Critical Thinking Exercise

Why do you think psychology is often criticized for not being a true science?

 What is Psychology?

 

Psychology - ___________________ of behavior and mental processes.

Behavior - outward or _____________ actions and reactions.

Mental Processes - internal, covert activity of our _______________.

Psychology is a ____________________

Prevent _____________________ from leading to faulty observations.

Precise and careful _________________________.

 

Psychology's Four Goals

 ___________________

What is happening?

___________________

Why is it happening?

Theory - general explanation of a set of observations or facts.

___________________

Will it happen again?

___________________

How can it be changed?

 

The Science of Psychology

 Psychology and the Scientific Method

 Scientific Method - system of gathering data so that ____________ and _______________ in measurement are reduced.

Steps in the Scientific Method:

Perceive the __________________.

Form a hypothesis: tentative explanation of a phenomenon based on __________________________.

_______________ the hypothesis.

Draw ___________________.

Report your results so that others can try to replicate - repeat the study or experiment to see if the same results will be obtained in an effort to demonstrate ___________________ of results.

 Research Methods

 Descriptive Methods

 Naturalistic Observation

 Watching animals or humans behave in their ___________ environment.

Major Advantage:

_________________ picture of behavior.

Disadvantages:

Observer Effect - tendency of people or animals to behave _________ from normal when they know they are being observed.

Participant Observation - a naturalistic observation in which the observer becomes a participant in the group being observed (to reduce ________________________).

Observer Bias - tendency of observers to see what they ___________ to see.

Blind Observers: people who do not know what the research question is (to reduce observer bias).

Each naturalistic setting is unique and observations may not hold.

 

Laboratory Observation

 

Watching animals or humans behave in a _________________ setting.

Advantages:

___________________ over environment.

Allows use of specialized equipment.

Disadvantage:

Artificial situation that may result in _______________ behavior.

Descriptive methods lead to the formation of testable _______________.

 

Case Study

 

Case Study - study of one individual in ______________________.

Advantage: tremendous amount of detail.

Disadvantage: cannot apply to ___________________.

Famous case study: Phineas Gage.

 

Survey Research

 

Surveys - researchers will ask a series of _________________ about the topic under study.

Representative Sample - ________________ selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects.

Population - the ________________ group of people or animals in which the researcher is interested.

Advantages:

Data from large numbers of people.

Study ___________________ behaviors.

Disadvantages:

Have to ensure _______________ sample (or results not meaningful).

People are not always ____________________ (courtesy bias).

 

Correlational Research

 

Correlation - a measure of the _______________ between two variables.

Variable - anything that can change or vary.

Measures of two variables go into a __________________ formula and produce a correlation coefficient (r), which represents two things:

__________________ of the relationship.

______________ of the relationship.

Knowing the value of one variable allows researchers to ___________ the value of the other variable.

Correlation coefficient ranges from �1.00 to +1.00.

Closer to 1.00 or -1.00, the stronger the relationship between the variables.

No correlation = 0.0.

Perfect correlation = -1.00 OR +1.00.

Positive Correlation - variables are related in the ____________direction.

As one increases, the other increases; as one decreases, the other decreases.

Negative Correlation - variables are related in ______________direction.

As one increases, the other decreases.

 

CORRELATION DOES NOT PROVE CAUSATION!!!

Experimental Research

 

Example: watching violent TV programs causes children to be more violent.

Experiment - a deliberate manipulation of a variable to see if corresponding changes in behavior result, allowing the determination of ____________________________ relationships.

Operational Definition - precise definition of a variable of interest that allows it to be directly ___________________.

Independent Variable (IV) - variable in an experiment that is __________________ by the experimenter.

Dependent Variable (DV) - variable in an experiment that represents the measurable ____________ or behavior of the subjects in the experiment.

Confounding Variable - other variable that may account for changes in the __________________ variable.

Experimental Group - subjects in an experiment who are subjected to the _______________________ variable.

Control Group - subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and who may receive a ______________ treatment (controls for confounding variables).

Random Assignment - process of assigning subjects to the experimental or control groups randomly, so that each subject has an _____________ _______________ of being in either group.

Controls for confounding variables.

 

Quasi-Experiments

 

Like experiments but without __________________________.

Strength

Real-world phenomena that cannot be studied in experiments.

Weakness

Lack of control means limited _______________ inferences.

