Chapter 1 The Science of Psychology. Chapter 1 Outline What is Psychology? The Growth of Psychology Human Diversity Psychology as a Science Research Methods

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Science of Psychology

Chapter 1

Outline

What is Psychology?The Growth of PsychologyHuman DiversityPsychology as a ScienceResearch Methods in PsychologyEthics in Psychology

Chapter 1

What Is Psychology?

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes– Behaviors - refers to observable actions or responses in

both humans and animals– Mental processes - not directly observable, refer to a wide

range of complex mental processes, such as thinking, imagining, studying, and dreaming

Psychologists are interested in every aspect of human thought, feeling and behavior.

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GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Describe – first goal of psychology is to describe the different ways

that organisms behave

Explain – second goal of psychology is to explain the cause of

behavior

Predict – third goal of psychology is to predict how organisms will

behave in certain situations

Control – the fourth goal of psychology is to control an organism’s

behavior

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Fields of Psychology

Seven of the largest subfields of Psychology include:– Developmental– Physiological– Experimental– Personality– Clinical and Counseling– Social– Industrial and Organizational

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Developmental Psychology

Studies human physical, mental, social and emotional growth from conception to death– Child psychologists– Adolescent psychologists– Life-span psychologists

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Physiological Psychology

Investigates the biological basis of human behavior, thoughts and emotions– Neuropsychologists– Psychobiologists– Behavioral geneticists

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Experimental Psychology

Conduct research on basic psychological processes including:– Learning– Memory– Sensation – Perception– Thinking – Motivation– Emotion

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Personality Psychology

Study the differences among individuals in such traits as:– Sociability– Conscientiousness– Emotional stability– Self-esteem– Agreeableness– Aggressive inclinations– Openness to new experiences

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Clinical and Counseling Psychology

Seek to help people deal more successfully with their lives– Clinical psychologists

– Interested primarily in the diagnosis, causes, and treatment of psychological disorders

– Counseling psychologists – Concerned primarily with “normal” everyday problems of

adjustments in life

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Social Psychology

Study how people influence one another– Study examples:

– Interpersonal attraction– Persuasive communications– Attitude formation– Obedience to authority– Conformity to group norms– Interaction of work team members

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Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology

Psychology applied to the workplace– Study examples:– Selecting and training personnel – Improving productivity and working conditions– Impact of computerization and automation on workers

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Enduring Issues in Psychology

All psychologists share a common interest in five enduring human issues:– Person/Situation– Nature/Nurture– Stability/Change– Diversity/Universality– Mind/Body

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How do psychologists answer questions?

Approaches (6) to understanding behavior include:– Biological– Cognitive– Behavioral– Psychoanalytic– Humanistic– Cross cultural

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Outline


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HISTORICAL APPROACHES

How did psychology begin?– Structuralism: Elements of the Mind– Functionalism: Functions of the Mind– Gestalt Approach: Sensations versus Perceptions– Behaviorism: Observable Behaviors

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The Growth of Psychology

The history of psychology can be divided into three main stages:– The emergence of a science of the mind– The behaviorist decade– The “cognitive revolution”

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The "New Psychology:" A Science of the Mind

Psychology was born in 1879 when Whilhelm Wundt founded the first psychological laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany– In the public eye, a laboratory = “science”

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Structuralism: Wundt and Titchener

Wundt was interested in studying thoughts and developing a way to study them scientificallyTitchener broke down consciousness into their simplest components: physical sensations, feelings, and imagesDeveloped into an approach called Structuralism – Concerned with identifying the units of conscious

experience (“thought”) and how they can be combined and integrated

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Functionalism: William James

William James challenged structuralism– Pure sensations without associations do not exist in real-

life experience– Consciousness cannot be broken into elements it flows in a

continuous stream

Functionalism was concerned with the ongoing use of conscious experience– Interested in learning and the impact of experience on the

brain

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Psychodynamic Psychology: Sigmund Freud

Freud believed that we are motivated by unconscious instincts and urges that are not available to the rational, conscious part of our mindPsychodynamic theory laid that foundation for the study of personality and psychological disorders

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Redefining Psychology: The Study of Behavior

