether you tend to do simple
things in an overly complicated way.
7
2) How do you put an elephant into a
refrigerator?
8
Wrong Answer

1. Open the refrigerator,
2. Put in the elephant,
3. Close the door.

Correct Answer

1. Open the refrigerator,
2. Take out the giraffe
3. Put in the elephant,
4. Close the door.

This question tests your ability to think through
the repercussions of your actions.
9
3) The Lion King is hosting an animal
conference. All the animals attend except one.
Which animal does not attend?
10
The Correct Answer
The Elephant
The Elephant is in the refrigerator, remember.
This question tests your memory
11
4) There is a river you must cross. But it is
inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?
12
The Correct Answer
Swim across
All the crocodiles are attending the Animal
Conference.
This question tests whether you learn quickly
from your mistakes
13
The Psychology is just common sense quiz.

• Question 1 How many senses do we possess?
• A Less than 5
• B Just 5
• C More than 5

14
Question 2 What is the minimum number of
personalities that someone must have to be
classified as a schizophrenic?
15
Question 3 True or false. The best way to
memorize information for a clear, permanent
memory is to repeat the information over and over
and over and over...
16
Question 4
What percentage of our brain do we actually
use? A Less than 10 B About 50 C More
than 90
17
Question 5 Giving a child a spanking to
stop them from disobeying their parents is known
as... A Negative reinforcement B Positive
reinforcement C Neither A nor B
18
Question 6 True or False. The best way to
make sure that small details are recalled
accurately by an eye witness is to use hypnosis.
19
Question 7 The best way to implant a
subconscious thought is A Sub-auditory
messages. B Subliminally presented pictures. C
Backwards speech
You can do it!
Study
Read!
Think
Give McCormick
Go to class
20
Question 8 In Festinger Carlsmiths
experiment who will say they liked the task
more? A Those who received 1. B Those who
received 20.
21
Answers

• 1. C More than five
• 2. One
• 3. False
• 4. More than 90 (actually it is 100)
• 5. C Neither
• 6. False
• 7. None of these will implant subconscious
• thoughts
• 8. 1

22
Cognitive Dissonance

• Disparity between a persons beliefs and
  behaviour may cause an unpleasant tension that is
  sometimes alleviated by changing ones attitude

23
What is Psychology?

• Oxford Concise Dictionary
• Psychology n. science of the nature, functions,
  and phenomenon of the human mind.
• psyche n. from the Greek for soul, life, spirit.
• -logy suf. subject of study.

24
Psychological Science

• Your text book definition
• Psychological science is the study of mind,
  brain, and behaviour.
• Mental activity in the mind results from
  biological processes in the brain.
• Psychological Science previously involved only
  the objective observation of behaviour.

25
The Themes of Psychological Science

1. Principles are cumulative.
2. Focus on what is known and has been well
   established over years of experimentation.
3. E.g, The primacy effect
4. The details are evolving
5. Many questions in Psychological Science can be
   answered in infinitely complex ways

26
The Themes of Psychological Science

• A biological revolution is in progress.
• Brain Chemistry
• Neurotransmitters. Chemical substances which
  modulate the activity of neurons (brain cells).
• Serotonin and depression
• Discovery of endorphins
• The Human Genome
• Watching the working brain

27
The Themes of Psychological Science

28
The Themes of Psychological Science

• The mind is adaptive.
• Evolutionary theory emphasizes the inherited,
  adaptive value of behaviour through the entire
  history of a species.
• Sociobiology
• The human mind has adapted for social living
• Modern minds in stone-age skulls
• The calendar of evolution

29
The Themes of Psychological Science

• The Calendar of Evolution
• First living cells appeared 3.5 billion years ago
• Condense evolution into one calendar year
• Living cells 3.5 billion --gtJan 1
• Multicelled animals 570 million --gt Nov. 2
• Vertibrates 400 million --gt Nov. 20
• Mammals 200 million --gt Dec. 11
• First Birds 65 million --gt Dec. 25
• Bipedalism 10 million --gt Dec. 30
• Homo sapiens 40,000 --gt Dec. 31,
  1154 PM

30
The Themes of Psychological Science

• There are multiple levels of analysis.
• Psychologists work on the same problem but ask
  different questions at different levels of
  analysis
• We will emphasize seven levels
• Genetic
• Neurochemical
• Brain systems
• Behavioural
• Perceptual and cognitive
• Individual
• Sociocultural