Careers in Psychology Psychology’s Major Subfields: Research: Basic (increases knowledge base) Applied (solving practical problems) Clinical: (studies, assesses, and treats people) Psychiatry: (medical) Community: (interaction between people, social environments, and social institutions Positive: (studies individual strengths and virtues) Useable in all career fields

Careers in Psychology Cognitive Psychologists Community Psychologists  Counseling Psychologists  Developmental Psychologists  Educational Psychologists  Engineering Psychologists  Environmental Psychologists  Forensic Psychologists

Careers in Psychology Health Psychologists  Industrial / Organizational Psychologists  Neuropsychologists  Rehabilitation Psychologists  School Psychologists  Social Psychologists  Sports Psychologists Military Psychologists

Scientific Method

Scientific Method Helps Avoid: Hindsight Bias Overconfidence Seeing Order (or not) in Random Events Researcher Bias

Scientific Method Helps Promote: Scientific Attitude: Curiosity Skepticism Humility Critical Thinking

Scientific Method Critical Thinking Examines assumptions Uncovers hidden values and agendas Evaluates evidence Tests conclusions

Scientific Method Theory an explanation of something using principles that organize observations and predict outcomes based on existing info Hypothesis a testable prediction that is often implied by and is used to test a theory Principle of Falsifiablility Operational Definition Replication

Scientific Method Three Main Types of Studies Descriptive Studies Correlation Studies Experimentation

Descriptive Studies Case studies Longitudinal studies Cross sectional studies Sequential studies Observational studies Naturalistic Laboratory

Descriptive Studies Testing Reliability Validity Standardized Objective Subjective Surveys Random sampling Population

Correlation Studies Shows strength of relationships suggests something may predict but not necessarily cause Correlation coefficient Closer to +/- 1.0 the greater the relationship Illusory correlation Amount of sexual content seen on TV Amount of income Likelihood of teens having sex Amount of psychiatric symptoms experienced by children

Correlation Studies

Experimentation Experiment Independent variable Dependent variable Confounding variable Groups Experimental Group (condition) Control Group (condition) Placebo Double Blind procedure

Scientific Method Smithers thinks that a special juice will increase the productivity of workers. He creates two groups of 50 workers each and assigns each group the same task (in this case, they're supposed to staple a set of papers). Group A is given the special juice to drink while they work. Group B is not given the special juice. After an hour, Smithers counts how many stacks of papers each group has made. Group A made 1,587 stacks, Group B made 2,113 stacks. Identify the: Hypothesis Control Group Independent Variable Dependent Variable What should Smithers' conclusion be? How could this experiment be improved?

Scientific Method Homer notices that his shower is covered in a strange green slime. His friend Barney tells him that coconut juice will get rid of the green slime. Homer decides to check this this out by spraying half of the shower with coconut juice. He sprays the other half of the shower with water. After 3 days of "treatment" there is no change in the appearance of the green slime on either side of the shower.   Identify: Hypothesis Control Group Independent Variable Dependent Variable What should Homer's conclusion be? How could this experiment be improved?

Scientific Method Bart believes that mice exposed to microwaves will become extra strong (maybe he's been reading too much Radioactive Man). He decides to perform this experiment by placing 10 mice in a microwave for 10 seconds. He compared these 10 mice to another 10 mice that had not been exposed. His test consisted of a heavy block of wood that blocked the mouse food. He found that 8 out of 10 of the microwaved mice were able to push the block away. 7 out of 10 of the non-microwaved mice were able to do the same. Identify: Hypothesis Control Group Independent Variable Dependent Variable What should Bart's conclusion be? How could Bart's experiment be improved?

Analysis and Interpretation Descriptive Statistics (describe our scores) Measures of Central Tendency Mean Median Mode Measures of Variation Range Times at bat Standard deviation (1, 2, 2, 3, 2) Inferential Statistics (determine significance)

Ethics The American Psychological Association promotes the following basic research standards: Informed consent Do no harm Confidentiality Debrief required if deceit must be used