1. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2009
PowerPoint Presentations for
Sixth Edition
Philip G. Zimbardo Robert L. Johnson Vivian McCann
Prepared by
Beth M. Schwartz
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Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2009

2. Mind, Behavior, and Psychological Science
Chapter 1
Mind, Behavior, and Psychological Science
This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program. 2
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2009

3. Claim: If kids eat large amounts of sugar, they become hyperactive.
Problem: How would you test the claim that sugar makes children hyperactive? 3
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4. What Is Psychology– and What Is It Not?
Psychology is a broad field, with many specialties, but fundamentally, psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes. 4
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5. What Is Psychology– and What Is It Not?
Psychology is not:
All about mental disorders and therapy
Focused solely on diagnosing and treating mental problems 5
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6. What Is Psychology– and What Is It Not?
Comes from psyche (Greek for “mind”) and -ology (meaning “a field of study”)
Literally means “the study of the mind”
Covers both internal mental processes and external, observable behaviors
Based on objective, verifiable, scientific evidence 6
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7. What Do Psychologists Do?
Psychology is a broad field with many specialties, grouped in three major categories:
experimental psychology
teaching of psychology
applied psychology 7
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8. Three Ways of Doing Psychology
Main Categories:
Experimental psychologists
Teachers of psychology
Applied psychologists 8
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9. Psychology: It’s More Than You Think9
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10. What Do Psychologists Do?
Applied psychologists
Use knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems
I/O
Sports
Engineering
School
Rehabilitation
Counseling
Clinical 10
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11. Psychology Is Not Psychiatry
Medical specialty
Holds an MD (Doctor of Medicine)
Training in treatment of mental and behavioral problems
Licensed to prescribe medicines
Psychology:
Broad field of study
Holds a Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)
Training emphasizes research methods
Advanced study in specialization 11
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12. Psychology vs. Pseudoscience
Psychology disputes unfounded claims from pseudoscience.
Pseudoscience:
Any approach to explaining phenomena in the natural world that does not use empirical observation or the scientific method (e.g., astrology, graphology, fortune telling) 12
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13. How Do Psychologists Develop New Knowledge?
Psychologists, like researchers in all other sciences, use the scientific method to test their ideas empirically. 13
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14. How Do Psychologists Develop New Knowledge?
Empirical investigation: An approach to research that relies on sensory experience and observation as research data
Scientific method: A five-step process for empirical investigation of a hypothesis under conditions designed to control biases and subjective judgments 14
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15. The Five Steps of the Scientific Method
Developing a hypothesis
Performing a controlled test
Gathering objective data
Analyzing the results
Publishing, criticizing, and replicating the results 15
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16. The Five Steps of the Scientific Method
Developing a hypothesis
Hypothesis: A statement predicting the outcome of a scientific study
Performing a controlled test
Gathering objective data
Operational definitions: Exact procedures used in establishing experimental conditions and measurement of results
Analyzing the results
Publishing, criticizing, and replicating the results 16
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17. The Five Steps of the Scientific Method
Developing a hypothesis
Independent variable: The variable manipulated by the experimenter
Performing a controlled test
Gathering objective data
Randomization:
Using chance alone to determine presentation order of stimulus
Analyzing the results
Publishing, criticizing, and replicating the results 17
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18. The Five Steps of the Scientific Method
Developing a hypothesis
Performing a controlled test
Data: Information gathered by a researcher and used to test a hypothesis
Gathering objective data
Analyzing the results
Dependent variable: The measured outcome of a study; the responses of participants in a study
Publishing, criticizing, and replicating the results 18
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19. The Five Steps of the Scientific Method
Developing a hypothesis
Performing a controlled test
Gathering objective data
Based on statistical analyses of results, the hypothesis is accepted or rejected.
