What Is Psychology?The study of behavior & mental processes. Subjective vs. Objective, Practical vs. Philosophical Natural Explanations for natural phenomena
Psychology is always changing.
“Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards.”S. Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
What Is Psychology? Internet Listening:
Radio Lab (www.wnyc.org) Season Three: “Placebo” (excellent!)
Youtube: “Conspiracy Theories” Penn & Teller Learning Objectives: The Study of Psychology History of Psychology The Scientific Method
Psychology as a science 4 Goals of Psychology:
Describe Understand / Explain Control Predict the events it studies.
Historical Overview
Greeks: = breath of life (soul / spirit / mind)
Socrates (470-399 b.c.e.) “Know thyself” Study ourselves through rational thought
and introspection. Democritus (400 b.c.e.)
Behavior is determined by body & mind.
The Four Greeks Plato (428 - 347 b.c.e.)
Body & soul are separate Soul influences the body only
Aristotle (384 - 322 b.c.e.)
“Peri Psyches” 1st text Seek pleasure, avoid pain
Birth of Psychology ?“Prescientific Thought” Study of brain functions
Extirpation Clinical Method Electrical Stimulation
Empiricism Darwin & Evolution Influenced by Adam Smith
Gustav Fechner (1860) (Psychophysics)
Psychology as a Science
Structuralism(1879) Leipzig“Structures”
Wilhelm Wundt (“Voont”) Premise: The whole = sum of its parts Goal 1: Break conscious experiences into:
Objective sensations (sight / taste) Subjective feelings (emotional responses)
Functionalism William James 1890 (U.S.)
Viewed the mind as a stream (flows). Considered NOT very scientific. Habits, Introspection.
Goal: Apply to everyday problems.
The 6 Perspectives: Lenses Psychodynamic (1900) Freud
Importance of unconscious motives.
The “talking cure” Criticized as too unscientific and
untestable.
Behaviorism Watson, Pavlov, & Skinner
(1910 approx.) Searching for “Laws” the describe
and explain behavior. Reject the “Mind” Focus on learning.
COGNITIVE (Gestalt Psychology) Mind is “active”, always searching for
meaning. Focus on perceptions, Emphasis on the
“whole”.
HUMANISTIC-EXISTENTIAL (1950 - 1960’s)
“Third Force in ” Maslow & Rogers Focus on the individual (wholeness) Behaviorism too narrow, Freud too negative.
BIOPSYCHOLOGICALDescribes / explains behavior in terms of nerves and chemicals (localization of function)linked to technology
SOCIOCULTURALBehavior influenced by environmentSociology and AnthropologyFocus on the individual (dignity)SES, ethnicity, gender, and culture
Logical Positivism Get rid of all statements that
cannot be publicly verified or empirically tested.
View still strongly supported today. Can our senses mislead us?
What Psychologists DoPractice Teach Research (evidence based)
Basic (Pure): no immediate application.Applied: applied to everyday life.
Methodology Theories
Explanatory statements Hypotheses are derived from theories tested by observation revised as needed (to accommodate new
explanations.
Can we ever prove anything?
Problems with Proving We are often guided by opinions.
Opinions are not facts. We often seek evidence that proves
our view and avoid evidence that does not.
CONFIRMATION BIAS Hindsight Bias (“I knew it all along”)
Hindsight is “20/20” after all . . . .
Sir Karl Popper Set up criterion for testing theories Divided theories into 2 groups:
Scientific: disprovable Nonscientific: not disprovable
– (religion, politics, horoscopes, Freud)
Can explain everything: strength & weakness
because scientific testing is impossible.
Problems with Proving No amount of evidence can ever be
sufficient. There will always be new evidence. “Beyond a reasonable doubt.” Bruno Bettelheim
Theories can only be disproved, never proved. We build evidence / support.
Scientific Method Organized way of expanding, refining
knowledge, Systematic, Utilizes many methods, Popper’s Criterion and Induction, Peer reviewed, Must be testable, Evidence based.
Conspiracy Theories and the Scientific Method
Extraordinary Claims require Extraordinary Evidence
PROVING DISPROVING
(Construction) (Deconstruction) Render Decision (observation) Gather & Isolate Observations
Add selected observation together Compile all evidence
to build/reinforce viewpoint. (both pro & con)
Evaluate the “Whole” Evaluate each observation to
(Don’t examine all parts individually) render a decision
When an idea is refuted, return to a Refuted observations are
Position of suspicion (“nothing you can rejected/discarded.
say will change my mind.”)
“CONFIRMATION BIAS”
Hypothesis Prediction “What if” statement. Educated guess A specific statement about
behavior or mental processes tested through research.
Scientific MethodExperiment(2 Outcomes)
Theory is supported. Theory is wrong,
must be changed.
Regardless of outcome, always return to theory for refinement.
Populations & Samples Population: a complete group of people. Sample
part of a population. samples must accurately represent the
population they are intended to reflect. Generalize: particular to the general.
Experimental Method Cause and effect determination. Experimental Vs. Control groups
“Treatment” and the “Placebo Effect”
Independent Vs. Dependent variables(manipulated) (measures effect of I.V.)
Blind & Double Blind studies
Operational Definition (specificity)
Methods of Observation Case study (biography) Survey (large samples)
Random sample
Naturalistic Observation observed in natural environment
Correlational Method Relationships between variables
Positive Correlation: as one variable increases, so does the other.
Negative Correlation: as one variable increases, the other decreases.
Correlation does not imply causation.
Experimental Method Cause and effect determination. Experimental Vs. Control groups
“Treatment” and the “Placebo Effect” Independent Vs. Dependent variables (manipulated) (measures effect of I.V.)
Blind & Double Blind studies
Experimental Method Replicate (repeat, copy, reproduce)
Why is this important? Ex.: elements in periodic table
Reliability: consistency Validity: degree to which a test
measures what it’s supposed to.