AP Psychology
Unit 1 Notes
With your partner, decide if the
following are true or false:
1.
2.
Most people only use about 10% of their brains.
People with schizophrenia have more than one
personality.
3. All effective therapies require clients get to the root of
their problems in childhood.
4. All people with dyslexia see words backwards.
5. Drinking coffee is a good way to sober up after drinking.
6. Memories of everything we’ve experienced are stored
permanently in our brains, even if we can’t access them.
7. The more people present in an emergency, the more likely
it is that at least one of them will help.
8. Newborn babies are virtually blind.
9. If you are unsure of your answer on a test, it’s best to stick
with your original answer.
10. People tend to be romantically attracted to people with
opposite to their own personalities.
Science of Psychology
• Think Critically: reflect and evaluate evidence
– Using Scientific principles
• Skepticism: Question other’s results
– Leads to replication
• Objectivity: See things as they are, not as we want.
– Learn to accept results that do not support your theory.
• Curiosity: Why are things the way they are?
– Leads to experimentation
Psychology
• The scientific study of
the mind, brain, and
behavior
• Spans multiple levels
of analysis
Social Level
Behavioral Level
Mental Level
Neurological/Physiological Level
Neurochemical Level
Molecular Level
Example: Depression
Lack of social support
Social Level
Less engagement in + activities
Behavioral Level
Negative cognitions about self
Mental Level
Differential amygdala activation
Neurological/Physiological Level
Reduced serotonin in synapse
Neurochemical Level
Genes that predispose
Molecular Level
Pseudo-Science
• A claim, belief, or practice which is presented
as scientific, but does not adhere to a valid
scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or
plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or
otherwise lacks scientific status
Growth of
psychology
Psychology’s Roots Are in Philosophy
Prescientific Psychology
 Do you have a soul?
 Is the mind connected to
the body or distinct?
 Are ideas inborn or is the
mind a blank slate filled
by experience?
Psychology’s Roots
Psychological Science Is Born
Empiricism –
Knowledge comes from experience
via the senses
Science flourishes through
observation and experiment
Psychology’s Roots
 Wilhelm Wundt
opened the first
psychology
Wundt’s significance?
laboratory at the
By insisting on
University of Liepzig
measurement and
(c. 1879)
experimentation he
moves Psych from
Philosophy to Science
Psychology’s Roots
 Bradford Titchener
 Emulates the analysis of
compounds by looking at
atoms
 Structuralism used
introspection (looking in)
to explore the elemental
structure of the human
mind
Psychology’s Roots
 Structuralism –
 School of psychology that
stressed the basic units of
experience (physical
sensation, feelings, and
memories) and the
combinations in which
they occur.
 Study these ‘atoms of
experience’ to get the
structure of the mind
Psychology’s Roots




William James
Rejects Structuralism
Influenced by Darwin
Functionalism –theory
of mental life and
behavior that is
concerned with how an
organism uses its
perceptual abilities to
function in its
enviroment.
The Growth of Psychology
• Sigmund Freud: Psychodynamic psychology
– Behavior results from forces at work within the
individual, often at an unconscious level
• Sexual and aggressive drives
– Late 1800s
– Lasting Impact of the field
– Hard to prove or disprove scientifically
Return to the observable in the early 1900s
• John B. Watson: Behaviorism
– Studied only observable behaviors
– Expanded upon the work of Pavlov
• B.F. Skinner: Behaviorism revisited
– Expanded behaviorism
– Viewed the mind as a “black box” that was
irrelevant
The Cognitive Revolution
• The precursors to cognitive psychology:
– Gestalt psychology
• Study of how we perceive objects as whole patterns
• Therapy that wishes to treat the whole person
– Humanistic psychology
• Emphasizes realization of full potential
• Recognizes importance of love, self esteem, belonging,
and self-actualization
The Cognitive Revolution of the 1960s
• Study of mental processes
– Thinking
– Learning
– Feeling
– Remembering
– Decision making
New Directions in Psychology
• 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
– Response away from victimization
Multiple Perspectives
• There is no single right answer
• Several perspectives can provide insight into
behavior
What is Psychology?
