CHAPTER 1:
PSYCHOLOGICAL
FOUNDATIONS
AND RESEARCH
METHODS
Psychology’s Biggest Question


Nature – Nurture – the longstanding controversy
over the relative contributions that genes and
experience make to the development of
psychological traits and behaviors.
Today’s science sees traits and behaviors arising
from the interaction of nature and nurture.
Psychology’s Roots


Psychology – the scientific study of behavior
and mental processes.
Goals of Psychology:
 Explain
behavior
 Predict behavior
 Control behavior
Structuralism

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Structuralism – an early form
of psychology that used
introspection to explore the
structural elements of the
human mind.
William Wundt focused on
elements and atoms of the
mind and studied it using
introspection (self-reflection).
Wundt established the 1st
laboratory of psychology in
1879 at Leipzig, Germany.
Functionalism

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Functionalism – focuses on how
our mental and behavioral
processes function; how they
enable us to adapt, survive,
and flourish.
William James suggested it
would be more fruitful to
consider evolved functions of
our thoughts and feelings.
James suggested that the
function of thoughts and
feelings was adaptive and
necessary to our survival.
The Unconscious Mind


Sigmund Freud
emphasized the
importance of the
unconscious mind and
its effects on behavior.
His theories would late
develop into
psychodynamic theory.
Freud’s Conception of the Mind

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Id – acts on
the Pleasure
Principle
Ego – Reality
Principle
moderates id
and superego
Superego –
internalized
ideals
Behaviorism
B.F. Skinner
John Watson


Defined psychology as
the science of
behavior and
demonstrated
conditioned responses
on a baby.
Believed that
psychology should be
objective.


Emphasized the study of
overt, observable
behavior as the subject
matter of scientific
psychology.
Later became famous
for his “Rat in a Skinner
Box” experiment.
Humanistic Psychology



Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers
Humanistic Psychology – emphasizes the importance
of current environmental influences on our growth
potential, and the importance of having our needs
for love and acceptance satisfied.
Rejects psychoanalytic theory and does not focus on
the meaning of early childhood memories.
3 Levels of Analysis
Psychological Perspectives
Perspective
Focus
Sample Questions
Neuroscience/Biologic How the body and brain
al
enable emotions.
1950s-present
Olds, Sperry
How are messages transmitted in
the body? How is blood
chemistry linked with moods and
motives?
Humanistic
1950s-present
Rogers, Maslow
Humans are free, rational
beings with the potential
for personal growth, and
they are fundamentally
different from animals.
How do we have our needs for
love and acceptance met? How
do I achieve self-fulfillment?
Evolutionary
1960s-present
Buss
How much our genes and
our environments influence
our individual differences.
To what extent are psychological
traits such as intelligence,
personality, sexual orientation,
and vulnerability to depression
attributable to our genes or
environment?
Psychological Perspectives
Perspective
Focus
Sample Questions
Psychodynamic
1900-present
Freud, Jung,
Adler
How behavior springs from
unconscious drives and
conflicts.
How can someone’s personality
traits and disorders be explained in
terms of sexual and aggressive
drives or as disguised effects of
unfulfilled childhood traumas?
Behavioral
1913-present
Watson, Pavlov,
Skinner
How we learn is observable.
How do we learn to fear things?
What is the most effective way to
alter behavior?
Cognitive
How we encode, process,
1950s-present
store, and retrieve
Piaget,
information.
Chomsky, Siimon
How do we use information for
remembering, reasoning, & problem
solving?
Socio-Cultural
How are we alike as humans? How
does social context influence our
differences?
How behavior and thinking
vary across situations and
cultures.
The Need for Psychological Science

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Intuition and Common Sense.
Many people believe that intuition and common
sense are enough to bring forth answers regarding
human nature.
Intuition and Common Sense may aid us in finding
some answers, but they are not free of error.
For Example
Job interviewers are likely to be overconfident in
their gut feelings about a job applicant.
Limitations of Common Sense

Which hand are you more likely to be dealt?
Limitations of Common Sense


The odds are Exactly the Same.
Your chances of being dealt either hand is precisely
the same:
1
in 2,598,960
Let’s Try It



I am going to show you a list of three words that
are scrambled.
When I show you the 3 words, simply tell me how
long that you think it will take you to unscramble
them.
Ready…
How long do you think that it will take
you to unscramble these words?
WREAT
ETYRN
GRABE

Overconfidence




WREAT = WATER
ETYRN = ENTRY
GRABE = BARGE
Most people believe that it will take themselves only
about 10 seconds to unscramble the words, yet on
average, a person takes about 3 minutes.
The Hindsight Bias

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The Hindsight Bias is also know as the “I knew it all
along” phenomenon.
After learning about the outcome of an event, many
people believe that they could have predicted that
very outcome.
Think about it.
Have you ever watched a movie, saw the ending,
and then said, “I knew it was going to end like that”
Why Use Psychological Science



