PSYC1020

Part A :
weeks 3 & 4

Overview of Part A (John)
weeks 3 & 4
Week 3

finish Paradigms
begin Research Methods

Week 4
more Research Methods

*Note: only material covered up to (and including) Lecture 4
will be on the mid-semester on-line quiz
The Five Most Prominent
Paradigms in Contemporary
Psychology

Behavioural
Cognitive
Biological
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Having some perspective on paradigms
Asking Which paradigm is best?, or
even Which paradigm is true? is not
likely to be answerable or useful.

Asking What are the uses and
limitations of each paradigm? is a
better question

Consider the old story of The blind
men and the elephant

The Behavioural Paradigm
Subject matter
General definition of the field: The scientific study of
behaviour
Specific focal topics: Learning
Methods: Experimental (mostly animal)
Language and Concepts: Stimulus, Response,
Conditioning, Reinforcement, Shaping
Root Metaphor: Blank slate, Lump of clay
Intellectual Influences
Prior: Mentalism
Contemporary: Other sciences, especially Darwinian
Biology
The Cognitive Paradigm
Subject matter
General definition of the field: The scientific study of
mental processes (as shown in behaviour)
Specific focal topics: Perception, Attention, Memory,
Thinking
Methods: Experimental (mostly human)
Language and Concepts: Input, Output, Codes,
Serial Processing, Memory Stores
Root Metaphor: Programmed Computer
Intellectual Influences
Prior: Mentalism, Behaviourism
Contemporary: Computer Science, especially Artificial
Intelligence
The Biological Paradigm
Subject matter
General definition of the field: The scientific study of
the biological basis of behaviour
Specific focal topics: Behavioural topics, Cognitive
topics
Methods: Experimental (where possible), Case Study,
Correlational
Language and Concepts: Biological terms,
Behavioural terms, Cognitive terms
Root Metaphor: Biological machine
Intellectual Influences
Prior: Behaviourism
Contemporary: Neuroanatomy and Physiology,
Cognitive Perspectives

The Psychodynamic
Paradigm
Subject matter
General definition of the field: The study of conscious
and unconscious processes as seen in mental
illness
Specific focal topics: Mental Illness
Methods: Case History
Language and Concepts: Ego, Id, Superego,
Defence Mechanisms: Repression, Projection etc.
Root Metaphor: surface: Mental Illness
deeper: fluid dynamics
Intellectual Influences
Prior: Philosophy
Contemporary: Victorian culture, Medicine, Darwinian
struggle to survive
The Humanistic Paradigm
(Maslow, 1960s)
Subject matter
General definition of the field: The study of conscious
human experience
Specific focal topics: Individual awareness, Conscious
choices, Well-being
Methods: Case History
Language and Concepts: Personal growth, Self-
actualisation, Awareness, Transcendence, Free will,
Human potential
Root Metaphor: Growth
Intellectual Influences
Prior: Psychodynamic, Behavioural
Contemporary: 1960s culture, Existentialist and
Eastern philosophies

How would each of these
paradigms approach

biological
behavioural

depression

cognitive
psychodynamic
humanistic
Enough of PARADIGMS, now on
to METHODS..
PSYC1020
Part A: Week 3-4 Methods
(see also chapter 2 of text)

Lecture 4:
Research Methods
Introspection
Naturalistic Observation
Case History
Survey
Test
Correlation
Experiment
less




CONTROL




more
The need for controlled observations
The (true) story of Clever Hans

Setting:
Late 19
th
-century Germany
Characters:
Hans A horse
Mr Van Osten His owner (a mathematician)
Prof. Carl Stumpf Psychologist (scientific panel)
Oscar Pfungst Doctoral student

Introspection
Looking within

The systematic observation of ones own
consciousness, generally accompanied by a
verbal report of ones observations

Non-scientific paradigms of early
mentalistic psychology

(but still underlying some contemporary
self-report methods)
Naturalistic Observation
Objectively studying events as they
naturally occur, without intervention

Often a good starting point and used in
some applied research

Similar to, but distinct from the Participant
Observation method in Anthropology
Case History
Biographical information pertaining to
a single individual, obtained
retrospectively and often through
interview

Mostly Biological, Psychodynamic and
Humanistic paradigms
Example: Phineas Gage


leaving him in a
temperamental and
unsociable state.
Survey
Quantitative measure of responses
to questions (interview or
questionnaire) asked of a large
sample

Easily done, easily distorted

Test
Quantitative measure of
performance relative to some pre-
established norm

E.g., mid-semester exam
Correlation
Statistical calculation of the direction and
degree of relationship between any two or
more observed variables
The coefficient of correlation, r is the most
common statistical measure of this relationship.
The value of r ranges from -1 to +1
Positive values indicate a direct relationship,
negative values an inverse relationship
Values close to 0 indicate a weak relationship

N.B. Even when correlation is very strong, we cannot infer causality.
To do so is to fall victim to the correlational fallacy
E.g., 1. Fatigue and driving errors strong +ive correlation

2. Age and running speed for adults strong -ive correlation
Experimental Method
Method of manipulating one set of
variables (independent variables: IV), while
observing and measuring the effect on
another set of variables (dependent
variables: DV), with other factors equivalent
(random and control variables)

If the DV changes significantly when we
manipulate the IV, we may infer that the IV
has a causal relationship to the DV

Mostly Behavioural, Cognitive (e.g., The
Stroop Effect) and Biological paradigms.
slower


D.V.



faster
I.V.
Coloured bars Mismatched coloured
words
E.g., The Stroop effect
Common Sources of Bias
(Distortion) in Research
Sampling Bias

Subject Bias

Experimenter Bias

Operational Definitions
Sampling Bias
Is the sample studied representative
of the population of interest?

For example

Affects generalisability of conclusions

Solution: careful design dont just
test anyone/everyone
Subject Bias
Hawthorne or placebo effects
o Early (1920s) research in the applied
area of Industrial Psychology

o What environmental factors affect
worker productivity? (Hawthorne was
the name of the production company)

o The main experiment related to
workplace lighting

Hawthorne Effect
high

D.V.:

Productivity


low
I.V.: Lighting
low high
?
Subject Bias
Hawthorne or placebo effects

Were the subjects responding to their
expectations, rather than to the
experimental manipulations?

Remember, the experimenters were with
the subjects when changes were made

Solution: single blind research subjects
are less aware of whats going on
Experimenter Bias
Rosenthal effects (Robert Rosenthal)
o 1960s

o Initial studies were on classroom
students

o Student experimenters observed the
learning behaviour of rats in two
conditions: dull versus smart rats
Rosenthal Effect
high

D.V.:

Learning


low
I.V.: dull smart
rats rats
!
Experimenter Bias
Rosenthal effects

Are the researchers influencing the
behaviours they are observing?

Favours one group over the other

Solution: double blind research
experimenter and subjects less aware of
whats going on
Operational Definitions
Defining variables in terms of the
operations (methods) used to
observe/measure/manipulate
them

Needs to be very clear what you
are measuring

E.g., Relaxation as measured by
- Heart rate decrease
- Brain activity - encephalograph
- Self-report scale

E.g., Perception as measured by
- Reaction time
- Self report

E.g., Intelligence as measured by
- IQ test
- Self report

*** Remember the levels of control ***
Bias overall
Obviously should be avoided

Just as importantly, shows how much
care needs to be applied to designing,
running, and interpreting experiments
Research Programs:
These methods in action
Eg., Frank & Gilovich (1988)

Do bad guys wear black?