More about the course

|ames Honor Schoar Program

Geneveve Henrcks at
henrck2@nos.edu

Wthn 2 weeks of the start of the semester

Chapter 1

What is psychology?

Scientific Thinking: Distinguishing Fact

from Fiction

History of Psychology

***1. Expan why psychoogy s more than |ust common sense.

***2. Expan the mportance of scence as a set of safeguards aganst bases

NOT ASSIGNED 3. Descrbe psychoogca pseudoscence, and dstngush t from

psychoogca scence

NOT ASSIGNED 4. Identfy the reasons we are drawn to pseudoscence

***5. dentfy the key features of scentfc skeptcsm

***6. Identfy and expan the 6 prncpes of scentfc thnkng that w be used
throughout the text

***7. Identfy the ma|or theoretca frameworks of psychoogy

**8. Descrbe the dfferent types of psychoogst and dentfy what each of them
does

*9. Desbrbe the two great debates that have shaped the fed of psychoogy

*10. Descrbe how psychoogca research affects our day ves

What s Psychoogy?

Defnton : The
scentfc study of
the mnd, bran,
and behavor
What s Psychoogy?

Psychoogsts try to appy ther understandng

of the mnd n the servce of human wefare

Psychoogy covers a broad range of topcs

(from personaty to hearng and vson) that
make you who you are
Psychoogy as a Scence

Psychoogy snt |ust common sense or a

matter of opnon

Psychoogy s a scence

Scence s an approach to evdence

Emprcsm (knowedge shoud be acqured

through observaton)

"Is your frend Mary extroverted or

ntroverted?"
What s a Scentfc Theory?

Scentfc Theory - An expanaton for a

arge number of fndngs n the natura
word, ncudng the psychoogca
word

E.g., Theory of gravty

Hypothess - A specfc testabe

predcton

E.g., free-fang of ob|ects

Bases

Confrmaton Bas - The tendency to

seek out evdence that supports our
beefs and deny, dsmss, or dstort
evdence that contradcts them

Beef Perseverance - The tendency to

stck to our nta beefs even when
evdence contradcts them
Scentfc Thnkng:
Dstngushng Fact from Fcton

Scientific Skepticism
Approach of evaluating
all claims with an
open mind but insisting
on persuasive evidence
before accepting them

Hamark of scentfc skeptcsm:

Critical Thinking= scientific thinking
Scentfc Thnkng:
Dstngushng Fact from Fcton
Set of skills for evaluating
all claims in an open-
minded and careful
fashion
#1. Rung out rva hypotheses

Have important alternative explanations

for the finings !een e"clue?
Si" Principles of Scientific
Thinking
#2. Correaton vs. causaton

Can #e !e sure that $ causes %?

&aria!le: Anythng that can vary across peope,

such as heght, IO, or extraverson.

When two varabes are correated

AB

BA

CA & B

Correaton-causaton faacy: Error of assumng

that because one thng s assocated wth
another, t must cause the other.
Si" Principles of Scientific
Thinking
E.G.

Varabe A: Teens stenng to musc wth sexua

yrcs

Varabe B: Teens havng sexua ntercourse

Sexua yrcs prompt teens to have sex"

Lstenng to sexua musc sexua ntercourse

Sexua ntercourse stenng to sexua musc

Impusvty causes both

Si" Principles of Scientific
Thinking
' () Falsifia!ility

Can the claim !e isprove?

*They have a great respect for authority !ut may not+ if they
reach high rank+ !e #illing to listen to other opinions on
things they are irectly responsi!le for),

*That is not to say that the Cancerian is unsocia!le+ -ust that

for them there is a time to sociali.e an a time to !e
solitary+ an this is part of the apparent contraiction in
their nature,

A good theory shoud be capabe of beng dsproved.

Si" Principles of Scientific
Thinking
' /) 0eplica!ility

Can the results !e uplicate in other

stuies?

Repcabty-the dea that a studys

fndngs can be dupcated consstenty;
f they cant be dupcated, ts possbe
that the orgna fndngs were due to
chance.

Ideay by ndependent nvestgators and

use dverse methods.
Si" Principles of Scientific
Thinking
' 1) 2"traorinary claims

3s the evience as strong as the claim?

Davd Hume: The more a cam

contradcts what we aready know, the
more persuasve the evdence for ths
cam must be before we shoud accept
t.
Si" Principles of Scientific
Thinking
' 4) 5ccam6s ra.or

Does a simpler e"planation fit the ata -ust as

#ell?

Occams razor: If two expanatons account

for a phenomenon equay we, we shoud
generay seect the more parsmonous
one.

Exercse:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/19/heart.attack.proof.det/ndex.htm

The Hstory of Psychoogy

As a scence, psychoogy has ony exsted

130 years!

In 1879, Whem Wundt deveoped the frst

psych. aboratory n Germany

Expermenta methods, tmed

procedures, and ntrospecton
The Hstory of Psychoogy

Theoretca Frameworks:

1) Structurasm

Edward Bradford Ttchener

(1867-1927)

Amed to dentfy the basc

eements of the
psychoogca experence

ntrospecton

Systematc observatons

Probems

Not a menta actvtes are

conscous

Too sub|ectve
The Hstory of Psychoogy

2) Functonasm

Wam |ames and Chares Darwn

Amed to understand the adaptve

purposes of psychoogca characterstcs
(why?)

Emotons

Stream of conscousness
The Hstory of Psychoogy

3) Behavorsm

|ohn B. Watson and B.F. Sknner

Psychoogy shoud be ob|ectve, not

sub|ectve

Focus on fndng the prncpes of earnng

by ookng at observabe behavor

Rewards and punshments

Reca how you earn to go to schoo

The Hstory of Psychoogy

4) Cogntvsm

|ean Paget

Thnkng s centra to understandng

behavor

Interpretatons of events s cruca

How to determne what s punshment/ reward

Cogntve Neuroscence - Examnes the

reatonshp between bran functonng and
thnkng
The Hstory of Psychoogy

5) Psychoanayss

Sgmund Freud (1856-1939) from Venna,

Austra

Unconscous

Behavor s nfuenced by unconscous drves

Very controversa