The Science of Psychology
CHAPTER 1
Learning Objectives- After completing this
chapter you should be able to:
1. provide a definition of psychology.
2. discriminate from among the different subfields of psychology and
provide some examples.
3. provide examples of the relevant enduring issues in the field.
4. match the historical figures in the field with their theories.
5. identify the three main stages in the historical development of
psychology.
6. describe the major paradigms (theories) in the field.
7. differentiate between the terms "race" and "ethnicity."
8. describe and provide examples for the various research methods.
9. explain the strengths and weaknesses for the various research
methods.
10.compare and contrast the educational backgrounds from among the
various clinicians.
What is Psychology?
Psychology is the study of behavior and mental
processes
 Psychology includes the study of humans and
animals
 Random fact: There are currently 54 divisions of psychology recognized by the
APA
What is Developmental Psychology?
 It’s the study of physical and mental growth from
birth to old age
 Other areas under Developmental
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Child psychology
Adolescent psychology
Life-span psychology
What is Physiological
Psychology?
 Looks at the biology of human behavior, thoughts,
and emotions:
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

Neurotransmitters
Effects drugs and hormones have on the nervous system
Development of the nervous system
Impact of heredity on behavior
Gender differences in brain structure and function
What is Experimental Psychology?
 Conduct research through experiments on
psychological processes like:

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Learning
Memory
Sensation and perception
Cognition
Motivation
Emotion
What is Personality Psychology?
 Study of how people are different from one another
on traits such as:

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Anxiety
Sociability
Self-esteem
Need for achievement
Aggressiveness
 Also study what causes this differences
What is Clinical and Counseling Psychology?
 Clinical psychologists diagnose and treat
psychological disorders

e.g. Schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder
 Counseling psychologists deal with “normal”
problems

e.g. stress caused by career moves or marital problems
What is Social Psychology?
 Study how people influence one another
 Looks at things like:
 First impressions
 Interpersonal attraction
 Attitudes
 Prejudices
 Behavior in a group
 Can be researchers but also practitioners
 e.g. Group therapy or sensitivity training etc.
What is Industrial and Organizational
Psychology?
 Look at how psychology principles work in industry
and business
 Examples:
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Selecting and training personnel
Productivity improvement
Working conditions
Impact of automation (machines) on workers
Other fields in Industrial and Organizational
(I/O) Psychology
 Sports psychology
 Forensic psychology
 Environmental psychology
 Community psychology
Issues in Psychology
1. Person vs. Situation
- Is behavior caused by factors inside the person or
outside the person?
2. Nature vs. Nurture
- Is a person the product of genetics (nature) or simply the
sum of their experiences (nurture)?
3. Stability vs. Change
- Are behavior patterns learned in childhood permanent
or do people change over time?
More Issues in Psychology
4. Diversity vs. Universality
- How are people similar to others and how are they unique?
5. Mind vs. Body
- What is the relationship between the mind and the body?
Is Psychology A Science?
 Psychologists use the scientific method and
observation
 The scientific method:
Collect data
 Generate a theory to explain the data
 Produce a testable hypothesis
 Systematically test the hypothesis

