Unit 1: Scientific Foundations of Psychology

Part 1: Psychology’s History and Approaches

Module 1:

Psychology and Its History

Psychology is a Science
● Underlying all science is a passion to explore & understand without misleading or being
misled.
● However, some questions are beyond science & require a leap of faith or innate belief to
be answered (beliefs are commonly mislabeled as feelings).
● The Scientific Attitude:
1. Curiosity
2. Skepticism
3. Humility
● “The rat is always right.”
Critical Thinking
● Critical Thinking: Examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases,
evaluates evidence, & assess conclusions.
● Many leaders of the scientific revolution, such as Copernicus & Newton, were deeply
religious & believed that “in order to love & honor God, it is necessary to fully appreciate
the wonders of his handiwork.”
● Critical thinking can lead to surprising findings, debunk popular presumptions & identify
effective policies.
Prescientific Psychology
● We can trace many of psychologists' current questions back to historical philosophical &
physiological approaches.
● In ancient Greece, Socrates (469 to 399) & Plato (428 to 348) concluded the mind is
separable from the body & continues after the body dies; & that knowledge is innate.
● Aristotle (384 to 322) derived principles from careful observations & concluded that
knowledge grows from the experience stored in our memories.
● When modern science began to flourish in the 1600s, new theories of human behavior &
new versions of ancient debates emerged.
● Frenchman Rene Descartes (1595 to 1650) agreed with Socrates & Plato.
● To answer the question of how the immaterial mind & physical body
communicate, he dissected animals & concluded that the fluid in the brain’s
cavities that flowed through the nerves contained animal spirits & provoked
movement.
● He was right that nerve paths are important & enable reflexes.
● English Science took a more down to earth form, centered on experiments, experience,
& commonsense judgment.
● Englishman Francis Bacon (1561 to 1626) was a founder of modern science whose
influence lingers in the experiments of today’s psychological science.
 ● “The human understanding from its peculiar nature, easily supposes a greater degree of
order & equality in things than it really finds.”
● British political philosopher, John Locke (1632 to 1704), created one of history’s greatest
late papers titled “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”.
● Argued that the mind at birth is a tabula rasa (blank slate) which, adding to Bacon’s
ideas, helped form modern empiricism.
● Empiricism: The idea that knowledge comes from experience, & that observation &
experimentation enable scientific knowledge.
Psychological Science is Born
Psychology’s First Laboratory
● Modern day psychology was born in December 1879 at Germany’s University of
Leipzig, when Wilhelm Wundt wanted to create an experimental apparatus to
measure the “atoms of the mind”.
● Wilhelm Wundt (1832 to 1920): Wundt established the first psychology laboratory
at the University of Leipzig, Germany.
● In 1883, Wundt’s American Student G. Stanley Hall went on to establish the first
formal U.S. psychology laboratory, at John Hopkins University.
Psychology’s First Schools of Thought
Structuralism
● After receiving his Ph.D. in 1892, Wundt’s student Edward Bradford
Titchener joined Cornell faculty & introduced structuralism.
● Structuralism: An early school of thought promoted by Wundt & Titchener;
used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.
● Edward Bradford Titchener (1867 to 1927): Used introspection to search
for the mind’s structural elements.
● Titchener aimed to classify & understand elements of the mind’s structure
(periodic table).
● Introspection: The process of looking inward in an attempt to directly
observe one’s own psychological process.
● Proved unreliable because it required smart, verbal people & results
varied from person to person & experience to experience.
● Moreover, we often don't know why we feel what we feel & do what we
do.
Functionalism
● William James (1842 to 1920) & Mary Whiton Calkins (1863 to 1930):
James was a legendary teacher-writer who authored an important 1890
psychology text. He mentioned Calkins, who became a pioneering
memory researcher & the first woman to be president of the American
Psychological Association.
● Thinking developed because it was adaptive, helping our ancestors
survive & reproduce.
● Consciousness serves as a function , as it enables us to consider our
past, adjust our present, & plan our future.
 ● Functionalist: An early school of thought promoted by James & influenced
by Darwin; explored how mental & behavioral processes function & how
they enable the organism to adapt, survive, & flourish.
● Jame authored the “Principles of Psychology (1890)”.
Psychology’s First Women
● Margaret Floy Washburn (1871 to 1939): The first woman to receive a
psychology Ph.D., Washburn synthesized animal behavior research in “The
Animal Mind (1908)”.
● She became the second female APA president in 1921.
● Her thesis was the first foreign student Wundt published in his psychology
journal.
● Over the past century, psychology has shifted from mostly white, male discipline
to one where women now receive most Ph.D.s.
Psychological Science Matures
● In the early days, many psychologists shared with the English essayist C. S. Lewis’s
view that “there is one thing, & only one thing in the whole universe which we know more
about than we could learn from external observation” (overselves).
● Psychology was defined as “the science of mental life”.
Behaviorism
● This definition endured until John B. Watson & B. F. Skinner redefined
psychology as “the scientific study of observable behavior”.
● Behaviorism: The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that
(2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists
