The World of Psychology
Wood and Wood
Introduction To Psychology
Chapter 1
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Just what is Psychology?
Psychology conjures up images of mental disorders and
abnormal behavior.
Psychologists do study the strange and unusual, but
they are interested in the normal and commonplace as
well.
Just what is psychology?
Today psychology is defined as the scientific study of
behavior and mental processes.
Science or common sense?
1. Memory is more accurate under
6. Eyewitness testimony is often
hypnosis.
unreliable.
2. All people dream during a night of 7. Children with high IQs tend to be
normal sleep.
less able physically than their peers.
3. As the number of bystanders at an 8. Creativity and high intelligence do
emergency increases, the time it
not necessarily go together.
takes for the victim to get help
9. When it comes to close personal
decreases.
relationships, opposites attract.
4. Humans do not have a maternal
10. The majority of teenagers have
instinct.
good relationships with their
5. Older adults tend to express less
parents.
satisfaction with life in general than
younger
adults.whether each statement is true (T) or false (F).
Indicate
Science or common sense?
All of the odd-numbered items are false,
and all of the even-numbered items are
true.
So, common sense, alone, will not take
you very far in your study of psychology.
Scientific Method
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Identify a Research Problem
Design a Study
Collect and Analyze Data
Draw Conclusions
Communicate findings
Copyright © Allyn & bacon 2002
How does the scientific method work?
From: Ask GeoMan...
The classical approach to solving
anything in science starts with a
"problem," which through
experimentation and prediction, evolves
through the "hypothesis" and "theory"
stages into a scientific "law."
(Formal Definition)
The Scientific Method
The scientific method consists of the
orderly, systematic procedures that
researchers follow as they identifya
research problem, design a study to
investigate the problem, collect and
analyze data, draw conclusions, and
communicate their findings.
How does the scientific method work?
Ask GeoMan...
1. Wild and Crazy Idea
If we assume that all science starts as science
fiction, I like this terminology better than just
calling it a ”research problem." Getting beyond
this involves setting up experiments to verify
your idea.
How does the scientific method work?
Ask GeoMan...
2. Hypothesis
If your experimental data fail to support your idea,
you'll need to go back to Step 1. If your
experiments do support your idea, move on to
Step 3.
How does the scientific method work?
Ask GeoMan...
3. Theory
Great, your experiments support your hypothesis, and
you are now the proud owner of a theory. Getting
beyond this into the law stage requires that you can
use your theory to predict the results of additional
work, and that your predictions hold. As before, if they
don't, return to an earlier step and try again. If your
predictions hold consistently, move on to the next
stage.
How does the scientific method work?
4. Law
This is where most discussions of the scientific
method end. However, I (GeoMan) feel two
additional steps are almost guaranteed to
occur.
“scientific law: 1. A natural phenomenon that has
been proven to occur invariably whenever certain
conditions are met. 2. A formal statement describing
such a phenomenon and the conditions under which
it occurs.” Also just called a law.
http://www.webref.org/geology/s/scientific_law.htm
How does the scientific method work?
5. Dogma
Laws tend to be supported to such an extent that
they almost become dogma. Take gravity for
example. When is the last time you dropped a
pencil and it floated away. Pretty stupid idea,
huh? We are all so sure that gravity is
THE LAW that we don't even
consider the possibility that
there may be exceptions or
situations when it breaks
down and doesn't work.
This leads to the last and final stage:
How does the scientific method work?
6. Stagnation
This is the death of scientific thought, and should
have no place in YOUR thoughts. Question all
scientific laws, especially the ones that are the
most firmly steeped in dogma. (But don't be
stupid about it - throwing yourself off a cliff to
test gravity doesn't make much sense!)
The Goals of Psychology
Description
 Explanation
 Prediction
 Control
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Descriptive Research Methods
Naturalistic and Laboratory Observation
 Case Study
 Survey Research
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 Experimental
method
 Correlational method
 Meta-Analysis
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
See
table on
Page 18!
Descriptive Research Methods
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Naturalistic and Laboratory Observation
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Descriptive Information
Observer Bias & Influence
Minimal control
Case Study
 Survey Research
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Descriptive Research Methods
Naturalistic and Laboratory Observation
 Case Study
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Small sample but Deep
Misintrepretation
Time consuming
Survey Research
I disagree with authors
here. Case Studies are
frequently used in other
disciplines. MBAs
frequently use method.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Descriptive Research Methods
Naturalistic and Laboratory Observation
Again, the authors
 Case Study
have a narrow view.
This technique is
 Survey Research
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frequently used in
market research.
Descriptive Information
Large numbers => good stats
Bias possible but not by professionals
Experimental Method
Manipulate
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Hypothesis
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
Experimental Group
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Control Group
Generalize Findings
Problems
Selection Bias
 Placebo
 Experimenter Bias
Measure
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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
The Correlational Method
Relationships not Causes
 Correlation Coefficient
 Correlation and Prediction
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The Correlational Method
Correlation
is NOT
Causation!
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Correlation Example cont.
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
20.4
27.4
90
20.4
30.6
38.6
34.6
31.6
45.9
46.9
45
43.9
East
West
North
0.621825
West vs North
East vs West
50
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
45
West
West
0.234512
40
35
30
25
20
0
20
40
60
East
80
100
0
50
North
100
Correlation Examples
Yet another
Correlation Example
pulmonary anatomical dead space
Psychological Research
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Ethics in Research
Human Participant in Psychological Research
Bias in Psychological Research
Use of Animals in Psychological Research
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
The History of Psychology
Schools of Thought
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Structuralism
Functionalism
Gestalt
Behaviorism
Psychoanalysis
Humanistic
Cognitive
Evolutionary
Wundt & Titchener
William James
Wertheimer
Watson & Skinner
Freud
Maslow & Rogers
Chomsky
Cosmides and Tooby
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Women and Minority
Pioneers in Psychology
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Christine Ladd-Franklin
Mary Whiton Calkins
Margaret Floy Washburn
Francis Cecil Sumner
Albert Sydney Beckham
Kenneth Clark
Jorge Sanchez
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Modern Perspectives in Psychology
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Biological Perspective
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Cognitive Perspective
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Neuroscience
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Humanistic Perspective
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Psychoanalytic
Perspective
Behavioral Perspective
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Evolutionary Perspective
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Sociocultural Perspective
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Holding
Declining
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Increasing
Psychologists at Work
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Clinical
Generalists
Counseling
Basic Research
Industrial/Organizational
School Psychologists
Other
Educational
Developmental Psychologists
Social Psychologists
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
44%
17.5%
11%
7%
4%
4%
4%
3%
3%
2.5%