Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour (Chapter 1) PDF

CHAPTER ONE The science of psychology...

CHAPTER ONE The science of psychology Kimberley Norris © Exactostock/SuperStock LEARNING OBJECTIVES Copyright © 2018. McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited. All rights reserved. LO 1.1 Define psychology and describe its goals LO 1.2 Describe how different psychological perspectives explain behaviour LO 1.3 Explain how the different perspectives of psychology can be integrated LO 1.4 Identify how psychological science affects society and our lives Let’s begin our exploration of psychology with a quick exercise. Read the paragraph below, unscrambling the words as you go. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteres are at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by istlef but the wrod as a wlohe. Type ‘jumbled words’, ‘jumbled paragraph’ or ‘scrambled letters’ into an internet search engine, dig around and you’ll find multiple sites and blogs about this paragraph. Back in 2003 it was all the rage and it has been in the news since then (Daily Telegraph, 1 April 2009). The paragraph spread across the internet (with the misspelling ‘rscheearch’) and reached countless email inboxes as people—amazed by how easily they could read it—passed it along (if you had trouble, that’s okay; see the unscrambled version at the end of the chapter). Show the paragraph to people you know and see how they do. Passer, Michael, et al. Psychology : The Science of Mind and Behaviour, McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acap/detail.action?docID=5662627. Created from acap on 2024-09-18 06:07:14. pas22797_ch01_001-034.indd 1 08/09/18 01:53 PM  2 P SYC HO LO GY Do you accept the claim that if the first and last letters of a word remain intact, ‘The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm’? From the paragraph’s immense popularity, we speculate that many people did. After all, the evidence is concrete; it’s right before our eyes. Well, whether you do or don’t accept it, here’s a challenge: can you think of reasons why this particular jumbled paragraph is easy to read? Even better, can you create a short jumbled paragraph—keeping the first and last letters of the words intact—that people would find hard to read? We’ll return to this challenge later in this chapter. So what does a jumbled paragraph have to do with psychology? If you view psychology as synonymous with therapy, shrinks or couches, then your answer might be ‘not much’. But as we’ll see, psychologists study a tremendous diversity of topics, and language—including how we recognise words—is one of them (Mousikou et al., 2010). The paragraph raises other key psychological issues, such as how we acquire knowledge and form beliefs about our world, which we will discuss shortly. Among the countless beliefs we hold and claims we hear about human nature and behaviour, how do we separate fact from fiction, myth from reality? The science of psychology leads us to engage with these questions. LO 1.1 THE NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and the mind. The term behaviour refers to actions and responses that we can directly observe, whereas the term mind refers to internal states and processes—such as thoughts and feelings—that cannot be seen directly and that must be inferred from observable, measurable responses. For example, we cannot directly see a person’s feeling of love or admiration for someone else, but we can infer how the person feels based on observable verbal statements and actions (e.g. saying ‘I love you’, mimicking another’s behaviour as a sign of admiration). To many people, when you say the word psychologist, the first image that comes to mind is that of a therapist. This reaction is understandable, as many psychologists work in a subfield called clinical psychology: the study and treatment of mental disorders. Many clinical psychologists diagnose and treat people with psychological problems in clinics, hospitals and private practice. Some are also scientists, who conduct research on the causes of mental disorders and the effectiveness of various treatments. Yet many psychologists have no connection with therapy and instead conduct research in other subfields (Figure 1.1). For example, cognitive psychology specialises in the study of mental processes, Copyright © 2018. McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited. All rights reserved. especially from a model that views the mind as an information processor. Cognitive psychologists examine topics such as consciousness, attention, memory, decision-making and problem-solving. An area within cognitive psychology, called psycholinguistics, focuses on the psychology of language. The jumbled-word exercise relates directly to psycholinguistics. In Australia, there are nine areas of psychology practice endorsed by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA): clinical neuropsychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, counselling Figure 1.1 Psychologists study diverse topics. Subfields that may not immediately occur to you include organisational psychology, educational psychology and psychology and the law. (left) © NASA (middle) © Shutterstock / wavebreakmedia (right) © Aaron Roeth Photography Passer, Michael, et al. Psychology : The Science of Mind and Behaviour, McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acap/detail.action?docID=5662627. Created