Mr. Bermudez

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Write a response to the following prompt
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Imagine that you are a psychologist. Your client
Linda, tells you that spirits live in the trees near her home. Is Linda suffering from a delusion? Is she abnormal?
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What would you write down in your Client Log?

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Imagine that you are a psychologist. Your client Linda, who is a Native American, tells you that spirits live in the trees near her home. Is Linda suffering from a delusion? Is she abnormal?

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You will misjudge Linda’s mental health if you fail to take her cultural beliefs into account.
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Cultural relativity: the idea that behavior must be judged relative to the values of the culture in which it occurs.
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“Cases like Linda’s teach us to be wary of using inappropriate standards when judging others or comparing groups.”

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As a group open your text books to pg. 13
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Look at the orange box titled, Critical Thinking
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Read the bulleted common-sense beliefs
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Write down on a lined paper which ones are true and which are false.
Stop once you have reached the last bullet point

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How would you explain psychology?
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Ideas
Leaders
What’s it all about?

 Psychology
 Psyche: Mind
 Logos: Knowledge or study
 Definition: The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
 Behavior: Overt (i.e., can be directly observed, as with crying)
 Mental Processes: Covert (i.e., cannot be directly observed, as with remembering)

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………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………
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Neither DID I!!!!!!!

 In the past experts said:
 Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible
 Radio has no future
 X-rays are a hoax
 Same issue in Psychology
 To measure and describe behaviors
 To gather empirical evidence: Information gained from direct observation and measurement
 To gather data: Observed facts

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Scientific Observation: An empirical investigation that is structures so that it answers questions about the world
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Research Method: A systematic approach to answering scientific questions
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Okay I HAVE BORED YOU ENOUGH TODAY!!!!

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Write a response to the following prompt
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Should animals be used to study behavior?
Why or why not might this be beneficial?

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Using your data, work with the person next to you.
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You shall compile both of your subject’s statements, and create a poster.
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You shall look for images online to illustrate what your patients believe psychology is.
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Please be sure to type out each of your clients responses.

 Ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information
 What you expect to see if the claim were true?
 Gather evidence relevant to the claim
 Evaluate the evidence
 Draw a conclusion
 Often used in research

 Few truths transcend the need for empirical testing
 Evidence varies in quality
 Authority or claimed expertise does not automatically make an idea true
 Critical thinking requires an open mind

 Description of Behaviors: Naming and classifying various observable, measurable behaviors
 Understanding: Being able to state the causes of a behavior
 Prediction: Predicting behavior accurately
 Control: changing conditions that influence behaviors
 Positive use: control unwanted behaviors (smoking, tantrums)
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Negative use: control people’s behaviors without their knowledge

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Goal: Learn about one of the many branches of psychology
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Task: We’re heading INTO THE LAB!
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Your task is to become an expert in your selected field.
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You must research the assigned topic with a group
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Answer essential questions
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Identify key people, ideas, AND EXPERIEMENTS!
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Create a PowerPoint with definitions and illustrations
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But find a simple experiment you can use on your classmates.

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Answer the questions from what you have learned over the past few days.

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What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?
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About $30 an hour. (and going up!)

 Psychologists : master’s/doctorate degree; trained in methods, knowledge, and theories of psychology
 Clinical psychologists: Treat more severe psychological problems or do research on mental disorders
 Counseling psychologists: Treat milder problems, such as school or work troubles
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Both treat human EMOTIONAL difficulties

 Psychiatrists : MD; use medications to treat peoples problems; generally do not have extensive training in providing “talk” therapy
 Psychoanalysts : Receive additional training post-PhD or MD at an institute for psychoanalysis

 Psychiatric social worker : Mental health professional who applies social science principles to help people in clinics and hospitals
 Presently a very popular profession
 Counselor : Advisor who helps solve problems with marriage, school, and so on
 Not all psychologists perform therapy!

