Robert S. Feldman & Andrea Dinardo
Prepared by: Professor Anastasia Bake
St. Clair College of Applied Arts and Sciences
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Key Concepts for Chapter 1
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Module 1: Psychology At Work
Module 2: A Science Evolves: The Past, the
Present, and the Future
Module 3: Research in Psychology
Module 4: Research Challenges: Exploring the
Process
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Module 1: Psychology At Work
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Learning Objectives
What is the science of psychology?
What are the major specialties in the field
of psychology?
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Where do psychologist work ?
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The Scientific Study of Behaviour
and Mental Processes
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The Six Subfields of Psychology:
Psychology's Family Tree
1. What are the Biological Foundations
of Behaviour?
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It is the subfield of psychology that examine how
the brain and the nervous system and other
biological processes determine behaviour.
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The Subfields of Psychology:
2. How Do People Sense, Perceive, Learn,
and Think about the World?
Experimental Psychology
Methodological study of sensing, perceiving,
learning and thinking
 Cognitive Psychology
Emphasis on higher mental processes
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The Subfields of Psychology:
3. What are the Sources of Change and
Stability in Behaviour Across the Life Span?
 Developmental Psychology
Changes in behaviour over the life span (womb
to tomb)
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Personality Psychology
Examines consistencies in people’s behaviour
over time and traits that differentiate us
from one another
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The Subfields of Psychology
4. How do Psychological Factors Affect Physical
and Mental Health?
 Health Psychology
Explores relationship between psychological factors and
physical ailments or disease
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Clinical Psychology
Investigates diagnosis and treatment of psychological
disorders

Counselling Psychology
Focuses on educational, social and, career adjustment
problems
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The Subfields of Psychology
5. Understanding our Social Networks
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Social Psychology
Studies how people are affected by others
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Cross-cultural Psychology
Focuses on the similarities and differences
in psychological functioning across
cultures and ethnic groups
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The Subfields of Psychology
6. Expanding Psychologies Frontiers
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Evolutionary Psychology
Examines influence of our genetic heritage and our
behaviour
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Behavioural Genetics
Focuses on how we might inherit genes and how
the environment influences whether we will
display traits.
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Clinical Neuropsychology
Focuses on relationships between biological factors
and psychological disorders
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Portrait of a Canadian
Psychologist
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The Canadian Psychological Association (2007)
Annual report lists 5,921 members with Masters or a
Doctorate degree
Half are men and half are women
Currently 70% of new PhD degrees are earned by
women
Where do they work in the world?
 Most psychologists today are working in North
America
 About 1/3 of the world's 5 000 000 psychologists
are found elsewhere
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Countries in the world where psychologists work.
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Where Psychologists Work?
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Educating Psychologists
What Are The Educational Requirements?
Doctoral Degrees
(Ph.D. & Psy.D.)
4 – 5 years past a
bachelor’s degree
Master’s Degree
2 - 3 years past a
Bachelor’s degree
Bachelor’s Degree
4-year degree
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Recap/Evaluate/Rethink: Module 1
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1. What is the science of psychology?
2. Name and describe one major specialty
in the field of psychology?
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Module 2: A Science Evolves:
The Past, the Present, and the Future
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Learning Objectives
 What are the origins of psychology?
 What are the major approaches in
contemporary psychology?
 What are psychology’s key issues and
controversies?
What is the future of psychology likely to hold?
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Psychology’s Roots
Early History
 Trephining : chipping a
hole in a patient's skull.
Evil sprits could then escape!
Wilhelm Wundt
Established the first experimental laboratory devoted to
psychology.
Structuralism
 Focused on the basic building blocks of perception,
consciousness, thinking, and emotions
 - Introspection
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Psychology’s Roots
Functionalism
 Moved from structure to the role behaviour plays in
allowing people to adapt to their environments
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Gestalt Psychology
“the whole is different from the sum of its parts”
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This timeline illustrates the major milestones in the development of psychology
Mary Calkins
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Women in Psychology
Margaret Floy Washburn (1871-1939)
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Was the first women to receive a doctorate in psychology
Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886 – 1939)
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Child development and women’s issues
Mary J. Wright
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Became the first female president of the Canadian Psychological
Association in 1969
In 2001 she was awarded the Gold Medal Award of Distinguish Lifetime
contribution to Canadian Psychology.
Mary Calkins (1883 – 1930) See timeline
First female in the APA
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Women in Psychology
June Etta Downey (1875 – 1932)
• Personality trait theorist
Anna Freud (1895 – 1982)
•Notable contributions to the treatment of abnormal behaviour
Mamie Phipps Clark (1917 – 1983)
• Demonstrated how children of colour recognize racial differences
Brenda Miller
•Recognized as one of Canada’s great Canadian psychologists
•Received recognition for her work in 1955 with a brain surgery patient
without short-term memory.
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Overview of Today’s Perspectives
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Today’s Five Perspectives
1. The Neuroscience Perspective:
Blood, Sweat, and Fears.
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This approach views behaviour from the
perspective of the brain , the nervous system,
and other biological functions
Canadian Donald Hebb known as the Father of
neuropsychology. “Hebb Rule” stated:
“cells that fire together, wire together.”
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Today’s Perspectives
2. Psychodynamic Perspective:
Understanding the Inner Person
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Behavioural influences are based on
on inner, unconscious forces,
over which a person has little
control
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Today’s Perspectives
3. Behavioural Perspective:
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Grew out of the rejection of the inner
workings of the mind.
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Focus on observable events and behaviour
that can be measured objectively.
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Today’s Perspectives
4. Cognitive Perspective
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The approach that focuses on how
people think, understand, and know
about the world
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Today’s Perspectives
5. Humanistic Perspective:
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This approach suggests that all
Abraham H. Maslow
individuals strive to grow,
develop, and be in control of their lives
and behaviour
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Psychology’s Key Issues
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Psychology’s Key Issues
1. Nature versus Nurture
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Environment or Heredity?
2. Observable behaviour versus internal mental
processes
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Should psychology only focus on what it can see?
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Psychology’s Key Issues
3. Conscious versus unconscious
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How much of our behaviour is produced by forces of
which we are fully aware?
4. Free will versus determinism
 How much of behaviour is a result of choices made
freely or is behaviour determined primarily by factors
outside a person’s willful control?
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Psychology’s Key Issues
5. Individual differences versus universal
principles
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How much of our behaviour is a consequence of our
unique and special qualities and how much reflects
culture and society?
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Psychology’s Future
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Increased specialization and focus on prevention of
disorders
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Treatment will become more available
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Greater influence will be spent on issues of public interest
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Increase in diversity
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Technology will advance our ability to examine the
nervous system
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Recap/Evaluate/Rethink: Module 2
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1. What are the major approaches in
contemporary psychology?
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Module 3:
Research in Psychology
Learning Objectives
What is the scientific method?
How do psychologist use theory and research
to answer questions of interest?
What research methods do psychologist use?
 How do psychologist establish cause-andeffect relationships in research studies?
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The Scientific Method
The approach used by psychologists to
systematically
acquire knowledge and understanding
about behaviour and other phenomena of
interest
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Scientific Method:
Developing Explanations
 Research
Broad explanations and predictions concerning phenomena
of interest
 Theories
Broad explanations and predictions concerning phenomena
of interest
 Hypothesis
A prediction stated in a way that allows it to be tested
 Operationalization
The process of translating a hypothesis into specific,
testable procedures that can be measured and observed
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Scientific Method
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Descriptive Research
An approach used to systematically investigate a
person, group, or patterns of behaviour
There are several types used in Psychological Research:
 Archival research
Use of existing data in order to test a hypothesis
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Case study
An in-depth, intensive investigation of an
individual or small group of people
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Descriptive Research
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Survey research
A sample of people are
asked a series of
questions about their
behaviour, thoughts,
and attitudes in
order to represent a
larger population
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Descriptive Research
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Naturalistic observation
Observation of naturally
occurring behaviour without
intervention
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Correlation Research
Correlational Research
The relationship between two sets of
variables is examined to determine
whether they are associated, or
“correlated”
•Correlation does not mean “causation”
•Ranges from +1 to -1
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Correlation Research
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Experimental Research
The relationship between two (or more)
variables is investigated
by deliberately producing a change in one
variable in a situation
and observing the effects of that change on
other aspects of the situation
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Experimental Research
What is necessary to do Experimental Research?
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Experimental Research requires the responses
of at least two groups to be compared.

These two groups are called:
 Experimental Group
 Control Group
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Experimental Research
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Experimental Group:
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A group participating in an experiment that
receives a treatment
Control Group
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A group participating in an experiment that
receives no treatment
In some experiments there can be more than
one experimental group and/or more than one
control group
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Experimental Research
Variable
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Behaviour, event, or other characteristic that can
change or vary in some way
Independent variable
The variable that is manipulated by the experiment
Dependent variable
The variable that is measured and is expected to
change as a result of changes caused by the
experimenter’s manipulation of the independent
variable
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Experimental Research: Final Step
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Random assignment to condition
Participants are assigned to different
experimental groups or “conditions” on the
basis of chance and chance alone
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The following slide presents the
process of
Random Assignment
The research task is to create
both a control group and a
experiment group
which is chosen from a population
of
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Original Group
Control Group
Main Population Being Studied
Random
assignment
completed!
Let the
experiment
begin!
Experimental Group
They will receive the treatment
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Experimental Research: Final Step
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Replication
Repetition of findings using other procedures in
other setting
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Significant outcome
Use of statistical procedures in order to
determine whether or not differences between
groups are large enough to be significant
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Experimental Research: In Action!
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Research Strategy Recap
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Recap/Evaluate/Rethink: Module 3
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1. What research methods do psychologists use?
2. An explanation for a phenomenon of interest
is known as a _____
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Module 4: Research Challenges:
Exploring the Process
Learning Objectives

What major issues confront
psychologists conducting research?
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Research Challenges
Ethics
 Protection of participants from
physical and mental harm
 The right of participants to privacy regarding
their behaviour
 The assurance that participation in research is
completely voluntary
 The necessity of informing participants about
the nature of procedures prior to participation
in the experiment
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Research Challenges
Participants
Do subjects represent the scope of human
behaviour?
Animals
Should animals be used in research?
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Threats to Experiments
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Experimental bias
Factors that distort how the independent variable
affects the dependent variable in an experiment
 Experimenter expectations
 Participant expectations
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Threats to Experiments
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Placebo
A false treatment, such as a pill, “drug,” or other
substance without any significant chemical
properties or active ingredient
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Becoming An Informed
Consumer of Psychology
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What was the purpose of the research?
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How well was the study conducted?
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Are the results presented fairly?
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Recap/Evaluate/Rethink: Module 4
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1. Ethical research begins with the concept of informed
consent. Before signing up to participate in an experiment,
participants should be informed of:
A.
B.
C.
D.
The procedure of the study, stated generally
The risks that may be involved
Their right to withdraw at ay time
All of the above
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