Chapter 1 Outline
1.1
What defines psychology as a field of study and what are psychology’s four
primary goals? (text p. 4)
 Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
 Behavior includes all of our outward actions and reactions.
 Mental processes refer to all the internal, covert activity of our minds, such
as thinking, feeling, and remembering.
Recognize the strengths and limitations of applying theories to explain behavior.
Four Goals of Psychology
1. Description: What is happening?
2. Explanation: Why is it happening?
3. Prediction: When will it happen again?
4. Control: How can it be changed?
1.2 How did structuralism and functionalism differ, and who were the important
people in those early fields? (text p. 6)
Recognize how philosophical perspectives shaped the development of psychological
thought.
Describe and compare different theoretical approaches in explaining behavior
Identify the major historical figures in psychology
In the Beginning: Wundt, Introspection, and the Laboratory
 Psychology began as a science of its own in Germany, in 1879 with the
establishment of Wundt’s psychology laboratory.
o He developed the technique of objective introspection which involves the
process of objectively examining and measuring one’s own thoughts and
mental activities.
 Titchener, a student of Wundt, brought psychology in the form of structuralism
to America.
o Structuralism was focused on studying the structure of the mind.
o Structuralism died out in the early twentieth century.
o Margaret F. Washburn, a student of Titchener, was the first woman to
receive a Ph.D. in psychology in 1894 and published The Animal Mind.
 William James and Functionalism
o William James proposed a countering point of view called functionalism,
in which the way the mind allows us to adapt is stressed.
o Functionalism influenced the modern fields of educational psychology,
evolutionary psychology, and industrial/organizational psychology.
1.3 What were the basic ideas and who were the important people behind the early
approaches known as Gestalt, psychoanalysis, and behaviorism? (text p. 9)
Gestalt Psychology: The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts



Wertheimer and others studied sensation and perception, calling the new
perspective Gestalt psychology.
Gestalt principles influenced cognitive psychology and future psychotherapy
techniques.
Sigmund Freud’s Theory of Psychoanalysis
o
o

Freud proposed that the unconscious mind controls much of our
conscious behavior in his theory of psychoanalysis.
Modern Freudians like Anna Freud, Jung, and Adler changed the
emphasis in Freud’s original theory into a kind of neo-Freudianism.
Pavlov, Watson and the Dawn of Behaviorism
o
o
o
o
Watson proposed a science of behavior called behaviorism, which
focused only on the study of observable stimuli and responses.
Much of his work was based on Ivan Pavlov’s discovery of classical
conditioning.
Watson and Raynor demonstrated that a phobia could be learned by
conditioning a baby (Little Albert) to be afraid of a white rat. Due to the
ethical concerns about this study, it would never be replicated.
Mary Cover Jones later demonstrated that a learned phobia could be
counter-conditioned.
1.4 What are the basic ideas behind the seven modern perspectives, as well as the
important contributions of Skinner, Maslow, and Rogers? (text p. 13)
Psychodynamic Perspective
 Freud’s theory is still in use today but reflects less emphasis on sex and sexual
motivations.
Behavioral Perspective
 Skinner’s operant conditioning of voluntary behavior became a major force
in the 20th century. He introduced the concept of reinforcement to
behaviorism.
Humanistic Perspective
 Humanism, which focuses on free will and the human potential for growth,
was developed by Maslow and Rogers among others as a reaction to the
deterministic nature of behaviorism and psychoanalysis.
Cognitive Perspective
 Cognitive psychology is the study of learning, memory, language, and
problem solving.
Sociocultural Perspective
 The sociocultural perspective actually combines social psychology and
cultural psychology.
Biopsychological Perspective
 Biopsychology emerged as the study of the biological bases of behavior.
Hormones, brain chemistry, brain structure and diseases are the focus of this
perspective.
Discuss psychology’s abiding interest in how heredity, environment, and evolution work
together to shape behavior
Predict how traits and behavior can be selected for their adaptive value.
Evolutionary Perspective
 The principles of evolution and the knowledge we currently have about
evolution are used in this perspective to look at the way the mind works and
why it works as it does. Behavior is seen as having an adaptive or survival
value.
How does a psychiatrist differ from a psychologist, and what are the other types of
professionals who work in the various areas of psychology? (text p. 17)
Mental Health professions
 Psychiatrists are medical doctors who provide diagnosis and therapy for
persons with mental disorders, while psychoanalysts are psychiatrists or
psychologists with special training in the theory of psychoanalysis.
 Psychologists have academic degrees and can do counseling, teaching,
research, and may specialize in any one of a large number of areas within
psychology.
 Psychiatric social workers are social workers with special training in the
influences of the environment on mental illness.
Distinguish the different domains of psychology
Areas of Specialization
1. Clinical - mild to severe psychological disorders
2. Counseling - adjustment disorders & milder disorders
3. Developmental - age-related changes across the life span
4. Educational - educational learning and development
5. School - working with children in the schools
6. Experimental/Cognitive - thinking, memory, motivation, learning,
perception
7. Social - study of group behavior and influence on individuals
8. Personality - individual differences & development of personality
9. Physiological - study of the biological bases of behavior
1.6 Why is psychology considered a science, and what are the steps in using the
scientific method? (text p. 20)
Why Psychologists Use the Scientific Method
 The scientific method is a way to determine facts and control the possibilities of
error and bias when observing behavior.
 The five steps are perceiving the question, forming a hypothesis, testing the
hypothesis, drawing conclusions, and reporting the results.
1.7 How are naturalistic and laboratory settings used to describe behavior, and what
are some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with these settings? (text p.
22)
Differentiate types of research with regard to purpose, strengths, and weaknesses
Describe how research design drives the reasonable conclusions that can be drawn

