Chapter One
Introduction to
Psychology and Its
Research Methods
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INTRODUCING PSYCHOLOGY
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Why Study Psychology?
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What is Psychology?
Scientific Methods and Thinking
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
SCIENCE
BEHAVIOR
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MENTAL
PROCESSES
Critical Thinking
Process of objectively
evaluating,
comparing,
analyzing,
and synthesizing
information
More independent
thinker
Better decision maker
More effective problem
solver
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True or False?
1. Actions speak louder than
words.
2. Beauty is only skin deep.
6. Opposites attract.
7. Misery loves company.
3. Cry and you cry alone.
8. Spare the rod, spoil the child.
4. Marry in haste, repent at
leisure.
9. The squeaky wheel gets the
grease.
5. Familiarity breeds contempt.
10. Birds of a feather flock
together.
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Pseudopsychologies
The AMAZING Randi
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The FOUR Goals of
Psychology
Describe
What is the nature of the behavior or mental process?
“Boys are more aggressive than girls.”
Explain
Why does this behavior or mental process occur?
“Research indicates that there are numerous interacting causes or explanations for aggression,
including culture, learning, genes, brain damage, and high levels of testosterone.”
Predict
When will this behavior or mental process occur?
“Knowing that alcohol leads to increased aggression, we can predict that more fights will erupt in
places where alcohol is consumed than in those where alcohol isn’t consumed.”
Change
How can we CHANGE this behavior or mental process?
Psychologists help people improve their work environment, stop addictive behaviors, become less
depressed, improve their family relationships
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Which Goal of Psychology is
Represented by Each Example?
• Researchers have recently identified a gene that predisposes
certain individuals to become obese because their satiety
mechanism doesn‘t “turn on.”
• Some developmental psychologists believe that many more
playground accidents will occur this year among young children
who watch violent cartoons.
• Comprehensive sex education should be required in all high
schools because studies demonstrate that such education has
reduced the teenage pregnancy rate.
• Surveys show that women who graduate from college earn as
much money per year as men who graduate from high school.
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Psychology at Work:
Sample Careers and Specialties in Psychology
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Psychology at Work:
Sample Careers and Specialties in Psychology
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Psychology at Work:
Sample Careers and Specialties in Psychology
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Psychology at Work:
Sample Careers and Specialties in Psychology
© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
What Can I Do with My
Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology?
Ten most
popular jobs
for psychology
majors
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ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY
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Psychology’s Past
A Brief History
STRUCTURALISM
FUNCTIONALISM
Sought to identify the
structure of mental
life by identifying
“elements” of
conscious experience
combined to form the
“compounds” of the
mind, via
introspection.
Sought to identify
the functions of
experience , i.e., why
do we experience
anger and what
value does it have?
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PSYCHOANALYSIS
Focused on
unconscious
processes and
unresolved conflicts
that influence
current behavior.
Modern Psychology’s
Seven Perspectives
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Biopsychosocial Model
This unifying and
integrative model views
biological processes
psychological factors
and social forces
as interrelated influences
that interact with the
seven major perspectives
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SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY
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Types of Research
Basic Research
• Research conducted to
advance scientific
knowledge
Applied Research
• Research designed to solve
practical problems
• Meets the goals of describe,
explain and predict
• Meets the goal of change
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Ancestry
and Obesity
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Six Steps of the
Scientific Method Cycle
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Important Terms!
Hypothesis
Specific, testable prediction about how one factor, or variable, is
related to another
Operational Definition
Precise description of how the variables in a study will be
observed and measured (for example, drug abuse might be
operationally defined as “the number of missed work days due
to excessive use of an addictive substance”)
Statistical Significance
Statistical statement of how likely it is that a study’s result
occurred merely by chance
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Three Areas of Ethical
Concern
Informed consent
Voluntary participation
Restricted use of deception
and debriefing
Confidentiality
Alternative activities
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Three Areas of Ethical
Concern
In all institutions where nonhuman animal research is conducted, animal
care committees are established to ensure proper treatment of research
animals, to review projects, and to set guidelines that are in accordance
with the APA standards.
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Pork on the
Run
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Sex Cells
Three Areas of Ethical
Concern
 Personal information and therapy records
must be kept confidential, with records
being available only with the client’s
permission.
