SKP2501 TOPIC 2 PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE Dr. Aini Azeqa Ma’rof Department of Social and Development Sciences Faculty of Human Ecology

Research in Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. Knowledge gained is through an objective study – through regulation/procedure done to specification In this lecture we focus on the scientific method of acquiring knowledge in psychology

Sources of Knowledge SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH - Psychology Authority Knowledge derived from expert / competent people. Knowledge of child development psychologist. Reasoning Based on causality. Depress because the lecturer gave so many assignments! SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH - Psychology Sources of Knowledge Common sense Common sense. Eg. not happy because there is no material / money. Unsystematic observations By chance, without scientific research. Eg. Less handsome man, will get a beautiful wife.

Scientific Method Ask Questions Do background Research Construct Hypothesis Test with an experiment 1.1 What process do scientists use to answer questions about behavior and mental processes? Analyze Results Draw Conclusion Hypothesis is True Hypothesis is FALSE or Partially True Report Results

Psychology Principles critical, open, new ideas and push the old ideas if proven validity, not easy Objectivity No bias/not influenced by feelings, ideas, personal. Accuracy Information / data accurately. Empiricism Data from the scientific rules. Eg questionnaires, sufficient number of samples, reporting honestly. From conscious experience, not a dream. Prudent and cautious Be careful in the study, follow right procedure Scepticism Critical, open, new ideas and push the old ideas if proven validity, not easy Determination Can be proven by cause and effect rules, tested Prudent and cautious Accuracy Determination Skepticism Objectivity Empiricism

Research Methods in Psychology Descriptive Study Observation Case study Survey study Psychological testing Archival studies Correlational study Experimental methods Observation methods: naturalistic observation participant observation laboratory observation

Descriptive methods : Observations 1. NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION – watching animals or humans behave in their normal environment. Major Advantage: Realistic picture of behavior. Disadvantages: Observer effect - tendency of people or animals to behave differently from normal when they know they are being observed. 2. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION - a naturalistic observation in which the observer becomes a participant in the group being observed (to reduce observer effect). Observer bias - tendency of observers to see what they expect to see. Blind observers – people who do not know what the research question is (to reduce observer bias).

Descriptive methods : Observations 3. LABORATORY OBSERVATION – watching animals or humans behave in a laboratory setting. Advantages: Control over environment. Allows use of specialized equipment. Disadvantage: Artificial situation that may result in artificial behavior. Descriptive methods lead to the formation of testable hypotheses.

Descriptive methods : Case Study CASE STUDY - study of one individual in great detail. Advantage: tremendous amount of detail. Disadvantage: cannot apply to others. Famous case study: Phineas Gage.

Descriptive methods : Surveys SURVEYS – researchers will ask a series of questions about the topic under study. Given to a representative sample - randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects. Population - the entire group of people or animals in which the researcher is interested. Advantages: Data from large numbers of people. Study covert behaviors. Disadvantages: Have to ensure representative sample (or results not meaningful). People are not always accurate (courtesy bias).

Descriptive methods : Psychological testing The standard tests used for individual test - IQ Test - Test (inventory) personality - Testing Jobs - Intelligence tests (GRE, GMAT)

Descriptive methods : Studies Archive Some psychological phenomenon difficult to study, examples of abuse. Using the information (records, videos etc.) existing stored: - Police Station - Court - TV Station - National Archives But sometimes incomplete information

Correlational Studies Correlation - a measure of the relationship between two variables. Variable - anything that can change or vary. Measures of two variables go into a mathematical formula and produce a correlation coefficient (r), which represents two things: direction of the relationship. strength of the relationship. Examples: The more time watching TV, the lower the grades, High depressed mood correlated with sleep difficulties - However, correlation does not necessarily indicate a causal relationship - It can only show correlation only.

Experimental Studies Experiment - a deliberate manipulation of a variable to see if corresponding changes in behavior result, allowing the determination of cause-and-effect relationships. Experimental group - subjects in an experiment who are subjected to the independent variable. Control group - subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and who may receive a placebo treatment (controls for confounding variables). Random assignment - process of assigning subjects to the experimental or control groups randomly, so that each subject has an equal chance of being in either group. Controls for confounding (extraneous, interfering) variables.

Experimental Studies Experiment: Aggressive play Experimental group: Violent TV Aggressive play Control Group: No TV Less /no agressive Independent variable (IV) - variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter. Dependent variable (DV) - variable in an experiment that represents the measurable response or behavior of the subjects in the experiment.

Experimental Design Flaws PLACEBO EFFECT - the phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior. Single-blind study- subjects do not know if they are in the experimental or the control group (reduces placebo effect). EXPERIMENTER EFFECT - tendency of the experimenter’s expectations for a study to unintentionally influence the results of the study. Double-blind study - neither the experimenter nor the subjects knows if the subjects are in the experimental or control group (reduces placebo effect and experimenter effect).

Problems in Psychology Hawthorne effect: not because of the changes that occur in response to treatment of real subjects, but subjects responded as expected to treatment Effect of experimental bias Self-prophecy effects and impact completion Pygmalion Past experience and features remain the subject Change the subject (maturity and development) Difficult to determine cause-effect relationships Unpredictable human behaviour Researchers difficult separating themselves from the subject of study ethical questions

ETHICAL ISSUES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY (HUMAN case) Problem for the human Code of ethics for the human - Feedback to the subject - There is no compulsion in the study - Subject to withdraw free - Protect the subject of physical and psychological dangers - Information subject to confidentiality use of fraud

ETHICAL ISSUES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY (ANIMAL case) Why are animals used in the study of psychology? Interested in animal behaviour Easy to control animal behaviour The process of the development of animal life short The study permission is beneficial to the animals themselves Animals are assumed to have no moral rights as humans

SUMMARY 1. Do you know what the science? 2. Describe each of the methods used by psychologists to acquire knowledge. 3. What are the problems encountered in the study of psychology? 4. What ethical issues related to research on humans and animals? 5. How do psychologists solve ethical problems?

Examples of research activities