Psychology 101 Introduction to Psychology Dr. Jacob Leonesio 7/22/2019 Psychology 101 Introduction to Psychology Dr. Jacob Leonesio Introduce yourself as a cognitive psychologist that specializes in metacognition.and in neuroscience. I am interested n issues that relate to consciousness and the relationship between awareness and control. Introduce Judy McGlophlin as a Ph.D. Candidate in cognitive psychology specializing in cognitive neuroscience. Say a few words about what you study. (specifically she studies certain kinds of brainwaves). She does research on language and bilingualizm specifically. Introduce Mark Ross is an advanced undergraduate student who is acting as an undergraduate teaching assistant. Hand out the Syllabus. I expect everyone to use myself, and your two TA’s to help you understand the material covered in your two books. Go over the sylllabus -- pleas read it -- go over question writing. Before explaining more ask -- What is mind? Call on individuals and have Judy or mark write on board. Organize in terms of Information (Structure and Process)

What is psychology the study of?

Some Types of Psychologists Research Psychologists (academic ) Biological (neuroscientists) Cognitive Psychologists Social Psychologists Personality Psychologists Educational Psychologists Some Clinical Psychologists

Some Types of Psychologists Applied Psychologists Clinical Psychologists School Psychologists Industrial/Organizatonal and Human Factors Psychologists

Academic Degrees M.S.W M.A Ph.D. Ed.D. M.D.

Cognitive (internal mental processes are studied) Some Perspectives on the Causes of Human Experience and Behavior: Biological Neuroscience (brain, genes, behavior) Cognitive (internal mental processes are studied) Behavioral (study of observable responses to observable stimuli) Classical and operant conditioning

Some Perspectives on the Causes of Human Experience and Behavior: Social-Cultural Perspective Social Psychology Cross Cultural Research Psychodynamic (unconscious motives, conflicts, defenses) Case Study Early Childhood experience Humanistic Perspective Experiential Research Clinical Techniques

How is Knowledge Obtained?

Classic Ways of Knowing Tenacity (not a ‘method’) Authority (not a ‘method’) Intuition Reason (deduction and induction) Empiricism

The Scientific Method Rational empiricism A dynamic method that combines systematic empiricism with rational inference.

Not all questions can be answered scientifically. Academic psychology only addresses those questions that can be answered scientifically. Academic Psychology is only about 100 years old (1879 to the present).

Case Study Single participant Historical/qualitative analysis Useful for generating hypotheses to be tested with further studies and experiments.

Correlational Study Many participants Operational definitions Descriptive statistics, quantitative data (means, medians, correlation coefficients) Inferential statistics, the probability that the result of at least this size is due to chance is calculated (p<.05, p<.01) Can determine a significant relationship, but NOT whether one variable CAUSES changes in another variable

Operational Definition A variable is defined by the precise series of steps the describe how a variable is measured. This series of steps must result in a NUMBER.

v Significance A finding is significant if it can be shown that it is not due to chance. (Significant does not mean important)

Significance is always expressed as a probability. p < .05 means that the likelyhood that the experimental finding is due to chance is only 5 out of 100.

Experiment Many participants Operational definitions The independent variable is MANIPULATED and alternative hypothesis are eliminated (often by using RANDOM ASSIGNMENT to conditions) Descriptive statistics Inferential statistics CAN DETERMINE if one variable CAUSES changes in another variable

Measures of Central Tendency Mean = 10,154,000/7 = 1,450,571.43 Median = 30,000 Mode = 12,000 10,000,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 12,000 10,000

If the Dependent Variable is Degree of Violence There are a number of possible operational definitions. Here is one example: Mean (average) volume of participants voice measured in decibels by a sound meter over a 20 min period while responding to a set of provocative questions