Transcript Griggs Chapter 1: The Science of Psychology
General Psychology (PY110)
Chapter 1 The Science of Psychology
Psychology
The scientific study of
behavior mental processes
and Psychologists attempt to understand
1. Observable Behavior (Overt):
Actions or reactions such as speech and physical movement
2. Mental Processes (Covert):
Actions or reactions such as remembering and thinking, which cannot be directly observed
Four Perspectives
Biological Behavioral Cognitive Socio cultural The four perspectives fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw No one perspective is “better” than another Each provides information on behavior and mental processes
Perspectives Emphasizing Internal (Covert) Factors
Biological perspective
◦ Concerned with our physiological hardware The brain, nervous system, and glands
Cognitive perspective
◦ Emphasizes our mental processes Perception, memory, and problem solving
Perspectives Emphasizing External (Overt) Factors
Behavioral perspective
◦ Explains that we behave as we do because of our past history of conditioning
Sociocultural perspective
◦ Focuses on the impact of other people and cultures
Behavioral Perspective
Two types of conditioning: Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning
How we learn fear and emotional responses, taste aversions, and certain other behaviors Involves the relationship between our behavior and its environmental consequences
Four Goals of Psychology
Describe Explain Predict Control
What Why Anticipate Change or Modify
Major Research Perspectives in Psychology
Research Methods
•Observation •Naturalistic Observation •Participant Observation •Case Study •Survey •Experimental
Descriptive Methods: Observational Techniques The researcher directly observes the behavior of interest ◦ Naturalistic observation: intervening.
The observation occurs in its natural setting, without the researcher ◦ Participant observation: The observer becomes part of the group being observed.
Descriptive Methods: Case Studies The researcher studies an individual in depth over an extended period of time to attempt to learn as much as possible about the individual being studied Scope is Low, but Detail is High Often used in clinical settings to gather information that will help in the treatment of the patient Results of case studies cannot be generalized to other people
Descriptive Methods: Survey Research Uses questionnaires and interviews to collect information about the behavior, beliefs, and attitudes of particular groups of people Scope is High, but Detail is Low It is critical to note that the wording, order, and structure of the survey questions may lead the participants to biased answers ◦ For instance, some questions might evoke socially-desirable responses in an effort to make certain impressions on the researchers A representative (
sample
) of the total population must be selected at random to avoid biased results and allow results to be generalized across whole population
Experimental Research
Experimental Research observations under controlled conditions is
This control allows the researcher to isolate
cause-and-effect relationships
from the experimental results
Experimental Research
•Experimental research seeks to establish cause and effect relationships between two variables.
Cause Effect
Designing an Experiment (Change) When a researcher designs an experiment, the researcher begins with a hypothesis about the cause and-effect relationship between two variables One of the variables is assumed to be the cause, and the other variable is the one to be affected ◦ The
independent variable
is the hypothesized cause, and the experimenter manipulates it ◦ The
dependent variable
variable that is hypothesized to be affect by the independent variable and thus is measured by the experimenter is the
Designing an Experiment
Problem Hypothesis Experimental Design Collect, Analyze, & Interpret Data Results State Problem Suggest Cause & Effect Relationship Select Random Sample Divide Sample in two groups Experimental Group Control Group Manipulate with IV Record Data Give Placebo or do nothing Record Data Analyze Statistically Was Hypothesis Correct?
The Placebo
A
placebo
ingredients is a harmless pill that has no active They are used to make the control group believe they are receiving the same ‘treatment’ as the experimental group The
placebo effect
expectation of improving because of receiving treatment is improvement due to the
The Double-Blind Procedure
A control measure in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know which participants actually got the treatment (experimental group) and or got the placebo (control group) If the experimenter OR the participant does not know which group they are in, the experiment is called single-blind
Summary of Research Methods
Data Analysis - Averages
Designed to summarize a set of data with a single number
Three measures of central tendency
1. The
mean
is the numerical average for a distribution of score 2. The
median
is the score that is positioned in the middle of the distribution of scores when scores are listed from lowest to highest If there is an odd number of scores, the median is the middle score If there is an even number of scores, the median is the average of the two center scores 3. The
mode
is the most frequently-occurring score in a distribution of scores If two scores occur with equal frequency, both can be the mode
Data Analysis - Variation
Provides an idea of how scattered a set of results are
Two measures of variability
1. The
range
is the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution of scores Like the mean, the range can be greatly distorted by extremely high or extremely low scores 2. The
standard deviation
is the average extent to which the scores vary from the mean of the distribution A small standard deviation means that scores do not vary very much from the mean A larger standard deviation means that scores tend to vary greatly from the mean
Summary of Descriptive Statistics