PSY 1001 1nd Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Last Lecture I Foundations of Psychology a Philosophy b Physiology II Father of Psychology a Wilhem Wundt b Structuralism c Introspection III Other important milestones in history of psychology a James Functionalism b Freud and Psychoanalysis c Behaviorism d The Cognitive Revolution e What s happening now IV Important Take home s Outline of Current Lecture I Hypothesis vs Theory II Six Principles of Scientific Thinking a Ruling out rival hypotheses b Correlation vs causation c Falsifiability d Replicability e Extraordinary Claims f Occam s Razor III Typical Scientific Methods in Psychology a Natural Observation b Case Study Designs c Self Report d Correlational Designs e Experimental Designs IV Ethical Issues Current Lecture I Hypothesis vs Theory These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute a 5 factors that make study of psychology difficult but rewarding i Human behavior is difficult to predict 1 Actions are multiply determined ii Psychological influences are rarely independent of each other iii People display individual differences in thinking emotion and personality iv People influence one another 1 Reciprocal determinism v Behavior is shaped by culture b THEORY is an explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world i Theories are general explanations hypotheses are specific predictions derived from them ii Ex Darwin s theory of natural selection c A HYPOTHESIS is a specific prediction based on a theory which can then be tested i Ex The alpine butterfly is a hybrid of the lowland butterfly and the meadow butterfly ii Very specific testable d Be careful of the following i Common Sense 1 Not all common sense is wrong 2 Common sense should serve as a generator for hypotheses which can then be tested 3 But learning to think like a scientist means learning when and when not to trust our common sense 4 Intuition vs analytical thinking ii Heuristic 1 Pattern of thinking based on knowledge we have from the past 2 By relying on a heuristic a mental shortcut we can sometimes be fooled iii Confirmation Bias 1 Tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypothesis and neglect or distort contradicting evidence 2 Scientists need to design studies that may disprove their theories e Psychology as a Science i Science is an approach to evidence one designed to keep us from fooling ourselves ii Science begins with empiricism but then tests those observations using rigorous methods iii In psychology and all science we must abandon relying on opinions iv Instead we find out which explanations best fit the evidence or data II III Six Principles of Scientific Thinking a Ruling out rival hypotheses i Think about all alternatives b Correlation vs causation i Correlation 2 things tend to happen together ii Causation One thing causes another iii Just because two things are correlated DOES NOT mean one thing causes another c Falsifiability i Can the claim be disproved ii Do an experiment d Replicability i Want to replicate the results ii Ex ESP researchers often ask participants to predict the outcomes of random events Yet ESP findings have proven very difficult to replicate e Extraordinary Claims i Examples Sasquatch and Loch Nest Monster ii If you re going to make an extraordinary claim need extra strong evidence f Occam s Razor i Does a simpler explanation fit the data just as well ii When faced with two opposing explanations for the same set of evidence our minds will naturally prefer the explanation that makes the fewest assumptions Typical Scientific Methods in Psychology a Natural Observation i Ex Jane Goodall studying chimpanzees ii Goes watches and takes notes in their natural habitat b Case Study Designs i Sometimes provide access to the rare or unusual ii Ex Capgras syndrome believe loved ones have been replaced by identical looking doubles iii Not many exist c Self Report i Bias reporting ii Ex Newspaper sampled thought Truman lost based on sample He actually won 1 Why Mostly republicans owned phones at the time d Correlational Designs i Negative correlation negative slope Opposite for positive correlation 1 Don t know if one causes the other 2 Ex Exam score and number of beers ii Correlation does not equal causation e Experimental Designs i Variables 1 Independent the variable the experimenter manipulates 2 Dependent the variable the experimenter measures ii Control and experimental groups 1 Experimental group you are manipulating 2 Control ex fake drug compare iii Random assignment 1 If not random not fair iv Manipulation of events 1 Experimenter is in control