Descriptive Methods
Naturalistic observations involve watching animals or people in their natural
environments, but have the disadvantage of lack of control.
o One of the control problems is related to the observer effect, which refers
to the fact that people may behave differently when they know they are
being watched. Participant observation may be used to minimize this
problem.
o The observer bias is related to the reality that observers often “see what
they expect to see.”
1.8 How are case studies and surveys used to describe behavior, and what are some
drawbacks to each of these methods? (text p. 23)
 Laboratory observations involve watching animals or people in an artificial but
controlled situation, such as a laboratory.
o Case studies are detailed investigations of one subject. One concern is
the generalizability of the results.
o Surveys involve asking standardized questions of large groups of people
who represent a sample of the population of interest. Concerns include
response bias and accuracy of responses.
1.9 What is the correlational technique, and what does it tell researchers about
relationships? (text p. 26)
Distinguish the purposes of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.
Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing
graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics
Finding Relationships
 Correlation is a statistical technique that allows researchers to discover and
predict relationships between variables of interest.
o The correlation coefficient is the number, ranging from -1.00 to +1.00,
indicating the strength of the relationship between the 2 variables. The
closer the number is to +/- 1.00, the stronger the relationship.
o Positive correlations exist when increases in one variable are matched by
increases in the other variable
o Negative correlations exist when increases in one variable are matched by
decreases in the other variable.
o Correlations cannot be used to prove cause and effect relationships.
LINK to Appendix A: Statistics
 Experiments are tightly controlled manipulations of variables that allow
researchers to determine cause and effect relationships.
1.10 How are operational definitions, independent and dependent variables,
experimental and control groups, and random assignment used in designing an
experiment? (text p. 28)
Identify independent, dependent, confounding, and control variables in experimental
designs.
Distinguish between random assignment of participants to conditions in experiments
and random selection of participants, primarily in correlational studies and surveys.
Discuss the value of reliance on operational definitions and measurement in
behavioral research.
o
o
o
o
Operational definitions require researchers to clearly define the variables to
be measured.
The independent variable in an experiment is the variable that is deliberately
manipulated by the experimenter to see if related changes occur in the
behavior or responses of the participants, and is given to the experimental
group.
The dependent variable in an experiment is the measured behavior or
responses of the participants.
Confounding variables are any other variables that could interfere with the
results.
1.11 How do the placebo and experimenter effect cause problems in an experiment,
and how can single-blind and double-blind studies control for these effects? (text p.
30)
Predict the validity of behavioral explanations based on the quality of research design
The control group receives nothing or a placebo treatment.
Random assignment of participants helps to control for individual differences
both within and between the groups that might otherwise interfere with the
experiment’s outcome.
o Experiments in which the subjects do not know if they are in the experimental
or control groups are single-blind studies, while experiments in which neither
the experimenters nor the subjects know this information are called doubleblind studies. These procedures are designed to minimize experimenter
effects and placebo effects.
 Quasi-experimental designs are not considered true experiments because
participants cannot be randomly assigned to treatment and control groups.
o
o
1.12 What are the basic elements of Amabile’s creativity experiment? (text p. 32)
How might a real experiment be conducted?
 Dr. Teresa Amabile explored the relationship of rewards and creativity in the
experiment by promising a reward to one group of children for being creative
(the experimental group) and not to a second group, who were being creative for
fun (the control group).
 Her conclusion was that external rewards have a negative effect on creativity.
1.13 What are some ethical concerns that can occur when conducting research with
people and animals? (text p. 35)
Identify how ethical issues inform and constrain research practices
Describe how ethical and legal guidelines protect research participants and promote
sound ethical practice
The Guidelines for Doing Research with People
1. Protection of rights and well-being of participants
2. Informed consent
3. Justification when deception is used
4. The right of participants to withdraw at any time
5. Protection of participants from physical or psychological harm
6. Debriefing of participants at the end of the study.
7. Confidentiality
Animals in Psychological Research
 are easier to control than humans
 have simpler behavior
 can be used in ways that are not permissible with humans
 should not be exposed to unnecessary pain and suffering
1.14 What are the basic principles of critical thinking, and how can critical thinking
be useful in everyday life? (text p. 37)
The Criteria for Critical Thinking
 Critical thinking is the ability to make reasoned judgments.
 The four basic criteria of critical thinking
1. there are few concepts that do not need to be tested
2. evidence can vary in quality
3. experts and authorities do not automatically make something true
4. keeping an open mind
Pseudo-Psychologies: Why Do We Fall for Fakery?
 Faulty reasoning and a failure to use critical thinking can lead to belief in
false systems such as palmistry (reading of palms) and graphology
(handwriting analysis).
Articulate the impact of social and cultural categories (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity)
on self-concept and relations with others.
Stereotypes, Athletes, and College Testing Performance (TEXT p. 40)
 Methodology outlined in study examining negative stereotypes in higher
education.