today agree with (1) but not with (2).
● It was one of the two major forces in psychology well into the 1960s.
● John B. Watson (1878 to 1958) & Rosalie Rayner (1898 to 1935): Working with
Rayner, Watson championed psychology as the scientific study of behavior. In a
controversial study on a baby, who became famous as “Little Albert”, he &
Rayner showed that fear could be learned.
● B. F. Skinner (1904 to 1990): This leading behaviorist rejected introspection &
studied how consequences shape behavior.
Freudian (Psychoanalytic) Psychology
● Emphasized the ways our unconscious mind & childhood experiences affect our
behavior.
● Sigmund Freud (1856 to 1939): The controversial ideas of this famed personality
theorist & therapist have influenced humanity’s self-understanding.
Humanistic Psychology
● Humanistic Psychology: A historically significant perspective that emphasized
human growth potential.
● Led by Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow, they found the behaviorism & Freudian
psychology too limiting.
Module 2:
Today’s Psychology & Its Approaches
Contemporary Psychology
● Psychologists in the 1960s pioneered a cognitive revolution.
● Cognitive Psychology: The study of mental processes, such as when we perceive, learn,
remember, think, communicate, & solve problems.
● Cognitive Neuroscience: The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with
cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, & language).
● Psychology: The science of behavior & mental processes.
● Behavior is anything an organism does (any action we can observe & record).
● Mental processes are the internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior.
● Psychology has roots in many disciplines & countries.
● Ivan Pavlov, who pioneered the study of learning, was a Russian psychologist.
● Jean Piaget, the last century’s most influential observer of children, was a Swiss
biologist.
● These “Magellans of the Mind” illustrated the diversity of psychology’s origins.
● Contemporary psychology is particularly influenced by our understanding of biology &
experience, culture & gender, & human flourishing.
Evolutionary Psychology & Behavior Genetics
● Nature-Nurture Issue: The longstanding controversy over the relative
contributions that genes & experience make to the development of psychological
traits & behaviors. Today’s science sees traits & behaviors arising from the
interaction of nature & nurture.
● Socrates & Plato assumed we inherit character & intelligence & that certain ideas
are also inborn.
● Aristotle countered that there is nothing in the mind that does not first come in
from the external world through the senses.
● Locke rejected the notion of inborn ideas, suggesting the mind is a black slate,
while Descartes believed that some ideas are innate.
● “On the Origin of Species” explained this diversity by proposing the evolutionary
process of natural selection.
● Charles Darwin (1809 to 1882): Darwin argued that natural selection shapes
behaviors as well as bodies.
● Natural Selection: The principle that inherited traits that better enable an
organism to survive & reproduce in a particular environment will (in comparison
with other trait variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.
● Evolutionary Psychology: The study of the evolution of behavior & the mind,
using principles of natural selection.
● Behavior Genetics: The study of the relative power & limits of genetics &
environmental influence on behavior.
Cross-Culture & Gender Psychology
● W.E.I.R.D. cultures (western, educated, industrialized, rich, & democratic).
● Culture: The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, & traditions shared by
a group of people & transmitted from one generation to the next.
● We are each in certain respects like all others, like some others, & like no others.
 Positive Psychology
● The first hundred years of psychology often focused on understanding & treating
troubles, such as abuse & anxiety, depression & disease, prejudice & poverty.
● Positive Psychology: The scientific study of human flourishing with the goals of
discovering & promoting strength & virtues that help individuals & communities to
thrive.
The Biopsychosocial Approach & Psychology’s Theoretical Perspectives
● Smaller systems make up us, who are complex systems that are part of a larger social
system.
● Biopsychosocial Approach: An integrated approach that incorporates biological,
psychological, & social-cultural viewpoints.
● Behavioral Psychology: The scientific study of observable behavior, & its explanation by
principles of learning.
● Biological Psychology: The scientific study of the links between biological &
psychological processes.
● Psychodynamic Psychology: A branch of psychology that studies how unconscious
drives & conflicts influence behavior influence behavior to treat people with
psychological disorders.
● Social-Culture Psychology: The study of how situations & cultures affect our behavior &
thinking.
● Psychologists may engage in interdisciplinary studies, such as psychohistory (the study
of people’s historical motivations), psycholinguistics (the study of language & thinking), &
psychoceramics (the study of crackpots).
● “Knowledge has modified attitudes, and, through them, behavior.”
Use Psychology to Become a Stronger Person - and a Better Student
● Get a full night's sleep
● Make space for exercise
● Set long-term goals, with daily aims
● Have a growth mindset
● Prioritize relationships
● Testing Effectiveness: Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading
information. Also referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.
● SQ3R: A study method incorporating five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve, &
Review.
● Distribute your study time
● Learn to think critically
● Process class information actively
● Overlearn