You will make your own experiment and use the scientific
method to prove or disprove your theory!!
Exit Quiz
1.
2.
3.
If you choose to become a developmental psychologist, your studies will
focus on:
a.
Behavioral disorders
b.
People’s lifespans, from prenatal to old age
c.
The biological basis of behavior
d.
An individual’s personality traits
You want to test whether the members of Alcoholics Anonymous who
volunteer to become sponsors remain sober longer than those who
aren’t sponsors. You are most likely a:
a.
Social psychologist
b.
Neuroscientist
c.
Personality psychologist
d.
Sports psychologist
When a psychologist uses the scientific method, she or he
a.
Collects data through careful observation
b.
Makes and tests predictions
c.
Expla9ins observations by developing theories
d.
All of the above
The Growth of Psychology
 Before psychology was philosophy
 People like Plato and Aristotle looked into they
ways people think
 Three Historical Stages
1. Science of mind emerges
2. Behaviorism becomes popular
3. “cognitive revolution
 Scientific Revolution  Enlightenment
 Scientific method now applied to not only
science but social sciences like economics and
philosophy
René
Descartes
(1596-1650)
Early HISTORY OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY
Started in 1600’s & 1700’s
 Philosophers during this time were mostly
concerned with what qualified has human
nature
 Descartes (1596-1650)
 ~ believed that universe was a giant machine (like a
clock)
 ~ believed that certain knowledge was innate (you were
born with it)
 Locke (1632-1704)
 ~ believed that you gained knowledge through your
senses
 ~ you learn from your experiences
 ~ Your mind is a blank slate (tabula rasa)
Early Attempts to Understand the
Brain
 Muller (1801-1858)- relationship between nerves
and energy, 5 senses
 Helmholtz (1821-1894)- measured speed of
nerve impulses, tri-chromatic vision
 Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
 Inspired scientists to study animals to understand
human
 Natural selection  Theory not only explains animal
structures but also animal behaviors
Psychology is Born
 1879 Wilhelm Wundt founds first
psychology laboratory in Leipzig,
Germany
 By mid-1890s his classes became
popular
 His students start labs all over US in
early 1900s
Wilhelm Wundt
(1832-1920)
Wilhelm Wundt
1832-1920
•
used introspection-looked at inner self (own
emotional & mental processes)
 Soul is irrelevant, humans can only be understood in
terms of physical observations
 Voluntarism: the power of the will to organize the
mind’s content into higher-level thought processes.
Edward B. Titchener
1867-1927
 Student of Wundt
 Structuralism- complex experiences should be understood
by simplest parts. Analyze consciousness into basic
elements and study how they are related
 3 parts of consciousness
“The Banana Example”
3 parts of Consciousness:
Ex. Banana
1. Sensation (element of
perception
What do you see?
2. Feelings (element of emotion)
 Do you like or dislike it?
3. Images (element of ideas)
 Memories of other bananas
William James
(1842-1910)
 Argued against structuralism
 Functionalism- understanding
behavior based on how we use our
mind/thoughts/behavior to function
in the world
 Heavily influenced by Darwin
 Used animals in research
Sigmund Freud
1856-1939
 Felt many disorders were
psychological not physiological
 Humans not so rational
 Motivated by unconscious
instincts and urges
 Unconscious manifested in
dreams, mannerisms, slips of the
tongue, mental illness, and even
in one’s art & writing
Freud
 Psychoanalysis- patient lies on
couch and retraces dreams or says
whatever comes to mind

Analysis of this allows psychologist to
understand patients hidden desires etc.
 Psychodynamic theory- behavior
results from psychological forces
that interact within a person, often
outside conscious awareness
Oedipus
Complex (thinks that
boys & girls are attracted to their
opposite gender parent)
Centered around sexual aggressive
impulses hidden in unconscious
Most suffered from hysteria
Known for the id, ego, & superego
Freud never totally accepted
John B. Watson
1878-1958
 Behaviorism- psychology can only
Little Albert
Experiment
study observable and measurable
behavior not mental processes
 Conditioning- we learn certain
behaviors through multiple experiences
that condition us to act that way
Ex. Pavlov’s Dogs -->Classical
Conditioning
Mind =Tabula
Rasa
B.F. Skinner
1904-1950
 Operant conditioning : form of learning
where an individual’s behavior is
modified by its consequences

Pigeon and Rat Experiments
 Expanded behaviorism
 Dominant school of thought in mid-
1900s
 Failed to recognize heredity, genetics
Operant Conditioning
 Big Bang Theory and Operant Condition
Gestalt Psychology
 Gestalt psychology: school of psych
that studies how people perceive and
experience objects as whole patterns
 When we perceive things we tend to
see patterns and use cues to
understand them

Example: Movies and Christmas lights!
Max Wertheimer
(1880-1943)
Humanistic Psychology
 Humanistic psychology- school of
psychology that emphasizes human potential
and importance of love, belonging, self-esteem,
self expression, and self-actualization
 Helped understand motivation and emotion
 Some see it as non-scientific because it focuses
on meaning, values, and ethics
 Dog
 Red
 Chair
 Hoop
Cognitive Revolution
 Shift from limiting study on behavior towards a
broad interest in mental processes
 Cognitive psychology- study of mental processes
(e.g. thinking, feeling, learning, judgment)
Heh?
New Ways of Thinking
 Evolutionary psychology
 Studies the adaptive value of behaviors and mental
processes
 Positive psychology
 Study of the subjective feelings of happiness and well-being
 Focus is on positive attitude
You Decide
 There is no single right theory
 Several perspectives can provide insight into
behavior
Were There Women?
 Women have made important
contributions despite discrimination
 Christine Ladd-Franklin
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Completed requirements for Ph.D. in 1880s
Became a leading theorist in color vision
Women of Psychology
•Mary Calkins (1863-1930) - student of William James at
Harvard but was not awarded a Ph.D. Founded
psych lab at Wellesley College (1891) and studied
verbal learning
•Margaret Washburn(1871-1939)- first woman to receive Ph.D.
in Psychology. Wrote about imagery directing
thought
•Leta Hollingworth(1886-1939)- Debunked popular theories
that suggested women were inferior to men. Did
pioneering work on adolescent development, mental
retardation & “gifted” children.
Quiz #2
Psychology began in 1879 at the University of Leipzig. Who
started it and used the term “voluntarism” to describe it?
a)
Mary Whiton Calkins
b)
John B. Watson
c)
Wilhelm Wundt
d)
Sigmund Freud
2.
Gestalt psychology studies…
a)
Observable and measurable behavior
b)
Self-improvement and self-understanding
c)
Perception of objects as whole patterns
d)
Gender stereotypes
3.
Which one of these best sums up the beginnings of cognitive
psychology?
a)
A shift away from behavior to mental processes
b)
A shift toward sexuality and away from free will
c)
A shift toward greater use of laboratory experiments
d)
A shift toward conditioning in both humans and animals
1.
Human Diversity
 Diversity not recognized
historically
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Most psychologists were white males
Most experiments were done on white
males


