1. PSYCHOLOGY (8th Edition) David Myers PowerPoint Slides Aneeq Ahmad Henderson State University Worth Publishers, © 2006 1

2. Thinking Critically with Psychological Science Chapter 1 2

3. Thinking Critically with Psychological Science The Need for Psychological Science  The limits of Intuition and Common Sense  The Scientific Attitude  The Scientific Method 3

4. Thinking Critically … Description  The Case Study  The Survey  Naturalistic Observation 4

5. Thinking Critically … Correlation  Correlation and Causation  Illusory Correlation  Perceiving Order in Random Events 5

6. Thinking Critically … Experimentation  Exploring Cause and Effect  Evaluating Therapies  Independent and Dependent Variables 6

7. Thinking Critically … Statistical Reasoning  Describing Data  Making Inferences FAQs About Psychology 7

8. Impression of Psychology With hopes of satisfying curiosity, many people listen to talk-radio counselors and psychics to learn about others and themselves. 8 Dr. Crane (radio-shrink) http://www.nbc.com http://www.photovault.com Psychic (Ball gazing)

9. The Need for Psychological Science Intuition & Common Sense 9 Many people believe that intuition and common sense are enough to bring forth answers regarding human nature. Intuition and common sense may aid queries, but they are not free of error.

10. Limits of Intuition Personal interviewers may rely too much on their “gut feelings” when meeting with job applicants. 10 Taxi/ Getty Images

11. Errors of Common Sense Try this ! 11 Fold a piece of paper (0.1 mm thick) 100 times. How thick will it be? 800,000,000,000,000 times the distance between the sun and the earth.

12. Hindsight Bias Hindsight Bias is the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon. After learning the outcome of an event, many people believe they could have predicted that very outcome. We only knew the dot.com stocks would plummet after they actually did plummet. 12

13. Overconfidence Sometimes we think we know more than we actually know. 13 Anagram BARGEGRABE ENTRYETYRN WATERWREAT How long do you think it would take to unscramble these anagrams? People said it would take about 10 seconds, yet on average they took about 3 minutes (Goranson, 1978).

14. Psychological Science 1.How can we differentiate between uniformed opinions and examined conclusions? 2.The science of psychology helps make these examined conclusions, which leads to our understanding of how people feel, think, and act as they do! 14

15. The Scientific Attitude 15 The scientific attitude is composed of curiosity (passion for exploration), skepticism (doubting and questioning) and humility (ability to accept responsibility when wrong).

16. Critical Thinking Critical thinking does not accept arguments and conclusions blindly. It examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions. 16 The Amazing Randi Courtesy of the James Randi Education Foundation

17. Scientific Method Psychologists, like all scientists, use the scientific method to construct theories that organize, summarize and simplify observations. 17

18. Theory A Theory is an explanation that integrates principles and organizes and predicts behavior or events. For example, low self-esteem contributes to depression. 18

19. Hypothesis A Hypothesis is a testable prediction, often prompted by a theory, to enable us to accept, reject or revise the theory. People with low self-esteem are apt to feel more depressed. 19

20. Research Observations Research would require us to administer tests of self-esteem and depression. Individuals who score low on a self-esteem test and high on a depression test would confirm our hypothesis. 20

21. Research Process 21

22. Description Case Study 22 A technique in which one person is studied in depth to reveal underlying behavioral principles. Is language uniquely human? Susan Kuklin/ Photo Researchers

23. Case Study A clinical study is a form of case study in which the therapist investigates the problems associated with a client. 23 http://behavioralhealth.typepad.com Clinical Study

24. Survey A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people usually done by questioning a representative, random sample of people. 24 http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org

25. Survey Wording can change the results of a survey. Q: Should cigarette ads and pornography be allowed on television? (not allowed vs. forbid) 25 Wording Effect

26. Survey A tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors. 26 False Consensus Effect

27. Survey If each member of a population has an equal chance of inclusion into a sample, it is called a random sample (unbiased). If the survey sample is biased, its results are not valid. 27 Random Sampling The fastest way to know about the marble color ratio is to blindly transfer a few into a smaller jar and count them.

28. Sampling Stratified Sample: Sample that includes the same ratio/proportion of subgroups found in the target population If school breakdown is 57% white and 32% black, we would want the same percentages in the sample. 28

29. Sampling Opportunity Sample – Involves selecting those subjects that are around and available at the time Self-selected Sample – Sample consisting of those individuals who have consciously or unconsciously determined their own involvement in the study 29

30. Survey Method: The Bad Low Response Rate People Lie or just misinterpret themselves. Wording Effects Social desirability bias. How accurate would a survey be about the frequency of diarrhea? Homosexuality? Infidelity?

