Experimental Psychology (TILBURG UNIVERSITY) Course Information PDF

8/28/2024 Experimental Psychology 530038-B-6 1st year Bachelor Psychology Cognitive Psychology...

8/28/2024 Experimental Psychology 530038-B-6 1st year Bachelor Psychology Cognitive Psychology 840103-B-6 2nd year Bachelor Liberal Arts & Sciences Course Information dr. Martijn Baart - Lectures & Exam (course coordinator) dr. Jeroen Stekelenburg & dr. Mirjam Keetels - Practical Experimental Skills 2 Course Information Principles when interacting with me/each other during this course - Agree to disagree is OK; - Respect goes a long way; - We all make mistakes – don’t assume bad intentions. 3 1  8/28/2024 Course Information Literature (see Osiris) Schacter, D, Gilbert, D., Wegner, D., & Hood, B. (2020). Psychology: 3rd European edition. Red Globe Press. (ISBN 978-1-352-00483-0) Digital version is available from publisher for £42,99 (hardcopy is £55,99): - https://www.macmillanlearning.com/ed/uk/produ ct/Psychology-3rd-edition/p/1352004836 - Use coupon code SC2524OK to obtain a 25% discount. 4 Course Information Literature (see Osiris) Schacter, D, Gilbert, D., Wegner, D., & Hood, B. (2020). Psychology: 3rd European edition. Red Globe Press. (ISBN 978-1-352-00483-0) Chapter 1: pages 3-45: (Psychology; the evolution of a science) Chapter 2: pages 47-90 (The methods of psychology) Chapter 3: pages 93-136 (Neuroscience and behavior) Chapter 4: pages 139-188 (Sensation and Perception) Chapter 5: pages 191-234 (Memory) Chapter 6: pages 237-277 (Learning) Chapter 7: pages 279-323 (Language and Thought) Chapter 8: pages 325-370 (Consciousness) Chapter 9: pages 373-406 (Intelligence) Chapter 10: pages 409-444 (Emotion and Motivation) Chapter 11: pages 447-490 (Cognitive development) Chapter 12: pages 493-536 (Social development) Chapter 13: pages 539-573 (Personality) Chapter 14: pages 575-611 (Social Relationships) Chapter 15: pages 613-647 (Social groups) Chapter 16: pages 649-689 (Psychological disorders) Chapter 17: pages 639-734 (Mental health) 5 Course Information Literature (see Osiris) Schacter, D, Gilbert, D., Wegner, D., & Hood, B. (2020). Psychology: 3rd European edition. Red Globe Press. (ISBN 978-1-352-00483-0) Chapter 1: pages 3-45: (Psychology; the evolution of a science) Study thoroughly Chapter 2: pages 47-90 (The methods of psychology) Study thoroughly Chapter 3: pages 93-136 (Neuroscience and behavior) Read pages 94-124, Study pages 125-134 thoroughly Chapter 4: pages 139-188 (Sensation and Perception) Study thoroughly Chapter 5: pages 191-234 (Memory) Study thoroughly Chapter 6: pages 237-277 (Learning) Study thoroughly Chapter 7: pages 279-323 (Language and Thought) Study thoroughly Chapter 8: pages 325-370 (Consciousness) Study thoroughly Chapter 9: pages 373-406 (Intelligence) Feel free to read Chapter 10: pages 409-444 (Emotion and Motivation) Study thoroughly Chapter 11: pages 447-490 (Cognitive development) Feel free to read Chapter 12: pages 493-536 (Social development) Feel free to read Chapter 13: pages 539-573 (Personality) Feel free to read Chapter 14: pages 575-611 (Social Relationships) Feel free to read Chapter 15: pages 613-647 (Social groups) Feel free to read Chapter 16: pages 649-689 (Psychological disorders) Feel free to read Chapter 17: pages 639-734 (Mental health) Feel free to read 6 2  8/28/2024 Course Information The exam (see next slides) is based on the slides (which are based on the book) - When there is more information on the slides than in the book, the slides are leading. - In case you cannot follow the line of thought on the slides, please turn to the book. - Certain sections of the book are not discussed on the slides. When these sections are fair game for the exam, this is explicitly mentioned on the slides. Book section not discussed and not explicitly mentioned on slides that you should study the book? → Not in exam exam Book section not discussed but explicitly mentioned on slides slides that you should study it? → Fair game for exam Book section discussed on slides but slides unclear to you? → Turn to the book → Fair game for exam 7 Course Information Practice materials for each chapter are available on Canvas: - Open questions (+ answers) - Exercises (+ answers) → Self study (optional) Passing this course requires: 1) Passing the exam (>34 out of 50 MC questions answered correctly) → Short mock exam (+ answers) is available on Canvas 2) A ‘pass’ for the Practical Experimental Skills (1 re-sit opportunity, result remains valid for next year) 8 Course Information Register for the exam ASAP! First opportunity: October 18, 2024 Re-sit: January 10, 2025 The exam dates are also the deadlines for the Experimental Skills report 9 3  8/28/2024 Course Information Practical Experimental Skills - 6 weeks, 6 sessions (1st session [next week] is online) - You can do the work at home or at any TiU computer (the assignments are self- explanatory). - Questions about the materials can be asked on campus (during the practical sessions - emails will not be answered). - The report should be uploaded before/on the date of the first exam opportunity. More information is available on Canvas. 