PSY 211 Introduction to Psychology Statistics - - Welcome - -
Welcome to PSY 211 Psychology Statistics w/ Mike Hoerger Grab a syllabus Skim it over so you can ask questions Please sign and fill out the final page of the syllabus and return it to me at the end of class
Overview Syllabus: Last Page Background Information Review Syllabus in Detail Trivia Game Homework Assignment 1 –Due next Thursday
Syllabus - Last Page My information: –Hoerger rhymes with burger, but call me Mike –Graduate of MSU, originally from Midland –Clinical Psychology: assessment, personality, personality disorders, emotion, drug reform, single-subject design, skilled performance, the internet, –Interests: sports, alternative, politics, comedy –Concerns: laziness, anxiety, apathy –Questions?
Why do I have to take this? Learn to use numbers to describe people and predict behavior Psychology, sociology, social work, economics, health, medicine, PT, zoology, epidemiology, philosophy, education, criminology, political science, athletics Conduct research, consume research, and apply statistics to everyday life
Why conduct research? Curiosity about people Advancing knowledge Improving lives Getting a good job Getting into graduate school Fame or infamy Money
What if I’m not cut out for research? What if conducting research bores me?
Consuming research Most jobs require people to keep up on information, including recent research findings. If you can’t draw the correct conclusions, you may get fired. Read articles and books to help yourself, family, friends, coworkers, clients Fulfill your curiosities
What if I dislike research, hate knowledge, have no intellectual curiosity, hate reading, and have no interest in helping other people?
Apply statistics to everyday life TV: sports, game shows, detective shows, the news Draw reasonable conclusions about people based on limited information
But what if I’m scared?
Stats are not so scary This course is designed to foster appropriate levels of anxiety Lazy students will need a reality check Anxious students will learn to relax All hard-working students will pass Many students will become much more interested in research
Syllabus , course web site, office hours Course materials –Book Course description Typical Class Special needs Cheating
Grades Grades in this course will be based largely on effort. What you put in, you will get out. “We maximize choice and enhance power by deciding for ourselves how much is good enough in each and every activity we engage in. We all have the inalienable right to waste our potential.” –Kaufman Recommendations
Statistics Trivia Game and Discussion
A CMU student comes to the psychology clinic for a psychological evaluation due to poor grades, feeling distracted while studying, and trouble paying attention in class. What’s the most likely diagnosis? Learning Disorder ADHD Anxiety 1 of 15: Diagnostics
If halfway through the season the Detroit Pistons basketball team has won 85% of their games, what will likely be their win percentage at the end of the year? 73% 79% 85% 2 of 15: Athletics
Among children, what is the correlation between sugar consumption and hyperactivity? r =.00 none r =.30 modest r =.60 strong 3 of 15: Children
Prizes for the Winners
Compared to others in their age group, physicians are more likely to abuse what drug? Alcohol Vicodin Cocaine 4 of 15: Medicine
What’s the correlation between self-reported level of attention problems and actual level of attention problems measured by an attention test? r =.00 none r =.30 modest r =.60 strong 5 of 15: Cognitive Psychology
What’s the correlation between success in a job interview and success on the job? r =.00 none r =.20 mild r =.40 modest 6 of 15: Personnel Selection
Prizes for the Winners
Using judges’ ratings, how highly does a person’s level of attractiveness correlate with that of their romantic partner? r =.10 weak r =.40 modest r =.70 strong 7 of 15: Romance
What’s the correlation between a dentist’s judgment that a cavity is present (based on x-rays) and the actual presence of a cavity? r =.40 modest r =.60 strong r =.80 very strong 8 of 15: Dentistry
What’s the correlation between at-home pregnancy test results and whether or not the woman is actually pregnant? r =.40 modest r =.70 strong r =.95 near perfect 9 of 15: Pregnancy
Prizes for the Winners
How well do scores on a memory test identify level of dementia? r =.00 none r =.30 modest r =.60 strong 10 of 15: Diagnostics
What’s the correlation between ACT scores and college GPA? r =.00 none r =.20 mild r =.40 modest 11 of 15: College Recruitment
On a scale from 1 (not happy) to 7 (very happy), how happy are people two months after being dumped? of 15: Emotion
Prizes for the Winners
A young, distressed mother brings her 5-year- old daughter to the psychology clinic for an evaluation because her daughter has been having delusions, hallucinations, and crying spells. What is the likely diagnosis? Depression Schizo- phrenia Child Abuse 13 of 15: Diagnostics
What’s the correlation between self-efficacy scores and successful physical rehabilitation? r =.00 none r =.30 modest r =.60 strong 14 of 15: Physical Therapy Waterboy, You can do it!
What treatment has helped to treat depression, anxiety, erectile dysfunction, pain, ulcers, warts, bedwetting, arthritis, malignant tumors, diabetes, narcotic withdrawal, insomnia, colds, inattentiveness, and heart attack? Lipitor Zyprexa Zoloft 15 of 15: Pharmacology
Prizes for the Winners
Homework #1 Today’s goal: question assumptions, be curious, use statistics Read the instructions for HW#1 and ask me about it next time For the homework, come up with 5 questions you want to know about people I’ll choose the best questions, and we’ll have participants (friends, family) take the survey online