31. Naturalistic Observation Observing and recording the behavior of animals in the wild and recording self-seating patterns in a multiracial school lunch room constitute naturalistic observation. 31 Courtesy of Gilda Morelli

32. Naturalistic Observation Observing and recording behavior in natural environment. No control- just an observer. What are the benefits and detriments of Naturalistic Observation?

33. Descriptive Methods 33 Case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation describe behaviors. Summary

34. Correlational Research Detects how well one variable predicts, not causes another variable. Does NOT say that one variable causes another. There is a positive correlation between ice cream and murder rates. Does that mean that ice cream causes murder?

35. Correlation Studies show that there is a strong correlation between how many books are present in a child’s home and college completion rate. Do the books cause a person to complete college?

36. Correlation and Causation Three possible cause-effect relations Low Self-esteem Depression Low Self-esteem Low Self-esteem Depression Distressing events or biological predisposition

37. Correlation Correlation Coefficient is a statistical measure of the relationship between two variables. 37 When one trait or behavior accompanies another, we say the two correlate. Correlation coefficient Indicates direction of relationship (positive or negative) Indicates strength of relationship (0.00 to 1.00) r = 0.37 +

38. Scatterplots 38 Perfect positive correlation (+1.00) Scatterplot is a graph comprised of points that are generated by values of two variables. The slope of the points depicts the direction, while the amount of scatter depicts the strength of the relationship.

39. Scatterplots 39 No relationship (0.00) Perfect negative correlation (-1.00) The Scatterplot on the left shows a negative correlation, while the one on the right shows no relationship between the two variables.

40. Data 40 Data showing height and temperament in people.

41. Scatterplot 41 The Scatterplot below shows the relationship between height and temperament in people. There is a moderate positive correlation of +0.63.

42. Which correlation coefficient has the strongest relationship? The weakest? A..79 B. -.88 C..09 D. 3.6 E. -.05 B has the strongest. E has the weakest D. is invalid

43. Correlation and Causation 43 or

44. Illusory Correlation The perception of a relationship where no relationship actually exists. Parents conceive children after adoption. 44 Confirming evidence Disconfirming evidence Do not adopt Disconfirming evidence Confirming evidence Adopt Do not conceive Conceive Michael Newman Jr./ Photo Edit

45. Order in Random Events Given random data, we look for order and meaningful patterns. 45 Your chances of being dealt either of these hands is precisely the same: 1 in 2,598,960.

46. Order in Random Events Given large numbers of random outcomes, a few are likely to express order. 46 Angelo and Maria Gallina won two California lottery games on the same day. Jerry Telfer/ San Francisco Chronicle

47. Experimentation Like other sciences, experimentation is the backbone of psychology research. Experiments isolate causes and their effects. 47 Exploring Cause and Effect

48. Exploring Cause & Effect Many factors influence our behavior. Experiments (1) manipulate factors that interest us, while other factors are kept under (2) control. Effects generated by manipulated factors isolate cause and effect relationships. 48

49. Independent Variable Whatever is being manipulated in the experiment. Hopefully the independent variable brings about change. If there is a drug in an experiment, the drug is almost always the independent variable.

50. Independent Variable An Independent Variable is a factor manipulated by the experimenter. The effect of the independent variable is the focus of the study. For example, when examining the effects of breast feeding upon intelligence, breast feeding is the independent variable. 50

51. Dependent Variable The dependent variable would be the effect of the drug. Whatever is being measured in the experiment. It is dependent on the independent variable.

52. Dependent Variable A Dependent Variable is a factor that may change in response to an independent variable. In psychology, it is usually a behavior or a mental process. For example, in our study on the effect of breast feeding upon intelligence, intelligence is the dependent variable. 52

53. Operational Definitions Explain what you mean in your hypothesis. How will the variables be measured in “real life” terms. How you operationalize the variables will tell us if the study is valid and reliable. Let’s say your hypothesis is that chocolate causes violent behavior. What do you mean by chocolate? What do you mean by violent behavior?

54. Beware of Confounding Variables If I wanted to prove that smoking causes heart issues, what are some confounding variables? The object of an experiment is to prove that A causes B. A confounding variable is anything that could cause change in B, that is not A. Lifestyle and family history may also effect the heart.