Not conscious or deliberate just a fact
of life during the time
Who does this leave out?
 Understanding cultural, racial,
and ethnic differences in thinking
and behavior is important

Why do you think this is important in
this day and age, not only to
psychologist but to all of us?
Human Diversity
 Psychologist have begun to question assumptions
based on gender, race, and cultural differences.
 Activity #1
Gender Issues
 Gender vs. Sex
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"Gender" refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors,
activities, and attributes that society considers appropriate for men
and women
"Sex" refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that
define men and women.
 Masculine and feminine have distinct psychological and
social meanings.


Based on cultural notions about the sexes rather than biological fact
Continuum
 Gender roles- behaviors that we expect each gender to
engage in
Gender Stereotypes
 Gender stereotypes
 Limited view of people based on gender
 For example, “Only men can be police officers” or “only
women should stay home and take care of kids”
 Are gender stereotypes healthy for our society?
 “Stereotypes are rarely benign.” (p. 26)
Gender Issues
 Feminist theory- offers a wide variety of views on
social roles of women and men, the problems and
rewards of those roles, and ideas for changing them
 Feminist psychology
 Argues that
Much research is based on all-male samples
 Reports of gender differences focus too much on extremes and
ignore similarities
 Psychologists only study what they consider to be important and
since traditionally most psychologist were men, many focused on
what was important to them not society as a whole

Gender Issues
 Sexual orientation- gender to which one is
sexually attracted
 Study topics like:
 Origin of sexual orientation
 Brain differences between those with different orientations
 Impact of allowing non-heterosexuals in the military
Behavior is Shaped by Culture
Personal Space
Value of
Education
Punctuality
Social Norms
Culture Issues
 Culture -Tangible goods and values, attitudes, behaviors,
and beliefs that are passed on from generation to
generation (sometimes means “study of ethnic minorities)
 Psychology must take cultural differences into account, e.g.,
the difference between individualistic and collectivist
societies
Race and Ethnicity Issues
 Race- defined by identifiable characteristic, e.g.,
skin color, geographic location, or facial features
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Is race a valid idea?
Today’s culture allows for travel, migration, and “mixing”
To some extent all humans are “racial hybrids”
Hutu and Tutsi example
 “African” example

 Ethnicity- is a common cultural heritage, e.g.
religion, language, or ancestry, that is shared by a
group of people
Race and Ethnicity Issues
 Summary: Theoretically…
1. Ethnicity is about the learned cultural behaviors
celebrated throughout regions around the world.
2. Race is an indication of the heritage with which you were
born, regardless of location or learned behavior.
3. Ethnicity can be altered or mimicked through choice and
beliefs.
4. Race cannot be altered.
Important issues
 Do different races, ethnicities, cultures think and




behave the same?
If there are differences, where do those behaviors
originate (nature/nurture)?
Is the use of race valid in understanding human
behavior?
Minority representation in psychology as a
profession
How does technology influence culture?
Influence of Heredity & Environment
Nature versus Nurture
Quiz #3
If race is a biological term, ethnicity is a _____term.
1.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Sexual
Arbitrary
Feminist
Cultural
The terms “masculine” and “feminine” are
2.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Cultural notions
Biological terms
Feminist terms
Ethnic notions
When psychologists use the term “culture,” they usually
mean the study of
3.
a)
b)
c)
d)
The good life
Ethnic minorities
Designs for living
Aggressive behavior
Research Methods in Psychology (#8/9)
What are we looking for?
 Empirical evidence- information derived from
systematic, objective observation.
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Avoid bias
Use scientific method
Research Methods in Psychology
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Naturalistic Observation
Case Studies
Surveys
Correlational Research
Experimental Research
-Or Multi-method Research
 First basic information
 Then pros and cons of each method
Research Methods in Psychology
1. Naturalistic Observation- research method
involving the systematic study of animal or human
behavior in natural settings rather than in a
laboratory
Research Methods in Psychology
2. Case Study- detailed description and analysis of a
single individual(or a few) in hopes of discovering an
idea that applies to everyone


