Chapter One Lecture Notes Thinking Critically With Psychological Science I. What is Psychology?

Psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Defined by John B. Watson Behavior is anything observable Mental processes are the internal subjective experiences II. Psychology Roots Aristotle theory about learning and memory, motivation and emotion, perception and personality. Wilhelm Wundt philosopher and physiologist, established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany. William James brought psychology to America Charles Darwin proposed evolutionary psychology Ivan Pavlov pioneered the study of learning Sigmund Freud personality theorist Jean Piaget 20th century most influential observer of children Mary Whiton Calkins first female president of APA Margaret Floy Washburn was the first woman to receive a psychology PH.D and the second female president of APA. Psychology Current Perspectives: Neuroscience seeks to explain how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences.
Evolutionary examines the adaptive value of behaviors and mental processes. Behavioral genetics examines how much our genes and our environment

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influence our individual differences. Psychodynamic views human behavior as the result of unconscious mental forces often hidden and uncontrollable. Behavioral explains how we learn observable responses. Cognitive sees behavior as guided by thinking and knowing, both conscious phenomena subject to intentional modification.

Social-cultural examines how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures. Biopsychosocial Approach is an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis (review chart on page six of text book). Psychologist at Work Clinical psychologists - specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of people with psychological disorders. Counseling psychologists - help people who have adjustment problems that are less severe than those generally handled by clinical psychologists Psychiatrist medical doctors licensed to prescribe drugs and otherwise teat physical causes of psychological disorders. Often provide psychotherapy. V. Scientific Method Set of procedures used for gathering and interpreting objectives information in a way that minimizes error and yields dependable generalizations. Theory, Hypothesis, Operational definition, Replication A useful theory effectively organizes a wide range of observations and implies testable predictions, called hypothesis. As an additional check on their own biases, psychologists report their results precisely with clear operational definitions of concepts. Such statements of the procedures used to define research variables allow others to replicate, or repeat, their observations. Research Methods Case Study among the oldest research methods. One person is studied in dept in hopes of revealing universal principles. The Survey looks at many cases in less dept and asks people to report their behavior or opinions. This is a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people. Naturalistic Observation observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation. A correlation coefficient is a statistical measure of relationship. A positive correlation indicates a direct relationship, meaning that two things increase together or decrease together. A negative correlation indicates an inverse

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relationship: As one thing increases, the other decreases. Important: Correlation does not mean causations! VI. Experimentation Experiment is a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect of some behavior or mental process (dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors. (Read pages 22-24) Placebo Effect Expectations alone can produce results Randomly Assigning Assigning by chance Independent Variable Experimental factor that is manipulated Dependent Variable The variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable. The Goals of Psychology: Describe What occurs Behavioral level Explain Why it occurs Rule out alternative explanations Predict Conditions under which behaviors likely will occur Understand relationships between events Influence Application of knowledge to real world VII. Tips for Studying Psychology The SQ3R acronym for five-step study method: Survey, Question, and Read, Rehearse, Review. Note: It is important that you read the chapter in its entirety. You will be responsible for knowing the terms and concepts listed at the bottom of page 32 of your textbook.