Ciccarelli ch01 lecture

PSYCHOLOGYPSYCHOLOGY
AN EXPLORATIONAN EXPLORATION
PSYCHOLOGYPSYCHOLOGY
AN EXPLORATIONAN EXPLORATION
CHAPTER
Second EditionSecond Edition
Psychology: An Exploration, Second Edition
Saundra K. Ciccarelli • J. Noland White
the science of
psychology
1

Why study psychology?
Psychology not only helps you understand why people (and animals)do
the things they do, but it also helps you better understand yourself and
your reactions to others. Psychology can help you comprehend how
your brain and body are connected, how to improve your learning
abilities and memory, and how to deal with the stresses of life, both
ordinary and extraordinary. In studying psychology, an understanding
of the methods psychologists use is crucial because research can be
flawed, and knowing how research should be done can bring those
flaws to light. And finally, psychology and its research methods
promote critical thinking, which can be used to evaluate not just
research but also claims of all kinds, including those of advertisers and
politicians.

Learning Objectives
• LO 1.1Definition and goals of psychology
• LO 1.2 Structuralism and functionalism
• LO 1.3 Early Gestalt, psychoanalysis, and behaviorism
• LO 1.4 Modern perspectives Skinner, Maslow and Rogers
• LO 1.5 Psychiatrist, psychologist, and other professionals
• LO 1.6 Psychology is a science; steps in scientific method
• LO 1.7 Naturalistic and laboratory settings
• LO 1.8 Case studies and surveys
• LO 1.9 Correlational technique
• LO 1.10 Experimental approach and terms
• LO 1.11Placebo and the experimenter effects
• LO 1.12 Elements of a real-world experiments
• LO 1.13 Ethical concerns in conducting research
• LO 1.14 Principles of critical thinking

What is Psychology?
• The scientific study of behavior and
mental processes.
– Behavior
 Overt actions and reactions
– Mental processes
 Internal, covert activity of the mind
– Scientific
 Prevent possible biases from leading to
faulty observations
 Precise and careful measurement
LO 1.1 Definition and goals of psychology

Goals of Psychology
• Description
– What is happening?
• Explanation
– Why is it happening?
– Theory
 Explanation of a set of observations or
facts

Goals of Psychology
• Prediction
– Will it happen again?
• Control
– How can it be changed?

Structuralism
• Structuralism
– Focused on structure or basic elements
of the mind.
LO 1.2 Structuralism and functionalism

Structuralism
• Wilhelm Wundt
– Established first psychology laboratory
 Leipzig, Germany in 18 7 9
– Developed objective introspection
 Examine and measure personal thought
and mental activities

German physiologist Wilhelm Wundt participates in an experiment in his laboratory as students look on. Courtesy
of General Information Center

Structuralism
• Edward Titchener
– Wundt’s student
– Brought structuralism to America.
• Margaret Washburn
– Titchener’s student
– First woman to earn a Ph.D. in
psychology.
• Structuralism died out in early 19 0 0 s.

Functionalism
• Functions in the real world
• How people to adapt, live, work, and
play
• Proposed by William James
• Influenced modern fields:
– Educational psychology
– Evolutionary psychology
– Industrial/organizational psychology

Gestalt Psychology
• Max Wertheimer
– Perception can only be understood as a
complete event.
– Understanding patterns, whole figures
• Gestalt
– German translated as “organized whole”
LO 1.3 Early Gestalt, psychoanalysis, and behaviorism

Gestalt Psychology
• Ideas are now part of modern
cognitive psychology
– Field focuses on perception, learning,
memory, thought processes, and
problem solving

Figure 1.1 A Gestalt Perception
The eye tends to “fill in” the blanks hereand sees both of these figures as circles rather than as a series of dots or
a broken line.

Psychoanalysis
• Developed by Sigmund Freud
– Trained as a physician
– Worked with patients with nervous
disorders

Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud walks with his daughter Anna, also a psychoanalyst. © Hulton Archive/Getty
Images

Psychoanalysis
• Main Ideas
– Unconscious (unaware) mind
 Where threatening impulses and desires
are repressed
– Repressed urges create nervous
disorders

Psychoanalysis
• Freud’s concepts
– Stressed importance of early childhood
experiences
– Formed the basis for modern therapy

Behaviorism
• Ivan Pavlov
– Russian physiologist
– Studied digestive processes
– Reflex can occur with new and unrelated
stimulus
– Conditioned dogs to salivate to
metronome

Physiologist Ivan Pavlov uses a dog to demonstrate the conditioned reflex to students at the Russian Military
Medical Academy. © Bettmann/Corbis

Behaviorism
• John B. Watson
– Developed the “science of behavior”
– Psychology should focus on observable
behavior
 Must be directly seen and measured
 Ignore notion of unconscious
– Believed phobias were learned through
conditioning.
 Case of “Little Albert”
–Child conditioned to fear a white rat

