RESEARCH?! TRYING TO FIGURE IT ALL OUT

WHY DO WE NEED PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH? Don’t we already know how the mind works? Human’s all behave the same, why are we wasting time on such an easy subject? All we need to do is follow common sense. Etc., etc. etc.

HINDSIGHT BIAS The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.

CONFIRMATION BIAS People look for evidence that confirms their beliefs and ignore evidence that dispute their beliefs.

OVERCONFIDENCE When asked factual questions we tend to be more confident than correct. How long would it take you to unscramble 3 anagrams? WREAT= ETRYN= GRABE= WATER ENTRY BARGE ELVIS = LIVES OCHSA = CHAOS VEOSL = SOLVE

SO WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL Hindsight Bias and overconfidence often lead us to overestimate out intuition. But scientific inquiry can help us sift reality from illusion

WHERE TO START? Start by asking a question… Collect information Certain decisions and conclusions are made

DEVELOPING A SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE Being skeptical but not cynical, open but not gullible

QUESTIONS??? Does it work? What do you mean? How does it work? Curiosity, Skepticism and Humility

DEPCO Describe a phenomena Explain how it happens Predict what might cause it Conduct a Controlled experiment to test your prediction

SCIENTIFIC METHOD Theory- explains integrated set of principles that organize observations and predict behaviors and events Hypothesis- testable predictions test and reject or revise theory direct the research Operational definitions- describe concepts with precise procedures or measures

SCIENTIFIC METHOD CONTINUED The experiment MUST be able to be replicated (repeated) Why is this important?

SAMPLES Could be one of the following … Representative Sample – Shows the entire population a researcher is studying Non-representative Sample - Will have a skewed population to look at Random Sample- Allows for each individual to have an equal chance of being represented Stratified sample – Are subgroups in the population and are represented proportionately in the sample

Naturalistic Observation Case Studies Surveys Longitudinal Studies Cross- Sectional Studies Correlations and Explanations Experiments METHODS OF RESEARCH

Observing people and animals natural behavior. This research doesn’t explain behavior it but describes it #1 Rule – Don’t disturb the people or animals while you are studying them. NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION Fun Fact: Humans laugh 30 times more often in social situations than in solitary situation. Have you noticed how often you seldom laugh when alone? We use 17 muscles when laughing!

Is an intensive study of a person or specific groups Powerful research tool Sigmund Freud’s Theory of Personality Development CASE STUDIES Individual case studies can suggest different ideas and “issues” to discover

Very practical way to conduct research Especially on attitudes, beliefs and experiences May consist of interviews or questionnaires or a combination of the two Interviews are good because the interview is geared toward the interviewee Questionnaires are good because everyone asked the exact same question with limited answers ex. A, B, or C Before accepting survey findings, think critically. consider the sample… SURVEYS

Study of the same people at set intervals, over a long period of time (years) Time-consuming and precarious Ideal way to study the consistencies and inconsistencies of a person or people LONGITUDINAL STUDIES

Psychologists organize individuals into groups based on age… then those groups are randomly sampled from Less expensive than Longitudinal and reduce the time needed for the study CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES

Correlations- describe how two sets of data relate to each other Different Types of Correlations Positive Correlation Negative Correlation Describes a relationship between two things… one thing does not cause the other it is just looking at the relationship between the data CORRELATIONS

CAUSATIONS What actually caused the result? Association proves causation? NO No matter how strong the relationship, it does not prove anything

Control the situation and decrease the possibility that unnoticed, outside variables will influence the results of the experiment Hypothesis- Educated guess Variable- Any factor that is capable of change Experimental Group- The group that an independent variable is applied to Control Group – Treated the same way just no independent variable EXPERIMENTS

Ethics- The methods of conduct or standard for proper and responsible behavior… ETHICAL ISSUES

WHY DO WE STUDY ANIMALS? Humans are not like animals we are animals. Hunan nervous system is incredibly complex, many animals have easier nervous systems APA has strict animal care guidelines: Laboratory animals are to be provided with humane care and healthful conditions during their stay in any facilities of the institution. Is animal testing moral? What if a few dogs had to be tested on in order to find the rabies vaccine? If you are more interested in reading about the APA guidelines visit their website:

DO WE STUDY HUMANS? Yes. The APA has a recommended procedure for human testing. 1)Obtain informed consent of potential participants 2)Protect them from harm and discomfort 3)Treat information about individual participants confidentially 4)Fully debrief people: explain the research afterward

NOW THAT YOU KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT RESEARCH LETS LOOK AT WHO DOES THE RESEARCH

PSYCHOLOGISTS People who have been trained to observe, analyze and evaluate behavior. You have to have a masters or a doctorate to really do anything professionally with the a psychology degree

DIFFERENT FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY Clinical Psychologists Counseling Psychologists Development Psychologists Educational Psychologists Community Psychologist Industrial / organizational psychologists Experimental psychologists Just to name a few…

CLINICAL One of the most popular subfields Help mostly with personal issues Mainly work in private offices, mental hospitals, prisons and clinics

COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGISTS Usually help people adjust to the challenges of life Educated in human development, clinical psychology and education Large majority have a specialty in personality, social, or developmental psych Mostly work in schools or industrial firms

DEVELOPMENTAL Study physical, emotional, cognitive and social changes, Study children, the elderly and the process of dying

EDUCATIONAL Topics related to teaching children and young adults intelligence, memory, problem solving, and motivation Specialist will evaluate teaching methods and devise tests and instructional devices

COMMUNITY Usually work in mental health or social welfare agency operated by the state May help, design, run, or evaluate a mental health clinic

INDUSTRIAL/ ORGANIZATIONAL Employed by business firms and government agencies Industrial- helps develop better ways to increase production, improve working conditions, place applicants for jobs, train people and reduce accidents Organizational - study the behavior of people in organizations such as business firms

EXPERIMENTAL Perform research to understand how humans operate physically and psychologically Do everything with some form of a test Provide information and research used in all psychology