2 13 15 Chapter 1 Thinking Critically With Psychological Science Need for Psychological Science The grandmother test tidbits of knowledge getting passed down through o We don t always know if it is good information o Birds of a feather flock together like minded people tend to get o Opposites attract o They got passed down but their opposite so which one is actually Potential problems relying on intuition personal experiences and common tradition along correct sense o Hindsight bias you learn what the outcome is then you re like oh yeah duh and you think you could have predicted it or it was the obvious thing that was going to happen Explaining what happened yesterday or in the past Example Higher amounts of sleep lead to greater academic achievement more awake pay attention better Lower amounts of sleep lead to greater academic achievement cramming for test so you know more information Problem with hindsight bias is after you learn about an outcome you can have any explanation for almost anything As a researcher you want to be able to make predictions o Overconfidence you feel like you re never wrong and know what is going to happen and you know more than you actually do Huge danger in being overly confident when studying for an exam under this assumption When shown that they aren t accurate participants explain away the results Placing a bet you think a bet because you think you re going to win and you were confident enough in your team to put money on them but they loose and you come up with excuses of why they lost my team would have won if the coach didn t blow the call o Perception of patterns in random events Asking Answering Psychological Questions The scientific method o Theory an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events 1 Big thing o Hypotheses testable predictions Specific prediction what do I expect to happen IN THIS circumstance Allows us to show support for revise or reject a theory o Operational definitions a statement of the procedures used to define research variables o Replicate and expand Observing and describing behavior revealing universal principles HM s brain study 2 16 15 group o Case study an in depth study of one individual conducted in hopes of o Survey method method of obtaining self report data from a particular Population all the cases in a group being studied from which samples may be drawn Random sample a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion o Naturalist observation observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation Overt observation you know you are being watched you know that there is a researcher there taking notes on your behavior Covert observation people being studied don t know that Participant observer you embed yourself within the group they re being watched that you re studying Ex 21 jump street drew Barrymore in never been kissed Can do this covert as well as overt Non participant observer Can be cover or overt Non participant and overt is an administrator watching a class room Non participant covert administrator setting up a hidden camera in a classroom and we don t know about it o Correlation measure of the extent to which two factors vary together Looking at two different characteristics traits shown on graph Direction Positive when one variable increases so does the other o Low scores on variable 1 low scores on variable 2 and vice versa low goes with low and high goes with high 2 Negative when one variable increases the other decreases the closer the absolute value of the correlation is to 1 Strength the stronger the relationship Correlation causation Variable 1 could cause variable 2 or variable 2 could There could be a third variable that could case variable cause variable 1 1 and variable 2 o Experimentation investigator manipulates one or more factors independent variables to observe the effects on some behavior or mental process dependent variables Independent variable variable you are manipulating Dependent variable measureable effect Ex how much sleep effecting school Independent variable hours of sleep student gets Dependent variable exam performance Must hold constant control other factors that you aren t interested in 2 18 15 CHAPTER 2 Its all about the brain or is it Phrenology behavior o Biological psychology concerned with links between biology and Sleep dreams Biological causes of psychological disorders Drilled holes in top of head to allow evil spirits to escape when people back in the day had something like schizophrenia but now they know its linked to neurotransmitter disorder Drives sex thirst hunger o Biopsychosocial model Biology Individual psychology you re experiences as an individual Birth order socioeconomic status how much pressure your parents guardians put on you Social influences where are you living What time period o You don t have a round head because Neural communication o Neurons responsible for delivering information from brain to body and vice versa Similar to cells in body Contains cell body soma the cell s life support center 3 o Contains nucleus DNA Golgi etc Different from cells in body Dendrites receive messages information from other cells neurons o Look like branches around cell body o Lots of them so we can receive info from lots of other cells Axon passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons muscles or glands o Tail coming off the cell body o Has casing that goes around it in segments myelin sheath Myelin sheath covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed neural impulses Terminal branches of axon form junctions with other cells Neural impulse action potential electrical signal traveling down the axon Types of neurons Sensory neurons smell sight taste feel hear neurons that allow you to detect o Bring info in input neurons o In touch with outside world Motor neurons o Output neurons o Result in action secretion of hormones beating of your heart output your body does digesting food o Attached to muscles and glands Interneurons pass info from one neuron to another make up your brain and your spinal cord o Only connected to other neurons Transmitting information Action potential electrical charge travels down axon o How you pass off a lot of information Transduction transforming energy from one form to o How neurons communicate another Neurons never actually touch they have a