Module 3:
Subfields in Psychology
Basic & Applied Psychology
● Psychometrics: The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, &
traits.
● Basic Research: Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.
● Developmental Psychology: A branch of psychology that studies psychical, cognitive, &
social change throughout the life span.
● Educational Psychology: The study of how psychological processes affect & can
enhance teaching & learning.
● Personality Psychology: The study of individuals’ characteristic patterns of thinking,
feeling, & acting.
● Social Psychology: The scientific study of how we think about, influence, & relate to one
another.
● Applied Research: Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.
● Industrial-organizational (I/O) Psychology: The application of psychological concepts &
methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces.
● Human Factors Psychology: A field of psychology allied with I/O psychology that
explores how people & machines interact & how machines & psychical environment can
be made safe & easy to use.
● Counseling Psychology: A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in
living & achieving greater well-being.
● Clinical Psychology: A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, & treats people with
psychological disorders.
● Psychiatry: A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by
physicians who are licensed to provide medical treatments as well as psychological
therapy.
● Community Psychology: A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with
their social environments & how social institutions affect individuals & groups.
● Dorothea Dix (1802 to 1887)
Psychology’s Main Subfields
Basic Research Subfields
Applied Research Subfields
The Helping Professions

Unit 1: Scientific Foundations of Psychology

Part 2: Research Methods: Thinking Critically With Psychological Science

Module 4:

The Need for Psychological Science

Did We Know it All Along? Hindsight Bias
● Hindsight Bias: The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have
foreseen it (i-knew-it-all-along phenomenon).
 Overconfidence
● Humans tend to think we know more than we do.
● We tend to be more confident than correct.
Perceiving Order in Random Events
● We have built in eagerness to make sense of the world.
● In random data we often find patterns because random sequences often don't
look random.
● It's hard to generate random-like sequences.
● An event that happens to be 1 in 1 billion people every day occurs about 7 times
a day more than 2500 times a year.

Module 5:

The Scientific Method & Description

The Scientific Method
● A self correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation & analysis.
Constructing Theories
● Theory: An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes
observations & predicts behavior or events.
● Hypothesis: A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.
● Our theories can bias our observations.
● Operational Definitions: A carefully worded statement of exact procedures
(operations) used in a research study. For example, human intelligence may be
operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures.
● Replication: Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different
participants in a different situation, to see whether the basic finding can be
reproduced.
● A theory is useful if it organizes observations & implies predictions.
● Descriptive methods describe behaviors, often by using case studies, surveys, or
naturalistic observations.
● Correlational methods associate different factors, or variables.
● Experimental methods manipulate variables to discover their effects.
Description
The Case Study
● Case Study: A descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in
depth in the hopes of revealing universal principles.
● Individual cases can suggest fruitful Ideas, but to find general truths we
must employ other research methods.
Naturalistic Observation
● Naturalistic Observation: A descriptive technique of observing & recording
behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control
the situation.
● Went from small science to big science due to modern technology & data
collection.
 ● It does not explain, but describes behavior.
The Survey
● Survey: A descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or
behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random
sample of the group.
Wording Effects
● Even subtle changes in the order or wording of questions can have major
effects.
Random Sampling
● Sampling Bias: A flawed sampling process that produces an
unrepresentative sample.
● Population: All those in a group being studied, from which samples may
be drawn.
● Random Sample: A sample that fairly represents a population because
each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Module 6:

