Psychology Quiz
(true or false)
1. Psychologists can read people’s minds.
2. The closer the genetic relationship between
two people, the closer their IQ scores are
likely to be.
3. Psychologists manipulate people like
puppets.
4. People cannot change-they are the way they
are.
5. Substance abuse may be a sign of mental
illness.
6. A therapist may prescribe medication to
patients who are diagnosed with a mental
illness.
7. An estimated 54 million Americans suffer
from some form of mental disorder in a
given year.
8. Many people develop fears of various
creatures even though they have had no
direct negative experiences with them.
9. Body temperature does not remain a steady
98.6 degrees throughout the day.
10.The world wide web was modeled on the
way the human brain works.
Hypothesis: If students are given mint gum while taking a quiz, then they
will get a larger number of correct responses than their non-mint gum
chewing classmates.
Results:
Mint Effect on Quiz Scores
Number of Students
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Control Group
Experimental
Group
1
2
3
4
5
Number of Correct Answers
6
Mint Gum Quiz Results
# of correct responses
NO GUM
44
Experimental Group
Control Group
40
GUM
# of correct responses possible =120
What is Psychology?
Unit 1
Overview
The science of psychology
Origins of psychology
Psychological perspectives
What psychologists do
Critical and scientific thinking
Correlations
The experiment
Evaluating findings
Psychology is not…
1. Pop psychology, Psychobabble,
(pseudoscience & quackery)
Self-help books, talk shows
2. Astrology, graphology, psychics…
3. Common sense
Psychology is:
The study of behavior and
mental processes

Based on empirical evidence-
relying on evidence gathered by
careful observation,
experimentation, or measurement
Origins of Psychology
I.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Origins of Psychology
Ancient Egyptians, Aristotle (300 BC), and Greek
philosophers
Psychology- combo of two Greek words-psyche meaning
“mind” and logos meaning “study” or “knowledge”
Develops out of other fields
Wilhelm Wundt- father of psychology; launched the 1st
experiment in Leipzig, Germany in 1879 (birth year of
psych)

