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Introduction to Psychology

PSCY 111
T. Andrew Caswell, PhD

What is Science?
• Science is the pursuit and application of
knowledge and understanding of the natural
and social world following a systematic
methodology based on evidence
• Science is not
• Science is

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What is Psychology?
• Psychology is a science

• Psychology is the scientific study of

mental activity and behavior

• Psychology is the scientific study of

human mental activity and behavior

– We generally study animals to understand humans

What is Psychology?
Mental activity
• __________________________ lets us
perceive the world; that is, we use our
senses—sight, smell, taste, hearing, and
touch—to take in information from
outside ourselves

• ____________________________refers
Behavior
to all of our actions that result from
sensing and interpreting information

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Why Psychology?
• Studying psychology is a good way to develop
__________________________
critical thinking skills
– Systematically evaluating information to reach
reasonable conclusions best supported by
evidence
skeptical, questioning attitude
– Adopt a __________________________________
toward commonly held beliefs and assumptions
and weighing arguments in terms of the available
evidence

Why Psychology?
• When presented with new information, ask yourself
three questions:
1) What am I being asked to
believe or accept
________________________?
– Clarify the meaning of the terms
skeptical
– Keep an open mind, but be _________________
2) What evidence is provided to support the claim?
– Examine the _________________________
assumptions men vs women on
– Examine the source of the claims emotional intelligence
– Question the evidence
conclusions
3) What are the most reasonable _________________?
– Correlation is not causation
– Avoid overgeneralizing and oversimplifying

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Why Psychology?
• Examine this claim:
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for bipolar disorder

1) What am I being asked to believe or accept?

is this treatment actually going to work

2) What evidence is provided to support the claim?

the effective treatment
3) What are the most reasonable conclusions?
That it works for bipolar disorder

Why Psychology?
• The news media can be a big problem
the news like to overly compensate for the information given, including
( how critical thinkers lose their faith in God) which is completely not
true

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History of Psychology

• Foundations in philosophy and biology

• What is philosophy?
• The study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and
existence.

• Aristotle’s Peri Psyches (About the Psyche)

• Argued that human behavior is subject to rules and laws

Classic Debates
• Early philosophers launched the
___________________________________
NATURE/NURTURE DEBATE
• Nature—
– Inherited biological factors (e.g. genes)
• Nurture—
– Influence of external factors (e.g., learning)
• Debate continues today!
• Alcoholism
– Nature— addiction gene
– Nurture— learned bad habits

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Classic Debates
• The mind/body problem is largely a settled
debate
Rene Decartes
• ___________________________ was an
influential French philosopher
• An advocate of ___________________
Dualism —mind
and body are separate phenomena
– Mind is nonphysical
• Brilliant man
reflexes
– __________________________
• Deeply religious
– Conflicted over the implications of his research

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Classic Debates
• By 19th century, technological changes
allow more brain research
• Frank Gall proposed __________________
phrenology
• Controversy provoked more research
– Important discoveries about
localization of functions
__________________________________
• Phrenology discredited
• Evidence supports ____________________
monism
– The mind is a function of the brain

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Wilhelm Wundt
• Seen as the ____________________________
“father” of psychology
• Originally trained as a physiologist
• Became interested in the basic processes of
sensation and perception
• Established first psychology lab at the University
of Leipzig (Germany)
• _____________________________
Introspection
– Involves looking inward to examine one’s own
conscious experience and then reporting that
experience

the first to set up a “lab” to study these concepts

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Structuralism

Edward Titchener trained under Wilhelm Wundt

• Took psychology to __________________
America
• Cornell University (1892)
• Structuralism – focus on the
basic elements through introspection
• Understand complex mental experiences by examining
the basic elements
– Observable behavior - “irrelevent”
• Introspection – not objective

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* kind of a jerk*
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Functionalism
argued with Edward
Williams James
• Consciousness is an ____________________
ongoing stream
– Can’t be broken down
• Not concerned with the structure of mental
function
processes but the __________________
– How humans adapt to the environment
• Functionalism – concerned with
the adaptive purpose- or function of -mind and behavior

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( at the same time as Williams James)

Evolutionary Psychology
• Charles Darwin - Evolution (widely accepted theory)
• Studies how humans have
adapted the behaviors required for survival

• Members of the species with traits that

promote survival are most likely to reproduce
• Traits that support survival become universal in the species