 

Focus on Diversity

 

______________________ - the branch of philosophy that examines the nature of knowledge.

Different Ways of Knowing

Experience

__________________

Reason

Observation

Different ________________ trust in different sources of knowledge.

 

Pseudopsychologies

 Pseudopsychologies - systems of explaining human behavior that are not based on or consistent with _______________________.

Phrenology - reading bumps on the ________________.

Palmistry - reading palms.

Graphology - analysis of __________________ through handwriting.

 

The History of Psychology

 

Structuralism

 Structuralism - focused on structure or _________________ of the mind.

Wilhelm Wundt's psychology laboratory

Leipzig, Germany (1879)

Objective Introspection � process of objectively examining and measuring one�s __________________ and mental activities.

Edward Titchener

Wundt's student; brought structuralism to __________________.

Margaret Washburn

Titchener's student; _______________ to earn a Ph.D. in psychology.

Structuralism ____________________ in early 1900s.

 Functionalism

 Functionalism - how the mind allows people to __________________: adapt, live, work, and play.

Proposed by William James at Harvard University in America.

Heavily influenced by ______________________ ideas about natural selection.�

 

 

 

Gestalt Psychology

 

Gestalt � �___________________� psychology

The __________________ is greater than the sum of its parts.�

Started with Max ____________________, who studied sensation and perception.

Gestalt ideas are now part of the study of cognitive psychology, a field focusing not only on perception but also on learning, memory, thought processes, and ________________________.

 

Psychoanalysis

 

Psychoanalysis - the theory and therapy based on the work of _________________________.

Freud's patients suffered from nervous disorders with no found ___________________ cause.

Freud proposed that there is an ______________ (unaware) mind into which we push, or repress, all of our threatening urges and desires.

He believed that these ___________________ urges, in trying to surface, created nervous disorders.

Freud stressed the importance of early ______________experiences.

 

Behaviorism

Behaviorism - the science of behavior that focuses on _______________ behavior only.

Must be directly ________________ and measured.

Proposed by John B. Watson.

Influenced by Ivan Pavolv.

Conditioned a phobia in "Little Albert" (Watson & Rayner, 1920).

 

What Psychologists Do

 

Helping Psychologists

 

_______________ Psychology

Traditionally focused on psychopathology.

Clinical neuropsychology

Psychological testing

Private practice or clinical settings

Counseling Psychology

Help people with issues _______________________.

Career counseling

Vocational testing

Educational institutions (e.g., universities)

 

Psychologist vs. Psychiatrist

Psychologist

Have a Ph.D., Psy.D., or Ed.D.

Typically conduct �___________� therapy.

Cannot prescribe __________________.

Psychiatrist

Have an __________ (medical doctorate).

Typically ___________________________.

May conduct therapy, but __________________.

 

Academic Psychologists

Teach classes

Conduct ______________

Main Types:

Clinical

Cognitive

Developmental

Personality

Social

Physiological

Applied Psychologists

 

Solve problems in ______________ areas

Main Types:

Human factors

Industrial/organizational

Personality

Social

Sport

School

 

Zodiac Personality Characteristics

(Handout)

 

Instructions: Choose the letter of the personality characteristics that best describe you.� (Pick ONLY one).

 

A.sensitive, nurturing, compassionate, cautious, tactful, secretive, imaginative, shy

B.  creative, broad-minded, independent, studious, versatile, idealistic, unconventional, sincere

C.  intellectual, versatile, clever, curious, irritable, talkative, adventurous, changeable

D.  secretive, forceful, romantic, intolerant, tactless, intense, insightful, loyal

E.   idealistic, enthusiastic, arrogant, independent, daring, impatient, witty, quick-tempered

F.   ambitious, hardworking, cautious, practical, calm, aloof, possessive, tenacious

G.warm, sensitive, artistic, undisciplined, emotional, compassionate, easygoing, adaptable

H.  critical, analytical, precise, intelligent, practical, thorough, discontented, industrious

I.    honest, impulsive, optimistic, nonchalant, outspoken, playful, restless, direct

J.  loyal, patient, conservative, stubborn, stable, truthful, self-indulgent, possessive

K.  cooperative, impartial, friendly, popular, intellectual, tactful, self-indulgent, sensitive

L.   extraverted, generous, authoritative, affectionate, extravagant, warmhearted, impulsive, optimistic