from acap on 2024-09-18 06:07:14. pas22797_ch01_001-034.indd 2 08/09/18 01:53 PM  CHAPTER 1 The sc ience of psychology 3 psychology, educational and developmental psychology, forensic psychology, health psychology, organisational psychology, and sports and exercise psychology. To further illustrate psychology’s diversity, here are a few other subfields: Biopsychology or behavioural neuroscience focuses on the biological underpinnings of behaviour. Students of biopsychology examine how brain processes, genes and hormones influence our actions, thoughts and feelings. Some seek to explain how evolution has shaped our psychological capabilities (e.g. our capacity for advanced thinking and language) and behavioural tendencies (e.g. acting aggressively or altruistically). Developmental psychology examines human physical, psychological and social development across the life span and the effects of ageing on cognitive and behavioural processes. For example, some students of developmental psychology explore the infant’s emotional world, while others study how different parenting styles affect children psychologically, or how our mental abilities change during adolescence and adulthood. Experimental psychology focuses on basic processes such as learning, sensory systems (e.g. vision, hearing), perception and motivational states (e.g. sexual motivation, hunger, thirst). Most research in this subfield involves laboratory experiments, often with non-human subjects. Although this subfield is called ‘experimental’ psychology, be aware that researchers in many psychological subfields conduct experiments. Industrial-organisational (I/O) psychology examines people’s behaviour in the workplace. I/O psychologists study leadership, teamwork and factors that influence employees’ job satisfaction, work motivation and performance. They develop tests to help employers identify the best job applicants and design systems that companies use to evaluate employee performance. Personality psychology focuses on the study of human personality. People who study the psychology of personality seek to identify core personality traits and the way different traits relate to one another and influence behaviour. They also develop tests to measure personality. Social psychology examines people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour pertaining to the social world: the world of other people. Students of social psychology study how people influence one another, behave in groups and form impressions and attitudes. They study social relationships involving attraction and love, prejudice and discrimination, helping and aggression. Note that the topics studied in different subfields often overlap. Consider decision-making, which is examined in Biology all of the areas mentioned above. A cognitive psychologist Scientific study of life processes might study how wording the same information in different and biological Medicine ways affects people’s decisions, while a social psychologist structures Anthropology Copyright © 2018. McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited. All rights reserved. Scientific study might study decision-making in groups and a developmental of health and the Scientific study causes and of cultural origins, psychologist could examine how children’s decision- evolution and treatment making strategies change with age (Joslyn et al., 2009; of diseases variations Toma & Butera, 2009). Moreover, many psychologists have interests that bridge different subfields. Thus, a clinical PSYCHOLOGY psychologist might be interested in the biological bases of Computer Scientific study Economics how adolescents with anxiety disorders make decisions. Science of behaviour and Scientific study Scientific study mental processes of production, They could have adolescents who do and who don’t have of information distribution and an anxiety disorder perform decision-making tasks, and use processing and consumption of brain-imaging techniques to compare the neural activity of manipulations goods and of data services the two groups (Krain et al., 2008). We’ll encounter other branches of psychology Engineering Application of Sociology throughout the text, but we hope you already get the picture. scientific principles to Scientific study Psychologists do study the causes of mental disorders, designing machines, of human social structures and relations and provide therapy and evaluate therapy effectiveness, but their systems systems interests and research span the entire realm of behaviour. Indeed, the scope of modern psychology stretches from the borders of medicine and the biological sciences to those of Figure 1.2 Psychology as a scientific hub Psychology links with and the social sciences (Figure 1.2). overlaps many sciences. Passer, Michael, et al. Psychology : The Science of Mind and Behaviour, McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acap/detail.action?docID=5662627. Created from acap on 2024-09-18 06:07:14. pas22797_ch01_001-034.indd 3 08/09/18 01:53 PM  4 P SYC HO LO GY Psychology’s scientific approach Across psychology’s diverse subfields, researchers share a common underlying scientific approach to studying behaviour. Science is a process that involves systematically gathering and evaluating empirical evidence to answer questions and test beliefs about the natural world. Empirical evidence is evidence gained through experience and observation. It