10 Chapter 1 Experimental/Cognitive psychology Psychology: the scientific study of mind and behavior. - mind: private inner experience of perception, thoughts, memories and feelings. - behavior: observable actions of human beings and non- human animals. Experiment: a technique of establishing a causal relationship between variables. For definitions, see pages 736-750 in the book (glossary) Experimental/Cognitive psychology: the scientific study of mind and behavior by means of experiments. 11 Chapter 1 Experimental/Cognitive psychology How to study mind and behavior? → Focus on cognitive functions Cognition: all mental processes that lead to thoughts, knowledge, and awareness. Cognitive processes: mechanisms that underly cognition. Cognitive processes govern Cognitive functions like attention, memory, learning, decision-making, language, perception, motor-skills, imagination, etc. 12 4  8/28/2024 Chapter 1 Experimental/Cognitive psychology Cognitive functions are the ‘building blocks’ of all complex behavior (like ‘eating peas’). This task requires: - Perception - Decision making - Motor skills - Attention - …….etc. 13 Chapter 1 Experimental/Cognitive psychology Experimental psychology is closely linked to Cognitive neuropsychology: - Patients with (local) brain damage allow for more specific and reliable inferences about brain functioning. e.g. patients with - neglect (hemi spatial/unilateral inattention) - aphasia (trouble producing or understanding speech) - dyslexia (trouble with reading [and auditory speech perception]) - prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces [object recognition is fine]) - visual agnosia (inability to recognize visual objects [but not faces]) 14 Chapter 1 Experimental/Cognitive psychology Cognitive neuroscience attempts to understand the biological foundations of cognition (the main idea is that cognitive processes produce brain activity that can be tracked and traced). 15 5  8/28/2024 Chapter 1 Brief history Greek philosophers ~400 BC Enlightenment (17th and 18th century, Western Europe) Continental rationalists British empiricists (knowledge is innate or inborn: nativism) (knowledge is acquired) Benedict de Spinoza John Locke Gottfried Leibniz George Berkeley René Descartes David Hume Dualism: The mind is not supreme: body and mind are separate entities* that interact (via the pineal gland). *e.g., because bodily reflexes do not involve the mind/free will, the body and mind must be distinct. 16 Chapter 1 Brief history In the 19th century, Psychology started to evolve into a science One of the first psychologists to conduct experiments was Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894). He studied, for example, the conduction velocity of the nerve impulse. Inspired by Ernst Weber (1795–1878), Gustav Fechner (1801-1871) introduced the Just Noticeable Difference (JND), which is still widely used in psychophysics. JND: the minimum difference in stimulation that a person can detect 50% of the time (more on this later). 17 Chapter 1 Brief history Franciscus Donders (1818-1889, from Tilburg) introduced Mental Chronometry - How much time do you need to decide whether you heard the syllable ‘ka’, ‘ta’, or ‘pa’? (1) Simple reaction time: press a button whenever you hear a syllable (RT = 198 ms). → DETECTION RT (2) Differential/choice reaction time: press ‘k’ when you hear ‘ka’, press ‘t’ when you hear ‘ta’, press ‘p’ when you hear ‘pa’ (RT = 278 ms). → DETECTION RT + DISCRIMINATION RT + DECISION RT (3) Go/No go reaction time: press ‘k’ when you hear ‘ka’, but do nothing when you hear ‘ta’ or ‘pa’ (RT = 269 ms). → DETECTION RT + DISCRIMINATION RT The time you need for stimulus This additive factor logic is still used in discrimination = (3) – (1) = 71 ms, and the time you need only for decision modern day research where brain making = (2) – (3) = 9 ms. activity (measured with EEG or fMRI, for Time you need to make a decision that example) in an experimental condition is includes discrimination = (2) – (1) = 80 ms. subtracted from a control condition or when two experimental conditions are subtracted 18 6  8/28/2024 Chapter 1 Brief history In the 19th & 20th centuries, several competing schools emerged Structuralism: consciousness should be the focus of study via analyses of the basic elements that constitute the mind (Wilhelm Wundt; 1832- 1920). - Achieved by breaking down consciousness into sensations and feelings via analytical introspection: - Some melody is played to a participant: “I hear tones of different duration, pitch and loudness (sensations), that are structured in an unfamiliar rhythm which makes me feel confused (subjective interpretation/feelings). - Further developed by Edward Titchener (1867-1927) who proposed 3 elementary states of consciousness (Sensations [sights, sounds, tastes], Images [components of thoughts], and Affections [components of emotions]) and identified thousands of ‘elemental qualities of conscious experience’. 19 Chapter 1 Brief history Behaviorism (John Watson, 1878-1958): The introspective processes cannot be studied (too vague and subjective) and overt behavior (what people do) should be studied instead because: - The only way to understand animal and human learning and adaptation is to focus solely on their behavior; - Behavior can be observed by anyone and measured objectively; - The goal of scientific psychology is to predict and control behavior in a way that benefits society. 