Can include observation, interviews, psychological tests etc.
Prominent in psychology
Research Methods in Psychology
#3 Survey research- research technique in which
questionnaires or interviews are administered to a
selected group of people


Example: such as polls prior to an election
Last week’s homework- example Education Article by Gallup
Research Methods in Psychology
#4 Correlational Research- research technique
based on the naturally occurring relationship between
two or more variables

Often used to make predictions, such as the relation between
SAT scores and school success


Generally, high SAT/ACT scores= high GPA
 But…other variables can cause problems
Toilet correlation….
Research Methods in Psychology
#5. Experimental Research- research technique in
which an investigator deliberately manipulates
selected factors(independent variables) and then
measures the effects of those manipulations on a
subsequent behavior or mental process
By random assignment of participants the
experimenter aims to control other variables.
Research Methods in Psychology
Multi-Method Research- Use of any combination
of the following
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Naturalistic Observation
Case Studies
Surveys
Correlational Research
Experimental Research
Key Research Terms
 Observer bias- expectations or biases of the
observer that might distort or influence his or her
interpretation of what was actually observed
 Experimenter bias- expectations by the
experimenter that might influence the results of an
experiment or its interpretation.
Components of an Experiment
 Participants or subjects- individuals whose
reactions or responses are observed in an
experiment
 Independent variable (IV)
Cause (what you are studying)
 This is the variable that is manipulated by the
experimenter

 Dependent variable (DV)
 Effect (result of experiment)
 Outcome: This is the variable that is measured by the
experimenter
Components of an Experiment
 Experimental group- in a controlled experiment,
the group subjected to a change in the independent
variable.
 Control group- in a controlled experiment, this
group is not subjected to a change in the
independent variable; used for comparison with
experimental group.
The Importance of Sampling in Research
 Sample- Small representative subset of a larger
population
 Random sample- Every subject had equal chance of being selected
 Representative sample- Characteristics of participants
correspond to larger population
Ethics in Research on Humans
 Read p. 37-38 about Stanley Milgram’s experiment
Now:
Ethics in Research on Humans
 Participants must be informed of nature of research
 Informed consent should be documented
 Risks and limits on confidentiality must be explained
 If participation is a course requirement in an
academic setting, alternative activities must be
offered
 Deception cannot be used about aspects of research
that would affect participant's willingness to
participate
 Deception about the goals of research used only
when absolutely necessary
Ethics in Research on Animals
 Psychologists using animals must ensure
“appropriate consideration of the animal’s comfort,
health, and human treatment”
 Animals must not be exposed to pain, stress, or
privation when alternative procedures are available
Complete Chart Activity
Quiz #4
1.
a)
b)
c)
d)
2.
a)
b)
c)
d)
3.
a)
b)
c)
d)
4.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Observer bias is the main drawback in which kind of research
Surveys
Naturalistic observation
Correlational research
Experimental research
Of the many kinds of research in the field of psychology, correlational research:
Explains cause and effect
Enables predictions to be made about two or more variables
Gives a detailed description of one individual
Sets up an experiment with independent and dependent variables
Researchers try to head off sampling error by which method?
Random and representative sampling
Repeating the survey every two years for ten years
Wording the survey questions just right
Getting a good night’s sleep
Animal-rights advocates believe that research on animals is ethical under which of these conditions?
APA-sanctioned experiments
NIH-approved experiments
Naturalistic observation
No conditions
Careers in Psychology
 Academic and Applied Psychology
 Faculty positions
 Research facilities
 Clinical Settings
 Licensed social workers
 Counseling psychologists
 Clinical psychologists
 Psychiatrists
 Psychoanalysts
Work In Psychology (?)
Elementary/
Secondary
Schools
4.2%
Independent
Practice
33.1% Business,
Hospitals,
Counseling,
Government or
Clinics, etc.
Consulting
22.3%
12.1%
Universities &
Colleges
27.2%
Specialties In Psychology
General/Quantitative
3.6%
Cognitive/Physio
5.2%
I/O
5.7%
Social/
Developmental
6.4%
Ed & School
19.4%
Clinical,
Community
& Counseling
51.1%
Other
8.6%
Different Fields in Psychology
 Developmental Psychology
 Physiological Psychology
 Experimental Psychology
 Personality Psychology
 Clinical and Counseling Psychology
 Social Psychology
 Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Licenses in Psychology
 Psychologists - Ph.D., Psy.D.
 Psychiatrists - M.D.
 Psychoanalysts - M.D. or Ph.D.
 Social Workers (M.S.W.) - LSW
 Marriage Family Therapists - M.A.
Resources
 www.prenhall.com/morris
 PowerPoint Chapter 1 & 2