American psychologist John Watson is known as the father of behaviorism. Behaviorism focuses only on
observable behavior. Courtesy of Underwood & Underwood/Bettmann/Corbis

Modern Perspectives
• Psychodynamic perspective
– Modern version of psychoanalysis
– Focus on development of a sense of self
– Discover motivations behind behavior
 No emphasis on sexual motivations
LO 1.4 Modern perspectives Skinner, Maslow, and Rogers

Modern Perspectives
• Behavioral perspective
– B. F. Skinner
 Developed theory of how voluntary
behavior is learned
 Introduced concept or reinforcement
– Perspective was major force in the
twentieth century

Behaviorist B. F. Skinner puts a rat through its paces. What challenges might arise from applying information
gained from studies with animals to human behavior? Courtesy of Nina Leen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

Modern Perspectives
• Humanistic perspective
– People have free will to choose destiny
– Early contributors:
 Abraham Maslow
 Carl Rogers
– Self-actualization
 Achieving one’s full potential or actual
self

Modern Perspectives
• Humanistic perspective
– Modern Humanism
 Used in psychotherapy
 Assists in self-understanding

Modern Perspectives
• Cognitive perspective
– Major force emerging in 1960’s
– Focus on memory, intelligence,
perception, problem-solving, and
learning.
– Cognitive neuroscience
 Physical workings of brain and nervous
system
 Use imaging techniques
–MRI, PET

These scans show loss of gray matter in the brains of individuals with very early-onset, adolescent schizophrenia
over a five-year period, highlighting one focus of the biological perspective. Courtesy of The University of
California, Los Angeles

Modern Perspectives
• Sociocultural perspective
– Examines relationship between social
behavior and culture

Modern Perspectives
• Biopsychological perspective
– Behavior is a result of biological events
in the body
 Genetic influences, hormones, and the
activity of the nervous system

Modern Perspectives
• Evolutionary perspective
– Examines biological bases of universal
mental characteristics that all humans
share
 Seeks to explain mental strategies and
traits
 Mind is seen as set of information-
processing machines

Psychologists with an evolutionary perspective would be interested in how this couple selected each other as
partners. Photo credit: Bill Aron/PhotoEdit

Types of Psychological Professionals
• Psychiatrist
– Medical doctor (M.D.)
– Specializes in the diagnosis and
treatment of psychological disorders.
• Psychoanalyst
– Psychiatrist or a psychologist
– Special training in Freudian theory and
psychoanalysis.
LO 1.5 Psychiatrist, psychologist, and other professionals

• Psychiatric social worker
– Social worker trained in therapy
methods
– Focus on the environmental conditions
impacting mental disorders
 Poverty, overcrowding, stress, and drug
abuse.

• Psychologist
– Academic degree and specialized
training in psychology
– Work in counseling, teaching, and
research
– Specialization can include clinical,
counseling, developmental, social,
personality theory

Figure 1.2 Work Settings and Subfields of Psychology
(a) There are many different work settings for psychologists. Although not obvious from the chart,many
psychologists work in more than one setting. For example, a clinical psychologist may work in a hospital setting
and teach at a university or college. (Tsapogas et al., 2006) (b) This pie chart shows the specialty areas of
psychologists who recently received their doctorates. (Hoffer et al., 2007)

Scientific Methodology
• Scientific Method
– System of gathering data
– Bias and error in measurement are
reduced
LO 1.6 Psychology is a science; steps in scientific method

Scientific Methodology
• Steps in the Scientific Method:
1. Perceive the question
2. Form hypothesis
–Tentative explanation of a phenomenon
based on observations
1. Test the hypothesis
2. Draw conclusions
3. Report results
–Allows for replication
• Demonstrate reliability of results

The Scientific Method

Descriptive Methods
• Naturalistic Observation
– Watch animals or humans behave in
their normal environment
– Advantage:
 Realistic picture of behavior
LO 1.7 Naturalistic and laboratory settings

Descriptive Methods
– Disadvantages:
 Observer effect
–People or animals behave differently when
they know they are being observed
–May reduce observer effect through
participant observation

Descriptive Methods
– Disadvantages:
 Observer bias
–Observers see what they expect to see
–May reduce observer bias through use of
blind observers
 Each naturalistic setting is unique
–Observations may not hold

This researcher is studying the behavior of a group of lemurs. Is this naturalistic observation? Why or why not?
Photo credit: Cyril Ruoso/Photolibrary

Descriptive Methods
• Laboratory Observation
– Watching animals or humans in a
laboratory setting
• Advantages:
– Control over environment
– Allows use of specialized equipment
– Can lead to the development of
hypotheses

Descriptive Methods
• Disadvantage:
– Artificial situation that may result in
artificial behavior

The researcher in the foreground is watching the children through a one-way mirror to get a description of their
behavior. Observations such as these are just one of many ways that psychologists have of investigating
behavior. Why is it important for the researcher to be behind a one-way mirror? Photo credit Jeff Greenberg/The
Image Works