20 Chapter 1 Brief history Behaviorism was a part of the logical positivism movement that introduced the operational definition: A description of a/an (abstract) property in terms of a concrete condition that can be measured. Abstract property Condition Hunger Number of hours deprived from food Height of a person Number of cm measured from feet to crown Addiction Number of diagnostic criteria for a substance use disorder that are Operational definitions have met big advantages as they allow for precise measurements Weather and direct Thecomparisons between highest recorded temperature studies between sunset(replications). and sundown measured in degrees Celsius But, operational Violent crime definitions are not The number always of people good that were definitions arrested in a given day (clear for murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault measurable conditions can still be quite useless): - happiness is the number of smiles during a specific episode. - age is the response that participants provide on a questionnaire. 21 7  8/28/2024 Chapter 1 Brief history Ivan Pavlov, (1849-1936): Classical conditioning US (or UCS) = unconditioned stimulus that produces an UR (or UCR) = unconditioned response When the US is repeatedly paired with another (neutral) stimulus, the other (neutral) stimulus becomes a CS = conditioned stimulus that produces a CR = conditioned response which is the same as the UR but now occurs without the original US. 22 Chapter 1 Brief history Skinner (1904-1990): Operant conditioning Learning occurs through reinforcement and punishment, that can both be positive (something is added) or negative (something is removed) Reinforcement Punishment Increase behavior Decrease behavior Positive Positive reinforcement punishment Add stimulus (e.g., Add stimulus (e.g., money, food etc.) pain, stress etc.) Negative Negative reinforcement punishment Remove stimulus Remove stimulus (e.g., pain, stress) (e.g., food, money) 23 Chapter 1 Brief history Gestalt psychology: Max Wertheimer (1880-1943), Wolfgang Köhler (1887-1967) and Kurt Koffka (1886-1941). Key principle: The whole is more than the sum of its parts They rejected: - Wundt’s structuralism (because experience is more than a function of sensation); - Behaviorism, because complex behavior (“the whole”) is more than the sum of its components. 24 8  8/28/2024 Chapter 1 Brief history Gestalt psychologists use apparent motion to prove their point (phi phenomenon, Wertheimer 1912, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zbzt7Cb2e4). https://web.mit.edu/bcs/schille rlab/book/11-3.html https://web.mit.edu/bcs/schillerl ab/book/11-5.html Perception is a construction, not a reflection of the sensation. Also in the auditory domain: you can either hear a galloping-rhythm when 2 tones (high-high-low-high-high-low-high…etc.) are played, or you hear 1 high stream and 1 low stream (especially when pith difference is large) 25 Chapter 1 Current era Since 1970’s: Cognitive revolution Computer is used as a metaphor for human thinking Since 1980’s: Modern imaging techniques available Testing neuropsychological patients (single-case and group studies) can help to answer theoretical (general) hypotheses. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Structural MRI Functional MRI 26 Chapter 2 Empiricism Empiricism: Acquiring knowledge requires observation Scientific Method: Observations can lead to mistakes, false conclusions and illusions, so we need a set of rules and techniques to avoid those. (1) Theorize/generate idea → often based on literature/previous experience → use principle of parsimony/Ockham’s [Occam’s] razor) (2) Formulate falsifiable hypothesis → If … is true, we should observe …. (specific, verifiable) (3) Collect and analyze data → observations in a lab or in the real world, using specific techniques → operationalization should be concrete [many critical choices to make!]) (4) Draw conclusions regarding hypothesis → Results align with hypothesis? Confirm theory. → Results do not align with hypothesis? Theory is wrong (falsification) or mistakes in operationalization 27 9  8/28/2024 Chapter 2 Empiricism Deduction: Drawing inferences based on premises (assumptions) Premise: All organisms die general Premise: John is an organism Conclusion: John will die specific Problem: we cannot observe all organisms to figure out whether or not they die, so we must use induction: Premise: My dog died specific Premise: My tomato plant died Premise: etc… Conclusion: All organisms die general Problem: more observations cannot make a statement more true because unencountered exceptions may arise (David Hume). Conclusion can only proven to be false (Karl Popper). 28 Chapter 2 Empiricism Humans are difficult to study - Complexity: thoughts, feelings, action driven by 500 million neurons; not well understood yet - Variability: All else being equal, individuals are very different - Reactivity: People under observation react differently than when alone 29 10