Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Module 2
Psychology & Science
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Pseudopsychology
• Pseudopsychology: false psychology
(unsupported information) which is passed off
as being scientific fact.
– Psychics: individuals who are supposedly sensitive to nonphysical or
supernatural forces
– Mediums: individuals who serve as a channel of communication between
the earthly world & a world of spirits
– Palmistry: reading a person’s future or character from the lines on the
palms
– Psychometry: determining facts about an object by merely handling it
– Psychokinesis: moving objects by purely mental means
– Astrology: study of how the positions of the stars & planets supposedly
influence people’s personalities & affairs
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Answering Questions
• Research methods
– Survey
– Case study
– Experiment
each method provides a different kind of
information
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Surveys
• Survey
– way to obtain information by asking many individuals
– answer a fixed set of questions about particular subjects
• Disadvantages
– information can contain errors
– results can be biased
• Advantage
– efficient way to obtain much information from a large number
of people
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Case study
• Case study
– an in-depth analysis of the thoughts, feelings, beliefs,
experiences, behaviors, or problems of a single individual
• Disadvantage
– detailed information about a particular person may not apply
to others
• Advantage
– detailed information allows greater understanding of a
particular person’s life
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Case study
• Example:
testimonial: statement in support of a particular
viewpoint based on detailed observations of a
person’s own experience.
• Problems that make testimonials susceptible to
error:
– personal beliefs
– self-fulfilling prophecy.
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Experiment
• Experiment
– a method for identifying cause-and-effect relationships by
following a set of rules and guidelines that minimize the
possibility of error, bias, and chance occurrences.
• Disadvantage
– information obtained in one experimental situation or
laboratory setting may not apply to other situations
• Advantage
– has the greatest potential for identifying cause-and-effect
relationships with less error and bias than either surveys or
case studies
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Cultural Diversity: Use of Placebos
• Placebo
– intervention, such as taking a pill, that resembles
medical therapy but which in fact, has no medical
effects
• Placebo effect
– change in the patient’s illness that is attributable to
an imagined treatment rather than to a medical
treatment
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Cultural Diversity: Use of Placebos (cont.)
– researchers believe that placebos work by
reducing tension and distress and by creating
powerful self-fulfilling prophecies
– individuals think and behave as if the drug,
actually a placebo, is effective
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Correlation
• Correlation
– an association or relationship between the
occurrence of two or more events
• Correlation coefficient
– a number that indicates the strength of a
relationship between two or more events: the
closer the number is to –1.00 or +1.00, the
greater is the strength of the relationship
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Correlation (cont.)
• Perfect positive correlation coefficient
– +1.00 means that an increase in one event is
always matched by an equal increase in a
second event
• Positive correlation coefficient
– indicates that as one event tends to increase,
the second event tends to, but does not always,
increase
– increases from +0.01 to +0.99 indicate a
strengthening of the relationship between the
occurrence of two events
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Correlation (cont.)
• Zero correlation
– indicates that there is no relationship between
the occurrence of one event and the occurrence
of a second event
• Negative correlation coefficient
– indicates that as one event tends to increase,
the second event tends to, but does not always,
decrease
– -0.01 to -0.99 indicates a strengthening in the
relationship of one event increasing and the
other decreasing
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Correlation (cont.)
• Perfect negative correlation coefficient
– -1.00 means that an increase in one event is
always matched by an equal decrease in a second
event
– correlations such as –1.00 are virtually never
found in applied psychological research
– r= +0.37
R=correlation coefficient, + indicates the direction of
relationship & number indicates the strength (0.00
to 1.00)
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Type of Correlation Practice
1. The more TV is on in the homes of young children, the less
time they spend reading (Kaiser, 2003). type?
2. The more sexual content teens see on TV, the more likely
they are to have sex (Collins & others, 2004). type?
3. The longer children are breast-fed, the greater their later
academic achievement (Horwood & Ferguson, 1998). type?
4. The more income rose among a sample of poor families, the
fewer psychiatric symptoms their children experienced
(Costello & others, 2003) type?
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Correlation vs. Causation
• Correlations cannot indicate cause-and –effect
relationships; however,
• Correlations
– Help predict behavior
– Point where to look for possible causes
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Decisions About Doing Research
• What is the best technique for answering a question?
– Questionnaires and interviews
– Laboratory experiments
– Standardized tests
– Animal models
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Decisions About Doing Research (cont.)
• Interview
– technique for obtaining information by asking
questions, ranging from open-ended to highly
structured, about a subject’s behaviors and
attitudes, usually in a one-on-one situation
• Questionnaire
– technique for obtaining information by asking
subjects to read a list of written questions and
check off specific answers
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Decisions About Doing Research (cont.)