• Psychology is the scientific study of behavior
and mental processes
• Scientific?
– Not just common sense or guesses
– Psychology uses the scientific method
– Scientific Method is careful observations and
the experimental testing of hypothesis
• Behavior – what people do on the outside
• Mental Processes – What is going on inside
someone's head. We call this cognition.
• Psychology includes the study of both humans
and animals
Psychology As Science
• Psychologists use the scientific method
• Steps to the scientific method
– Collect data
– Generate a theory to explain the data
– Produce a testable hypothesis
– Systematically test the hypothesis
Psychology’s Big Issues
•
•
•
•
•
Nature-nurture controversy
– Are we a product of innate, inborn tendencies controlled by our genetic
make-up?
– Are we a reflection of experiences and upbringing?
Person–Situation
– Is behavior caused by factors inside the person or outside?
Stability–Change
– Are behavior patterns learned in childhood permanent or do people change
over time?
Diversity-Universality
– How am I like every person, like some people, and like no one else?
Mind–Body
– What is the relationship between the mind and the body?
Approaches to the field of Psychology
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Biological
Evolutionary
Behavioral
Cognitive
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Social
1. Biological Psychology
• Investigates the biological basis of human
behavior, thoughts and emotions. Looks at
how the following biological mechanisms
effect your behavior and mental processes.
– Brain
– Neurotransmitters
– Hormones
– Drugs (both legal and illegal)
– Gender differences in brain structure and
function
2. Evolutionary Psychology
• Asks the question: How did our species get to be the way we are?
– Language – Why do we talk?
– Altruism – Why are we nice to each other?
– Sexual attraction / mate selection – Why are some people considered
beautiful?
• Answers these questions by looking at what would most help us pass on
our genetic code.
• Very concerned with reproduction!
3. Behavioral
 This approach only studies observable human behavior
focusing on how we learn, react and manipulate our
environment.
 We learn observable responses through conditioning or
by trying to get rewards/avoid punishments.
 Mind is a BLACK BOX. Can’t see it? Don’t study it.
 Big names
 Pavlov – Dogs
 Watson – Little Albert
 Skinner – Operant Conditioning
4. Cognitive Psychology
 School of psychology that studies mental processes
 Thinking, feeling, remembering, making decisions and
judgments
 Studies how we encode, process, store, and retrieve
information.
 Studies behavior and makes inferences about the mental
processes behind the behavior
 Thanks to new technologies like CAT scans, MRIs and
fMRIs, we can open the black box.
5. Psychodynamic Psychology
 Personality theory that says behavior springs
from unconscious drives and conflicts
 Unconscious is a dynamic cauldron of primitive
drives, forbidden desires and nameless fears
 Psychoanalysis – patient lies on a couch and
recounts dreams and conducts free association.
 Sigmund Freud
6. Humanistic Psychology
• School of psychology that emphasizes
nonverbal experiences and altered states
of consciousness as a means of realizing
one’s full human potential
• Importance of love, belonging, human
potential, and self-esteem.
• Abraham Maslow
• Not mainstream, more a cultural and
spiritual movement.
7. Sociocultural Psychology
 Study of how people influence one another
 Topics include:






First impressions
Interpersonal attraction
Attitude formation
Prejudice
Behavior in a group
Obedience to Authority
 Some Applications include:
 Support groups
 Family Therapy
 Sensitivity Training
Approach Example
Careers in Psychology
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Clinical and Counseling
Developmental
Educational
Experimental
I/O (Health, Sports, Motivation)
Personality
Psychometric
Social-Psychology
1. Clinical and
Counseling Psychology
 About 50% of all Psychologists
 Counseling psyChologists deal with “normal”
problems, such as stress caused by career change
or marital problems
 Counseling psyChologist’s foCus more on the
psychologically healthy individual where
clinical focuses on individuals with serious
mental illness (e.g. schizophrenia).
 Clinical psychologists are concerned with
diagnosis and treatment of psychological
disorders
 Split time between treatment and researching the
cause of psychological disorders and the
effectiveness of different types of
psychotherapy and counseling.