includes evidence obtained from manipulating or ‘tinkering around’ with things and then observing what happens (this is the essence of experimentation). For example, if we want to know how people’s intellectual abilities change as they age, we don’t rely on intuition, pure reasoning or folk wisdom to obtain an answer. Rather, we collect empirical data by exposing people to intellectual tasks and observing how they perform. Moreover, in science these observations need to be systematic (i.e. performed according to a system of rules or conditions) so that they will be as objective and precise as possible (Shaughnessy et al., 2011). Understanding behaviour: some pitfalls of everyday approaches Science is only one of many ways that we learn about human behaviour. Family and friends, great works of literature, secular and religious teachings, the internet and popular media all provide us with messages about human nature. Mix in our own intuition, the knowledge that each of us acquires from years of personal experience interacting with people and so-called conventional or folk wisdom, and we have potent ingredients for generating our personal beliefs about what makes people tick. The problem is, in everyday life there are many ways in which these sources can end up promoting misconceptions. Other people—via conversations, books, the internet and popular media—may provide us with information and insights that they believe to be accurate but which really are not. Even personal experiences can lead us to form inaccurate beliefs. Although our experiences and everyday observations provide us with empirical information, unlike scientific observations, everyday observations are usually casual rather than systematic, and we rarely critically evaluate them in a scientific manner. Our own experiences may also be atypical and not representative of what most people experience, yet we may not routinely acknowledge this. As we’ll explore in later chapters, misconceptions can also result from our own faulty thinking. For example: We often take mental shortcuts when forming judgements, shortcuts that sometimes serve us poorly (White, 2009). Judging someone’s personality based solely on stereotypes about his or her physical appearance would be an example of a mental shortcut. Because many factors in real life may operate simultaneously to influence behaviour, we may fail to consider alternative explanations for a behaviour and assume that one factor has caused it when in fact some less obvious factor was the major cause (Lassiter et al., 2007). Copyright © 2018. McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited. All rights reserved. Once our beliefs are established, we often fail to test them further. In this vein, we tend to display a confirmation bias by selectively paying attention to information that is consistent with our beliefs and downplaying or ignoring information that is inconsistent with them (Hart et al., 2009). Using science to minimise everyday pitfalls Yes, scientists are human too and may fall victim to all of these pitfalls, and more. But by adopting a scientific approach, psychologists can take concrete steps to avoid or at least minimise biases and problems that can lead to inaccurate conclusions. For example, rather than relying on imprecise casual observations, psychologists use various instruments (e.g. video cameras, questionnaires, brain-imaging devices) to objectively and precisely record people’s responses. When directly watching people, several researchers can independently observe the same behaviours and compare their findings to ensure that their observations are reliable. To further reduce subjectivity, psychologists typically use statistics to analyse their data. To minimise erroneous conclusions about what has caused what, psychologists are often able to examine behaviour under highly controlled experimental conditions in which they intentionally manipulate one factor, try to keep other factors constant and see how the manipulated factor influences behaviour. Science is also a public affair, as occurs when psychologists publish their findings. This enables scientists to scrutinise and challenge each other’s findings if they wish. Collectively, this reduces the risk of confirmation bias. As new studies are conducted, the original findings are put to the test and may be contradicted, forcing scientists to modify their beliefs and to conduct further research to sort out the reason for the contradictory results. To be sure, science has limitations and its own pitfalls. It is ideally suited to examining testable questions about the natural world. Psychologists can study questions such as ‘Do happy people differ from unhappy people in their degree of religiousness or spirituality?’ and ‘What do people believe gives their life meaning?’ But science cannot answer Passer, Michael, et al. Psychology : The Science of Mind and Behaviour, McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acap/detail.action?docID=5662627. Created from acap on 2024-09-18 06:07:14. pas22797_ch01_001-034.indd 4 08/09/18 01:53 PM  CHAPTER 1 The sc ience of psychology 5 Sugar Healthy fats Dairy (yoghurt, milk, Butter, oil cheese) and other protein and (lean meat, fish, margarine Margarine poultry, legumes, nuts and eggs) Dairy (yoghurt, milk, cheese) and protein Yoghurt Grains (pasta, (lean meat, fish, rice, oats, poultry, legumes, bread) nuts and eggs) Cereals and Vegetables fruit and and fruit vegetables Figure 1.3 Healthy eating pyramid The pyramid has changed significantly in the last 30 years in response to scientific progress. Compare the recommendations from 1986 (left) with those from 2015 (right). Based on Nutrition Australia, 1986, 2015. questions such as ‘Does God exist?’ and ‘What is the meaning of life?’ The former is a question of faith that is beyond scientific measurement; the latter is a question answered by personal values. As for pitfalls, poorly designed or poorly executed studies can produce misleading data that lead to invalid conclusions. Even when studies are designed well and conducted properly, ‘false starts’ can occur in which other researchers are later unable to duplicate the original researchers’ findings. Additionally, over time, new research often modifies or completely overturns existing scientific beliefs. But it’s important to realise that these aren’t weaknesses of the scientific approach. Rather, they reveal one of its great strengths: in principle, science ultimately is a self-correcting process. At any point in history, scientific knowledge represents a best estimate of how the world operates. As better or more complete information is gathered, that best estimate may continue to be supported or it may need to be changed. Understandably, to many people (and students!), such change can be frustrating or confusing, as demonstrated each time a new healthy eating pyramid is released. The healthy eating pyramid has been updated numerous times over the past 30 years, with variations in the types of foods and recommended daily portions with each iteration. However, the most recent 2015 guidelines were Copyright © 2018. McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited. All rights reserved. quite different in that only healthy fats (such as avocado and olive oil) were included in the pyramid, whereas prior to this, added fats and sugars (as found in sweets and the like) had been included, with the caveat that they be consumed in small amounts (Nutrition Australia, 2015). An example of how the healthy eating pyramid has changed over time can be seen in Figure 1.3. While some may dismiss the ongoing changes regarding healthy eating habits as confusing or unnecessary, to scientists such change represents an evolution of knowledge called ‘scientific progress’. The healthy eating pyramid is a prime example of such scientific progress—constantly changing in response to new research findings. Thinking critically about behaviour Because behaviour is so complex, its scientific study poses special challenges. As you become familiar with the kinds of evidence necessary to validate scientific conclusions, you will become a better-informed consumer of the many claims made in the name of psychology (and all other sciences). For one thing, this course will teach you that many widely held beliefs about behaviour are inaccurate. It will also teach you that in the absence of appropriate evidence, it’s not possible to form a sound scientific opinion. With this in mind, read through the statements contained in Table 1.1 and see if you can identify the valid from the invalid claims. Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers at this early stage of your course. The purpose of this exercise is to practise critical thinking, rather than to know the answer. In many ways, more important than the concepts you learn in this course will be the habits of thought that you acquire—habits that involve critical thinking. Critical thinking involves taking an active role in understanding the world around you, rather than merely receiving information. It’s important to reflect on what that information means, how it fits in with your experiences and what implications it has for your life and society. Critical thinking also means Passer, Michael, et al. Psychology : The Science of Mind and Behaviour, McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acap/detail.action?docID=5662627. Created from acap on 2024-09-18 06:07:14. pas22797_ch01_001-034.indd 5 08/09/18 01:53 PM  6 P SYC HO LO GY Table 1.1 Widely held beliefs about behaviour: fact or fiction? Directions: decide whether each statement is true or false. 1. Most people with exceptionally high IQs are well adjusted in other areas of their life. 2. In romantic relationships, opposites usually attract. 3. Overall, married adults are less happy than adults who aren’t married. 4. Graphology (handwriting analysis) is a valid method for measuring people’s personality. 5. A person who is innocent of a crime has nothing to fear from a lie detector test. 6. People who commit suicide usually have signalled to others their intention to do so. 7. When you negatively reinforce someone’s behaviour, the person becomes more likely to behave that way. 8. O  n some types of mental tasks, people perform as well or better when they are 70 years old than when they are 20 years old. 9. Usually it is safe to awaken someone who is sleepwalking. 