The science of psychology helps us understand how
people feel, think, and act.
The scientific attitude is composed of curiosity
(passion for exploration), skepticism (doubting and
questioning), and humility (ability to accept
responsibility when wrong).
This kind of critical thinking does not accept
conclusions blindly, it examines assumptions,
evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.
Psychological Research


Theory – an
explanation using an
integrated set of
principles that
organizes observations
and predicts behaviors
and events.
Hypothesis – a
testable prediction,
often implied by a
theory.
Descriptive Research Methods



Case Study – an observational technique in which
one person is studied in depth in the hope of
revealing universal principles.
Often suggest directions for further studies.
Can be misleading if the individual is atypical.
Descriptive Research Methods

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Survey – a technique for ascertaining the selfreported attitudes or behaviors of a particular
group, usually by questioning a representative,
random sample of the group.
Surveys are not perfect…
What are the effects of self-reporting
Wording of the survey influences results
Wording Effects

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People are more likely to respond favorably to…
Government Restriction … Government Censorship
Aid to the Needy … Welfare
Affirmative Action … Preferential Treatment
Revenue Enhancers … Taxes
More on the Survey

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Random Sampling – each member of a given
population has an equal chance of being included
in a sample.
The goal is to produce results that are
Generalizable to the Population.
Descriptive Research Methods

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Naturalistic Observation – observing and recording
behavior in naturally occurring situations without
trying to manipulate and control the situation.
Examples…
Videotaping parent-child interactions.
Watching chimpanzee societies in the jungle.
Recording racial seating patterns in the school lunch
room.
Correlation Research


Correlation – a measure of the extent to which two
factors vary together, and thus of how well either
factor predicts the other.
Correlation Coefficient – a statistical index of the
relationship between two things (from -1 to 1).
Scatterplots

A scatterplot is a
graph comprised of
points that are
generated by values
of two variables. The
slope of the points
depicts the direction,
while the amount of
scatter depicts the
strength of the
relationship.
Perfect Positive
Correlation (+1.00)
Scatterplots
Perfect Negative
Correlation (-1.00)
No Correlation
Data showing height and temperament
of a group of people
Subject
Height in Inches
Temperament
1
80
75
2
63
66
3
61
60
4
79
90
5
74
60
6
69
42
7
62
42
8
75
60
9
77
81
10
60
39
Scatterplot

The Scatterplot below shows the relationship
between height and temperament in people. There
is a moderate positive correlation of +0.63
Correlation does not mean Causation!
Illusory Correlation

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An Illusory Correlation is a perception of a
relationship where none exists.
For example…
Some people believe that infertile couples are more
likely to conceive if they adopt a baby first.
You are more likely to find it noteworthy if this
situation happens, as opposed to when nothing
happens.
Experimentation


Experiment – a research method in which an
investigator manipulates one or more factors
(independent variables) to observe the effect on
some behavior or mental process (the dependent
variable)
Experiments Can Prove Causation!
Experimentation



Random Assignment – assigning participants to
experimental and control groups by chance, thus
minimizing preexisting differences between the
groups.
Experimental Group – the group that is exposed to
the treatment, that is, to one version of the
independent variable.
Control Group – the group that is NOT exposed to
the the treatment
Experimentation

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
Double-Blind Procedure – an experimental
procedure in which both the research participants
and the research staff are unaware about whether
the participants have received the treatment or a
placebo.
Placebo Effect – experimental results caused by
expectations alone.
For example, if in a new anxiety study, the control
group receives a placebo (sugar pill), then report
feeling less anxious.
Independent Variable


Independent Variable – the experimental factor
that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is
being studied.
Dependent Variable – the outcome factor; the
variable that may change in response to
manipulations of the independent variable.
For Example

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If a study was interested in examining the effects of
breast feeding on intelligence.
Breast Feeding = Independent Variable
Intelligence = Dependent Variable
Review of Research Methods
Method
Basic Purpose
How
Conducted
What is
Manipulated
Weaknesses
Descriptive
To observe and
record
behavior
Case studies,
surveys,
naturalistic
observation
Nothing
No control of
variables;
single cases can
be misleading
Correlational
To detect
Compute
naturally
statistical
occurring
association
relationships; to
assess
predictability
Nothing
Does not
specify cause
and effect
Experimental
To explore
cause and
effect
Manipulate one Independent
ore more
Variable(s)
factors
Sometime not
feasible; may
not generalize;
ethical
considerations
Measures of Central Tendency

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
Mode – the most frequently occurring score in a
distribution.
Mean – the average score in a distribution.
Median – the middle score in a rank-ordered
distribution.
A Skewed Distribution
Measures of Variation


Range – the difference between the highest and
lowest scores in a distribution.
Standard Deviation – a computed measure of how
much scores vary around the mean.
Reliability and Validity


Reliability – the extent to which a test yields
consistent results.
Validity – the extent to which a test measures or
predicts what it is supposed to.
Ethical Considerations



To what extent is it ethical to experiment on people?
To what extent is it ethical to experiment on
animals?
What cultural considerations must be considered?