Unit 1: Psychology’s Roots, Big
Ideas, & Critical Thinking
Psychology’s Roots
Four Big Ideas in Psych
Why Do Psychology?
How do psychologists Ask & Answer Questions?
Unit 1: Psych’s Roots, Big Ideas, &
Critical Thinking
1.) Objective 1: How has psychology’s focus changed
over time?
• early philosophers asked big questions about life
1879
• Wilhelm Wundt – “father of psychology”
▫ start of psychology
 1st psych lab
▫ attempt to measure mental processes
1900
• Freudian Psychology
▫ Study unconscious thoughts & childhood memories
believed psychology was the
science of mental life
500
BCE
Objective 1: How has psychology’s focus
changed over time?
1920s
• John Watson & B.F. Skinner
▫ “scientific study of observable behavior.”
▫ no reference to
mental processes
Objective 1: How has psychology’s
focus changed over time?
1960s
• Humanistic Psychology
▫ positive environment & growth potential
1990s
• Cognitive Psychology
▫ Back to studying mental processes
▫ Study scientifically (brain scans, etc…)
Psychology…
Science of
Behavior
logos = study of
psyche = soul
AND
Mental Processes
What event defined the start
of scientific psychology?
Psychology’s Timeline – PsychSim5
• 3 pages
• MAKE NEAT – use rulers
• Slides 5 - 9 – 13
Objective 2: What are psychology’s
current perspectives & its subfields
PERSPECTIVE
FOCUS
Neuroscience (Biological)
How the body & brain enable
How the
effects
the mental
emotions
(pain
messages,
blood
chemistry & mood, etc…)
Behavioral
How weAll
learn
observable
responses
behavior
is a result
of
(are we
simply products(no
of mental
our
reward/punishment
environment) process)
Cognitive
Howwe
weencode,
solve problems
– what we
How
perceive/interpret,
remember.
store & retrieve
information
Psychodynamic
HowCause
behavior
springs is
from
of behavior
rooted in
unconscious
drives
conflicts
childhood
& in &
unconscious
How behavior & thinking vary across
situations & cultures
Sociocultural
Objective 3: Explain the four big ideas
that are themes throughout this course.
1. Critical Thinking is Smart Thinking
2. Behavior is a Biopsychosocial Event
3. We Operate With a Two-Track Mind (dualprocessing)
4. Psychology Explores Human Challenges as
Well as Human Strenghts
1. Critical Thinking is Smart Thinking
• science supports thinking that examines
assumptions,weighs evidence, & tests
conclusions
• questions smart psychologists ask…
▫ How do we know that?
▫ Who benefits from this?
▫ Is the conclusion based on science or intuition?
Critical Thinking & Statistics…
Theory 1:
Emergency room admissions caused by wife abuse
increase after the Super Bowl especially in the city
of the losing team.
Theory actually made up by group attempting to
draw attention to the issue.
Point: Common sense is no substitute
for science.
Just b/c something might be true
doesn’t mean it is true.
Theory 2:
Talking on a cell phone while driving is just as
dangerous as drunk driving.
• Chances of being killed by a drunk driver are 18 in 1
million.
• Chances of making a call on cell phone & being
involved in a fatality accident are 13 in 1 million.
▫ Difference of 5 in 1 million…..
▫ Is that statistically significant? Meaning does the
difference make a difference? Is 5 a big enough # that it
didn’t just occur by chance?
Point: Pay attention to the significance
of numbers.
Theory 3:
Men speak 10,000 word per day. Women speak
35,000 words a day; therefore women communicate
more than men
Is it possible to use many words and not say much?
Is it possible to communicate without using words?
Point: It is possible to start with a statistic
that is true and draw a wrong conclusion.
You can have true statistics and still have
false conclusions.
2. Behavior is a Biopsychosocial Event
• psychologists must view behavior from many
levels
▫ Biological
▫ Psychological
▫ Social
• Everything psychological is simultaneously
biological
• Nature – Nurture Debate
3. Two-Track Mind
• conscious and automatic (dual processing)
▫ We do things w/o knowing it
4. Exploring Human Strength
• Positive Psychology (Martin Seligman)
▫ build a “good life”
▫ build a “meaningful life”
Does the finding strike you
as surprising or not
surprising?
Research has found people
with low self-esteem are
susceptible to flattery.
Research has found people
with high self-esteem are
susceptible to flattery.
Case Study: Andrea Yates
BIOLOGICAL
BEHAVIORAL
COGNITIVE
PSYCHODYNAMIC
Soc-Cul
Objective 4:
What are some limits on or intuition and
common sense?
• Are lie detectors accurate?
• Is eyewitness testimony reliable?
• Does the death penalty prevent murder?
▫ Do states with the death penalty have lower
homicide rates have? NO
▫ After states pass death penalty laws, do homicide
NO
rates go down?
▫ Do homicide rates rise in states that abandon the
death penalty? NO
Lab #1: Testing Intuition
Experimenter: last name/class period
Subject: last name
Trial #
Switch
Correct Wrong
Stay
Correct
Wrong
Objective 4:
What are some limits on or intuition and
common sense?
• HINDSIGHT BIAS
▫ “I-knew-it-all-along-phenomenon”
 “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”
 “Out of sight is out of mind.”
▫ If two opposite findings make sense, need science
to prove.
• How many seconds will it take you to
unscramble the following 3 words?
▫ WREAT
▫ ETRYN
▫ GRABE
OVERCONFIDENCE
▫ WREAT = WATER
▫ ETRYN = ENTRY
▫ GRABE = BARGE
Point to Remember…
• Hindsight Bias & Overconfidence often lead us
to overestimate our intuition.
• Using the scientific method can help us separate
reality from illusion.
A.Y. Perspectives Paper
• After you have categorized your observations,
you are to write a formal analysis of your
findings.
• In paragraph form, you will introduce A.Y. and
her crime, define each perspective and select one
piece of information from each perspective to
explain A.Y.’s behavior
A.Y. Paper Rubric
3 points
2 points
Paragraph 1: Intro to A.Y. crime (brief)
Paragraph 2: Define biological perspective &3include
points one
piece of evidence from A.Y. life to support this perspective.
Paragraph 3: Define behavioral perspective & include
one piece of evidence from A.Y. life to support3this
points
perspective.
Paragraph 4: Define cognitive perspective & include one
points
piece of evidence from A.Y. life to support this3 perspective.
Paragraph 5: Define psychodynamic perspective &
include one piece of evidence3 from
pointsA.Y. life to support this
perspective.
Paragraph 6: Define social-cultural perspective &
include one piece of evidence from A.Y. life to support this
perspective. 3 points
Paragraph 7: Conclude with which perspective you feel
pointsinclude
best explains why A.Y. did what she did.5Must
explanation as to why you believe this.