10. A schizophrenic is a person who has two or more distinct personalities, hence the term split personality. ANSWERS: Items 1, 6, 8 and 9 are supported by psychological research. Item 7 is true by definition. The remaining items are false. (If you correctly answered nine or ten of these items, you’ve done significantly better than random guessing.) evaluating the validity of something presented to you as fact (Levy, 2010). For example, when someone makes a claim or asserts a new ‘fact’ such as those above, ask yourself the following questions, just as a scientist would: What, exactly, is the claim or assertion? Who is making the claim? Is the source credible and trustworthy? What is the evidence and how good is it? Are other explanations possible? If so, can I evaluate them? What is the most appropriate conclusion? The jumbled-word challenge Let’s think critically about the jumbled-word paragraph presented earlier. First, what’s the claim? There are three, actually: (1) that people can read jumbled words without a problem as long as the first and last letters stay in the same place, (2) that this occurs because we read ‘words as a whole’ rather than reading each letter by itself and (3) that this Copyright © 2018. McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited. All rights reserved. finding is based on research at Cambridge University. Second, who is making the claim? Unfortunately, the jumbled-paragraph’s author is anonymous, which is caution flag #1. We can’t evaluate the author’s credibility and trustworthiness. Third, what’s the evidence and how good is it? The evidence begins with a claim implying that research was conducted at Cambridge. No reference information (researchers’ names, publication location or date) is given: this is caution flag #2. Indeed, it seems that there was no such research done at Cambridge, although unpublished research at another university may have been the source (Davis, 2003; Rawlinson, 1999). There’s also the dramatic evidence of your own experience: reading the jumbled paragraph easily. But this is only one short paragraph. Also, overall, the transposition (i.e. switched ordering) of letters is minimal. This is caution flag #3 and leads to the next question. Fourth, are other explanations possible for why the paragraph is easy to read? Here are some to consider: Sixty-five per cent of the words either aren’t jumbled (because they have only one to three letters) or—with four- letter words—there is only one possible transposition (switching the second and third letters), which makes unscrambling them easy. For the words with five or six letters, in all but one case, the transposition is minor because only a single letter is out of sequence (e.g. for ‘mttaer’, only the ‘a’ is out of order). Thus, in total, 83 per cent of the words are either unjumbled or have only minor transpositions. This preserves much of the way the words sound when we read them. Further, these words provide contextual information that makes it easier to anticipate the meaning of some of the few longer, scrambled words. Passer, Michael, et al. Psychology : The Science of Mind and Behaviour, McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acap/detail.action?docID=5662627. Created from acap on 2024-09-18 06:07:14. pas22797_ch01_001-034.indd 6 08/10/18 01:06 PM  CHAPTER 1 The sc ience of psychology 7 In everyday life, you’re unlikely to conduct a scientific study to test these alternative explanations, but you can gather additional evidence by constructing sentences with longer words and more complex transpositions and having some people try to read them. Try reading this paragraph (the section at the end of the chapter contains the unjumbled version) and see if it changes your belief about the ease of reading jumbled words. A plciaiiotn dieend the mtnaalueghsr of a clgaloeue, but was coincetvd and dlepoeevd sreeve macedil cdointonis in posirn, wrhee he deid. Arnodiistitman of agctannloauit dgurs ptttnaioeed the eefctfs of atehonr durg, and rprsoiearty frliaue rleeutsd. Lastly, what is the most appropriate conclusion to draw? The claim that it’s relatively easy to read words as long as the first and last letters are intact appears to be too broad, too absolute. Stated as such, it’s clearly wrong. Stated in qualified terms of ‘under some conditions’, the claim has support, although one study found that even minor transpositions of interior letters slowed reading speed by 11 per cent (Rayner et al., 2006). In some languages, however, such interior transpositions may make words very difficult, if not impossible, to read (Davis, 2003). Of astrology and asstrology: potential costs of uncritical thinking Suppose someone swallows the bait of the original jumbled-word paragraph and now erroneously believes that it’s always easy to read words with transposed letters. Unless it’s a smart-aleck student or worker who plans to turn in jumbled essays or work reports (citing ‘scientific justification’ for doing so), what’s the harm in holding this little false belief? Perhaps the immediate personal consequences are minimal, but misconceptions can add up and contribute to an increasingly misguided view of how the world operates. Unfortunately, people uncritically accept many misconceptions that do have concrete harmful consequences. For example, in the hope of making their babies smarter, consumers shelled out about $200 million annually to purchase Baby Einstein videos that the Walt Disney Company advertised as educational, despite a lack of scientific support for such educational claims (Zimmerman et al., 2007). Under government and consumer-group pressure, Disney eventually dropped the ‘educational’ claim and later agreed to partially refund consumers (Lewin, 2009). Despite a lack of scientific evidence, people spend untold amounts of their hard-earned money to have their personalities analysed and