1. Let’s Get Personal What do you think of when you think of the fall season?

2. Review What two fields did psychology emerge from? What were the problems with structuralism and functionalism? Modern Psychology has a focus on what?

3. In Class Experiment I need 6 volunteers Put yourself in order from youngest to oldest Youngest remove your shoes and go out into the hallway Oldest: You are in power How will they get their shoes back??

4. Observations?? What did you observe about the behavior of the two roles?

5. The Methods of Psychology http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=27654 16&page=1#.TxzIeqXWa3E http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=27654 16&page=1#.TxzIeqXWa3E Milgrim study

6. Psychology and the scientific method Importance of scientific method: o Psychology: (SCIENTIFITC) study of mind and behavior. Requires study of the individual o Empiricism: The belief that accurate knowledge of the world requires observation of it.

7. Overview of Scientific method Operational Definition: Description of property in measurable terms Measure: A device that can detect the events to which an operational definition refers. **Defining and detecting: measure physical properties

8. Measures The best measurements share three properties: 1.Validity: The characteristic of an observation that allows one to draw accurate inferences from it 2.Reliability: The tendency for a measure to produce the same result whenever it is used to measure the same thing 3.Power: The tendency for a measure to produce different results when it is used to measure different things

9. Data gathering is critical Gather evidence –data, data, data – Critical step – Why is observing humans so difficult? Complexity, variability, and reactivity Main data gathering methods – Descriptive (naturalistic) vs. experimental (lab)

10. Gathering data – descriptive research Ways of gathering descriptive data Naturalistic observations  refers to the systematic recording of behavior in a natural state or habitat  Advantages?  Disadvantages?  Potential concerns  Observer reactivity: Demand characteristics

11. Naturalistic observation of nonhumans

12. Naturalistic observation of humans

13. Example of naturalistic study Rhesus monkeys have even ratio of males to females at birth By adolescence many more females than males Why do males die Use naturalistic study to examine this

14. Descriptive techniques (cont’d) Case studies Used often in Neuropsychology – The method of gathering scientific knowledge by studying a single individual or a sample of a population: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8UiTQtiwA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8UiTQtiwA – Freud used the case study method to probe anxiety Interviews/surveys: Instruments designed to sample attitudes or behaviors – Potential concerns Biased samples : “Cavemen affect” Not usually representative of entire population Reliability

15. Bias sampling in 1948 presidential election

16. Correlation research Examines relationship between two or more variables – Smoking and lung cancer Are people who smoke more, more likely to get lung cancer? – Exercise and heart disease Does increased exercise lead to reduced heart disease? Still descriptive because we don’t manipulate anything – However, does allow for prediction

17. Correlation and Causation Correlation between two variables DOES NOT (again DOES NOT) mean that one variable CAUSED a change in the other  Correlation between height and weight DOES NOT mean that “tallness” causes heaviness

18. Selecting appropriate method True “art” of the researcher – Separates good from best Weigh relative advantages and disadvantages – What are you willing to live with – What are you not willing to sacrifice Examples – What year of college are students most sexually active? – Methods – Direct observation?? – NO! – Interview/survey Advantages and disadvantages Do we use?

19. Placebo Effect Placebo effects represent changes in behavior that are related to expectations of a treatment (usually in drug studies) – Placebo effects are controlled by a blind control group (the subject does not know whether the treatment was given or not) Film: Understanding Research