1. Introduction to Course Web Site: www. psy. cmu
Introduction to Course Web Site:
Instructor
TA’s
Major Instructional Strategy and Goals
Depth, higher educ., focus, purpose(s)
Major Activities: highly varied
Methodology

2. Questions
For the first recitation, bring a significant or “big” and real question about psychology, one that psychology might (or perhaps might not) have an answer to, and be prepared to discuss it a bit and also turn it in to your TA. It should be something that you are genuinely interested in and curious about. Save a copy for yourself—it might come in handy when generating a paper topic!

3. Question Examples (Including one author’s attempt to answer)
David Brook’s Ex. (NYT 8/24/10)- What are our thinking weaknesses?
“For example, Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway once described “The Psychology of Human Misjudgment.” He and others list our natural weaknesses:
-We have confirmation bias; we pick out evidence that supports our views.
-We are cognitive misers; we try to think as little as possible.
-We are herd thinkers and conform our perceptions to fit in with the group.
To use a fancy word, there’s a metacognition deficit. Very few in public life habitually step back and think about the weakness in their own thinking and what they should do to compensate.
Brooks also more recently wrote about what makes true genius:
the ability to hold two contradictory ideas in your head simultaneously; a kind of self examining or self-challenging stance we might think of as a thinking strength.
Antietam: Historic battlefield—leads to a question….Why are we so willing to kill each other?

4. Methodology: Some Basic Issues
Why Psychology? (vs. other sources of wisdom)
Observation vs. experimentation
Independent and dependent variables
Experimental control-getting rid of spurious variables
Correlation and causation
“Unusualness” of a result: statistics
Focus on actual data
Distributions (the statistical nature of our data)

5. Basic Methodology Experimentation Independent vs. Dependent variables
Observational vs. Experimental studies
Causation vs. Correlation
Experimental “control”

6. Making Observations
Scientific observations often begin with a question or hypothesis.
The hypothesis must be testable.
This calls for an operational definition of key terms to specify the study’s dependent variable.
Data must also be systematically collected.
Researchers ignore anecdotal evidence.
- Psychologists, like all scientists, proceed by examining patterns in carefully measured data.
- But what exactly should they measure?
- Need to specify a research question as a testable, falsifiable hypothesis about concepts that are well defined as observable responses (or operationalized).
- These operational definitions must also be valid; a concept like "aggression" is better operationalized by counting punches than by measuring frowns.
Once a question is formed, data collection must be systematic (that is, not dependent on anecdotes) and not influenced by the hypothesis.

7. Courtesy of American Media, Ltd.
1.2 Testable hypotheses? Astrologers and newspaper tabloids often predict the future, but the phrasing of these predictions is usually so open-ended that we can’t test the claims in any rigorous way.

8. Defining the Sample
Based on observations of a sample, psychologists want to draw conclusions about a broad population.
Random sampling
All members of the population have an equal chance of being picked to participate.
Researchers also use other procedures, including stratified sampling and case studies.
Defining the right sample for the desired conclusions is a key step in measurement; common approaches include random sampling, maximum variation sampling, and carefully chosen case studies.

9. The Power of Experiments
The two groups must be matched at the outset of the experiment.
To ensure matching groups, researchers use:
random assignment (ex. Clinical trials)
within-subject comparison.
taking precautions to address problems created by the sequence of conditions
Control groups should be matched as closely as possible to the experimental group to isolate the desired effect.
Random assignment is the best way to guarantee that groups are matched and prevents the third-variable problem.
An additional tool for matching experimental and control groups is to use the same groups for both conditions (a within-subjects design). These design features are all used to establish that only our variable of interest can potentially explain any differences we see in the data, which is the goal of internal validity.

10. The Control Condition

11. Assessing External Validity
Researchers want their study to mirror circumstances of the broader world.
external validity
External validity depends on many factors.
The study should not change behaviors the researchers hope to understand.
- Having the right sample is important in allowing us to generalize our conclusions—that is, for the study's external validity.

12. Assessing External Validity
One concern here involves the study’s possible demand characteristics:
cues that can signal to participants how they’re supposed to behave (Rosenthal)
One way of avoiding this problem is to use a double-blind design.

13. Courtesy John Chase/Chasecartoons.com
1.8 Double-blind testing Unlike the effort shown here, double-blind testing doesn’t involve experiments done by pairs of blindfolded researchers. Instead, it involves studies in which neither the person tested nor the person conducting the test knows the experimental hypothesis and neither knows which participants are in which comparison group.

14. Measurement The Description of Data Central tendency Variability
Mean, median, mode
Variability
Variance
Standard deviation
Correlation & significance level

16. Measurement

17. T H HT TH HH TT
T = tails
H = heads

18. Correlation Coefficients (0 – 1)

19. Sleeping
The ignored behavior!

20. Defining/describing sleep
Decreased awareness & interaction with world
Decreased motility & muscular activity
Characteristic posture
Partial or total decrement in voluntary consciously directed behavior
Decreased forebrain activity & cortical input from lower centers

21. Sleep as a behavior Quietude Life span decrease
Brain activity/EEG & reactivity

28. Theories of sleeping Motivation Energy conservation Restorative
Memory consolidation
Adaptive

32. Brain Control Hypothalamus: Rostral/Caudal sleep areas
Rostral (stimulate --> sleep, extirpate --> wake)
Caudal (stimulate --> wake, extirpate --> sleep)
Reticular activating system & monitoring
Melatonin (pineal & hypothal.) and diurnal cycle
Suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus and entrainment to diurnal rhythm “zeitgrabers”
Dement in a cave!