their futures forecast by astrologers, graphologists (handwriting analysts), tea-leaf readers and other so-called fortune tellers—including ‘rumpologists’ (sometimes referred to as ‘asstrologers’), who ‘read’ people’s buttocks to obtain their presumed psychic insights (Wyman & Vyse, 2008). Money aside, it’s impossible to estimate how many people have made major life decisions based on fortune tellers’ unscientific advice. It’s also hard to know how many people have not only wasted money on bogus therapies for ailments, diseases and mental disorders but also experienced needless continued distress or further bodily harm by failing to employ scientifically validated treatments. Unfortunately, pseudoscience—fields such as astrology, graphology, rumpology and so on that are dressed up Copyright © 2018. McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited. All rights reserved. to look like science but which lack credible scientific evidence—appears to attract many believers. Goals of psychology As a science, psychology has four central goals: description, explanation, control and application. Description is the most basic goal; psychologists seek to describe how people behave, think and feel. Second, psychologists strive to explain—to understand—why people act as they do. Explanations typically take the form of hypotheses and theories that specify the causes of behaviour. Third, psychologists exert control by designing experiments or other types of research to test whether their proposed explanations are accurate. Finally, many psychologists apply psychological knowledge in ways that enhance human welfare—for example, applying knowledge of social cognition processes to reduce stereotypes and prejudice. Consider Schweitzer et al.’s (2005) research on attitudes toward refugees in a sample of Australian participants. Schweitzer and his team first conducted a review of existing research and determined that negative attitudes were held by some white Australians toward refugees (description). Next, they needed to develop a hypothesis to try and explain why these attitudes might be held. To do this, they again turned to existing research and found two social psychology constructs that had been shown to explain negative attitudes toward people from different backgrounds (referred to as ‘out-groups’)—these were symbolic and realistic threat. Symbolic threat occurs when perceived differences in cultural practices (including beliefs, values and morals) are believed to ‘impinge’ on existing cultural practices (Stephan & Stephan, 1996). Realistic threat occurs when ‘out-group’ members are perceived to pose competition for resources such as jobs, healthcare, accommodation and the like (Stephan & Stephan, 1996). As such, Schweitzer and colleagues Passer, Michael, et al. Psychology : The Science of Mind and Behaviour, McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acap/detail.action?docID=5662627. Created from acap on 2024-09-18 06:07:14. pas22797_ch01_001-034.indd 7 08/09/18 01:53 PM  8 P SYC HO LO GY proposed that the same mechanisms of realistic and symbolic threat would be able to explain why these negative beliefs were held by white Australians toward refugees who may be perceived as posing a threat to cultural practices (i.e. the ‘Aussie’ way of life) and resources (such as jobs). To test their assumptions, Schweitzer et al. conducted a study in which they asked participants carefully controlled questions about their attitudes toward refugees, as well as questions designed to assess realistic and symbolic threat. They found that realistic and symbolic threat were indeed related to attitudes toward refugees, which supported their hypothesis. The knowledge gained has already led other psychologists to examine the role of realistic and symbolic threat in shaping prejudicial attitudes (e.g. Suhnan et al., 2012), and can inform efforts to reduce negative attitudes toward refugees and other out-groups (application). AUSTRALIAN FOCUS Why it pays to think scientifically Failing to think scientifically can have serious and long- year?’—easy, right? Maybe for those who have grown up in lasting consequences. Consider, for example, how failing a Western culture. But consider the difficulty in answering to think scientifically contributed to the oppression and this question if you come from a culture (as do Indigenous stigmatisation of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Australians) in which a year is measured by seasons rather Islander people. than months. Does an inability to answer this question reflect During the early to mid-20th century, many researchers a lack of intelligence or a lack of familiarity with Western compared the performance of Indigenous and non- culture? Interestingly, some researchers at the time found Indigenous Australian children (and later, adults) in tests that Indigenous Australians who had greater interactions of intelligence. The results of such studies were mixed with white Australians performed ‘better’ on these tests and often difficult to interpret; for example, some studies than those who had not, suggesting that results may in part found large differences between these groups in favour of have been explained in terms of the degree of familiarity non-Indigenous people (e.g. Porteus, 1917), while others with Western culture (e.g. McElwain & Kearney, 1973). did not (e.g. Fowler, Traylen & McElwain, 1941, as cited in Despite