2. Developmental Psychology
• Study of physical and mental growth from
birth to old age
• study of changing abilities from womb to
tomb
• Subfields
– Child psychology
– Adolescent psychology
– Life-span psychology
3. Educational
Psychology
• School Psychologist
• psychological evaluations
• consult with school personnel in relation to
students’ learning, behavior, and
environments
• they are trained to look at the effectiveness of
academic programs, classroom agendas, and
treatment interventions, which assists in the
development of specific interventions.
4. Experimental
Psychology
• Design research experiments
• May or may not have a direct impact on the
treatment of patients
• Animal subjects
• Drug trials
5. Human Factors
 The science of understanding the properties of
human capability (Human Factors Science).
 The application of this understanding to the
design, development and deployment of
systems and services (Human Factors
Engineering).
 It can also be called ergonomics.
6. Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Study of psychological principles in industry
and business
• Examples
– Selecting and training personnel
– Productivity improvement
– Optimizing working conditions
– Managing the impact of automation on workers
7. Personality Psychology
• Study of how people differ from one another
on traits such as
– Openness
– Conscientiousness
– Extraversion
– Agreeableness
– Neuroticism
7. Psychometics
•
•
•
•
•
Test creation
Validity
Reliablity
Culture fair
Statistics
Psychiatry
 A branch of medicine dealing with
psychological disorders
 Practiced by physicians who sometimes
use medical (for example, drug)
treatments as well as psychotherapy
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.
AP Psychology
Research Methods: Experiments
Research Methods – Essential Methods
• How do psychologists use the scientific
method to study behavior and mental
processes?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of
the different research methods?
• How do psychologists draw appropriate
conclusions about behavior from research?
Scientific Method
Create testable
operational
definitions
Be curious.
Question your
world.
Collect data using
DESCRIPTIVE
Research
Conduct more
research
Naturalistic
Observation
Survey
Case
Study
Form a
Hypothesis
Relationship?
CORRELATION
Causation?
EXPERIMENT
Doesn’t support
the hypothesis
Continue to
retest
Use this to
predict and
explain the world
Supports the
hypothesis
Create a Theory
Be curious!
1. Does involvement in HS athletics improve academic
performance?
2. Does excessive texting impede face-to-face relationships?
3. Does personality influence musical preferences?
4. Do ads portraying unrealistic body types reduce the selfimage of the viewer?
5. Does student consumption of caffeine in the morning
improve first period grades?
6. Does gamification of the classroom improve increase
student engagement?
Be curious!
7. Does a community service requirement positively or
negatively impact student opinions of community service?
8. Do we use twitter/facebook/ask.fm/ etc. as an
appropriate outline for angst?
9. Do teacher websites improve student performance in
class?
10. Does focus on minor rules (flip-flops and hats) reduce
student adherence to major rules (insubordination or
class cutting)?
Research Methods
1. Description – gathering evidence about A and B
2. Correlation – A and B are related
3. Experiment – A causes B
Descriptive Research Methods
in Psychology
• Case Studies
– Detailed in-depth description and analysis of one or a few
people
– Observation, scores on psychological tests, interviews etc.
– Prominent in psychology
– Piaget used this to develop his theory of cognitive
development
– Takes advantage of nonreplicable situations
– Observer bias is a problem
– Unable to make generalizations past person being studied
Research Methods in Psychology
• Naturalistic Observation
– Systematic observation in natural setting
– The main drawback is observer bias
• (expectations or biases of the observer that might distort or
influence the interpretation of what was observed.)
– Observing and recording behavior of animals in
the wild, to recording self-seating patterns in
lunch rooms in a multiracial school constitutes
naturalistic observation.
– Not replicable so you can’t generalize
Research Methods in Psychology
• Surveys
– A technique for ascertaining the self-reported
attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people usually by
questioning a representative, random sample of
people.
– Questionnaires or interviews, such as polls prior to an
election
– Can generate a lot of information for a fairly low cost
– Questions must be constructed carefully so as to not elicit
socially appropriate answers
Survey
Wording Effect
Wording can change the results of a survey.
Q: Should cigarette ads and pornography be allowed
on television? (not allowed vs. forbid)
Survey
False Consensus Effect
A tendency to overestimate the extent to which
others share our beliefs and behaviors.