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Psychoanalysis
• Founded by Sigmund Freud
• Fled to England in 1930’s to escape Nazis
• Became prominent in early 20th century
• Unconscious impulses
______________________________________ have
influence on human behavior
• Gain insight into unconscious
mental health
• First to examine ________________________________
should be looked at in not only a physical acceptance but mental
-has minimal influence in the medical world today

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Gestalt Psychology
• Prominent in Germany in 1920’s
– Reaction to structuralism

• Perception—How people consider

individual elements as individual units or wholes

• Gestalt theory—The whole of personal experience is different

from the sum of its parts

• When individual elements combined, produce something

more meaningful that individual elements alone
still follow today
—the law of proximity
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Gestalt Psychology
the three founders
• Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, & Wolfgang Köhler

• Contributions to modern cognitive psychology

• 1930’s—three founders fled Nazi oppression

• Influenced waned

• Mental activity would fade as subject matter for almost

30 years
the ideas of mental processes faded away

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Text

Behaviorism
• John Watson Psychology as the Behaviorist
Views It (1913)
• Defined psychology as the science of behavior (only )

• Mind, consciousness, feelings not observable or measurable

• Focus on environmental conditions that

produce behavior

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Humanistic Psychology
• Positive reaction to behaviorism and psychoanalysis
behaviorism - *all human behavior was based on learning processes
Psychoanalysts- said (human nature is bad) id is focus on based impulses
Humanists said • Focused on how people grow to become happier
and more fulfilled
– Focus on the basic goodness of people
• People are innately good and possess free will

• Abraham Maslow
– self-actualization
a state that you reach when you fufill your full purpose
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Cognitive Psychology
began to look at computers compared to the human beings mind
• Views humans as active participants in their
environment
• Focus on mental processes
• Emerged in the 1960s
– When computer invented
• Information-processing theory
– Uses the computer as a model for human thinking
broke down memory into three categories
sensory, short and long term memory

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Levels of Analysis
• Today, psychology is not dominated by a school of
thought
• Researchers evaluate phenomenon by examining it
from different perspectives

biological level of analysis

1) The ___________________________________ deals
with how the physical body influences our thoughts
and behavior
Depression- people are depressed because of brain chemicals.
2) The individual level of analysis focuses on ________
individual differences in personality and mental processes
____________________________________________
that affect perception and understanding
Depression - people are depressed because of personality

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Levels of Analysis
• Today, psychology is not dominated by a school of
thought
• Researchers evaluate phenomenon by examining
it from different perspectives

social level of analysis

3) The _______________________________________ involves
investigating how groups affect people’s interactions and
people’s influence on each other
Aggression- men are aggressive to impress others
4) The cultural level of analysis explores how people’s thoughts,
feelings, and actions are similar or different across cultures
aggression- different cultures have different norms about aggression

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Subfields of Psychology
Biological Psychology
• _________________________________ (physiological
psychology) focuses on the biological processes that
underlie psychological events
– Everything psychological is simultaneously biological

Social Psychology
• _________________________________ focuses on
human behavior and mental activity in a social context
– How are we affected by others?

Industrial/Organizational Psychology
• ____________________________________________
focuses on the application of psychological principles
to the workplace
Empolyee selection and training, workplace morale, etc.

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Subfields of Psychology
• Clinical psychology focuses mental health disorders and
methods to treat them
mental health problems
– More likely to focus on _____________________________

• Counseling psychology focuses more on ____________

adjustment problems that are not as seriously
______________________________________
– Drug and alcohol counseling, marriage and family counseling

Health Psychology
• __________________________________ focuses on the
effects of psychological factors on health and how to
promote health behaviors
– Effects of stress on physical health
– How to change maladaptive health behaviors

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Careers in Psychology
Psychiatrists
• __________________________________ are medical
doctors who specialize in psychological disorders
– Must graduate from medical school
– More training in the medical model of mental health

Clinical Psychologists
• __________________________________ are mental
health professionals trained in psychotherapy
– Generally must have a doctorate—Ph.D. or Psy.D.

School Psychologists
• A ________________________________ works in the
education system to help troubled children and
promote a healthy learning environment

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Psychology is a Science
• Science is a systematic form of inquiry, based on observation,
prediction, reasoning, and testing

Scientific method
• The _____________________________________ is systematic
procedure of observing and measuring phenomena (observable
things) to answer questions about what happens, when it happens,
what causes it, and why

science is kind of a conversation

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Five Steps of the Scientific Method

1) Theory
– Theory – a model of interconnected ideas or
concepts that explains what is observed and
makes predictions about future events
– Literature review – learn what other scientists have done

Hypothesis
2) Formulate a ______________________
– A prediction about what should be observed if the
theory is correct

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The Scientific Method

3) Test the Hypothesis
– Design a study
– Collect the data

4) Analyze the Data

do the data support your hypothesis?

