Welcome to Psychology 437

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Welcome to Psychology 437

• Advanced Psychology Lab Research Methods in
  Personality Psychology
• web page
• http//www.yourpersonality.net/psych437/fall2011/
  

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Why is Psychology One of the Most Popular Majors?
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Why is Psychology One of the Most Popular Majors?

• Of all the disciplines that exist, psychology is
  one of the few that is explicitly concerned with
  understanding the way people behave, feel, and
  think.

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Why is Psychology One of the Most Popular Majors?

• Many of the themes that have characterized
  intellectual inquiry over the years are studied
  by psychologists
• free will and determinism
• mind and matter
• nature and nurture
• love and loss
• relationships and emotion
• personality (growth and disorder)

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What Makes Psychology Different?

• So, what is special about psychology, as opposed
  to the study of philosophy, literature, or
  history?
• The critical difference is that modern psychology
  is based on the scientific method.

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Psychology
the methods of psychology
the themes of psychology
Natural Science
Psychology, like the humanities, is concerned
with fundamental issues concerning human
experience. However, psychologists use the
methods of the natural sciences to better
understand psychological phenomena.
Philosophy Humanities
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Why Does this Matter?

• Why do we need the scientific method in order to
  study the human mind?
• The methods we tend to use are subject to severe
  limitationssome of which we will review in our
  next lecture.

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Personality

• Although the study of psychology focuses on big
  issues, such as development, mental functioning,
  and social behavior, the discipline of psychology
  is rather dissociated.
• Students tend to receive training in specific
  areas of psychology.
• Students focusing on some areas (e.g.,
  psychobiology) may receive little if any training
  in other areas (e.g., social).

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Personality

• Personality psychology is the one subdiscipline
  within psychology that is motivated by issues
  that cut across the various subdisciplines.
• The science of personality is concerned with
• The development of people (developmental)
• The way in which people differ from one another
  (individual differences)
• The way the mind works (cognitive)
• The way in which people influence, and are
  influenced, by their cultural and social contexts
  (social)
• The biological bases of thought, feeling, and
  behavior (biological)

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Class Objectives

• The objectives of this course are
• to illustrate some of the limitations of
  non-scientific approaches to understanding
  personality
• to teach you how to use the scientific method as
  it applies to the psychology of personality
• to foster your ability to think critically about
  psychological theories and research (as well as
  other information)
• to help you better understand your own
  personality through the use of existing research
  paradigms in personality psychology

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Overview of Syllabus

• Class web site
• http//www.yourpersonality.net/psych437/fall2011/
• Future updates and changes will be reflected in
  the online version of the syllabus.
• Grading
• Attendance and written assignments
• 20 Attendance and participation in lab
  activities
• 20 Project 1
• 20 Project 2
• 40 Assignments

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Important Notes

• The lab sections will be meeting in rooms 35 and
  37 of the Psychology Department.
• Labs will begin this week! Please be sure to
  attend. However, we will only be meeting on Wed
  of this week. We will not have lab on Friday of
  this week.

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Computers in Room 35/37

• You will need to know your account information to
  log in to the computers in rooms 35/37.
• Everyone (instructors, students, staff, etc.)
  will need an Active Directory (AD) password to
  login to any psychology computer.  
• Students should already have AD passwords.
   Please go to the CITES website to create your AD
  password if you do not already haveone
  http//www.cites.illinois.edu/accounts/index.html