Thinking Critically With Psychological Science
History and Development
History Psychological “heritage” comes from a varied background Most scientists who pioneered early psychological advances were not psychologists
History First psychological observations completed by Wilhem Wundt Found that people responded in 1/10 sec when asked to press a key when they heard a tone Freud Austrian biologist Developed first theory of personality Also defined the terms “unconscious”, “subconscious”, and “conscious”
History Darwin Pavlov Piaget Proposed evolutionary psychology Russian physiologist Pioneered study of learning Piaget Biologist Recognized as the most influential observer of children’s behavior
History – Development of Subsets Wundt, Freud focused on inner sensations Used Introspection as the main psychological device 1920’s Move from unobservable phenomena to external responses led the way towards behaviorism
History – Development of Subsets John B. Watson What were the ethical concerns with this experiment? B. F. Skinner Experimented with pigeons Used food as reward, and pigeons soon pecked correctly
History – Development of Subsets Humanistic psychology Emphasizes the growth potential of healthy people, further studied personality Developed by Maslow and Rogers Maslow developed hierarchy of needs Individual could not advance until basic needs were met
History – Development of Subsets Cognitive Revolution Once again turned observations into the self Looked at how the mind processes/stores information Expanded on earlier introspective techniques
Modern Psychology : Current Perspectives
Current Perspectives In Psychology Neuroscience Brian/Body enables emotions, memories, sensory experiences Evolutionary Natural selection of traits continues the genetic line Behavioral/Genetic Genetic/Environmental interaction influence individual differences
Current Perspectives in Psychology Psychodynamic Behavior springs from unconscious drives/conflicts Behavioral Learning of observable responses Albert Bandura Cognitive Encoding, processing, storage, and retrieval of information
Current Perspectives in Psychology Social-Cultural Behavior/thinking influenced by individual culture See Table 1.1 For This information
Major Issue in Psychology Nature vs. Nurture Genetics vs. Environment Which one wins? Plato assumed psychological characteristics were inherited Aristotle proposed idea of tabula rasa
Current thinking on Nature Vs. Nurture This is the part where nature and nurture interact and behavior, emotion, and thoughts emerge
Levels of Analysis Biopsychosocial Approach Considers social, biological, and psychological factors Similar to other approaches of science as it considers the whole of the person, not just one element
Biopsychosocial Model
Subfields of Psychology Out of “general” psychology, specialized subfields have emerged Biological – Explores links between the brain and the mind Developmental – Examines changing abilities as well as changing biological structures
Subfields of Psychology Social – Explores how we influence and are influenced by others Cognitive – Explores perceptions, thoughts, problem solving techniques Personality – Explores persistent traits shown by individuals
Subfields of Psychology Industrial/Organizational – increase workplace productivity, HR management Counseling – Help people cope with challenges, addictions, personal problems
Subfields of Psychology Clinical -- Assess mental health of individuals as well as treat emotional, mental, and behavioral issues Psychiatrists -- specialized MD’s licensed to prescribe psychoactive medications, treat physical causes of psychological problems
Modern Psychology : Research Methods
Research Methods Two ways to conduct research in psychology: Applied Basic Tackles practical problems such as workplace satisfaction, life satisfaction, marital satisfaction This is done by industrial/organization psychologists
Research Methods Basic Research which builds psychologies knowledge base This type includes research done by Social, Cognitive, Personality, Behavioral, and Developmental psychologists
Research Methods Hindsight Bias Overconfidence I knew that <insert name> was going to do that. 20/20 Hindsight Overconfidence People often report high confidence levels even though they are mistaken Sometimes its right…
Research Methods Case Study Survey Naturalistic Observation Correlation
Avoiding Research Errors Experimental Manipulation Dependent Variable Independent Variable
Questions Jot the answers to these questions down Is Boston south or North of Paris? List the colors of a stop light in sequential order (top to bottom) Name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday
Confidence One more – Rate your confidence in your answers alongside them How confident are you that you got all three correct?
Answers Paris is North of Boston Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow The door with the three lions…they are dead