MIDYEAR REVIEW!

Narcotics

Stimulants

Hallucinogenics

6 Mind-Body Problem 1.Dualism: Dualists believe that mind (non- physical) and body (physical) are two distinct entities that interact. Hippocrates 2.Monism: Monists believe that mind and body are different aspects of the same thing. Aristotle Near-death experiences raise the mind-body issue. Can the mind survive the dying body?

HISTORICAL ORIGINS -Charles Darwin ( ) -Origin of the Species introduces theories of natural selection and evolution - his ideas will give rise to the evolutionary approach to psychology

WAVE ONE: Introspection

PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE IS BORN Wilhelm Wundt’s –credited as the father of scientific psychology - uses methods of introspection to explore the human mind Mind combines subjective emotions with objective sensations Titchner- school of Structuralism

Where did they go wrong? Introspection proved an unreliable standard Subjects’ self-reports may be inaccurate Subjective method of observation Confounding factors

Titchner’s Structuralism -“There is one thing, and only one thing in the whole universe which we know more about than we could learn from external observation.”

William James Rejects structuralism Functionalism- focuses on the evolved function of mental and behavioral processes

William James Heavily influenced by Darwin Considers evolved functions of our thoughts and feelings Father of functionalism: focuses on how mental and behavioral processes function in the organism

WAVE TWO: Gestalt Psychology

Max Wertheimer- examines total experience The whole is different from the sum of the parts Consciousness can only be studied holistically

WAVE THREE: Psychodynamic

Psychodynamic Approach Sigmund Freud ( ) is the founder Unconscious thought is in conflict with conscious behavior Defense mechanisms- repress unconscious

Psychodynamic Approach Psychoanalysis Free Association Dream Interpretation

WAVE Four: Behaviorism

Behavioral Approach John B Watson (late 1800’s) founder of Behaviorism Believes any behavior can be shaped and controlled “Nurture”- we are born a blank slate Rejects study of consciousness Skinner and Pavlov- behaviorists

Behavioral Approach Early Behaviorism – view that psychology should 1) be an objective science 2) study behavior without reference to mental processes

Behavioral Approach Pavlov’s Dog= Skinner- reinforcement

Contemporary Approaches and Methods

Biological Approach Psychobiology- assumes mind and body are interrelated Sociobiological/Evolutionary- Influenced by Darwin Influenced by Evolutionary Theory

Cognitive Approach Receiving, storing, and processing information Serial and Paralleling Processing

Cognitive Approach Natural Science Serial Processing- step-by-step processing of information Parallel Processing- many stimuli processed simultaneously 5.php

Sociocultural Approach Focuses on human activity in a social context LS Vygotsky- consciousness is the end product of socialization

Humanist Approach Emphasizes the potential for individual growth and self-awareness Carl Rogers- focuses ones self-concept, or how a person defines their own reality -Mazlow- Self-concept is a strive for self-actualization

Humanist Approach

Hindsight Bias The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

Scientific Theories Set of principles that organize and predict behaviors or events Link observed facts Imply hypotheses that offer testable predictions

Subfields of Psychology Basic Psychology- research Applied Psychology- research put into practice as therapist Psychiatry- a medical field- deals with mental disorders- prescribe medication

There are three main types of research methods in psychology: Descriptive Correlational Experimental

Descriptive Study : 1)Case Study- psychologists study one individual in great depth in hopes of revealing universal principles

Case Study Pros Detailed information Unusual Cases Inexpensive Few ethical considerations

The Problem with the Case Study : An individual may be atypical Cannot generalize results Difficult to Manipulate Variables Difficult to quantify data

Naturalistic Observation Observe subjects in natural habitats without interacting

Naturalistic Observation ProsCons RealisticNo manipulat- InexpensiveIon of variables Few ethical consideration Observer Bias

Survey Method Relies on questions answered by a group of people in interviews or questionnaires

Survey Method Experimenter must identify the population to study Random sampling picking members from a population randomly to ensure a representative sample

Survey Method ProsCons Can gather lots of data Honest answers? Few ethical considerations Need many participants Inexpensive Wording Effects

Poorly worded questions, order of choices In a study by AMNH, 88% of all respondents said that they were interested in plants and trees, but only 39% said they were interested in botany.

Correlational Studies Correlational studies assess the association between two or more characteristics of interest without ascribing causes Is a correlational study an experiment?

Correlation coefficient Example: R= +.37

Correlational Studies

ProsCons InexpensiveConfounding variables Few ethical considerations Illusory correlation TimeDoes not ObjectiveI mply causation

Illusory Correlation When we believe there is a relationship between two things, we are likely to notice and recall instances that confirm our belief

Research Methods DescriptiveCorrelationalExperimental Explains behavior using natural observations assess the association between two or more characteristics of interest Researcher manipulates one variable and observes the effect on another variable 1) Case studies 2) Naturalistic 3) Surveys 1) Causation 2) Illusory correlation 3) Correlational Coefficient Experimental Design Confounding Variables, double- blind

Experimental Method Researcher manipulates one variable (independent variable) and observes the effect on another variable (dependent variable)

Confounding variable : external differences between the experimental group and the control group

Confounding Variables 1) Placebo Effect experimental results caused by expectations alone

Confounding Variables Demand Characteristics- participants form an interpretation of the experiment's purpose and unconsciously change their behavior accordingly

How can we control for confounding variables?

How can we control for confounding variables? 1) Random Assignment method of assigning subjects to groups to minimize pre-existing differences between those groups This is an example of Between subjects design : Participants in the experimental and control group are different individuals

How can be control for confounding variables? 2) Within subjects design Technique where subjects serve as control and experimental group.

Confounding Variables Experimenter bias- researcher’s expectations about the outcome of a study influence the results Q: How can we eliminate experimenter bias?

What is the difference between double blind and single blind procedure? Double blind procedure- research design in which neither the experimenter or the participants know who is in the experimental versus control group Single-blind procedure- research design in the participants do not know who is in the experimental or control group

Operational definition- Operational definition- way of defining a variable objectively Operational definition for intelligence- SAT score? Operational definition for fitness- heart rate

How do psychologists present data? Frequency Distributions

Statistics Statistical significance (p) is the likelihood that the observed difference between groups results from a real difference rather than chance alone What’s a good p value?

When is data statistically significant?

1) Large difference between the two means ) Large difference between the two means

When is data statistically significant?

2) Small standard deviations degree by which a score varies from the mean

Mean, Median, Mode 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11, 11, 12, 12, 13 What’s the mode? What’s the median?

Normal Distribution

Skewed Data