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Open up to page 27
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Read the green box
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Answer all the questions (HONESTLY)

 Form of critical thinking based on careful measurement and controlled observation
 Six Basic Elements
 Observation
 Defining a problem
 Proposing a hypothesis (an educated guess that can be tested)
 Gathering evidence/testing the hypothesis
 Publishing results
 Building a theory

 Hypothesis Testing : Scientifically testing the predicted outcome of an experiment or an educated guess about the relationship between variables
 Operational Definition : Defines a scientific concept by stating specific actions or procedures used to measure it

 Theory : A system of ideas that interrelates facts and concepts, summarizes existing data, and predicts future observations
 A good theory must be falsifiable (i.e., operationally defined) so that it can be disconfirmed

 Observing a person or an animal in the environment in which they/it live(s)

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Observer effect: Changes in subject’s behavior caused by an awareness of being observed
 Observer bias: Occurs when observers see what they expect to see or record only selected details

 Anthropomorphic fallacy : Attributing human thoughts, feelings, or motives to animals, especially as a way of explaining their behavior (e.g., “Anya, my cat, is acting lethargic because she’s feeling depressed today.”)

 To identify cause-and-effect relationships, we conduct experiments
 Directly vary a condition you might think affects behavior
 Create two or more groups of subjects, alike in all ways except the condition you are varying
 Record whether varying the condition has any effect on behavior

 Any conditions that can change, and might affect an experiment's outcome
 Independent variable : Condition(s) altered by the experimenter; experimenter sets their size, amount, or value; these are suspected causes for behavioral differences
 Dependent variable : Demonstrates effects that independent variables have on behavior

 Conditions that a researcher wants to prevent from affecting the outcomes of the experiment
(e.g., number of hours slept before the experiment)

 The group of subjects that gets exposed to the independent variable

 The group of subjects that gets all conditions
EXCEPT the independent variable

 Subject has an equal chance of being in either the experimental or control group

 Statistically significant : Results gained would occur very rarely by chance alone. The difference must be large enough so that it would occur by chance in less than 5 experiments out of 100
 Meta-analysis: Study of results of other studies

 A fake pill (sugar) or injection (saline)
 Placebos alter our expectations about our own emotional and physical reactions
 If placebo has any effect, might be based on suggestion, not chemistry

 Changes in behavior that result from belief that one has ingested a drug
 These expectancies then influence bodily activities
 Herbal remedies may be based on placebo effect

 Single-blind experiment : subjects are unaware if they get real treatment or placebo
 Double-blind experiment : The subjects AND the experimenters have no idea whether the subjects get real treatment or placebo

 Experimenter effects : Changes in behavior caused by the unintended influence of the experimenter
 Self-fulfilling prophecy : A prediction that leads people to act in ways to make the prediction come true
 Common problem

 Case study : In-depth focus on all aspects of a single person
 Natural clinical tests : Natural events, such as accidents, that provide psychological data
 Survey method : Using public polling techniques to answer psychological questions

 Representative sample : Small group that accurately reflects a larger population
 Population: Entire group of animals or people belonging to a particular category (e.g., all married women)
 Internet surveys : Web-based research; low cost and can reach many people

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Pseudo means “false.” Any unfounded “system” that resembles psychology and is NOT based on scientific testing
 Palmistry: Lines on your hands (palms) predict future and reveal personality
 Phrenology: Personality traits revealed by shape of skull

 Graphology : Personality traits are revealed by your handwriting
 Astrology : The positions of the stars and planets at birth determine personality traits and affect your behavior

 Uncritical acceptance : Tendency to believe positive or flattering descriptions of yourself
 Fallacy of positive instances : When we remember or notice information that confirms our expectations and forget the discrepancies
 Open to page 44
 Your Personality Profile

 Barnum effect : Tendency to consider personal descriptions accurate if stated in general terms
 Always have a little something for everyone. Make sure all palm readings, horoscopes, etc. are so general that something in them will always apply to any one person!