Psychology saw itself as the study of mental processes– Primary method of collecting data was introspection or

self-observation

Behaviorism challenged this idea and focused on behaviors that can be observed and measured

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Behaviorism: Watson and Skinner

Watson founded behaviorism on the belief that if you cannot locate or measure something (i.e. consciousness), it cannot be the object of scientific study– All mental experiences – thinking, feeling, awareness of

self – are nothing more than physiological changes in response to accumulated conditioning or learning

Skinner focused on the role of reinforcement– By rewarding certain behavior, we become an active

participant in our conditioning or learning

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The Cognitive Revolution

By the 1960’s psychologists came to view behaviorism as only one piece of the explanation of human behavior and mental processes– Began to see humans as active learners not passive

recipients of life’s events

Two schools of thought paved the way for the Cognitive Revolution:– Gestalt Psychology– Humanistic Psychology

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The Cognitive Revolution

Gestalt Psychology– Concerned with perception – our tendency to see patterns,

to distinguish an object from it’s background, etc. – Wertheimer, Köhler, and Koffka were interested in tricks of

perception.

Humanistic Psychology– Emphasizes human potential, the importance of love,

belongingness, self-esteem, etc.– Maslow was concerned with feelings and yearnings

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Cognitive Psychology

Concerned with mental processes: thinking feeling, learning, remembering, decision making, etc.Concerned with how we acquire, process, and use information to solve problemsBelieve that mental processes can be studied scientifically by observing behavior and making inferences about the kinds of cognitive processes that underlie the behavior

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New Directions in Psychology

Today, psychologists are more flexible in considering other approachesNew theories and initiatives are emerging:– Evolutionary Psychology– Positive Psychology

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Multiple Perspectives Today

Contemporary psychologists tend to see different perspectives as complementary.– Each perspective contributes to understanding human

behavior

Most agree that the field advances with the addition of new evidence to support or challenge existing theories.

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Where Are The Women?

Women have contributed to psychology from its beginningsWomen presented papers and joined the national professional association as soon as it was formed in 1892Women faced discrimination– Some colleges and universities did not grant degrees to

women– Professional journals were reluctant to publish their work – Teaching positions were often closed to them

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Where Are The Women?

Today women outnumber men in the field:– Receive ¾ of the baccalaureate degrees in psychology– Represent approx. ¾ of psychology graduate students– Earned two out of three doctorate degrees in psychology

awarded in 1997

They perform key research in all of the psychology subfields

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Percentage of Women Recipients of Ph.D.s in Psychology

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Outline


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Human Diversity

Little attention was paid to human diversity throughout most of the 20th century Today, understanding human diversity is essentialPsychologists have begun to examine how culture, gender, race, and ethnicity can affect human behavior

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The Value of Studying Diversity

Understanding cultural, racial, ethnic and gender differences in thinking and behavior: – Reduces interpersonal tensions– Separate fact from fiction– Understand how and why groups differ in their values,

behaviors, approaches to the world, thought processes and responses to situations

– Increase appreciation of the many universal features of human behavior

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Gender

Gender is the psychological and social meaning attached to being biologically male or female– We have ideals about gender roles – the cultural

expectation of acceptable behavior for each gender

The study of gender similarities and differences has become part of mainstream psychology– Feminist Theory explores how the views on social roles of

women and men influence treatment of people, especially women

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Race and Ethnicity

Race shapes people’s social identities, sense of self, experiences and even healthPsychologists study why race is important and how individuals select or create an ethnic identity and respond to stereotypesMost ethnic minorities are still underrepresented among the ranks of psychologists

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Culture

Culture provides modes of thinking, acting, and communicating about how the world works and why people behave as they doCulture influences values, attitudes, behaviors and beliefsPsychologists study how culture impacts human behavior and thought

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Outline


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Science and the Scientific Method

All scientific fields are based on empirical observation– Phenomena of interest can be observed and measured

All scientific fields rely on the scientific method as the basis of study– A systematic method of generating hypotheses (educated

guesses), collecting data, and explaining the data

Data is explained using theories to organize known facts and predict relationships– Allow scientists to formulate new hypothesis to expand on

the scope of the theories

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Outline


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Research Methods

To collect data systematically and objectively, psychologists use a variety of research methods including:– Naturalistic Observation– Case Studies– Surveys– Correlational Research– Experimental Research

