PSY 101 - Thinking Critically with Psychological Science (Ch 1)

Who is William James?

- 1st psychology professor at an American university - - introduced experimental psychology to the U.S. - wrote a 1400 page psychology book

What were the 3 early schools of contemporary psychology?

- Gestalt Psychology - Psychoanalysis - Behaviorism

What is the problem with common sense?

- It can be contradictory (there is a commonsensical explanation for any conclusion and its opposite) - We may differ in what seems commonsensical to us - Just bc something aligns with our views doesn't mean it is definitely true or false - Based on private, careless observation, or upon wholly non-empirical bases (ex. Folklore, parental teaching, stereotypes, etc.)

What happened during the first recorded psychological experiment?

- Psamtik I, King of Egypt, wanted to prove that Egyptians were the most ancient race on earth - Hypothesis: if children had no opportunity to learn a language from people around them, they would spontaneously speak the inborn language of the most ancient people (Egyptians) - Kidnapped two children who were raised without hearing anyone speak a word - At 2 years old the children spoke their first word - "Becos!" - the Phrygian word for bread - Psamtik I was devastated and concluded that Phrygians were an older race than the Egyptians

Thought experiment with hindsight bias

- Tell one group of people that "psychologists have found that separation weakens romantic attraction." Asked to imagine why this is true, what do you suppose people will say? - I already knew that! Common sense! Out of sight, out of mind! - Tell another group of people that "psychologists have found that separation strengthens romantic attraction." Asked to imagine why this is true, what do you suppose people will say? - I already knew that! Common sense! As they say, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder!"

Examples of correlation

- alcohol consumption and heart disease - alcohol use and GPA - performance and speed of response

3 steps of psychologists asking and answering questions

1. Generating a research question 2. Establishing operational definitions 3. Choose a research design

When was the first record psychological experiment?

7th Century B.C.

Another way to think of a theory is

A theory is a broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempt to explain observations and to make predictions about future observations

Example of research and observations

Administer survey items asking about number of social groups and happiness. See if a high score on one predicts a high score on the other.

Another example of a program of research:

After the original study of the bystander effect, there were dozens of follow-up studies aimed at answering specific questions about the effect

When was the birth of contemporary psychology?

Dec. 1879

What are the 3 major types of methods that psychologists uses in their research?

Descriptive, Correlational, Experimental

How do we develop research/empirical questions?

Everyday observations of behavior, serendipity, the need to solve a practical problem, common sense, and programs of reesarch

What were the chief influences of William James' book?

Functionalism and the nature of the mind, the stream of thought, the self, will, the unconscious, emotion

No correlation

GPA and drinking have nothing to do with each other

Examples of psychology as a science

If someone falls on the ice, how many people are going to stop to help them? They could figure this out by counting the amount of times someone helps, who helps, or when they help. Are happy people more likely to help? Are women more likely to help? Why does this happen and how can we change behavior to increase helping?

How did the bystander effect come about?

In the 1960s, social psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latane were horrified by the brutal murder of a woman named Kitty Genovese. Dozens of neighbors witnessed or were aware of the attack, but no one helped.

Example of case study

Irene Pepperberg concluded that African Grey parrot Alex could name and categorize objects, and comprehend numbers up to 6.

What is psychology as a science?

It uses systematic methods to observe human behavior and draw conclusions. The goals are to describe, predict, and explain behavior.

Who was the father of behaviorism?

John Watson

What are the 2 settings for research?

Lab and field

Example of a hypothesis

People who belong to social groups will be happier than those who do not.

Example of naturalistic observation

Primatologist Jane Goodall used it to study chimpanzees. She concluded, "Observations made in the natural habitat helped to show that the societies and behavior of animals are far more complex than previously supposed."

Who is the father of psychoanalysis?

Sigmund Freud

What's an example of structuralism?

The amount of time between when someone hears a sound and when they click

Another example of a case study

Through a series of case studies often of his own children, Jean Piaget developed an influential theory of cognitive development, which assumes that cognitive functions unfold through a series of distinct stages

What is the purpose of research?

To extend and/or replicate previous findings

Scatterplot

a graphed clutter of dots, each of which represents the values of 2 variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship, while the amount of scatter suggests the strength of the relationship.