 The public’s right to safety ethically
outweighs the client’s right to privacy.
 Therapists are legally required to break
confidentiality if a client threatens violence
to him or herself or to others.
 Breaking of confidentiality also applies if a
client is suspected of abusing a child or an
elderly person.
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Experimental Research:
A Search for Cause and Effect
ANIMATION
The Art of
Prediction
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RESEARCH METHODS:
EXPERIMENTAL
Experimental research: carefully controlled
scientific procedure that manipulates variables
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to determine cause and effect
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Fool Your
Stomach
Learning
from Babies
Research Methods: Experimental
Key features of an experiment:
 Independent variable
versus dependent
variable
 Experimental group
versus control group
 Random assignment
 Controlling
confounding variables
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Labeling Variables and Groups
Label the IV, DV, Control Group and Experimental Group for each
scenario
 A researcher is interested in how the activity level of four-year-olds is affected by
viewing a 30-minute video of Calliou or a 30-minute video of X-Men .
 A therapist wants to test a new drug designed to increase the ability of teenagers
with ADHD to take accurate notes in class.
 A biopsychologist wants to know if exposure to testosterone in adult female rats
increases their aggressive behavior.
 A social psychologist is interested in whether or not there is a gender difference in
how much money men and women will say they should be paid for the same task.
 An industrial psychologist believes that cooling the room temperature may have an
impact on productivity levels in the assembly line.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Experimental Methods:
Potential Researcher Problems
Experimenter Bias
When the researcher influences the
results in the expected direction
Single-Blind Study
Only the researcher, and not the
participants, knows who is in
either the experimental or control group
Double-Blind Study
Both the researcher and the
participants are unaware (blind) of who
is in experimental or control group
Ethnocentrism
Believing one’s culture is typical of all
cultures, is central and “correct,” and
judging others by this standard.
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Experimental Methods:
Potential Participant Problems
Placebo
Inactive substance used as a control
Sample Bias
Occurs when research participants are
not representative of the larger
population
Random Assignment
Using chance methods to assign
participants to experimental or control
conditions
Participant Bias
Occurs when experimental conditions
influence the participant’s behavior
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Placebo
Effect
Design a Scientific Experiment
A motivational speaker claimed that wearing
Questions to Answer
red on the day of an exam "energizes" the
brain and improves performance. Your
Do you need to define any terms for your experiment? Do so.
psychology professor doubts this is true.
Design an experiment that would see if the
What is your independent variable?
speaker was correct.
What is your dependent variable?
An English professor believes that students
who have the opportunity to write their inHow will you select and assign your subjects to a group?
class essays on computers will produce better
essays than those who write their essays by
What treatment will the experimental group be given?
hand. Design a study that tests the professor’s
belief.
What treatment will the control group be given?
An exercise physiologist counsels his clients to
What controls will you use in your experiment? Be sure to
exercise in the morning rather than at night to
avoid experimenter and participant biases.
facilitate weight loss. Your task is to design an
experiment to see if this is the correct advice.
Is there anything you think you should control but aren't sure
how?
Many parents assert that children "amp out"
or go "off the wall" after they eat sugar.
Design a study to determine whether or not
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
this assertion is true.
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH:
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION,
SURVEYS AND CASE STUDIES
Descriptive research: research methods that
observe and record behavior and mental
processes without producing causal explanations
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Descriptive Research
NATURALISTIC
OBSERVATION
SURVEY
CASE STUDY
Observation and
recording behavior
and mental processes
in the participant’s
natural state or
habitat.
Research technique
that questions a
large sample of
people to assess
their behaviors and
attitudes.
In-depth study of a
single research
participant.
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Dog
Personality
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ANIMATION
The Art of
Prediction
Research method in which variables are observed or measured (but not
directly manipulated) to identify relationships between them.
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
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Ancestry
and Obesity
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ANIMATION
The Art of
Prediction
Understanding Correlations
Strength of Relationship
Correlation coefficients are calculated by
a formula that produces a number
ranging from 1.00 to 1.00. Both +1.00
and -1.00 are the strongest possible
relationship. As the number decreases
and gets closer to 0.00, the relationship
weakens.