5) Report the Results

– Share with other experts and/or public

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Research Methods in Psychology

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Descriptive Research Methods

• Descriptive research methods provide a systematic and
objective description of what is occurring

1) Observational studies—observe and classify behavior

2) Self-reports—surveys, questionnaires, or interviews

3) Case studies—intense examination of a few unique

people or groups

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Observational Studies
• Observational studies—observe and classify behavior

• Examples
– Code nonverbal behaviors during a conversation
• Are the speakers nervous?
– Observe aggressive behavior among chimpanzees

• Problems
– Observational bias— see what you expect to see

– Hawthorne effect—
people act differently if they know they are being observed

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Self-Report
• A descriptive method that consists of obtaining self-
reports from research participants
– Questionnaires or surveys can be used to gather data from
a large number of people in a short time

• Can be done quickly and relatively inexpensively

• Self-report bias want to make yourself look good

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Case Study
• A case study is an intensive investigation of an
individual or a small group of people
– Very in-depth
• Usually done when studying something very
rare

Genain Quads
identical female Quadruplets
all developed varying degrees of schizophrenia in late teens/early twenties

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Correlational Methods
• Correlational methods examine how variables
are naturally related in the real world
– The researcher makes no attempt

– Measure two factors and then determine

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Positive Correlation Example

 The relationship between
hours spent studying and
exam scores is positive
 As the hours studying
Exam Scores

increases, exam scores

increase
 As the hours studying
decrease, exam scores
decrease
Hours Studying

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Negative Correlation Example

 The relationship between
alcohol consumption and
exam scores is negative
Exam Scores

 As alcohol consumption
decreases, exam scores
increase
 As alcohol consumption
increases, exam scores
decrease
Alcohol
Consumption

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Limits of Correlation
 The relationship between
alcohol consumption and
exam scores is negative
 Did higher alcohol
Exam Scores

consumption cause lower

grades?
 Cannot determine
correlation is not causation
conduct an experiment to establish
 Must ______________
Alcohol _______________ tocausation
Consumption
establish causation

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Experimental Methods
• Experimental methods test causal hypotheses by
manipulating independent variables and measuring the
effect on dependent variables

• Let’s do an experiment
• Does higher alcohol consumption cause lower grades?
• The independent variables (IV) causes the dependent
variable (DV)
• IV— cause- alcohol consumption
• DV— effect- grades

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Experimental Methods

• Experiments have at least one experimental

group and one control group
• The experimental group
receives the treatment (or intervention)
• The control group does not

• Experimental group drinks alcohol

• Control group does not drink alcohol

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Experimental Methods
• Suppose we find that students who drank alcohol had
lower grades
• Maybe the people in the experimental group (alcohol
condition) happen to be less intelligent than people in the
control group (no alcohol condition)
• Intelligence is a ____________________
confound
– A third variable that has an effect on the dependent variable
random assignment
• Use __________________________ to avoid confounds
– Placing research participants into the conditions of an
experiment in such a way that each participant has an equal
chance of being assigned to any level of the independent
variable

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Experimental Methods

• Experimental methods test causal hypotheses by

manipulating independent variables and
measuring the effect on dependent variables

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Ethics in Research
• Any institution that does research on human
beings must follow strict guidelines
• Research is supervised by
_______________________
Institutional review boards
– Groups of people responsible for reviewing
proposed research to ensure that it meets the
accepted standards of science and provides for
the physical and emotional well-being of
research participants
– Includes scholars, administrators, legal advisors
and members of the community

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Ethics in Research
• For research to be ethical, five main issues must
be addressed
1. Privacy—Researchers must respect
participants’ privacy

confidentiality
2. ______________________________ —
Participants’ information must be kept secret

informed consent
3. ________________________—Informed
consent means that people must be told about
the research and can choose whether to
participate

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Ethics in Research
• For research to be ethical, five main issues
must be addressed

Deception
4. _______________________________—
Knowing a study’s specific goals can
sometimes alter participants’ behavior, so
deception may be permissible but must be
revealed at the study’s end.

5. Risks—Researchers cannot ask participants

to endure unreasonable pain or discomfort
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