• Laboratory experiments
– techniques to gather information about the brain,
genes, or behavior with the least error and bias by
using a controlled environment that allows careful
observation and measurement
• Standardized tests
– technique to obtain information by administering a
psychological test that has been given to
hundreds of people and shown to reliably measure
thought patterns, personality traits, emotions, or
behaviors
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Decisions About Doing Research (cont.)
• Animal Models
– involves examining or manipulating some
behavioral, genetic, or physiological factor that
closely approximates some human problem,
disease, or condition
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Decisions About Doing Research (cont.)
Choosing research settings
• Naturalistic setting
– relatively normal environment in which
researchers gather information by observing
individuals’ behaviors without attempting to
change or control the situation
• Laboratory setting
– involves studying individuals under systematic and
controlled conditions, with many of the real-world
influences eliminated
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Scientific Method: Experiment
• Advantages of scientific method
– scientific Method
– approach of gathering information and answering
questions so that errors and biases are minimized
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Scientific Method: Experiment (cont.)
• Conducting and Experiment: seven rules
– Rule 1: Ask
– Rule 2: Identify
– Rule 3: Choose
– Rule 4: Assign
– Rule 5: Manipulate
– Rule 6: Measure
– Rule 7: Analyze
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Scientific Method: Experiment (cont.)
• Rule 1: Ask
– hypothesis
– educated guess about some phenomenon stated
in precise, concrete language to rule out any
confusion or error in the meaning of its terms
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Scientific Method: Experiment (cont.)
• Rule 2: Identify
– independent variable
• a treatment or something that the researcher
controls or manipulates
– dependent variable
• one or more of the subjects’ behaviors that are
used to measure the potential effects of the
treatment or independent variable
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Scientific Method: Experiment (cont.)
• Rule 3: Choose
– random selection
• each participant in a sample population has an
equal chance of being selected for the
experiment
• Rule 4: Assign
– experimental group
• those who receive the treatment
• control group-participants who undergo all the
same procedures as the experimental
participants except that the control participants
do not receive the treatment
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Scientific Method: Experiment (cont.)
• Rule 5: Manipulate
– double blind procedure
• neither participants nor researchers know
which group is receiving which treatment
• Rule 6: Measure
– by manipulating the treatment so that the
experimental group receives a different treatment
than the control group, researchers are able to
measure how the independent variable (treatment)
affects those behaviors that have been selected
as the dependent variables
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Scientific Method: Experiment (cont.)
• Rule 7: Analyze
– statistical procedures
• used to determine whether differences
observed in dependent variables (behaviors)
are due to independent variables (treatment) or
to error or chance occurrence
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Application: Research Concerns
• Concerns about being a subject
– human and animal
• Code of ethics
– the American Psychological Association publishes
a code of ethics and conduct for psychologists to
follow when doing research, counseling, teaching,
and related activities
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Application: Research Concerns (cont.)
• Role of deception
– one way that researchers control for participants’
expectations is to use bogus procedures or
instructions that prevent participants from learning
the experiment’s true purpose
– Researchers must debrief study subjects-explain
the purpose & method
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Hindsight Bias
• Hindsight bias (or I-knew-it-all-along
phenomenon): tendency to believe, after
learning an outcome, that we would have
foreseen it; outcome of a study may seem like
obvious common sense.
– Scientific inquiry & critical thinking may help
us overcome this tendency to overestimate our
unaided intuition
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Application: Research Concerns (cont.)
• Ethics of animal research
– How many animals are used in research?
• 18 to 22 million animals are used each year in
biomedical research
– Are research animals mistreated?
• Of the millions of animals used in research,
only a few cases of animal mistreatment have
been confirmed.
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Application: Research Concerns (cont.)
• Ethics of animal research
– Is the use of animals justified?
• researchers are currently using animals to
study epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, fetal
alcohol syndrome, schizophrenia, AIDS, and
transplantation of brain tissue, none of which is
possible with human subjects
– Who checks on the use of animals in research?
• U. S. Department of Agriculture
• universities hire veterinarians
• universities have animal subject committees
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
Application: Research Concerns (cont.)
• Ethics of animal research
– How do we strike a balance?
• many experts in the scientific, medical, and
mental health communities believe that the
conscientious and responsible use of animals
in research is justified and should continue
Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, Rod Plotnik
Module 2: Psychology and Science
ADHD
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• Diagnosed by occurrence of behavioral problems
• Must have six or more symptoms of inattention, such as
careless mistakes on schoolwork
&
• Six or more symptoms of hyperactivity, talking excessively
• Controversial because
– accuracy & reliability diagnosis, based on reported
behavioral symptoms, not medical tests
– treatment for: nondrug, behavioral or drug & behavioral
treatment
– Long-term effects