Psych 344 1st EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 10Lecture 1 (January 27)Why understand research design? Why do research?Research purposes:A. In order to understand psychologyB. In order to better read and evaluate researchC. In order to be a better thinker, as well as learn to think scientificallyD. In order to be research literate and marketable in the field of researchE. In order to learn to do your own researchLecture 2 (January 29) What are the different methods of acquiring information? What are the origins of research methods? Methods for acquiring information: 1. Tenacity- people cling stubbornly to beliefs or claims because they make “common sense” (ex. Superstition, folklore)2. Authority- certain claims are accepted because someone in a position of authority says that they are true3. A priori method- we use our individual powers of pure reason and logic to know and explain our world4. Scientific method- rules to eliminate bias, on how to study things, getting away from subjectivityImportant philosophers and their contributions: - Socrates- Searched for essence and sought instances of a concept (ex. Beauty, truth, strength) and tried to find out what they had in common. Looked for objective reality of concept. He was a reductionist, interested in trying to break things down.- Plato- World of forms and dualism. Believed before you are born you live in the world of forms and know all the essences, and then when you are born you lose it all and must try to recover the essences. Everything in the empirical world is a manifestation of a pure form. The interaction of pure forms and the material worlds leads to a diminished copy. All knowledge is innate (from when we were souls in the realm of forms) and can be attained through introspection.- Aristotle- Sought essences, but believed they were to be found by studying nature. He believed if one were to find enough instances of an object or phenomenon, that the essence of it could be inferred. Everything in nature has a cause (called entelechy) and everything develops to fulfill its cause. Passive reason- made use of common sense, everyday kind of decisions, Active reason- used to understand the essences. Engaging in active reason was a human’s entelechy, our cause was to think and wonder. - Aristotle’s Laws of association: 1. Contiguity- we recall things that were experienced with the things we are remembering2. Similarity- we recall things that are similar to the things we are remembering3. Contrast- we recall things that are apposed to the things we are remembering4. Frequency- the more often things are experienced together, the stronger the association (conditioning)Lecture 3 (February 3)What is the history of research methods? (cont.)Renee Descartes (1596-1650)- Multifaceted scholar- mathematician, philosopher, anatomist- Invented analytical geometry1. Describes mathematically planetary orbits, as well as other astronomical phenomenon by watching a fly in his room- Fit in with Pythagorus and Plato2. Math is the way to understand the universe- Innate ideas3. Ideas that he had that were “perfect” that must be the work of God since he could find no relationship between these and the rest of his thoughts- Information from the senses is to be accepted4. He believed God would not deceive us- Influenced scholars toward study of psychology through his argument regarding the relationship of human and nonhuman animal behaviorsBritish Empiricism- Bacon generally considered founder of the empirical movement- Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Berkeley - All of the raw product for thought comes from the sensory experience- Rather than innate ideas, or introspection; information must first be gathered before thethought process can begin5. Innate ideas are either devalued or don’t existRationalism- Spinoza, Leibniz, Kant, Hegel- Different from the empiricist in that they believed in an active mind- Believed there are truths that cannot be found simply by sensory experience- Events in the real world could be understood through logic rather than simple observation- Deduction, math, and logic were central to rationalism- Descartes considered founder of rationalist movementCharles Darwin- Theory of natural selection or decent with modification- Alfred Russell Wallace also proposes theory of natural selection- Lyell (Told us Earth is 4.6 billion years old) and Mendel (Told us about genetics)- Theory influential in psych., comparative psych., developmental psych., animal psych., animal model, functionalism, and behaviorism Lecture 4 (February 5)Major contributions of Wundt, Titchener, James, Thorndike, and Freud?- Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (1832- 1920)1. The father of modern psychology/ first scientific psychologist/ cognitive psychologist.2. Began movement called volunteerism- emphasized role of the will or purposeful behaviors in psychology3. Was in the rationalist tradition (active mind)4. Primary interest was in the psychological processes that we use to explain the external world5. Wanted to find- the basic elements of thought, the laws that describe how these elements combine in to complex mental experiences6. Used experimental introspection to study the basic elements of thought. Tried to break down perception.- Edward Bradford Titchener (1867-1927)1. Founded structuralism movement. Interested in understanding structure of the mind.2. Another cognitive psychologist3. Made more extensive use of introspection than Wundt. His observers attempted to explain the basic properties of stimuli they were presented.4. Structuralism declined after his death5. Introspection is not looked highly upon by modern psychology due to its erratic nature- William James (1842-1910)1. Published Principles of Psychology in 1890. This was used as the first textbook of psychology. Very important in history of psychology and the movement of functionalism. 2. Exposed pragmatism- the belief that an individual should use any means necessary to investigate psychological phenomena 3. He was a radical empiricist4. Eventually left Harvard to study philosophy and parapsychology 5. An advocate of: introspection, experimentation, study of animals, children, and mentally ill, psychoanalysis, parapsychology, religious mysticism, essentially any method could be used if useful in understanding ourselves- Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949)1. First person to write a dissertation solely on animal experimentation. Had a big influence on Skinner.2. Unlike those before him