Psychology Lecture Notes PDF

Structuralism Science – Latin word meaning knowledge 1879 Wilhelm Wundt established the first Psychologists insist that psychology is a science laboratory exclusive for psychology in Leipzig. and they are often defensive about it when faced Int...

Structuralism Science – Latin word meaning knowledge 1879 Wilhelm Wundt established the first Psychologists insist that psychology is a science laboratory exclusive for psychology in Leipzig. and they are often defensive about it when faced Introduced introspection breaking down mental with skepticism, history of psychology began as processes (or compartmentalizing them) a deliberate attempt to start a new science, William James – Functionalism applying the methods of nature sciences to some The consciousness cannot be broken down – of the questions of philosophy. Ethically, there functionalism concentrates more on the mental were many limits to what psychologists could state as a matter of what it does rather than what study. it is made of.” Gathering Evidence Behaviourism – B.F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov Hypothesis: a clear predictive statement, often an Focuses only on observable behavior. attempt to explain the observations “all behaviors shaped by the environment” Methods: any method has strengths and B.F. Skinner Operant conditioning, weaknesses; researchers vary with their methods. sometimes referred to as instrumental If studies using different methods come to the conditioning, is a learning method that employs same conclusion the confidence in the study or rewards and punishments for behavior. Through hypothesis increases. operant conditioning, an association is made Results: after taking the measurements, the between a behavior and a consequence (whether investigation determines whether the results are negative or positive) for that behavior. impressive enough to call for an explanation Little Albert Experiment by John B. Interpretation: Means to consider what a result Watson means. If results contradict the hypothesis, researchers should abandon/modify the Gestalt Psychology hypothesis. Gestalt is a German word that roughly means Replicability: anyone who repeats a scientific "configuration" or the way things are put together study must include the methods in enough detail to form a whole. for other people to repeat the procedures and we Max Wertheimer, mental processes and behavior hope to get similar results. as wholes (human mind & behavior) rather than Meta-analysis: Used in verifying a small effect trying to separate them into discrete functions which combines the results of many studies, as if “whole is greater than it’s part” they were all one huge story. Based on his observations of the phi phenomenon, Wertheimer concluded that we Evaluating Scientific Theory perceive things by seeing the whole perception, Theory: more than a guess; if replicable data not by understanding individual parts. support some hypothesis, eventually researchers propose a theory, an explanation/model that fits Psychoanalysis many observations and make accurate Sigmund Freud argued for the role of the predictions. unconscious and other internal process in human Falsifiable: stated in such clear precise terms that behavior and mental disorders, he formed a we can see what evidence would count against it. foundation of psychoanalytic theory Imagine something that would count as evidence against the theory. If no one can falsify the theory Humanistic Psychology is too vague. “Some objects fall” is not falsifiable. Carl Rogers, humans are not helplessly controlled Burden of Proof: Obligation to present evidence by unconscious to support one’s claims. Evidence should be well presented and convincing, according to the Positive Psychology Martin Seligman burden of proof. Positive side of psychology Parsimony: We stick with ideas that work and try Questions like how to thrive in a community etc. as hard as we can to avoid new assumptions. Occam’s Razor (William of Ockham) – several Scientific Methods in Psychology theories that fit known facts, rely on the fewest and simplest assumptions, psychologists use comes from allowing people to believe he has operational definitions to help define concepts of uncanny mental powers. interest in terms of what it does or how we can Conducting Psychological Research: produce it. Operational Definition – a definition that Applying Parsimony: Clevel Hans, the specifies the operations (or procedures) used to Amazing Horse produce or measure something, ordinarily a way Wilhem von Osten – German mathematics to give it a numerical value. teacher; owner of Hans Asks the audience to read his mind, him reading Hans – addition, subtraction, multiplication, people’s minds, finding paycheck in the audience division, fractions to decimals, algebra, Ex. Suppose you want to investigate spelling, musical notes, telling time, letter-to- friendliness; the operational definition of number code friendliness is through a way of measuring it. It Oskar Pfungst – German Psychologist, and could be the number or people you smile at in an researcher; merely demonstrated that he hour, or the number of your close friends. could explain Hans’ behavior in the parsimonious Population Samples terms of responses to facial 1. Convenience Sample – if you expect expressions, and therefore, no one needed to results to be about the same for almost assume anything more complex everyone. Group chosen because of its Applying Parsimony: Extrasensory ease of study. Perception 2. Representative Sample – resembles the Extrasensory Perception (ESP) population; to get a representative sample Supporters claim that: of the people in a region, an investigator Some people sometimes acquire first determines what percentage of the information without receiving any residents belong to each category and energy through any sense organ. then selects people to match those people with ESP can identify someone percentages. else’s thoughts (telepathy) even from a 3. Random Sample - every individual in the great population has an equal chance of being distance and despite barriers that would selected. The larger the random sample, block any known form of energy. the higher chance that the results will be certain people can perceive objects that the same as the whole population are hidden from sight (clairvoyance), 4. Cross-Cultural Sample – groups of predict the future (precognition), and people from at least two cultures; difficult due to expense, language influence such physical events as a roll of dice by mental concentration barriers, and reluctancy to participate in (psychokinesis). unfamiliar tasks. Anecdotes – people’s s reports of isolated events, 2 Types of Bias such as a dream or hunch that comes true. 1. Experimenter Bias We tend to remember occasional bizarre Tendency to distort procedure of results of an experiment or study coincidences, talk about, and 2. Subject Bias sometimes exaggerate the hunches and dreams that do come true and forget the ones that don’t. The subject distorts or performs in a Nostradamus – 16th-century French writer who manner that is out of the usual and may distort the outcome of the study allegedly predicted many events (Hawthorne effect) of later centuries; after something happens, people imaginatively reinterpret his Bias can be controlled through the use of: writings to fit the event. Blinding procedures – used to conceal the hypotheses of the experiment from the subject (single blind) or from the subject and Professional Psychics – Amazing Kreskin’s success, a part of it, as a performer experimenter (double blind) study. Observational Research Designs 1. Naturalistic Observations: explore a population under natural/near-natural conditions. Ex. Social psychologists observing behavior at a shopping mall. 2. Case History: thorough description of someone, including abilities and disabilities, medical condition, life history, unusual experiences, and whatever else seems relevant; focuses on a single individual. 3. Surveys: designs study of the prevalence of a certain attitude, belief, or behavior, based on a person’s response to specific predetermined questions. Sampling Seriousness of those being interviewed Wording of the questions Surveyor Biases Ex. Gallop Poll 4. Correlational Studies: Investigates the relationship between two variables that are outside of the experimenter’s control. Correlation does not imply cause.