Psychology 7e in Modules 11ElementaryPsychology PSY 120000-003Prof. Kip WilliamsPurdue UniversitySpring 2009Teaching Assistants:Nicole CapezzaJim Wirth2Let’s go over the SyllabusThe class webpage is:http://www2.psych.purdue.edu/~kip/120/index.htmOr,Go to: www2.psych.purdue.edu/~kipClick on Courses & Teaching tab at top of pageClick on PSY 12000-003 link under the 2009 CoursesheadingFrom here you can look at the constantly updated courseinformation that includes announcements, a link todownload a pdf version of the syllabus, the calendar, andthe links to download pdf versions of the lectures.3Thinking Critically withPsychological ScienceChapter 14Thinking Critically with PsychologicalScienceThe Need for PsychologicalScience The limits of Intuition andCommon Sense The Scientific Attitude The Scientific Method5Thinking Critically …Description The Case Study The Survey Naturalistic Observation6Thinking Critically …Correlation Correlation and Causation Illusory Correlation Perceiving Order in RandomEventsPsychology 7e in Modules 27Thinking Critically …Experimentation Exploring Cause and Effect Evaluating Therapies Independent and DependentVariables8Thinking Critically …Statistical Reasoning Describing Data Making InferencesFAQs About Psychology9Impression of PsychologyWith hopes of satisfying curiosity, many peoplelisten to talk-radio counselors and psychics tolearn about others and themselves.Dr. Crane (radio-shrink)http://www.nbc.comhttp://www.photovault.comPsychic (Ball gazing)10The Need for Psychological ScienceIntuition & Common SenseMany people believe that intuition and commonsense are enough to bring forth answers regardinghuman nature.Intuition and common sense may aid queries,but they are not free of error.11Limits of IntuitionPersonal interviewers mayrely too much on their “gutfeelings” when meetingwith job applicants.Taxi/ Getty Images12Errors of Common SenseTry this !Fold a piece of paper (0.1 mm thick) 100 times.How thick will it be?800,000,000,000,000 times the distance betweenthe sun and the earth.Psychology 7e in Modules 313Hindsight Bias is the “I-knew-it-all-along”phenomenon.After learning the outcome of an event, manypeople believe they could have predicted that veryoutcome. We only knew the dot.com stocks wouldplummet after they actually did plummet.Hindsight BiasThis is why you don’t look at the answersbefore you commit yourself to an answer onpractice tests.14OverconfidenceSometimes we think weknow more than weactually know.AnagramBARGEGRABEENTRYETYRNWATERWREATHow long do you think itwould take to unscramblethese anagrams?People said it would takeabout 10 seconds, yet onaverage they took about 3minutes (Goranson, 1978).15Psychological Science1 How can we differentiate betweenuninformed opinions and examinedconclusions? The science of psychology helps makethese examined conclusions, which leadsto our understanding of how people feel,think, and act as they do!1One of the premier journals in our field is also called PsychologicalScience. It’s Editor is Robert Kail, Professor of PsychologicalSciences, Purdue University!16The Scientific AttitudeThe scientific attitude is composed of curiosity(passion for exploration), skepticism (doubtingand questioning) and humility (ability to acceptresponsibility when wrong).17Critical ThinkingCritical thinking doesnot accept argumentsand conclusions blindly.It examinesassumptions, discernshidden values,evaluates evidence andassesses conclusions.The Amazing RandiCourtesy of the James Randi Education Foundation18Scientific MethodPsychologists, like all scientists, use thescientific method to construct theories thatorganize, summarize and simplifyobservations.Psychology 7e in Modules 419A Theory is an explanation that integratesprinciples and organizes and predictsbehavior or events.For example, low self-esteem contributes todepression.Theory20A Hypothesis is a testable prediction, oftenprompted by a theory, to enable us toaccept, reject or revise the theory.People with low self-esteem are apt to feelmore depressed.Hypothesis21Research would require us to administertests of self-esteem and depression.Individuals who score low on a self-esteemtest and high on a depression test wouldconfirm our hypothesis.Research Observations22Research Process23DescriptionCase StudyA technique in which one person is studied indepth to reveal underlying behavioral principles.Is language uniquely human?Susan Kuklin/ Photo Researchers24Case StudyA clinical study is aform of case study inwhich the therapistinvestigates theproblems associatedwith a client.http://behavioralhealth.typepad.comClinical StudyPsychology 7e in Modules 525SurveyA technique for ascertaining the self-reportedattitudes, opinions or behaviors of peopleusually done by questioning a representative,random sample of people.http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org26SurveyWording can change the results of a survey.Q: !Should cigarette ads and pornography be!!!on television?Wording Effectforbiddenallowed27SurveyA tendency to overestimate the extent towhich others share our beliefs andbehaviors.False Consensus Effect28Survey Random SamplingIf each member of apopulation has an equalchance of inclusion into asample, it is called arandom sample(unbiased). If the surveysample is biased, itsresults are not valid.The fastest way to know about themarble color ratio is to blindlytransfer a few into a smaller jar andcount them.29Naturalistic ObservationObserving and recording the behavior of animals in thewild and recording self-seating patterns in a multiracialschool lunch room constitute naturalistic observation.Courtesy of Gilda Morelli30Descriptive MethodsCase studies, surveys, and naturalisticobservation describe behaviors.SummaryPsychology 7e in Modules 631CorrelationWhen one trait or behavior accompaniesanother, we say the two correlate.Correlation coefficientIndicates directionof relationship(positive or negative)Indicates strengthof relationship(0.00 to 1.00)r =0.37+Correlation Coefficient is astatistical measure of therelationship between twovariables.32Perfect positivecorrelation (+1.00)Scatterplot is a graph comprised of points that aregenerated by values of two variables. The slope ofthe points depicts the direction, while the amountof scatter depicts the strength of the relationship.Scatterplots33No relationship (0.00)Perfect negativecorrelation (-1.00)The Scatterplot on the left shows a negative correlation,while the one
View Full Document
Unlocking...