Conceptual Variable

a hypothetical factor/construct that is not observed directly. Rather, its existence is inferred from certain observations and assumed to follow from certain situations (ex. shyness, sleep quality, intelligence)

Hypothesis

a testable prediction implied by a theory. Ex. men threatened by sexual infidelity (genes) vs. women threatened by emotional infidelity (can't mate)

Serendipity

act of discovering something while looking for something else entirely - an accidental discovery Ex. potassium bromide, penicillin, Viagra, Skinner's extinction curve

Why is the survey a good technique?

allows for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions, or behaviors of people usually done by questioning a representative sample of people - one that accurately portrays the population of interest.

Theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations

Case Study

an in-depth investigation of a single (or very few) subject(s)/participant(s)

What is the survey?

an investigation of many cases in less depth by asking people to report opinions and behaviors

Common Sense Example #8 By acting out or venting our aggression, we are/are not less likely to aggress in the future.

are not

Commonsense Example #5 If you want to buy a car at the best/not best to adopt a tough bargaining stance by opening with a very low offer rather than a sincere, good faith offer.

best

How is a relationship established?

by finding the degree to which 2 variables covary (as one variable changes, what does the other variable do?)

Bystander Effect

bystander is less likely to give aid to a victim if other bystanders are present

Another way of saying the hindsight bias

commonsense describes what has happened after the fact more easily than it predicts what will happen before the fact.

What did Wilhelm and his team do in Dec. 1879?

concentrated on discovering the basic elements, or "structures," or mental processes

How well the points form a line gives us the...

correlation coefficient

Another example of a theory

depression is related to self-esteem (one's feelings of self-worth) - this would have been a hypothesis if it had a specific, testable prediction.

Commonsense Example #1 People do or do not? enjoy an activity more just because of a greater reward

do not

Commonsense Example #4 When it comes to romance, opposites do or do not? attract.

do not

Often it is only in hindsight that...

everyone knows

Behavior

everything we can do that can be directly observed

Structuralism

focus on identifying the structures of the human mind, and their method of study was introspection (the what of the mind).

Psychoanalysis

focused on the etiology, development, and treatment of abnormal behavior. Concluded that mental states and our unconscious influence how we behave. Nothing happens by accident. Emphasis on unconscious thought and conflict between biological drives (ex. Sex) and society's expectations. He thought that development was a quick and tumultuous period in early childhood, which influences everything moving forward.

The need to solve a practical problem. Examples?

how do we create better workplace environments? or floods --> levees

Another example of a hypothesis

individuals who have been socially excluded should feel less happy that those who have been socially included.

In case studies, what can researchers do?

interact and ask questions

Commonsense Example #3 A good predictor of whether any two people will be friends is/is not? their sheer proximity, or geographical nearness to one another

is

Is common sense valid?

it can be and often is

What is a research question?

it can be answered through objective observations and data

Correlational Methods

measure the variables as they exist in nature

Who is B.F. Skinner?

modern behaviorism's most important and controversial figure

Common Sense Example #6 When we feel guilty, we are more/less likely to help one another.

more

Common Sense Example #9 As suggested by the dumb-blond idea, physically attractive people tend to be seen as more/less intelligent than plainer looking people

more

Example of a theory

most important human need is the need to belong to a social group, which leads to a hypothesis.

Common Sense Example #7 People pull not as hard/just as hard? in a tug-of-war when part of a team than when pulling by themselves.

not as hard

Biopsychosocial Approach

o Looks at genes, individual development, cultural norms, etc. o Biological influences: shared human genome, individual genetic variations o Psychological influences: neurological o Social: behavior

Everyday observations of behavior

one source of research questions for psychology is simply observing the world around you and asking questions about why people think and behave the way they do.

Gestalt Psychology

opposed to structuralism, the whole is different from the sum of its parts. Thought of the mind and behavior as a whole (perception and behavior principles). Ex. Is the picture a face or two people looking at each other? Why does our mind tell us that we see a box and there really isn't one? Is there an arrow in FedEx to symbolize moving forward?

Commonsense Example #5 People tend to overestimate /underestimate? the extent to which other people share their opinions, attitudes, and behavior

overestimate

Positive Correlation

people who drink more have higher GPAs

Negative Correlation

people who drink more have lower GPAs

What is behaviorism?

psychology was redefined as the scientific study of observable behavior (how behaviors are learned and modified); typically influenced theories. At one point in time, introspection was kind of thrown out.

