PSYC 107 Create an account on the sona System http tamupsychology sona systems com Prescreening starts August 31 8 28 2012 Chapter 1 Pioneers of Psychology Roots of Psych Philosophical Guys 1 Plato a Idea of Nativism i Born with Certain types of knowledge 1 Right and Wrong 2 Deity 3 Logical Thinking 2 Aristotle a Philosophical Empiricism i Learn right and wrong through people ii Gain from experience everything we know 3 Descartes a Dualism i Idea that the body and the mind are separate identities 1 Body follows Physics 2 Mind does not 3 Interested in how they work together ii Skepticism 1 Doubt everything until you can prove it to be true Science Guys 1 Charles Darwin a Natural Selection i Idea that features of an organism that help it survive and reproduce are more likely that other features to be passed on to subsequent generations ii These features are adaptive 2 William James a Consciousness serves an important biological function b Functionalism the study of the purpose that mental processes serve in helping people adapt to their environment 3 Wilhelm Wundt a First psychology lab at the University of Leipzig 1879 b Structuralism the analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind i Used reaction times to separate perception from interpretation ii Introspection the subjective observation of one s own experience Other Pioneers of Psychology 1 Sigmund Freud a Unconscious i Parts of our mind we re not aware of have a strong influence b Psychoanalysis i A form of psychotherapy 2 Watson a Classical Conditioning i After training a previously neutral stimulus can cause a conditioned response 3 BF Skinner a Operant conditioning i The consequences of a certain behavior influence whether it will be repeated Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior o Mind our private inner experience of perceptions thoughts memories and feelings o Behavior observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals Explaining behavior and the operation of the mind can happen within and across levels of analysis o Genetic gene mechanisms heritability twin and adoption studies Genes for risk taking kin selection o Neurochemical Neurotransmitters and hormones animal studies drug studies Testosterone cortisol o Brain Systems Neuroanatomical structures animal studies brain imaging Amygdala prefrontal cortex o Behavioral observable actions responses physical movements Struggling with wheelchair fatigue o Perceptual and Cognitive thinking decision making language memory beliefs Empathy Evacuation Schema o Individual personality traits sex differences developmental age changes Conscientiousness trait anxiety o Social and Cultural situations context cultural norms Hero Stereotype action movies 8 30 2012 1 Psychology Science and truth a The Goal of Science to discover Truth i Truth that which corresponds to reality b Some methods of discovering truth i Intuition it feels true ii Metaphysics religion mythology etc iii Logic basic assumptions if then reasoning iv Science Based on observation and evidence c Applications i Is the earth flat Is it the center of the universe ii If an expert believes something to be true should we also believe it 1 Experts often have terrific insidghts but scientists view these insights should be viewed as testable hypotheses rather than as facts 2 Theories Hypotheses and Operationalizations a Theory a hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon i Can support or disprove but never prove a truth 1 Smoking causes lung cancer b Hypothesis a testable falsifiable prediction made by a theory i Used to support or disprove not prove a theory c Operational Definitions Description of of an abrtact property in concrete measurable terms i of cigarettes smoked per day 3 Reliability and validity a Reliaility the tendency for a measure to produce the same result whenever it is used to measure the same thing i Consistent ii Rulers a scale a self report measure of happiness b Validity The extent to which a measurement and a property are conceptually related i Accurate ii Is the measure sensibly related to the underlying contruct c Frequency Distributions Graphical representations of the measurement of a sample i A mean difference does not mean all people in one group differ from all people in the other d Central Tendency i Mean the average of the measurements ii Medium the middle measurement half below half above iii Mode the most frequent measurement