* Stronger When*
• The behavior is seen to come from strong
situational factors.
• The matter at hand is seen as being important
to the person.
• When we are largely sure we are correct.
Example
• Jeremy is always trying to climb the corporate
ladder and has no shortage of sexual partners. In
contrast, Justin, his subordinate at work, makes
no effort to reach a higher position and is happy
in his monogamous marriage to his high school
sweetheart. Justin claims that he is quite happy
as he is, but Jeremy insists that he is a “beta
male” who has buried his real desires because he
is too afraid to pursue them.
– projects his beliefs, abilities, and desires upon others.
– When others do not live up to his standards,
concludes there is something wrong with him
Operational Definition
• An exact description of how to derive a
value for a characteristic you are
measuring. It includes a precise definition
of the characteristic and how, specifically,
data collectors are to measure the
characteristic.
• What you are studying determines the
type of data you get.
Survey
Random Sampling
From a population if
each member has an
equal chance of inclusion
into a sample, we call
that a random sample
(unbiased). If the survey
sample is biased, its
results are questionable.
The fastest way to know about the
marble color ratio is to blindly
transfer a few into a smaller jar and
count them.
Comparison
Research Method
Advantages
Limitations
Naturalistic
Observation
•More accurate than reports
after the fact
•Behavior is more natural
•Observer can alter behavior
•Observational Bias
•Cannot be generalized
Case Studies
•Depth
•Takes advantage of
circumstances that could not
be coordinated in an
experiment
•Not representative
•Time consuming and
expensive
•Observational Bias
Surveys
• Immense amount of data
•Quick and inexpensive
• Sampling biases can skew
results
•Bad Questions can corrupt
data
•Accuracy depends on the
ability and willingness of the
participants.
Research Methods in Psychology
• Experimental Research
– The only research method that can be used to
determine cause and effect
– Often called the experimental method
– A researcher systematically manipulates a variable
under controlled conditions.
Components of an Experiment
• Participants or subjects
• Variable – Factors that can have different values
• Operational Definition – Describes the specific procedure
used to determine the presence of a variable
• 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)
– This is the variable that is measured by the experimenter
– It DEPENDS on the independent variable
Components of an Experiment cont’d
• Things to worry about
– Confounding/Intervening Variables – differences (other
than the IV of course) that arise due to poor planning,
sloppy work, or bias.
– Experimenter Bias - Expectations by the experimenter
that might influence the results of an experiment or its
interpretation.
Hint
• A good way to determine the IV from the DV is
to word the Hypothesis in the form of an “If . .
. then . . .” statement.
• What follows the IF is the IV
• What follows the THEN is the DV
Components of an Experiment that involves
treatments of some kind.
•Experimental group
– Receives treatment or has the DV changed
•Control group
– Does not receive treatment or doesn’t have
the DV changed, but is the same in every
other way
– Demand Characteristics – clues participants
perceive about the experiment suggesting
how they should respond.
Clinical Research
Studies performed in humans
that are intended to increase
knowledge about how well a
diagnostic test or treatment
works in a particular patient
population.
Clinical Research cont’d
Single-blind Procedure
Participants don’t know which treatment
group – experimental or control – they are in
Placebo / Placebo effect
Fake treatment / Some paricipants expect
improvement in health so they imagine it
Double-blind Procedure
In evaluating drug therapies it important to
keep the patients and experimenter’s
assistants blind to which patients got real
treatment and which placebo.
Clinical Research cont’d
Random Assignment
Assigning participants to experimental
(Breast-fed) and control (formula-fed)
conditions by random assignment minimizes
pre-existing differences between the two
groups.
This is not the same as random selection!
A summary of steps during experimentation.
Breast milk makes babies smarter!
Experimentation
Exploring Cause and Effect
Like other sciences, experimentation
makes the backbone of research in
psychology. Experiments isolate
causes and their effects.
AP Psychology
Research Methods: Correlation
Hypothesis
Hypothesis is a testable prediction that lets
us accept, reject or revise a theory.
For Example: If families do not stress gender
differences then there will be fewer sex
differences in siblings.