Direction of Relationship
Positive Correlation
is one in which the two variables move
(or vary) in the same direction—the two
factors increase or decrease together.
Negative Correlation
is one in which two factors vary in
opposite directions
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Distinguishing Between
Experimental & Correlational Research
For each of the following five reports:
1) Decide whether the study is CORRELATIONAL or
EXPERIMENTAL.
2) If the study is correlational, briefly describe
how the variables are related and whether the
correlation is positive or negative. List possible
third variables or confound causes that might also
be influencing the results.
3) If the study is experimental, briefly describe
how Variable A is causing Variable B.
Study III
USA Today reported that the stock market ends the year with
a gain if the Super Bowl is won by one of the original NFL
members ̶–all the NFC and three AFC teams (the Indianapolis
Colt, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns).
Study IV
A psychiatrist from England found that wealthy women aged
35 to 59 had more frequent sex, more orgasms and reported
enjoying sex more than women from poorer households.
Study I
A Dartmouth study found that overweight young women (23 years
Study V
old) earned 6.4% less than non-overweight peers. Additionally, it
Despite popular belief, men are just as likely to "help" as
found that the earnings of young men rose 2% for each 4-inch
women. In fact, one study indicated they were more likely to
increase in height.
engage in helping behavior as women. When confederate
Study II
men and women were staged in a parking lot apparently
An Australian study reported that MSG does not cause people to
having locked their keys in their car, 80% of the individuals
be sick, as was previously reported. The researcher told subjects
who came over to see if they needed help were men! The
that he was studying ingredients in a new soft drink, and fed them
staging was done such that equal numbers of men and
either MSG or a placebo in the drink. The same number and type
women would pass by.
of symptoms were reported in both the MSG and the placebo
groups.
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Biological Research Methods
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Watching
Live Brains
Biological Research Methods
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Imaging
Antidepressant
Accuracy
Biological Research Methods
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Wiring the
Brain
Alzheimer’s
Scans
Biological Research Methods
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Research Challenge:
Does Multitasking Work?
Watch this video!
Media Multitaskers Pay Mental
Price
Read the description of the
study on page 35!
Answer these questions!
1. Hypothesis?
2. Research method (experimental,
descriptive, correlational, or biological)?
3. If you chose the:
Experimental method—label the IV, DV,
experimental group, and control group.
Descriptive method—is this a naturalistic
observation, survey, or case study?
Correlational method—is this a positive,
negative, or zero correlation?
Biological method—identify the specific
research tool (e.g., brain dissection, CT
scan, etc.).
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Are There Cultural Universals?
Emotions and facial
recognition of emotion
provide the clearest
examples of possible
cultural universals
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Tools for
Student Success
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Multimedia
ScienCentral News
Student Drinking (1:14)
There are new concerns about college students
hitting the bottle instead of the books. As this
ScienCentral News video reports, researchers say the
problem could be bigger than previous studies
indicated because the drinks are getting bigger.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Multimedia
CyberPsych Animations
The Art of Prediction (6:30)
This animation provides a lesson on positive,
negative and zero correlations. In addition, it
explains why correlational research does not allow us
to determine cause and effect and gives examples of
experimental research. The variables in question are
hours studied and performance on exams.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Multimedia
Web Video
TED Talks: Derek Sivers: How to Start a Movement
(3:10)
With help from some surprising footage, Derek Sivers explains
how movements really get started. (Hint: it takes two.)
TED Talks: Derek Sivers: Weird or Just Different
(2.42)
The Big Think: Laurie Santos (31:07)
In this interview with Dr. Santos, a dynamic cognitive
psychologist at Yale, she discusses how her current research
with Capuchin monkeys may provide a model for
understanding early human cognition.
"There's a flip side to everything," the saying goes, and in two
minutes, Derek Sivers shows this is true in a few ways you
might not expect.
TED Talks: Joachim de Posada: Don’t Eat the
Marshmallow Yet (6.02)
In this short talk from TED U, Joachim de Posada shares a
landmark experiment on delayed gratification— and how it
can predict future success. With priceless video of kids trying
their hardest not to eat the marshmallow.
© 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.