1. Myers’ EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (6th Ed)
Chapter 1
Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

2. Psychology’s Roots Prescientific Psychology
Is the mind connected to the body or distinct?
Are ideas inborn or is the mind a blank slate filled by experience?

3. Psychology’s Roots Prescientific Psychology ________________
knowledge comes from experience via the senses
science flourishes through observation and experiment

4. Psychology’s Roots
_______________ opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig (c. 1879).
Studied reaction time

5. Psychology’s Trends Prescientific Psychology
Scientific Psychology (Wundt)
Psychodynamic Psychology (Freud)
Behavioral Psychology (Watson)
Cognitive Psychology (Beck & Ellis)
Biological Psychology

6. Psychology’s Roots Definition of Psychology
The ___________ study of behavior (what we do) and mental processes (sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings)
Behaviors-objective and observable
Mental Processes-subjective and unobservable

7. Contemporary Psychology
Are we born as blank slates?
__________________ Controversy
the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to development of psychological traits and behaviors
Evidence suggests complex interaction of both genetic and environmental forces

8. Contemporary Psychology

9. Contemporary Psychology
Psychology’s Subfields
Biological Psychology
Exploring the function of the brain and its effects on behavior
_____________ Psychology
Study of changes that occur over the life span
Cognitive Psychology
Study of how we perceive, think, and solve problems
Social Psychology
Study of how we view and affect one another
Personality Psychology
Investigating our inner traits
Clinical Psychology
_____________________________________

10. Why Study Psychology?
Psychologists, like all scientists, use the scientific method to construct theories that organize observations and imply testable hypotheses
The study of psychology helps us organize and understand ourselves and our relationships with the world around us

11. The Scientific Attitude
_________________
thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions
examines assumptions
discerns hidden values
evaluates evidence
assesses conclusions
The Amazing Randi--Skeptic

12. The Scientific Method Theory __________________
an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations
__________________
a testable prediction
often implied by a theory

13. The Scientific Method

14. Description
Psychologists describe behavior using case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation

15. Description _______________
observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principals
Is language uniquely human?

16. Description _____________
technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people
usually by questioning a representative, random sample of people

17. Description Population _______________________
all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study
_______________________
a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

18. Description ________________
observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

19. (positive or negative)
Correlation
________________
The relationship between the occurrences of two factors
Helps us predict outcomes
Does not reveal causation
_________________
a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus how well either factor predicts the other
Indicates direction
of relationship
(positive or negative)
Correlation
coefficient
r = +.37
Indicates strength
of relationship
(0.00 to 1.00)

20. Correlation Three Possible Cause-Effect Relationships or or
could cause
(1)
Low self-esteem
Depression or
(2)
Depression
could cause
Low self-esteem or
Low self-esteem
(3)
Distressing events
or biological
predisposition
could cause
and
Depression

21. Experimentation Experiment
an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe their effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable)
by random assignment of participants the experiment controls other relevant factors

22. Experimentation _____________ Procedure _______________
both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo
commonly used in drug-evaluation studies
_______________
an inert substance or condition that may be administered instead of a presumed active agent, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent

23. Experimentation Experimental Condition Control Condition
the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable
Control Condition
the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental treatment
serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

24. Experimentation ___________________
assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance
minimizes pre-existing differences between those assigned to the different groups

25. Experimentation ______________Variable _____________Variable
the experimental factor that is manipulated
the variable whose effect is being studied
_____________Variable
the experimental factor that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable
in psychology it is usually a behavior or mental process

26. Experimentation

27. Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology
Is psychology free of value judgments?

28. Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology
How much of ourselves do we put in to that which we study?