Correlation and Experimentation

Correlation
● Correlation: A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, & thus how well
either factor predicts the other.
● Correlation Coefficient: A statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1
to +1).
● Variable: Anything that can vary & is feasible & ethical to measure.
● Scatterplot: A graph cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two
variables. The slope of the points suggest the direction of the relationship between the
two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation.
● Correlation does not prove causation.
Illusory Correlation and Regression Toward the Mean
● Illusory Correlation: Perceiving a relationship where none exist or perceiving a
stronger than actual relationship.
● Regression Toward the Mean: The tendency for extreme or unusual scores or
events to fall back toward the average.
Experimentation
Experimental Manipulation
● Experiment: A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or
more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process. By
random assignment of participants, the experiment aims to control other relevant
factors.
● Isolate cause & effect.
● Experimental Group: In an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that
is, to one version of the independent variable.
 ●Control Group: In an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment;
contrasts with the experimental group, & serves as a comparison for evaluating
the effects of the treatment.
● Random Assignment: Assignment participants to experimental & control groups
by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups.
Procedures and the Placebo Effect
● Double Blind Procedure: An experimental procedure in which both the research
participants & the researcher staff are ignorant about whether the research
participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug
evaluation studies.
● Placebo Effect: Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on
behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which
the recipient assumes is an active agent.
Independent and Dependent Variables
● Independent Variable: In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the
variable whose effect is being studied.
● Confounding Variable: A factor other than the factor being studied that might
influence a study’s results.
● Dependent Variable: In an experiment the outcome that is measured; the
variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated.
● Validity: The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is
supposed to.
● Operational Definitions
● Experimental Condition
● Comparison or Control Condition.

Module 7:

Research Design and Ethics in Psychology

Research Design
Understanding Everyday Behavior
● The theoretical principles that one is testing reveals everyday behaviors.
Psychology’s Research Ethics
Protecting Research Participants
Studying and Protecting Animals
● Is it right to place the well being of humans above that of other animals?
● What safeguards should protect the wellbeing of animals in research?
Studying and Protecting Humans
● The ethics code of APA & Britain's BPS urge researchers:

● Informed Consent: Giving potential participants enough

information about a study to enable them to choose whether they
wish to participate.
● Protect participants from greater than usual harm & discomfort.
 ● Keep information about participants confidential.
● Debriefing: The post experimental explanation of a study,
including its purpose & any deceptions, to its participants.
Values in Psychology
● Values affect what we study, how we study it, & how we interpret results.

Module 8:

Statistical Reasoning in Everyday Life

The Need for Statistics
Descriptive Statistics
● Descriptive Statistics: Numerical data used to measure & describe characteristics of
groups. Includes measures of central tendency & measures of variation.
● Histogram: A bar graph depicting a frequency distribution.
Measures of Central Tendency
● Mode: The most frequently occurring score in a distribution.
● Mean: The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores &
then dividing by the number of scores.
● Median: The middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it & half are
below it.
● Skewed Distribution: a representation of scores that lack symmetry around their
average value.
Measures of Variation
● Range: The difference between the highest & the lowest scores in a distribution.
● Standard Deviation: A computed measure of how much scores vary around the
mean score.
● Normal Curve: A symmetrical, bell shaped curve, that describes the distribution
of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean & fewer & fewer near the
extreme.
● 68% fall within one standard deviation, 95 fall within two, & 99 fall within three.
Inferential Statistics
● Inferential Statistics: Numerical data that allows one to generalize from sample data the
probability of something being true of a population.
When Is an Observed Difference Reliable?
● Representative samples are better than biased samples.
● Less variable observations are more reliable than those that are more variable.
● More cases are better than fewer.
When Is an Observed Difference Significant?
● Statistical Significance: A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained
result occurred by chance.