the culturally biased nature of these and Kearney, 1973). Despite these differences in results, the other assessments, the results contributed to policies media primarily focused on those results which suggested of ‘Aboriginal protection’, which ultimately led to the that Indigenous Australians were ‘less intelligent’ than non- removal of Aboriginal children from their families because Indigenous Australians (Kearney, 1966), as these results of the perceived mental and moral deficiencies of their were consistent with the prejudice held by non-Indigenous communities (Rickwood et al., 2010). Thus, although Copyright © 2018. McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited. All rights reserved. society at the time, for example the view that white people psychologists are not known to have been involved in were ‘better than’ or ‘superior to’ indigenous people physically removing Indigenous children from their families, (Rickwood et al., 2010). In other words, the media and their research did contribute to policies that led to this society were demonstrating a confirmation bias—a pitfall practice. Due to the inaccurate belief that white people of everyday thinking. Another shortcoming of research at were superior, a further rationale for this practice was that the time was that it overemphasised the biological level of placement with white families would allow Indigenous analysis (i.e. attributed the comparatively lower performance children to develop European values, which was seen on intelligence tests to the genetic makeup of Indigenous as more desirable than protection and celebration of Australians) and largely neglected psychological, and Indigenous culture and values (Dudgeon & Hirvonen, 2014). environmental and social influences on behaviour. The children who were affected by these policies are Clearly, there was a discrepancy in performance often referred to as the ‘Stolen Generation’ (Read, 1999). on these tests, but did this really mean that Indigenous This is a tragic example of how failing to think scientifically Australians were less intelligent than white Australians? No, can have serious and long-lasting consequences. but what it did mean was that the researchers had fallen prey Thankfully, developments in psychological research (such to another pitfall of everyday thinking—failing to consider as the work on mother–infant bonding and attachment by alternative explanations for their results. Specifically, the John Bowlby) and improved critical thinking skills being researchers failed to consider that most tests and items employed by researchers later helped to bring an end in them measure culturally specific knowledge. Take, to these policies (Rickwood et al., 2010), although by for example, the question, ‘How many months are in a then many thousands of children had been negatively Passer, Michael, et al. Psychology : The Science of Mind and Behaviour, McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acap/detail.action?docID=5662627. Created from acap on 2024-09-18 06:07:14. pas22797_ch01_001-034.indd 8 08/09/18 01:53 PM  CHAPTER 1 The sc ience of psychology 9 affected through being removed from their communities Islander Peoples and Psychology, Psychology and Cultures, (Read, 1999). Sadly, despite changes in government and Psychology from an Islamic Perspective (APS, 2011). policy, Indigenous Australians continue to experience Ultimately, this increased participation means greater psychosocial stressors (including poverty and violence) awareness and understanding of different cultural needs, stemming from the experience of the stolen generation. meaning that psychologists are better informed and able These ongoing challenges, and failure to appropriately to help people from a variety of cultural backgrounds and work with Indigenous communities to address quality of experiences. We also hope that it means there is less life issues, also mean that Indigenous children continue to likelihood of falling prey to the pitfalls of everyday thinking be over-represented in out-of-home care arrangements. It when it comes to interacting with members of other cultures. is imperative that we work towards improving this situation. Around the world, psychologists—both Indigenous and non-Indigenous—fulfil many different roles in areas such as research, education and therapy. A priority for psychologists, regardless of the field in which they work, is to be aware of the impact social and cultural (i.e. environmental), as well as biological and psychological, factors have on influencing people’s behaviour. This typifies the biopsychosocial approach to health and is a very different approach from that demonstrated by early researchers as described previously. Awareness of how culture influences behaviour is raised by increasing the involvement and recognition of people with diverse cultural backgrounds within the psychology profession. Examples of this increased involvement include the establishment Figure 1.4 Intelligence tests can be culturally biased and can of the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association have wide-reaching negative effects, as was experienced by (AIPA, 2011) and the Australian Psychological Society many Indigenous Australians in the past. (APS) interest groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait © Janine Wiedel Photolibrary/Alamy Stock Photo Basic and applied research Copyright © 