Descriptive Methods
• Case study
– Study of one individual in great detail
– Advantages:
 Tremendous amount of detail
 Good for studying rare conditions
– Disadvantages:
 Cannot apply results easily
to similar individuals
 Vulnerable to bias of researcher
LO 1.8 Case studies and surveys

After a gunpowder explosion, Phineas Gage ended up with a steel rod in his head. A model of Gage's head is
shown next to his actual skull. Visible above the left side of his mouth is the entry point of the steel rod, and the
exit point is at the top of the skull. Courtesy of The Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine

Descriptive Methods
• Survey
– Researcher asks a series of questions
about the topic under study
 Given to a representative sample
 Population
– Randomly selected sample of subjects
from a larger group

Descriptive Methods
• Survey
– Advantages:
 Data from large numbers of people
 Study covert behaviors
– Disadvantages:
 Have to ensure representative sample (or
results not meaningful).
 People not always accurate (courtesy
bias)

Finding Relationships
• Correlation
– Measure of the relationship between two
variables
– Variable
 Anything that can change or vary
LO 1.9 Correlational technique

• Correlation
– Correlation coefficient (r)
 Mathematical calculation
 Measures
–Direction of the relationship
–Strength of the relationship
– Knowing the value of one variable allows
prediction of 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
– No correlation = 0.0.
– Perfect correlation = -1.00 OR +1.00.

• Positive correlation
– Variables are related in the
same direction.
 As one increases, the other
increases
 As one decreases,
the other decreases

• Negative correlation
– Variables are related in
opposite directions
– As one increases, the other
decreases
• Correlation does not prove
causation

Figure 1.3 These scatterplots show direction and strength of correlation.
It should be noted that perfect correlations, whether positive or negative, rarely occur in the real world.

The Experiment
• Allows researchers to determine cause
and effect
• Deliberate manipulation of variables
• Holding constant other variables
LO 1.10 Experimental approach and terms

The act of hitting each other with toy swords could be part of an operational definition of aggressive behavior.
Photo credit Bill Aron/PhotoEdit

Features of the Experiment
• Operational definition
– Specifies steps or procedures used to
control or measure the experimental
variables
• Independent variable (IV)
– Variable manipulated by experimenter
• Dependent Variable (DV)
– Represents measured response of the
experimental manipulation

• Experimental Group
– Receives the manipulation
• Control Group
– Not subjected to the independent
variable
– Controls for other factors (confounds)
that may affect the outcome

• Random Assignment
– Participants are assigned randomly to
control or experimental group
– Each participant has equal chance of
assignment to experimental or control
groups

Placebo and Experimenter Effects
• Placebo effect
– Expectations of the participants can
influence their behavior
– Classic control-give placebo to control
group
• Experimenter effect
– Experimenter’s expectations
unintentionally influence study
LO 1.11 Placebo and the experimenter effects

Placebo and Experimenter Effects
• Single-blind study
– Subjects do not know if they are in the
experimental or the control group
– Reduces placebo effect
• Double-blind study
– Neither experimenter or participants
know if in experimental or control group
– Reduces placebo and experimenter
effects
LO 1.11 Placebo and the experimenter effects

Experimental Example
• Stereotypes, athletes and college test
performance
– High stereotype threat question asked
before intellectual assessment
(experimental group)
– High stereotype threat question asked
after intellectual assessment
– Before test group scored lower on
intellectual assessment than after group
LO 1.12 Elements of a real world experiment

Experimental Example
• Stereotypes, athletes and college test
performance
– Questions to consider:
 What extraneous variables might be
affecting the students’ test performance?
 What might educators do to try to
prevent the effect of the “dumb jock”
negative stereotype on college athletes?
LO 1.12 Elements of a real world experiment

Ethics in Psychological Research
• Institutional review board
– Professional group that reviews the
safety, consideration of participants
LO 1.13 Ethical concerns in conducting research

• Common ethical guidelines:
1. Rights and well-being of participants
must be weighed against the study’s
value to science.
2. Participants must be allowed to make
an informed decision about
participation.
3. Deception must be justified.
4. Participants may withdraw from the
study at any time.

• Common ethical guidelines:
5. Participants must be protected from
risks or told explicitly of risks.
6. Investigator must debrief participants,
telling the true nature of the study and
expectations of results.
7. Data must remain confidential.

• Animal research
– Attempt to answer questions not
obtainable with human research
– Avoid exposure to unnecessary pain or
suffering
– Animals are used in approximately 7%
of psychological studies

Critical Thinking
• Is making reasoned judgments about
claims.
LO 1.14 Principles of critical thinking

Critical Thinking
• Four Basic Criteria:
1. There are very few “truths” that do not
need to be subjected to testing.
2. All evidence is not equal in quality.
3. Just because someone is considered to
be an authority or to have a lot of
expertise does not make everything
that person claims automatically true.
4. Critical thinking requires an open mind.
LO 1.14 Principles of critical thinking

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