Naturalistic Observation

record behavior in its natural environments and describing it in detail

Introspection

reflecting and thinking about something

Descriptive Methods

research that determines the basic dimensions of a phenomenon (defining what is, how often it occurs, and so on). Cannot prove what causes the phenomenon, but can reveal important information about people's behavior's and attitudes.

Correlation Coefficient

statistical index (-1 to 1) of the relationship between 2 variables

Example of difference in commonsensical saying

strike while the iron is hot vs. look before you leap

Wilhelm Wundt is the founder of

structuralism

Programs of research

studies are typically interrelated and lead to numerous follow-up studies

Functionalism

the key question in psychology is not so much what the mind is (that is, its structures) as what it is for (its purposes or functions in the individual's adaptation to the environment).

Example of an operational definition - of intelligence

the number correct on tests of verbal, spatial, numerical, and reasoning abilities

How do psychologists ask and answer questions?

the scientific (research) method

What is psychology?

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Hindsight Bias

the tendency for people to exaggerate how much they could have predicted an outcome after knowing that it occurred. Ex. "Well of course that happened because of these reasons" such as Houston - do we evacuate people in a hurricane to clog up out routes or do we keep them in the cities? Evacuating late might cause more people to be injured or killed. If you don't evacuate and people die there, then you should have evacuated. If you learn that someone dislikes something in the same way that you do, then you are more likely to bond, then if someone likes the same things you do. If you told someone that, then they might say "well duh" but did they actually know it?

Mental processes

the thoughts, feelings, and motives that each of us experiences privately but that cannot be observed directly. Ex. Thinking about kissing someone, the fact that you're riding a moped, etc.

Another example of research and observations

to manipulate whether people are included or excluded from a game of catch with 2 other partners, and measure happiness levels afterwards. See if excluded individuals report lower levels of happiness.

Why do psychologists use naturalistic observation?

to study effects of social interaction on people's behavior. One study found that people laugh 30 times more often in social situations than in solitary situations (Provine, 2001) or close talkers like Lyndon Johnson (used to get his way), and Twitter positive or negative message moods

Operational Definition

turn a conceptual variable into a variable that can be measured or manipulated. Connect unobservable traits, experiences, or qualities into things that can be observed and measured.

Some students of psychology only credit ______________ findings as "scientific"; seeing the rest as "just common sense"

unexpected

Example of a program of research:

we find that smoking marijuana does make people worse at math. What other questions might we have?

Structuralism is the _____ of the mind

what

Functionalism is the ____ of the mind

why

Commonsense Example #2 People will or will not? disobey an authority who tells them to hurt a stranger

will not

Common Sense

you shouldn't rely on common sense to draw conclusions, but can be sources of ideas. Ex. do opposites attract? If you "spare the rod", do you "spoil the child"?

Dr. Weaver's example of his best friend's wedding and the hindsight bias

• Dr. Weaver's example with Nevan: one of his best friends in high school. He met Katie when he was 20 or 21. Within 6 months, they're getting married. One of the other groomsmen gets really drunk and says it won't last because Nevan didn't date much. They have 3 kids and are still together today. Dr. Weaver sees that groomsmen later and he said "I knew it all along that they were going to be great together." Hindsight is like thinking of it as being 20/20.

Example of firetrucks

• The innovation: lime green fire truck vs. red fire truck • The rationale: perceptual psychologists' discovery that the human visual system is most sensitive to light with wave lengths between 510 and 570 nm (lime green) • The result: lime green fire trucks are more than three times less likely to be in a traffic accident than red fire trucks

Psychology makes the world a better place to live. Ex. police lineup

• The innovation: lime green fire truck vs. red fire truck • The rationale: perceptual psychologists' discovery that the human visual system is most sensitive to light with wave lengths between 510 and 570 nm (lime green) • The result: lime green fire trucks are more than three times less likely to be in a traffic accident than red fire trucks

Research Process Example

• We might theorize that the most important human need is the need to belong to a social group (Baumeister & Leary, 2000). - From this theory we might come up with a variety of predictions • We might hypothesize that people who belong to social groups will be happier than those who don't - Or that, individuals who have been socially excluded should feel less happy than those who have been socially included • We might test the first hypothesis by seeing if people who report a higher number of social groups that they belong to tend to also report higher happiness scores - We might test the second hypothesis by manipulating whether people are included or excluded from a game of catch with 2 other partners, and then see if excluded individuals report lower levels of happiness