Introspection; est. structuralism
Edward B. Titchenera)
Structuralism- goal is to study conscious experience
and its structure through experiments and
introspection; explain structure of the mind by
breaking it down mental experiences into their
component parts
Wilhelm Wundt
Origins of Psychology
e)
Gestalt psychology-integrate pieces of information
into meaningful wholes (the whole is different
than the sum of its parts)
f)
William James How the mind works in allowing an organism
to adapt to its environment; wrote 1st psych
text; founded functionalism
g)
Sigmund Freud
 Psychoanalysis-explains personality and
behaviors through unconscious motives and
conflicts
h)
Behaviorism
 Study only observable behaviors not mental
processes (John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, B.F.
Skinner)
i) Phrenology – Dr. Joseph Gall
i) Phineas Gage
Freud's couch
Origins of Psychology
i)
Old perspectives
 Functionalism (William James)
Early approach that emphasized the function or purpose of
behavior and consciousness
Interested in how and why something happens
Functionalists broadened field of psychology to include the study
of children, animals, religious experiences, and stream of
consciousness
Structuralism (Wundt, Titchner)
Structure of the conscious experience could be understood by
analyzing the basic elements of thoughts & sensations
Try to understand structure by analyzing intensity, clarity and
quality of its basic parts
Psychoanalysis (Freud)
A theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy, originally
formulated by Sigmund Freud
Emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts
Contemporary Psychological
Perspectives
1. Biological perspective
2. Learning (behavior)
perspective
3. Cognitive perspective
4. Sociocultural perspective
5. Psychodynamic perspective
6. Humanist Perspective
1. Choose a celebrity with
outrageous behavior.
Howindo
2. Focus
on awe
specific
choose mates?
behavior.
Who do you
find attractive?
3. Examine
and record why
the celebrity exhibits this
behavior from all six
perspectives.
The Biological Perspective
~Psychological approach that focuses on
how bodily events affect behavior, feelings,
and thoughts
•Follows the tradition of functionalism
This perspective involves:
•Hormones & glands
•Brain chemistry
•Heredity-genetic factors
•Evolutionary influences
Evolutionary Psychology- functional
behavior of the past is reflected in present
behaviors, mental processes, & traits
•adaptation
Learning Perspective
(Behavioral Perspective)
A psychological approach that emphasizes
how the environment and experience
affect a person’s or animal’s actions.
This perspective involves:
 Behaviorism
 Rewards and punishments maintain
or discourage specific behaviors
The Cognitive Perspective
•Psychological approach
that emphasizes what goes
on in people’s heads
(mind)
Involves:
•Interpretation of mental
images, thinking,
language
•Perceptions and
thoughts influence our
behavior
The Sociocultural Perspective
•Psychological approach that
emphasizes social and cultural
forces outside the individual
This perspective involves:
–Ethnicity, gender, culture, and
socioeconomic status influence our
behavior
–Social psychology or the study of
rules, roles, groups, and
relationships
–Cultural psychology or the study of
cultural norms, values, and
expectations
The Psychodynamic Perspective
•Psychological approach that
emphasizes unconscious
dynamics within the individual,
such as inner forces, conflicts,
or the movement of instinctual
energy; f
This perspective involves:
oUnconscious thoughts,
desires, conflicts
oEarly childhood experiences
oSelf-awareness
The Humanist Perspective
•emphasizes personal growth
and the achievement of human
potential, rather than the
scientific understanding of
behavior
This approach involves:
–Self-concept
–People make free and
conscious choices based on
their unique experiences
–Emphasized creativity and
achieving potential
What Psychologists Do
Work in colleges and
universities
Critical and Scientific Thinking
I.
Critical thinking- does
not accept arguments
and conclusions. Does
examine assumptions,
discerns hidden values,
evaluates evidence, and
assess conclusions.
II. Scientific Method In psych the question
should be in an If…then
Format.
Research Strategies
Include:
1) Case studies
2) Observational studies
3) Correlational study
4) Surveys
5) Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Studies
6) experiments
1)
Case Studies A research technique in which one person is
studied in depth in the hope of revealing
universal principles
1. Prone to bias
2. May not apply to other people or
situations
3. Examples: Genie-child abuse/language
acquisition; patients with brain injury
2)
Observational Studies Researchers observe and record behavior without
interfering with behavior
 2 types:
1. Naturalistic observation
 Observe people or animals in their natural
environment
2. Laboratory observation
 Observe behavior in a controlled setting
a) confirmation bias- tendency to search
for information that confirms a
preconception
b) Participant bias-research participants
behave in a certain way because they
know they are being observed or they
believe they know what the researcher
wants
3)
Correlational study A research project strategy that
investigates the degree to which two
variables are related to each other
Correlation- A statistical measure of how
strongly two variables are related to one
another. Correlational coefficients can range
from 0.0 – 1.0.
Positive correlations
An association between increases
in one variable and increases in
another, or decreases in one
variable and decreases in the
other.
Negative correlations
An association between increases
in one variable and decreases in
another.
Correlations show
patterns, not causes.
Correlations can be represented by scatterplots.
4) Surveys Allows researchers to collect a
large amount of data efficiently
through questionnaires and/or
interviews
 Survey method- research
technique that questions a
sample of people to collect
information about their attitudes
or behaviors
 Random sample- represents a
population because each member
of the population has an equal
chance of being included
5) Longitudinal and Crosssectional studies
 Useful to developmental
psychologists to study how
individuals change throughout the
lifetime
 Longitudinal study- research
that follows the same group of
individuals over a long period
of time
 Cross-sectional studyresearch that compares
individuals from different age
groups at one time.
6) Experiments

A research method in which the
researcher manipulates and controls
certain variables to observe the effect on
other variables. An experiment includes
variables of interest, control conditions,
and random assignment.
 Experiment Steps
1. Hypothesis-testable prediction
2. Operational definitions:
explanation of the exact procedure
3. Random selection
4. Random assignment (experimental
& control)
5. Experiment
6. Identify the effects of the variables
7. analysis
Variables:
Independent variables -variables the experimenter manipulates; the variable
that should cause something to happen
Dependent variables -variables the experimenter predicts will be affected by
manipulations of the independent variable(s); variable that should show the
effect of changing the independent variable
Confounding variable- variable that could change the dependent variable
Experimenter effects: Unintended changes in subjects’ behavior due to cues
inadvertently given by the experimenter.
Strategies for preventing experimenter effects include:
single- blind studies:
double-blind studies:
Control Group: In an experiment, a
comparison condition in which subjects are not
exposed to the same treatment as in the
experimental condition.
In some experiments, the control group is
given a placebo, an inactive substance or
fake treatment.
Experimental Group: participants who are
exposed to the treatment.
Data Analysis
• Is the hypothesis supported?
• Are the results statistically significant?
– If the result would occur by chance alone is no
more than 5%
• Can the results be replicated?