Analyzing the results
Publishing, criticizing, and replicating the results 19
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20. The Five Steps of the Scientific Method
Developing a hypothesis
Performing a controlled test
Gathering objective data
Analyzing the results
Publishing, criticizing, and replicating the results 20
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21. What is the relationship between sugar and behavior?21
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22. Types of Psychological Research
Experiments:
Experimental condition
Control condition 22
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23. Assignment to experimental and control conditions:23
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24. Types of Psychological Research
Experiments:
Experimental condition
Control condition
Correlational studies:
Correlation coefficient
Survey
Naturalistic observations 24
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25. Types of Correlations:25
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26. Types of Psychological Research
Experiments:
Experimental condition
Control condition
Correlational studies:
Correlation coefficient
Survey
Naturalistic observations
Case studies 26
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Sources of Bias
Emotional bias
Expectancy bias
Bias could affect the way an experimenter designs a study, collects data, or interprets results 27
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28. Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2009
Controlling Bias
Blind control
Placebo
Double-blind control
both participants and researchers unaware of group assignment 28
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29. Ethical Issues in Psychological Research
American Psychological Association (APA)
Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct
Shields participants from potentially harmful procedures
Ensures confidentiality
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Examines all studies proposed 29
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30. Questions Science Cannot Answer
The scientific method is not appropriate for answering questions that cannot be put to an objective, empirical test
Ethics
Morality
Religious beliefs
Preferences 30
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31. What Are the Perspectives Psychologists Use Today?
Six main perspectives characterize modern psychology. 31
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32. Six Modern Perspectives of Psychology
Biological
Cognitive
Behavioral
Whole-Person
Developmental
Sociocultural 32
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33. Perspective View of Human Nature:
We are complex systems that respond to hereditary and environmental influences.
Biological
Cognitive
What Determines Behavior:
Neural structures, biochemistry, and innate responses to external cues
Behavioral
Whole-Person
Focus of Study:
Nervous and endocrine systems, evolutionary advantages of behaviors
Developmental
Sociocultural 33
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34. Perspective View of Human Nature:
We are information-processing systems.
Biological
Cognitive
What Determines Behavior:
Interpretation of experience by means of mental processing
Behavioral
Whole-Person
Focus of Study:
Mental processes including sensation, perception, learning, memory, and language
Developmental
Sociocultural 34
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35. Perspective View of Human Nature: Biological Cognitive Behavioral
We respond to surroundings according to principles of behavioral learning.
Biological
Cognitive
Behavioral
What Determines Behavior:
Stimulus cues, history of rewards and punishments
Whole-Person
Developmental
Focus of Study:
“Laws” connecting our responses to stimulus conditions in the environment
Sociocultural 35
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36. Perspective View of Human Nature:
We are driven by unconscious motives.
Biological
Cognitive
What Determines Behavior:
Psychodynamic view stresses unconscious conflicts
Humanistic view focuses on self-concept and need for personal growth
Trait view focuses on persistent characteristics and dispositions
Behavioral
Whole-Person
Developmental
Focus of Study:
Counseling and psychotherapy
Sociocultural 36
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37. Perspective View of Human Nature:
People undergo predictable patterns of change throughout their lives.
Biological
Cognitive
Behavioral
What Determines Behavior:
Interaction between heredity and environment
Whole-Person
Focus of Study:
Patterns of developmental change and their underlying influences
Developmental
Sociocultural 37
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38. Perspective View of Human Nature:
We are social animals; human behavior must be interpreted in a social context.
Biological
Cognitive
Behavioral
What Determines Behavior:
Cultures, social norms and expectations, social learning
Whole-Person
Developmental
Focus of Study:
Social interaction, socialization, cross-cultural differences
Sociocultural 38
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40. What Are Psychology’s Historical Roots?
Modern psychology developed from several conflicting traditions, including structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis. 40
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42. Devoted to uncovering basic structures that make up mind and thought
Tradition
Devoted to uncovering basic structures that make up mind and thought
Structuralism
Functionalism
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Psychoanalysis 42
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Tradition
Structuralism
Believed mental processes could best be understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and function
Functionalism
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Psychoanalysis 43
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44. Interested in how we construct “perceptual wholes”
Tradition
Structuralism
Functionalism
Interested in how we construct “perceptual wholes”
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Psychoanalysis 44
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45. Argued psychology should deal solely with observable events
Tradition
Structuralism
Functionalism
Gestalt psychology
Argued psychology should deal solely with observable events
Behaviorism
Psychoanalysis 45
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46. Asserted mental disorders arise from conflicts in the unconscious mind
Tradition
Structuralism
Functionalism
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Asserted mental disorders arise from conflicts in the unconscious mind
Psychoanalysis 46
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47. Professional Organizations in Psychology
American Psychological Association (APA)
Association for Psychological Science (APS)
Student groups
(e.g., American Psychological Association of Graduate Students; APAGS) 47
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