PSY2014M: A Theory of Everything Dr David A. Ellis

Exam Update 10 Questions – Pick 1* * not within David’s control

Overview Theory – placing it in context The Scientific Method Examples Revision lecture next week

The Scientific Method Hypothesis > Model > Test ‘All models are wrong, and increasingly you can succeed without them’ Peter Norvig Can psychology learn from this?

In The News

Applying theory to real world problems The real world theory Methodological problems Complex problems

Example Obesity/poor diet in the United States Groups of lower SES are at much greater risk for becoming obese (Sobal & Stunkard 1989) But is this simply a function of poverty? Discuss

Emm, no.

Theory Link and Phelan’s (1995) “fundamental cause” theory – upstream social-environmental factors that create negative outcomes Downstream individual-level mechanisms Anderson (1998)

Proof of principal Cognitive dissonance… Under what conditions do these mechanisms hold? How does the environment impact these mechanisms?

Being part of the group Jackson et al. (2010) engaging in health- compromising behaviors may be coping mechanisms This implies that there are both positive and negative consequences to engaging in these behaviours

Western driven research and theory….even with Big Data In considering how theory is presented, we might also remember that these theories tend to be grounded within Western, and mostly Caucasian, cultural beliefs (Landrine & Klonoff, 1992).

Self Regulation Theory The emphasis on individualism is a central component of self-regulation theory. The likelihood of success with self-control, however, depends on multiple factors, operating simultaneously, and with many of these factors outside of the individual’s control.

Baumeister et al (2007) Standards Motivation Monitoring Willpower

Example 2 – Student Engagement Student engagement (Astin 1984) 1. Engagement physical and psychological 2. Occurs on a continuum 3. Quantitative and Qualitative features 4. Learning is associated with engagement 5. The effectiveness of any change in practice is related to the ability of that practice to increase engagement

Back to the Beginning Adler, Taylor, & Wortman (1987) pressed for the conduct of what they termed “basic field research” Lack of attention to external validity may limit the application of all current theories. Speak to a practitioner……

Method and Theory Difficult to separate the two Rigorous theory testing occurs not in tightly controlled contexts, but rather in imperfect settings (Green & Glasgow, 2006). …but that doesn’t mean the method has to suck!

Moving forward IndividualEnvironment LightTalkingSleepStress

References Anderson NB. Levels of analysis in health science: A framework for integrating sociobehavioral and biomedical research. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1998; 840:563–576. Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., & Tice, D. M. (2007). The strength model of self-control. Current directions in psychological science, 16(6), Green, L. W., & Glasgow, R. E. (2006). Evaluating the relevance, generalization, and applicability of research issues in external validation and translation methodology. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 29(1), Mermelstein, R. J., & Revenson, T. A. (2013). Applying theory across settings, behaviors, and populations: translational challenges and opportunities. Health Psychology. 32(5), Rothman, A. J., Klein, W. M., & Cameron, L. D. (2013). Advancing innovations in social/personality psychology and health: opportunities and challenges. Health Psychology. 32(5) Health Psychology. 32(5) – this entire issue is worth a read to get a nice broad theoretical perspective

Seminar (ggplot2)