Introduction to Psychology

The Science of Psychology

Thinking Critically in Psychology

What is Psychology?

What is Psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
and how they are affected by an organisms physical,
state, mental state, and external environment.

What is Psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
and how they are affected by an organisms physical,
state, mental state, and external environment.

Scientific study requires several things:

1. Theoretical framework
2. Testable Hypotheses
3. Empirical evidence

What is Psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
and how they are affected by an organisms physical,
state, mental state, and external environment.
Behavior and mental processes include overt,
observable instances but also include subtle
kinds of instances, like brain activity.

What is Psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
and how they are affected by an organisms physical,
state, mental state, and external environment.
Humans and may other creatures included in the
scientific study of behavior and mental processes

What is Psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
and how they are affected by an organisms physical
state, mental state, and external environment.
Physical state relates primarily to the organisms
biology - most especially the state of the brain
and central nervous system

What is Psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
and how they are affected by an organisms physical
state, mental state, and external environment.
Mental state does not have to be conscious - can
study mental states in many creatures without
their conscious awareness - and can be studied in
terms of brain activity.

What is Psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
and how they are affected by an organisms physical
state, mental state, and external environment.
All organisms function in an environment that is
constantly presenting them with problems and
challenges that must be solved.

What is Psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
and how they are affected by an organisms physical
state, mental state, and external environment.
Most people think of psychology as the study of
differences between people, but it also includes
the study of similarities between people.

What is Psychology?
Kinds of Psychologists: (all scientists)
Cognitive

Cognitive Neuroscience

Social

Evolutionary

Developmental

Educational

Health

Clinical
Human Factors

What is Scientific Thinking?

1. Critical thinking - assess claims on the basis of
well-supported reasons and evidence - not on
emotional or anecdotal reasoning.

2. Involves asking questions - one of the most

important is, WHY?
3. Involves defining terms - must be clear and
concrete

What is Scientific Thinking?

4. Involves examining evidence - Let me have my
opinion! doesnt count

5. Involves analyzing assumptions and biases scientific thinkers do not take anything as proven
fact and work hard to overcome their own biases in
thinking

What is Scientific Thinking?

6. Involves avoiding emotional reasoning - do not let
gut feelings replace clear thinking - emotional
conviction does not settle arguments

7. Involves avoiding oversimplification - the obvious

answer is often wrong and misleading - do not
argue based on own anecdotal evidence

What is Scientific Thinking?

8. Involves consideration of other interpretations - the
best interpretations are supported by the most
evidence and explain the most variables

9. Involves tolerating uncertainty - sometimes

evidence is unclear or does not even exist
10. Involves asking questions that can be tested in
this world

What is Scientific Thinking?

What is the difference between these two statements?
1. I like Fords better than Hondas.
2. Fords are better than Hondas.
And what about this statement?
3. Fords are the best in the world and Hondas do not
exist; they are a conspiracy of the Japanese
government.

Whats Happening in Our Class?

Whats Happening in Our Class?

1. Taking a look at Psychology by asking five broad
questions.
How did we get here?
How do we act?
How do we think/know?
How do we interact?
How do we differ?

Whats Happening in Our Class?

2. We will always be asking how the physical state
of an organism and its environment
simultaneously influence an organisms behavior
and mental processes.

3. We will spend a lot of time discussing how people

are similar and some time talking about how they
are different.

Whats Happening in Our Class?

4. We will draw on what we know about other
critters to help us understand ourselves.
5. We will study and critique all kinds of ideas about
the way people work.
6. We will learn a set of theoretical tools in the
beginning of class and continue to use them
though out the course.

Whats Happening in Our Class?

Examples of ideas that we will discuss and evaluate:
What happens to our brains when we eat
chocolate?

Are women just gold-diggers and men just

superficial?
How do people overdose on drugs?
Why are we fooled by magic tricks?

Whats Happening in Our Class?

Examples of ideas that we will discuss and evaluate:
Why can children learn any language while
adults have to work so hard to learn a second
language?
Why is Jamie Lee Curtis a man genetically?

What is stem cell research and why do we care?

How Did We Get Here?

Evolution is the best scientific
theory that explains how we got
here.

Why Does it Matter How We

Got Here?
Most psychologists dont ask about how we got
here. They only study how things work now that
we are here.
Knowing how we got here helps us understand why
we work the way we do.
Evolution is crucial for understanding psychology!

Psychology without Evolution

The Standard Social Science Model
(SSSM)
Most psychologists agree that bodily organs
evolved to serve a function.
However, many of them also believe that the
mind/brain and behavior did not evolve to serve
a function.
They believe that our brains and behavior
transcend biology!

What is Psychology Like without

Evolution?
1. Social scientists dont tend to ask questions like,
How did we get here?

Without this question we have no complete

theory of human psychology

What is Psychology Like without

Evolution?
2. Can only ask HOW questions not WHY questions.
No way to study what the mind is for, or what it is
designed to do.

Can only study how the mind works.

What is Psychology Like without

Evolution?
3. Traditional psychology has to work through trialand-error to discover the minds operating principles

No overarching theory that guides inquiry about

mind design

Trial-and-error approach can lead to bind alleys

SCIENTIFIC
BLIND ALLEY

What is Psychology Like without

Evolution?
4. An artificial line is drawn between the Social and the
Natural sciences.
Our biology makes everything we do possible
including social interactions and learning
All of science is a coherent enterprise cant
have contradictions across fields
We are not above our biological nature!

What is Psychology Like without

Evolution?
5. It assumes that humans born as a blank slate.
All living things are born with important
preparations for living
Just because a trait is not present at birth does
not mean that it is acquired through experience
(ie. Puberty) process of Maturation

What is Psychology Like w/o Evolution?

6. It assumes that differences among people arise
primarily from different experiences and cultures.
Genes also contribute to differences between
individuals
Experience has to act on something a biological
organism
Genes and environment always working together
to mold an individual