Roadmap Psychology Research Methods Ethics in research How do we know what we know? Theories Psychology Research Methods
How do we know what we know?
How do you know? …that you really have a stomach …that George Washington was the first president of the United States? …that the sun will rise tomorrow? …that there aren’t little creatures running around inside your computer that are responsible for the things computers do? …the color of the shirt I am wearing?
Psychology The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Four Goals of Psychology Description What is happening? Explanation Why is it happening? Prediction When will it happen again? Control How can it be changed?
Theory a set of ideas that can be used to organize, describe, or explain behavior
Characteristics of good theories Organize study designs Explain and predict (provide hypotheses) Universal or generalizeable Parsimonious Testable or falsifiable Heuristic (rich research resource)
Significance of theories We all have them Necessary to study of development Impact research and real world practices
Where do theories come from? Word of mouth TV Religious teachings Talk shows Personal experiences Expert opinions Research evidence*
Psychological Theories
Psychological Theories Psychodynamic (unconscious, early development) Behavioral (conditioning, punishment, reinforcement) Humanistic (people are free to choose their own destiny)
Psychological Theories Cognitive (memory, perception, learning) Sociocultural (interaction between social behavior and culture) Biopsychological (human/animal behavior associated with biological events) Evolutionary (biological and mental traits shared by all humans)
What about Freud? Psychoanalysis - the theory and therapy based on the work of Sigmund Freud Patients suffered from nervous disorders with no found physical cause Unconscious (unaware) mind into which we push, or repress, all of our threatening sexual urges and desires
Freud Repressed sexual urges, in trying to surface, created nervous disorders Stressed the importance of early childhood experiences
More on Modern Psychological Theories Psychodynamic perspective - modern version of psychoanalysis Development of a sense of self and the discovery of other motivations for behavior Reduced emphasis on sexual motivations
Behavioral perspective B. F. Skinner studied operant conditioning Behaviorism became a major force in the twentieth century Skinner introduced the concept of reinforcement
Humanistic perspective Early roots of psychology in the field of philosophy People have free will, the freedom to choose their own destiny Emphasized human potential, ability of each person to become the best person they could be Self-actualization - achieving one’s full potential or actual self
Cognitive perspective Memory, intelligence, perception, problem solving, and learning.
Sociocultural perspective Relationship between social behavior and culture
Biopsychological perspective Attributes human and animal behavior to biological events, such as genetic influences, hormones, and the activity of the nervous system.
Evolutionary perspective Biological bases of universal mental characteristics that all humans share How the mind works and why it works as it does Behavior has an adaptive or survival value
Ethics in Psychological Research Stanley Milgram Stanford Prison Experiment
Ethics in Psychological Research Rights/well-being must be weighed against value to science Informed consent (informed decision about participation) Deception must be justified Withdrawal from the study for any reason at any time
Ethics in Psychological Research Non-harmful procedures or participants told of risks Debriefing (telling the true nature of the study) Data must remain confidential If undesirable consequences, researcher is responsible for detecting and removing/correcting (e.g., Little Albert) Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval