1. Psychology as a Science
Scientific Method
Research Ethics
Becoming a Psychologist

2. the scientific study of the mind
What is psychology?
the scientific study of the mind
What counts as SCIENCE?
A systematic method to test a specific claim (hypothesis)
The hypothesis should be
falsifiable
replicable
better than rival hypotheses
The findings should show causation, rather than merely correlation
science - the development and refinement of theories of the world by using clearly specified rules for collecting and interpreting data.
Fasifiable:
Psychoanalyst: “you hate your mom”.
You: “But I feel I love my mom”
Psychoanalyst: “that’s because you are repressing your hatredness”

3. Scientific method
Formulate a specific claim that can be tested (hypothesis)
For example: “Female rats exposed to high level of testosterone in utero will exhibit male sexual behavior as adults”
Collect evidence that either confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis

4. Scientific Method Step 1: Formulate a testable hypothesis
Group activity
Step 1: Formulate a testable hypothesis
Example of a poor hypothesis: ‘Hormones make you gay’
Why is this a bad hypothesis?
How can you make it better?
‘Hormones make you gay’
Which hormone?
When? In utero, childhood, puberty?
Who is ‘you’? A human, a rat? Does it matter if participant is male or female?
You need to operationally define ‘gay’: behavior?, feeling?, self identity?
Do the effect remain when drug is interrupted (structural)? Or does it go away (activational)?
Is it pharmacological or physiological level?

5. Scientific Method: Experimental design
Step 2: Design & conduct experiment
Dependent variable:
What are you measuring?
Does the outcome of this variable depend on something else?
How will you quantify this variable?
Independent variable:
The variable that differs across conditions (hormone level)

6. Scientific Method: Experimental design
Results
Confounding variables
Uncontrolled variables that could also explain the results
Were subjects assigned randomly to groups?
Were subjects in the four groups tested under similar conditions?

7. Scientific Method: Experimental design
Conditions are manipulated
Observational study
Variables are observed (not manipulated)
Usually under natural conditions
Usually results are correlational
For example, is baboon’s size correlated with shiny fur?
A large male may gain access to more food (& thus healthier fur). Alternatively,
More food will make the baboon arger (& thus healthier fur)

8. Scientific method: experimental design
Case study
Extensive study of one individual
Compare behavior to a group of control subjects

9. Scientific Method: Experimental design
Experimenter
control
Ecological
validity
Type of
inference
Higher
Lower
Causal
Correlational
Mixed
Experiment
Observation
Case study

10. Scientific Method: Experimental design
Step 3: evaluate hypothesis
Results
Is the difference reliable? Are we likely to replicate the results? (statistics)
Do the findings fit well with existing data?

11. Some psychological research topics:
origins of stereotypes
development of language
causes of Alzheimer’s disease
accuracy of eyewitness testimony
treatment of eating disorders
causes of romantic love

12. Research Ethics Goal: Ethical treatment of research subjects
Guidelines and regulations regarding experimentation with humans and animals

13. Research Ethics Holocaust medical experimenters and Nuremberg trials
Trials took place after World War II (1946)
Nazi doctors were put on trial for unethical human experimentation
Led to the Nuremberg Code
Focus on medical research
Informed consent
Avoid unnecessary suffering
Subject can stop at any time
Declaration of Helsinki (1964)
“War crimes: performing medical experiments, without the subjects' consent, on prisoners of war and civilians of occupied countries, in the course of which experiments the defendants committed murders, brutalities, cruelties, tortures, atrocities, and other inhuman acts“ wikipedia

14. Research Ethics: Psychological Research
Protection of human subjects
Voluntary participation (vs. coercion)
Informed consent
Are subjects aware of all potential risks and benefits?
Debriefing
Are subjects deceive in any way?
Confidentiality
Sharing information: publication of research results
Storage of records

15. Research Ethics: Psychological Research
Protection of human subjects
Voluntary participation (vs. coercion)
Informed consent
Are subjects aware of all potential risks and benefits?
Debriefing
Are subjects deceive in any way?
Confidentiality
Sharing information: publication of research results
Storage of records

16. Schooling in Psychology

17. Homework , web (anatomy) syllabus textbook
ZAPS
Homework , web (anatomy)
syllabus
textbook
WXCO-DGCL