INTRODUCTION TO
PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology – scientific study of
behavior and mental process
 Psyche – mind and spirit
 Logos – study of
Behavior
 Unit of study in
psychology
 Dimensions of behavior
o think
o feel
o act
Goals of Psychology
 describe
 explain and understand
 predict
 control
Study Mental Processes
 Perceiving
 Decision-Making
 Sensing
 Dreaming
 Remembering
Study Human Behavior
 Biological Basis of
behavior
 Behavioral Processes
 Sensation and Perception
 Learning Memory
 Consciousness
 Personality
 Motivation and Emotion
 Social Psychology
 Stress, Mental Health and
Abnormal Behavior
Psychology is a Science
 Generate theory-based on
testable hypotheses
 Collect data
 Use data to further develop
the theory
RESEARCH METHODS IN
PSYCHOLOGY
 The goals of psychology
are to describe, explain,
predict and control
behavior
 The goals are
accomplished by using the
scientific method which is
systematic and empirical
Research Methodologies
 Naturalistic Observation –
observing and recording
the behavior of people in
their natural environment
Advantages
o See behavior as it
naturally occurs
o No artificial laboratory
setting
Disadvantages
o Cannot control all
variables
o Possible observer o Independent
biases or error variable –
 Case Studies – in depth manipulated by
description and analysis of experimenter
a single individual o Dependent variable
Advantage – measured to see
o Detailed understanding the effect of the
of human phenomena independent
such as serial killing variable
Disadvantage o Experimental group
o Costly, time, – receives some
consuming, inaccurate treatment like
retrospective getting a drug or
information psychotherapy
 Survey and Questionnaires o Control group –
– administered to a large treated exactly the
group of people same as
Advantage experimental group
o Much information does receive the
o Inexpensive  Predictive Studies
o Fast and efficien  Moderation and Mediation
Disadvantage Studies
o Response biases  Qualitative Researches
o Quality of responses
 Correlational Research –
tells whether the values of
two variables are related
o Correlation – number
that indicates the
relationship between
two or more variables
o Values – can range
from -1 to +1
o Scatterplot – visually
represents a correlation
Correlation (cont.)
 +1 indicates a
perfect positive
relationship
 -1 indicates a
perfect negative
relationship
 0 indicates no
relationship
 In the real world
+1 and -1 are
really seen
 Values will range
0 and + or – 1
 Two variables
may correlate
highly but that
does mean
variable caused
the other
 Experimental Research –
by manipulating an
independent variable the
researcher determines
whether it influences the
dependent variable
- Experimenter
deliberately
manipulates a variable
- The effects of that
manipulation on
another variable