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Naturalistic Observation

Observing and recording the behavior of humans or animals in their natural environmentAdvantages– Observed behavior is likely to be more accurate,

spontaneous and varied than in a laboratory

Disadvantages– Observer bias– May not be able to generalize to other settings or people

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Case Studies

Intensive description and analysis of a single individual or a few individualsAdvantages– Can yield a great deal of detailed, descriptive information

Disadvantages– The individual or group is unique – difficult to draw

conclusions from a single case– Can be time consuming and expensive– Observer bias

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Surveys

A research technique in which questionnaires or interviews are administered to a selected group of peopleAdvantages– Large quantity of information quickly– Relatively inexpensive

Disadvantages– Must pay close attention to the survey questions– Respondents may not be representative– Response biases– Truthfulness of responses

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Correlational Research

A research technique based on the naturally occurring relationship between two or more variablesAdvantages – Description and prediction are possible

Disadvantages – Does not identify what causes a relationship to exist

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Experimental Method

A research technique in which an investigator deliberately manipulates selected events or circumstances and then measures the effects of those manipulations on subsequent behavior

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Experimental Research

Independent variables– The variable that is manipulated by the experimenter to

test its effects

Dependent variables– The variable that is measured to see how it is changed by

the independent variable

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Experimental group – The group subjected to a change in the independent

variable

Control group– The group not subjected to a change in the independent

variable

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Advantages– Can draw conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships

Disadvantages– Lab setting may influence subjects’ behavior– Unexpected and uncontrolled variables may confound

results– All variables cannot be controlled and manipulated

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Multimethod Research

Many psychologists overcome the limitations of using a single research method by using multiple methods to study a single problem

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Importance of Sampling

A drawback to every form of research is that it is impossible to measure every variableStudy a small sample and then generalize the information to the larger population– Sample

– Selection of cases from a larger population

– Random sample– Each potential participant has an equal chance of being

selected

– Representative sample– The characteristics of the participants corresponds closely to

the characteristics of the larger population

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Outline


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APA Code of Ethics

Participants must be informed of the nature of the research in understandable languageInformed consent must be documentedRisks, possible adverse side effects and limitations on confidentiality must be given in advanceIf participation is for course credit, equitable alternative activities must be offeredCannot deceive about aspects of the research that would affect participants’ willingness to participateDeception about the goals of the research can be used only when absolutely necessary to the integrity to the research

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Research on Animals

Animals are used in experiments in which it would be clearly unethical to use human participantsAPA’s ethical guidelines– Researchers must ensure “appropriate consideration of

[the animal’s] comfort, health, and humane treatment.”

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Chapter Review

What is Psychology?– How is psychology defined and what topics do they study?– Given the broad range of careers and interests, what hold

psychology together?

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Chapter Review, con’t

The Growth of Psychology– How did the work of Wundt and Titchener, of James, and of

Freud contribute to the early development of psychology as a field of study?

– How was the approach to human behavior taken by Watson and Skinner different from Freud's?

– How have Gestault, humanistic and cognitive psychologists extended the definition of psychology?

– How is the field of psychology being defined today?– In psychology's early years, why were relatively few

women accepted in the field?

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Human Diversity– Why is the study of human diversity important in the field

of psychology?– How are psychologists helping us to understand the

differences between men and women?– Why are psychologists interested in racial and ethnic

differences?– How does culture contribute to human diversity?

Psychology as a Science– What features distinguish a scientific field from a field not

based in science?

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Research Methods in Psychology– Why is natural setting sometimes better than a laboratory

for observing behavior?– When can a case study be most useful?– What are some of the benefits of survey research?– What is the difference between correlation and cause and

effect?– What kinds of research questions are best studied by

experimental research?– What does multimethod research allow psychologists to

do?– How can sampling affect the results of a research study?

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Ethics and Psychology– Why did Milgram’s experiments on obedience raise ethical

questions about his research?– Are there ethical guidelines for conducting psychological

research?– What objections have been raised regarding research on

animal subjects?

Documents

Chapter 1 The Science of Psychology. Chapter 1 Outline What is Psychology? The Growth of Psychology Human Diversity Psychology as a Science Research Methods