Psychology Overview: Study of Behavior

Psychology: More Than Common Sense

• Psychology is the scientific study of behavior, brain, and mental processes.
• Behavior is outward or overt actions and reactions.
• Mental processes are internal, covert activities of our minds
• Psychology aims to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior.
• A theory is a general explanation of a set of observations.

Levels of Analysis in Psychology

• Psychology offers different perspectives on behavior, from the "neuron to the neighborhood."
• Each level of analysis provides a perspective for describing, explaining, and predicting behavior.
• Levels of analysis include cultural, social, behavioral, cognitive, and physiological perspectives.

The Scientific Method

• A hypothesis is a testable prediction about the relationship between variables.
• A population is the entire group an investigator wants to draw conclusions from.
• A sample is a subset of the population that the investigator studies.

Research Methods in Psychology

• Psychological research methods are used to study behavior and mental processes.
• Descriptive methods aim to describe a phenomenon.
• Correlational methods measure the relationship between two variables.
• Experimental methods manipulate a variable to see if it causes a change in behavior.

Descriptive Methods

• Descriptive methods include observation, surveys, and case studies.
• Observation can be naturalistic or laboratory.
• Naturalistic observation involves observing behavior in the natural environment.
• Laboratory observation involves observing behavior in a controlled environment.
• Case studies involve studying one individual in great detail.
• Surveys involve asking a series of questions about a topic under study.

Naturalistic Observation

• Advantages include providing a realistic picture of behavior.
• Disadvantages include the observer effect (people behave differently when they know they are being watched).
• Participant observation is a form of naturalistic observation where the observer becomes part of the group being observed.
• Observer bias is the tendency of observers to see what they expect to see.
• Blind observers are people who don't know the research question to reduce observer bias.

Laboratory Observation

• Advantages include control over the environment and the use of specialized equipment.
• Disadvantages include the possibility of artificial behavior due to the artificial setting.

Case Study

• Advantages include providing a tremendous amount of detail.
• Disadvantages include the inability to generalize the findings to other people.

Survey

• Advantages include gathering data from large numbers of people and studying covert behaviors.
• Disadvantages include the need for a representative sample to ensure meaningful results and the possibility of inaccurate responses due to courtesy bias.

Correlation

• Correlation measures the relationship between two variables.
• The correlation coefficient (r) represents the direction and strength of the relationship.
• A positive correlation indicates that the variables are related in the same direction.
• A negative correlation indicates that the variables are related in opposite directions.
• Correlation does not imply causation.

Experiment

• An experiment manipulates a variable to see if it causes a change in behavior.
• The independent variable is manipulated by the experimenter.
• The dependent variable is the measurable response or behavior of the subjects.
• The experimental group is the group of subjects who are exposed to the independent variable.
• Operational definition is a definition of a variable of interest that allows it to be directly measured.

This quiz explores the fundamental concepts of psychology, including the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. It covers levels of analysis, the scientific method, and research methods critical to understanding psychological principles. Test your knowledge of how psychology describes, explains, predicts, and controls behavior.