33. Arguments for Necessity/Functionality of sleep!
Regularity
Motivation/crummy feelings
Health involvement
-Fatal Familial Insomnia (30+ families/thalamic/death)
-Some linkage to other disorders (depression)
Hallucination argument
REM recovery
Restorative: increase in SWS in sleep-deprived and athletes, increase anabolic/decrease catabolic activity
Memory consolidation REM block->poor memory function

34. Arguments Against Necessity
Deprivation/human & animal
Exceptional sleepers
Hallucination explanation
Dement study 11 days deprv. Then 16/8
REM recovery: limited
Programmatic reduction-->1-2 hr. decline
5.5/60, 1/2 hr per 2 weeks-> ok and year later slept 1 to 2.5 less!
Cats in a puddle!

35. Conclusions Adaptive theory seems to win!
The function of sleep is sleep!
Ungulates sleep much less than meat eaters
Five hours or less (opossums hours)
Accounts for life span decrease as well
But still a bit of an open question

38. Multiple perspectives and much speculation!
Dreaming: What & Why?
Multiple perspectives and much speculation!

39. Outline Dream behavior Theories of Dreaming Conclusions
What can we learn from our dreams?
Are they meaningful? True / predictive?

40. Dream behavior & description
Within sleep
Amount
Brainwave activity & bodily quietude:the paradox
REM

44. Dreams & REM sleep Aserinsky-REM Dement & Kleitman-Stages
REM amount & periodicity
Brainstem cholinergic & adrenergic promoting & inhibiting areas for REM

46. Some Questions: Are Dreams meaningful--what do they mean?
Are the predictive or “true”?
How do they differ from other states?
What is their function do they even have one?
Are they brain functions or mind functions?

47. Outline Characteristics and Descriptions Theories of Dreaming
Conclusions
What can we learn from our dreams?
Are they meaningful? True / predictive?

48. Theories of Dreaming Dreams as meaningful events: Freud (& Jung)
Aserinsky, Dement & Kleitman implications
Hall/Cartright
Dreams as random activity (Hobson +)
Synthesis (perhaps)

49. Psychoanalytic Theory
Mental conflict
Unconscious motivations
Two forces: impulses & defenses
Dreams as a release
Dreamwork and its results
Latent dream
Manifest dream
Remembered dream
Dreamwork and forgetting as protective mechanisms
Poetzel Effect

50. Freud & Neuroimaging
Michael Anderson- Validates Repression: Forebrain active in inhibiting hippocampus on repressed items
Allen Braun: Limbic system-emotion active during REM
Prefrontal cortex (working mem. Attention, logic & self- monitoring) inactive during REM
Above consistent with dream bizarreness & emotional disinhibition/wish fulfillment
Visual cortex inactive but higher visual areas active so we see w.o. visual input- one of the amazing things about dreaming!

51. Freud & Neuroimaging (Mark Solms)
Injured Pons vs. injured Forebrain
-Pons-disrupts REM but dreaming goes on.
-Forebrain-lose dreaming but REM goes on.
-Also, some dreaming outside of REM
Role of Motivation (in addition to emotional areas)
-Prefrontal leukotomy (white matter in ventro-medial forebrain area) decreases dopamine release. It’s a motivational area “seeking” behavior.
-Hartmann: administering dopamine supercharges dreaming! Supportive of Freudian tie between motiv. & dreaming.

52. Variations on Psychoanalytic Explanation + Challenges
Aserinsky, Dement & Kleitman: REM & implications
Hall and Cartwright: Dream Series
Challenging Views
Dreams as random activity (Hobson +)
Synthesis (perhaps) as Hobson accepted imaging results

53. Other Neuroscience Views
Crick: Purge extraneous connections
Evans: Sorting function on day’s events
Winson: Sorting for survival
Wilson: Rat Dream article- maze learning during dreams
Hobson: random activity & activation-synthesis hypothesis

54. Hobson: Dream Transformations
From: inanimate animate character
To:
inanimate
Animate
Character

55. Dream Characteristics
Lack of active volition
Absence of ongoing reflective judgment
Limited to phenomena of the immediate present
Diffuse cognitive slippage--dreamlike confusion-
transformations of perception, thought, memory, emotion,
relationships, etc.
Gaps in experience: 20%
Confusion of thought & irrational intuitions: 41%
Problems in sustained attention: 5%
Memory deficiencies within the dream: 15%
Overall, even 51% of "clearest dreams" had clouding of cs.
--Usually not radical (scz, psychedelic) but rather more like that of waking life
Can even have hallucinations or psychedelic exper. in
dreams (as in waking life!) ex. flying 4%, bizarre figures,4%,
changed identity 3%, LSD-like transformations of
vision 13%. Mostly visual 47%. Somatic 10%, audit. 14%.

56. Conclusions
Can we obtain meaningful insights about ourselves through our dreams?
What can we learn from our dreams?
Are they meaningful? true / predictive/useful?
Dream problem-solving (Lowie, Kekule)!