55. Random Assignment Once you have a random sample, randomly assigning them into two groups helps control for confounding variables. Experimental Group (drug or breast- feeding) v. Control Group (no drug or formula feeding. Group Matching

56. Research Bias Experimenter (Researcher) Bias: – Tendency for researchers to unknowingly influence the results of the experiment. May treat participants in manner that confirms hypothesis. Participant Bias (Hawthorne Effect): change in behavior of subjects due to knowing they are being watched or studied. Demand Characteristics: potential hints or indications of what is being studied that might be discovered by participants. 56

57. Experimental Design Repeated Measures Using the same subjects in each condition of an experiment, e.x. giving a group of subjects a driving test with no caffeine, followed by a the same test after a can of Amp. Advantages: – Subject variables (extraneous) are kept constant – Better Stats – Fewer subjects needed Disadvantages – Order effects – Demand characteristics – Different tests needed 57

58. Independent Measures – Involves the use of different subjects in each condition of the experiment – Ex. Giving one group of subjects a driving test with no caffeine, and a different group of subjects a driving test after consuming a can of Amp. Advantages: – Same test can be used – Order effects and demand characteristics not as much of an issue Disadvantages – Subject variability – More subjects needed 58

59. Matched Pairs – Involves using different but similar subjects in each situation. An effort is made to match subjects in each condition in any important characteristics that might influence the outcome Advantages: – Order effects and demand characteristics not much of issue – Better stats – Same test can be used – Subject variability kept constant Disadvantages – Time consuming and difficult – More subjects needed 59

60. How to reduce bias In evaluating drug therapies, patients and experimenter’s assistants should remain unaware of which patients had the real treatment and which patients had the placebo treatment. 60 Double-blind Procedure

61. Reducing bias Assigning participants to experimental (Breast- fed) and control (formula-fed) conditions by random assignment minimizes pre-existing differences between the two groups. 61 Random Assignment

62. Experimentation 62 A summary of steps during experimentation.

63. Comparison 63 Below is a comparison of different research methods.

64. Statistical Reasoning 64 Statistical procedures analyze and interpret data allowing us to see what the unaided eye misses. Composition of ethnicity in urban locales

65. Describing Data 65 A meaningful description of data is important in research. Misrepresentation may lead to incorrect conclusions.

66. Measures of Central Tendency Mode: The most frequently occurring score in a distribution. Mean: The arithmetic average of scores in a distribution obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores that were added together. Median: The middle score in a rank-ordered distribution. 66

67. Measures of Central Tendency A Skewed Distribution 67

68. Measures of Variation Range: The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. Standard Deviation: A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean. 68

69. Standard Deviation 69

70. Making Inferences A statistical statement of how frequently an obtained result occurred by experimental manipulation or by chance. 70

71. Making Inferences 1.Representative samples are better than biased samples. 2.Less variable observations are more reliable than more variable ones. 3.More cases are better than fewer cases. 71 When is an Observed Difference Reliable?

72. Making Inferences When sample averages are reliable and the difference between them is relatively large, we say the difference has statistical significance. For psychologists this difference is measured through alpha level set at 5 percent. 72 When is a Difference Significant?

73. FAQ Q1. Can laboratory experiments illuminate everyday life? Ans: Artificial laboratory conditions are created to study behavior in simplistic terms. The goal is to find underlying principles that govern behavior. 73

74. FAQ Q2. Does behavior depend on one’s culture? Ans: Even when specific attitudes and behaviors vary across cultures, as they often do, the underlying processes are much the same. 74 Ami Vitale/ Getty Images

75. FAQ Q3. Does behavior vary with gender? Ans: Yes. Biology determines our sex, and culture further bends the genders. However, in many ways woman and man are similarly human. 75

76. FAQ Q4. Why do psychologists study animals? Ans: Studying animals gives us the understanding of many behaviors that may have common biology across animals and humans. 76 D. Shapiro, © Wildlife Conservation Society

77. FAQ Q5. Is it ethical to experiment on animals? Ans: Yes. To gain insights to devastating and fatal diseases. All researchers who deal with animal research are required to follow ethical guidelines in caring for these animals. 77

78. FAQ Q6. Is it ethical to experiment on people? Ans: Yes. Experiments that do not involve any kind of physical or psychological harm beyond normal levels encountered in daily life may be carried out. 78

79. FAQ Q7. Is psychology free of value judgments? Ans: No. Psychology emerges from people who subscribe to a set of values and judgments. 79 © Roger Shepard

80. FAQ Q8. Is psychology potentially dangerous? Ans: It can be, but it is not. The purpose of psychology is to help humanity with problems such as war, hunger, prejudice, crime, family dysfunction, etc. 80