Theory
Theory is an EXPLANATION based on
evidence that PREDICTS behaviors or events.
A Theory must:
1. Fit the known facts
2. Predict new discoveries
3. Be falsifiable
4. Be simple. The simpler the better – Occam’s
Razor
Families influence the gendering of their
children.
Research Methods in Psychology
• Correlational Research
– Research technique based on the naturally
occurring relationship between two or more
variables
– Used to make PREDICTIONS, such as the relation
between SAT scores and success at college
– Cannot be used to determine cause and effect
Scatterplots
Perfect positive
correlation (+1.00)
Scatterplot is a graph that comprises of points
generated by values of two variables.
The slope of points depicts the direction,
The amount of scatter shows the strength of
relationship.
Scatterplots
Perfect negative
correlation (-1.00)
No relationship (0.00)
Scatterplot on the left shows a relation between the variables, and the one on
the right shows no relationship between the two variables.
Correlation
When one trait or behavior accompanies
another, we say the two correlate.
Indicates strength
of relationship
(0.00 to 1.00)
Correlation
coefficient
Correlation Coefficient is a
statistical measure of relationship
between two variables.
r = + 0.37
Indicates direction
of relationship
(positive or negative)
Study of
Low Self Esteem and Depression
• You do the research because you assume the
two are related
• Compare two variables
– Variable 1 = Score on a self-esteem test
– Variable 2 = Length of a bought of depression in
months
–Score on a self-esteem test
–Length of a bought of depression in months
Correlation and Causation
or
Correlation is not Causation:
It only predicts!!!!
•
Children with big feet reason better than
children with small feet.
–
•
(Children who are older have bigger feet than
younger children; thus they can reason better)
Study done in Korea: The most predictive factor
in the use of birth control use was the number
of appliances in the home.
–
(Those who have electrical appliances probably have
higher socioeconomic level, and thus are probably
better educated.)
Correlation is not Causation:
It only predicts!!!!
•
People who often ate Frosted Flakes as children
had half the cancer rate of those who never ate
the cereal. Conversely, those who often ate
oatmeal as children were four times more likely
to develop cancer than those who did not.
–
Cancer tends to be a disease of later life. Those who
ate Frosted Flakes are younger. In fact, the cereal was
not around until the 1950s (when older respondents
were children, and so they are much more likely to
have eaten oatmeal.)
In a Gallup poll, surveyors asked, “Do you
believe correlation implies causation?’”
• 64% of American’s answered “Yes” .
• 38% replied “No”.
• The other 8% were undecided.
The Simpsons
(Season 7, "Much Apu About Nothing")
Homer:
Not a bear in sight. The
"Bear Patrol" is working like a charm!
Lisa: That's specious reasoning, Dad.
Homer:
[uncomprehendingly]
Thanks, honey.
Lisa: By your logic, I could claim that
this rock keeps tigers away.
Homer:
Hmm. How does it work?
Lisa: It doesn't work; it's just a
stupid rock!
Homer:
Uh-huh.
Lisa: But I don't see any tigers
around, do you?
Homer:
(pause) Lisa, I want to
buy your rock.
Consider the following research undertaken by
the University of Texas Health Science Center at
San Antonio appearing to show a link between
consumption of diet soda and weight gain.
The study of more than 600 normal-weight people
found, eight years later, that they were 65
percent more likely to be overweight if they
drank one diet soda a day than if they drank
none. And if they drank two or more diet sodas
a day, they were even more likely to become
overweight or obese.
Third or Missing
Variable Problem
A relationship other than causal
might exist between the two
variables. It's possible that there
is some other variable or factor
that is causing the outcome.
There are two relationships which
can be mistaken for causation:
1. Common response
2. Confounding
• Ice cream sales and the number of
shark attacks on swimmers are
correlated.
• Skirt lengths and stock prices are highly
correlated (as stock prices go up, skirt
lengths get shorter).
• The number of cavities in elementary
school children and vocabulary size are
strongly correlated.
1.
Common Response:
Both X and Y respond to changes in some
unobserved variable, Z. All three of our
previous examples are examples of common
response.