1. Chapter 1 Psychological Science

2. What is Psychology? the science of behavior and mental processes

3. Psychology’s Current Perspectives Perspective Focus Neuroscience How the body and brain create emotions, memories, and sensory experiences Behavior How much our genes, and our environment, influence our geneticsindividual differences BehavioralHow behavior is learned Evolutionary How nature selects traits that promote the perpetuation of one’s genes Psychodynamic How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts CognitiveHow we encode, process, store, and retrieve information Social-culturalHow behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures

4. Current Perspectives Perspective Focus zNeuroscienceHow the brain creates emotions, thoughts, and behaviors zEvolutionaryHow nature selects traits that promote survival of our genes

5. Current Perspectives Perspective Focus zBehavior Genetics How much our genes are responsible for individual differences zPsychodynamic How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

6. Current Perspectives Perspective Focus zBehavioralHow we learn observable behavior zCognitiveHow we encode, process, store and retrieve information

7. Current Perspectives Perspective Focus zSocial-culturalHow social situations and culture influences behavior and thought zEclecticDrawing from two or more of the perspectives to explain behavior or thought processes

8. Psychology vs. Psychiatry zClinical Psychology (Ph.D) ya specialty in psychology yclinical psychologists yuses psychotherapy to treat psychological disorders zPsychiatry (M.D.) ya specialty in medicine ypsychiatrists ymay prescribe medication and use psychotherapy

9. The Scientific Method generate or refine research and observations lead to hypothesis theories

10. Scientific Method zGoal is good theory ytheories explain behavior zScience guards against yfaulty explanations yhindsight bias

11. Faulty Explanations Intuition and The Hot Streak

12. Hindsight Bias ztendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it zthe “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon

13. The Scientific Method zTheory ya general explanation as to why a behavior occurs zHypothesis ya testable prediction yoften derived from a theory yExample: I predict A will cause B

14. The Scientific Method generate or refine research and observations lead to hypothesis theories

15. The Scientific Method zOperational Definition ya statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables yfor example, intelligence may be operationally defined as “what an intelligence test measures”

16. The Scientific Method zReplication yrepeating the procedures of a research study with another sample of participants yto see whether the results are also repeated

17. Types of Scientific Methods 1. Case Study 2. Survey 3. Naturalistic Observation 4. Correlation Coefficient 5. Experiment

18. Types of Scientific Methods 1. Case Study yin depth observation of one person in hopes of revealing universal laws

19. Types of Scientific Methods 2. Survey ya questionnaire about attitudes or behavior given to a sample of people

20. A Key Distinction: Population versus Sample zPopulation ya specific group of interest to the researcher (e.g., all children!) ya sample is drawn from a population

21. Drawing a Sample zMale subjects, neurosis, and sex!

22. Good Samples zRepresentative Sample ya sample that is a perfect reflection of a population, only smaller in size zRandom Sample ya sample that fairly represents a population because each member of the sample had an equal chance of being chosen

23. Types of Scientific Methods 3. Naturalistic Observation yobserving and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations, trying not to manipulate the situation

24. Types of Scientific Methods 4. Correlation Coefficient ya measure that shows the extent to which two variables change together ygood for prediction yNote: correlation does not imply causation!

25. Correlation and Causation zThree possible cause-effect relations could cause (1) Low self-esteem Depression (2) Depression Low self-esteem Depression (3) Distressing events or biological predisposition could cause or and

26. Types of Scientific Methods 5. Experiment ya procedure for identifying the causes of behavior yall experiments have two variables: xIndependent Variable: variable manipulated by a researcher xDependent Variable: observed consequence of IV on some behavior or mental process

27. The Dependent Variable zDependent Variable ythe variable that is being measured yvalue of DV depends on value of IV

28. Experiment zExperimental Group ythese participants are exposed to the independent variable (treatment) zControl Group ythese participants do not receive the independent variable yis a comparison group we use to be able to see the effect of the independent variable (treatment) zNote: the measure (DV) is taken for both groups

29. Experiment zRandom Assignment yassigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance yminimizes preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

30. Experiment zPlacebo yan inert substance (e.g., sugar pill) instead of an active agent (e.g., drug) yplacebo is administered to see if it triggers the same reaction as the active agent (IV) zPlacebo Effect yany effect on behavior caused by a placebo

31. Experiment zSingle-blind Procedure yResearch participants don’t know if they are getting the placebo or active agent. zDouble-blind Procedure yParticipants don’t know …. yAlso, research staff doesn’t know (blind) who is getting the active agent vs. placebo

32. The Scientific Method Comparing Research Methods Research Method Basic Purpose How Conducted What is Manipulated Descriptive To observe and Case studies, surveys, Nothing (Goal: Describe) record behavior and naturalistic observations Correlational To detect naturally Computing statisticalNothing (Goal: Predict) occurring relationships; association, sometimes to assess how wellamong survey one variable predictsresponses Experimental To explore causeManipulating one orIndependent (Goal: Explain) and effectmore IVs and usingvariable(s) random assignment to eliminate preexisting differences among subjects

33. Practice: Hypothesis Testing zDrug A makes children more attentive in school zThe larger the family, the duller the children zCigarette smoking causes lung cancer zTelevision violence is related to aggression in children zAbsence makes the heart grow fonder