Place the following disciplines in order from
"most scientific" to "least scientific" and
explain/justify why you have ordered them in
this way.
Art
Biology
Chemistry
Math
Music
Philosophy
Physics
Psychology
Unit 1 Psychology’s Roots
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
External
stimuli
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
interpret situations
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
1.1.1
Psychological Science Is Born
How has psychology’s focus changed over time?

Philosophers were the 1st psychologists.

Debate big question about life…nature vs. nurture
 Psychology

as a science born in 1879
1. Wundt – 1st psych lab (1879)
 Attempted
to measure awareness of sensory experiences
through reaction time

2. William James – 1st psych textbook

3. Behaviorism: View that psychology should be an
objective science that studies behavior without
reference to mental processes.

4. Freudian Psychology: Emphasis on unconscious
thought processes and emotional responses to
childhood experiences

5. Humanistic psychology: Emphasized the growth
potential of healthy people

6. cognitive revolution: with the advent of new types of
technology; it is now scientifically possibly to study the
mind
7. Cognitive neuroscientists: Scientific exploration of
brain activity underlying mental activity

Psychological
Science Is Born




Psychology: Science
of behavior and
mental processes
Behavior: Anything a
human or
nonhuman animal
does
Mental processes:
Internal states
inferred from
behavior
Science: Key word!
Psychology students, such as
Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg (who majored in
psychology
and computer science while at
Harvard), end up in varied
AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File
 Today
9.) Explain how psychology evolved from
the study of mental life to the modern
definition of psychology today.
Psychology starts off as…
Science of mental life
Then focuses on… (1920s-1950s)
Objective science that studies
behavior without reference to
mental processes.
Finally,
Psychology studies mental
processes AND Behavior
Andrea Yates
Background Notes
Gather as much
information as you can
on Andrea’s
background
 What was she like,
what were her life
experiences, what
was she involved in?
Mon. 9/21
In your daily journal,
write a response to the
statement on your
sheet.
Hindsight Bias
The
tendency to say an outcome
was obvious AFTER the fact; to
believe we could have predicted it
“I-Knew-It-All-Along”
Our
phenomenon
assumptions are often wrong
 Need
research to find what’s true
Overconfidence
We
tend to be more
confident than we are
correct
Why Do Research In
Psychology?
To separate hunches &
gut intuition about
human behavior with
actual fact.
Homework
Read
1.4.1 The Scientific Method
Read
1.4.2 Description
How Do Psychologists’ Ask
Questions?
 Theory


an explanation using guiding principles; organizes
observations
predicts behavior
 Hypothesis
 Testable
prediction; implied by a theory
 Operational
Definition
 Define research variables w/ precise procedures or
measures
 Replication
 Repeating
research study
Descriptive Methods of Psych Research
#17
Case
One
Study
person studied in depth
Suggest further study (+)
Cannot discern general truths (-)
Survey
Looks
at many cases at
once
Word effects (-)
 should cigarette ads be
allowed on TV vs censored
 aid to the needy vs welfare
Random
sampling (+)
A sample
that
represents a population
b/c each member has
an equal chance of
inclusion
Population
 All
cases in a group being
studied from which the sample
may be drawn
Description
Naturalistic Observation
Naturalistic
Observation

Observing & recording behavior
in naturally occurring situations
w/o controlling the situations

Doesn’t control for all the factors
that can contribute to behavior
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=x3S0xS2hdi4
CORRELATION #20-#24
Correlation
A measure of the extent to which two things vary together
 How well does A predict B (NOT CAUSE)
 Positive versus negative correlation
Says nothing about
+ or strength of
opposite
direction
same direction
prediction

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical measure that tells us how strongly they correlate (how
good of a predictor)

Strength of the correlation is found by the coefficient
 -1.0 to +1.0 (r)

 Why

Closer to the 1 is a stronger correlation
Use a Coefficient?
Let’s us know how strong the relationship is…how
strongly variable A predicts variable B
Visually Show Correlation…
Scatterplot
a
graphed cluster of dots,
each dot represents the values
of two variables
Illusory
Correlation
a“fake”
correlation
Correlation
Are tall
men more
or less
easygoing?
Correlation
Correlation
Correlation
Correlation
Correlation
Correlation
Correlation
Correlation
Correlation and Causation
Correlation
Does
helps predict
not = cause and effect
CORRELATION DOES NOT
EQUAL CAUSATION!!!
Practice
Experimentation
Researcher can:
 Manipulate the factors of interest to
determine their effects
 Holding constant (“controlling”) other
factors
 Experimental
group
 Control group
What are our 5 types of research
methods?
Experiment
Researcher manipulates variables to
determine cause and effect
1st – create a testable hypothesis & operationally
define your terms
2nd – randomly sample a population for your
participants
3rd – randomly
sample)
assign your participants (your
EXPERIMENTAL GROUP
CONTROL GROUP
 Double-blind


The participants AND the researcher doesn’t know
who is in which group
WHY DOES IT MATTER???
Researcher can determine if treatment really works
and not just a placebo effect
 Placebo

procedure: Eliminating bias
effect
Effect involves results caused by expectations alone.
Experimentation
Variables
INDEPENDENT
VARIABLE
• Factor that is
manipulated; the
variable whose effect
is being studied
DEPENDENT
VARIABLE
• The variable that
is measured
PRACTICE
Comparing Research Methods
Each of psychology’s research methods has strengths and
weaknesses