2018. McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited. All rights reserved. Science involves basic research, which reflects the quest for knowledge for its own sake, and applied research, which is designed to solve specific, practical problems. For psychologists, most basic research examines how and why people behave, think and feel the way they do. Schweitzer et al.’s (2005) research on prejudice represents basic research. Their main intent was to explore the role of social cognition in attitudes and thereby increase our understanding of why prejudicial attitudes toward refugees exist. Although the knowledge gained from their study has obvious applied relevance, the purpose of their study was not to apply that knowledge or directly modify people’s attitudes. Basic research may be carried out in laboratories or real-world settings, with human participants or other species. Psychologists who study other species usually attempt to discover principles that will ultimately shed light on human behaviour, but some study animal behaviour for its own sake. In applied research, psychologists often use basic scientific knowledge to design interventions. For example, we could use the basic knowledge obtained from Schweitzer et al.’s (2005) research to design and test the effectiveness of an intervention program aimed at altering prejudicial attitudes toward refugees. Similarly, researchers have used basic research findings—such as principles concerning how people learn by observing the behaviour of others—to design and implement HIV/AIDS-prevention programs around the world (Lerdboon et al., 2008). Psychology’s broad scope: a simple framework Because we are biological creatures living in a complex social world, psychologists study an amazing array of factors to understand why people behave, think and feel as they do. At times, this diversity of factors may seem a bit overwhelming, but we would like to provide you with a framework that will greatly simplify matters. We call it levels of analysis: behaviour Passer, Michael, et al. Psychology : The Science of Mind and Behaviour, McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Limited, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/acap/detail.action?docID=5662627. Created from acap on 2024-09-18 06:07:14. pas22797_ch01_001-034.indd 9 08/09/18 01:53 PM  10 P SYC HO LO GY GLOBAL FOCUS Terrorists or terrorised? Even today, people can fail to apply critical thinking skills— allegations that she did not care about the injured victims. particularly when they perceive danger to themselves or However, what many people failed to acknowledge people they care about. was that there were many other non-hijab-wearing On September 11, 2001, a series of horrific terrorist white Westerners engaging in the same activity, without attacks were perpetrated by Islamic militants against American reproach (ABC, 2017). This highlights the failure to follow citizens, resulting in the deaths of thousands. Since that time, the principles of critical thinking by not evaluating all the many other acts of terrorism have occurred throughout the evidence, not considering alternative explanations and as world, including in Egypt, France, Germany and the United a result, not reaching an appropriate conclusion. Kingdom, with Islamic militants such as ISIS often claiming However, negative stereotyping of all Muslim people responsibility (Mueller, 2017). As a result, there has been as terrorists is much less likely to occur when people have extensive media coverage of terrorist attacks. Although the already had positive interactions with this population (von purpose of such coverage is to inform the public, it appears Sikorski et al., 2017). In other words, they have additional to have resulted in both increased fear of terrorism, as well as evidence to draw upon when making conclusions about the negative stereotyping of all Muslim peoples as ‘terrorists’. Muslim people that helps them to offer other explanations This negative stereotyping occurs due to people and come to a more appropriate conclusion. In other words, making the incorrect assumption that because all ISIS they are more likely to engage critical thinking processes members are Muslim, all Muslim people are terrorists. In fact, due to the discrepancy between the information provided by many researchers have demonstrated that fear of terrorism the media and their own experiences. increases hostility toward all Muslim people, not just ISIS But what about those who haven’t had the opportunity members (e.g. Das et al., 2009). This occurs, despite the fact to interact with Muslim people to a large degree, and who that not all ISIS members are Muslim and many Westerners rely on media reporting as their primary source of information have joined ISIS despite not having formally studied or in this regard? How can journalists encourage critical converted to Islam. Essentially, what researchers such as von thinking processes and discourage negative stereotypes Sikorski et al. (2017) have demonstrated is that people often of innocent Muslim people? By clearly and explicitly fail to use critical thinking when provided with information differentiating between news about Muslim people and by the media—instead, they passively absorb information news about Islamic terrorists (von Sikorski et al., 2017)—for as objective fact. For this reason, if reporters fail to explicitly example, by talking about ISIS militants