CHAPTER 1 INTRO AND RESEARCH METHODS
psychology=> the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
When a researcher wants to plan or conduct a study, they have to reach at least
1 of 4 basic goals of psychology
1)
2)
3)
4)
In order to get to these goals, researchers use the scientific method
The scientific method is a set of assumptions, methods, and values that
researchers use to plan and conduct a study
DESCRIPTIVE METHODS
Descriptive methods are used to observe and describe behavior
Can be used to explain behavior that would be difficult to study using the
experimental method
Doesn’t identify the causes of behavior
Better during early stages of research
TYPES OF DESCRIPTIVE METHODS
Naturalistic Observation
a researcher observes someone in a natural setting without letting that person
know they are being observed
Ex:
Advantage:
Disadvantages:
Observer bias: researcher tells what he thinks and
It may not be what someone else thinks
Laboratory Observation
Observe in a laboratory setting
Can control the setting more
Ex:
Case Study
An in-depth study of one person or a small group of people over a period of time
Case studies have provided much of the information about psychological
disorders
Ex:
Surveys
A survey examines the behaviors, opinions, and attitudes of a particular group of
people
Can be in the form of a questionnaire or interview, over the phone, paper
and pencil, or in person
Ex:
Population: the entire group that a researcher will apply his findings to
A sample is part of the population that represents the whole
population
If he wanted to concentrate only on subgroups of the population, he would take
what is called a representative sample;
is more close to what the larger group is, they may be of the same race,
sex, or age; depending on what he is researching
Ex:
random selection: the most common way to choose a sample; everyone in the
group has a chance of being selected
One of the problems with surveys is that you can’t depend on the person to be
completely honest with you
Other problems with surveys:
Correlational Studies
Used to find a relationship between two variables
variable: any factor that can change
A correlation coefficient is a number that shows the strength of the relationship
between two variables
Can range from -1.00 to +1.00; the number tells how strong or weak the
relationship is and the sign tells the direction of the relationship, it can go up or
down separately or in the same direction
The higher the number is, positive or negative, the stronger the
relationship between the variables
So the lower the number….. The weaker the relationship
Ex:
Signs
If the sign is positive, the variables go up or down together, they go in the same
direction
If the sign is negative, the variables are going in opposite directions
The important thing to remember is that just because there is a correlation
between two variables, it does not mean that one variable causes another
variable
The correlational method does not define a cause and effect relationship
Can be used to make predictions especially if the relationship is strong
EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
Researchers use the experimental method to show a cause-and-effect
relationship between two variables.
A hypothesis is a statement assuming that two or more variables are
related
variables are factors or things that can change and you have to be able to
observe, measure, and verify the change
2 variables--independent variable and dependent variable
The independent variable is manipulated, or changed on purpose; it’s
sometimes called the treatment
dependent variable: may change because there was a change in the
independent variable
this is what you are measuring
Is there a change in the dependent variable based upon the change in the
independent variable?
The dependent variable does not have to change just because the independent
variable changes
Ex:
Independent variable-Dependent variable-Experimental and Control Groups
experimental group gets exposed to the independent variable; they get the
intentional change or manipulation
The control group does not get exposed to the independent variable; that’s so
both groups can be compared to each other at the end of the experiment
Factors that affect validity of experiment
validity: is a test able to measure what it is intended to measure
1. Placebo effect: the subject’s response to a drug or treatment is
based on them expecting the drug or
treatment to work
It’s not based on the actual treatment
Ex:
placebo control group: the group that gets the placebo,
i.e., sugar pill, “fake treatment”
None of the subjects know which group they are in
Some of the subjects in placebo control group will
report feeling better because they expect to
feel better
Having a placebo control group can affect the outcome
of an experiment
A researcher can make sure the change, or the subject
feeling better, is because of the placebo effect and
not the actual treatment
2. Experimenter bias: the researcher expects to find certain results
from an experiment and the results turn out to be what they
expected
Researcher can unknowingly let the subjects know their
expectation by their facial expression, gesture, or their tone of voice
This can influence the subjects’ behavior
Ex:
3. Double-blind technique: controls experimenter bias because
neither the researchers nor the subjects know which
group the subjects are in
may be best to use this type of technique
BACKGROUND
Physiology is the study of the parts and functioning of living organisms (including
humans)
Psychology emerged partly from the field of physiology
Physiologists were interested in how the human brain works and how it is related
to behavior
One of these physiologists was a German named Wilhelm Wundt, who is
considered to be the
In his book, Principles of Physiological Psychology (1874) he stated that:
Psyc and physiology are connected but psyc deserved to be a separate
discipline from physiology
Experimental methods should be used to study mental processes
he established the first psyc research lab at the University of Leipzig
in 1879
Structuralism
1st major school of thought in psychology
Developed by one of Wundt’s students- Edward B. Titchener
Structuralism studied the basic structures of conscious mental experiences
Used introspection, where subjects examined their own thoughts and feelings
Was criticized because was
Ex:
Functionalism
America’s first school of psychology
Studied the purpose of behavior and mental processes in adapting to the
environment
Sigmund Freud
An Austrian physician
Developed a theory called psychoanalysis, which says that a person’s behavior
is influenced by unconscious thoughts or conflicts that are usually aggressive or
sexual in nature
The person is not aware of these thoughts and conflicts
Felt that whatever happened to you as a child determines
Can see the unconscious conflicts by
Slips of the tongue-- where you intend to say one thing but something else
comes out; Freud would say that what you said is actually how you feel, you’re
just unaware of it
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is concerned with studying overt behavior, or behavior that can be
observed, measured and verified
John B. Watson is the key figure in behaviorism being a new school of thought in
psychology
He felt that conscious thoughts and experiences shouldn’t be used for studying
psychology, wasn’t scientific enough
Behaviorism emphasized how the environment influences behavior; our
environment may actually control our behavior
Another American psychologist that influenced behaviorism was B.F. Skinner
believed that
Humanistic Psychology
By the 1950s another school of thought came about called humanistic
psychology, concerned with a person’s uniqueness and their potential to grow
psychologically
Carl Rogers was the main figure in developing humanistic psychology
Shouldn’t focus on unconscious conflicts like in psychoanalysis,
but focus on conscious experiences (what a person is aware of)
Abraham Maslow was also an important figure in humanistic psyc;
His theory emphasized how
influences
your psychological growth
CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY
Perspectives
1) behavioral perspective: comes from behaviorism and studies how behavior
is acquired and how the environment shapes behavior
2) cognitive perspective: looks at how important mental processes are in
developing language, thinking, solving problems and processing information
3) cross-cultural perspective: how culture plays a role in a person’s behavior;
people of different cultures may act a certain way in some situations
Specialty areas
1) developmental psychology: studies how people change
psychologically, physically, and socially from when they are conceived to when
they are elderly
2) personality psychology: how people are different and what makes
everyone unique
Ex:
3) industrial/organizational psychology: studies people and their
behavior in the workplace; look at things like how satisfied you are with your job.
Also helps with selecting employees; match the best personality for
a job
4) biological psychology: studies the relationship between the physical
body and behavior
5) clinical psychology: study the cause of a psychological disorder, how
to treat it, and how to prevent it
Ex:
Difference between a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist:
A psychiatrist can do the same as a clinical psychologist, however a psychiatrist
has a medical degree to treat psychological disorders
Actually goes through med school
A clinical psychologist has a doctorate and is trained to treat disorders
clinical psychologists cannot prescribe medication for psychological disorders but
a psychiatrist can because they are a medical doctor
A psychiatrist can also prescribe certain procedures such as shock therapy to
treat severe cases of depression