Learning Objectives Chapter 1 Psychology and Scientific Thinking Define psychology Scientific study of the mind brain and behavior Know the ABC s of psychology A affect what we feel B behavior what we do C cognitions what we think Describe and differentiate the 5 major theoretical frameworks guiding psychology s history structuralism functionalism behaviorism cognitivism psychoanalysis Structuralism Identify Basic elements of the conscious experience through introspection Functionalism Behaviorism Adaptive purposes of psychological selection Natural Selection Understanding the why Uncovering laws of learning by behavior alone Conditioning o Reward punishment o Association Cognitivism Psychoanalysis Thinking affects behavior Interception of rewards and punishments determines behavior Internal phycologic processes of which we re unaware Symbols that need to be decoded Unconscious things happen for a reason o Childhood experiences Describe and be able to identify the different types of psychologists Clinical Counseling School Developmental Experimental Treat mental disorders Work with people on less severs temporary problems o NOT necessarily mental disorders Intervention programs for troubled youth Study why and how people change over time Most work with infants and children Sophisticated research Social cognitive methods to study memory Examine physiological bases of behavior Biopsychologists Forensics Contrast basic vs applied research troubled people Basic Applied Acquisition of knowledge for knowledge sake people in prison to assist with rehabilitation and treatment of Answer specific questions aimed at solving practical problems help make the world a better place Know how common sense can be useful in psychology Serves as a heuristic or mental shortcut Intuition is usually correct Generating hypotheses Learning to think like a scientist means learning when to trust your common Identify the main levels of analysis in psychological science consider how the sense focus of attention changes across levels rungs on a ladder Lower level tired most closely to biological influences Higher levels tied most closely to social influence Cant examine just ONE level Describe the 5 fundamental challenges facing psychology 1 Human behavior is difficult to predict 2 Actions are produced by many factors Be skeptical of attempts to explain complex behaviors with a single casual anorexia how much of what factors make something uniquely Example factor responsible 3 Individual differences variation among people in their thinking emotion personality or behavior o NO theory to explain everyone 4 Reciprocal determinism Mutually influence each other s behavior Makes it hard to draw conclusions 5 Behavior is shaped by culture Define pseudoscience human nature A set of claims that seem scientific but aren t Cultural differences can limit conclusions scientists can draw about Lacks the safeguards against confirmation bias and belief perseverance that characterize science Know some warning signs of pseudoscience Overreliance on anecdotes there are exceptions to everything Exaggerated claims Lack of peer review proof instead of evidence Failure to self correct when contrary evidence is presented Uses fancy scientific language that doesn t make sense Absence of connection to other research Know why we should care about pseudoscience 1 Opportunity costs People may choose to get a treatment that does not work instead of one that could have helped 2 Direct harm Example Rebirthing theory 3 Inability to think Scientifically No more critical thinking Holds society back from moving forward Differentiate theory and hypothesis Theories are general explanations whereas hypotheses are specific predictions derived from these explanations Know three types of biases that science safeguards against 1 Na ve realism 2 Confirmation bias Belief that we see the world precisely as it is Seeing is believing Tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypothesis and neglect or distort contradicting evidence Mother of all bias Scientists need to design studies that may disprove their theories Tendency to stick to initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts 3 Belief perseverance them Know what it means by to a scientific skeptic The don t confuse me with facts bias Being scientifically skeptical does not mean being closed minded Evaluate claims with an open mind but insist on persuasive evidence before accepting them Define critical thinking Skeptics are willing to change their mind with enough evidence A set of skills for evaluating all claims in an open minded and careful fashion Identify and explain the six principles of critical thinking Allow us to overcome our own bias 1 Ruling out rival hypotheses 2 Correlation VS Causation excluded Having important alternative explanations for the findings been Can we be sure that A causes B o CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION 3 Falsifiability 4 Replicability Can the claim be disproved Can the results be duplicated in other studies If results cannot be duplicated then the results may be due to chance We don t want to put too much belief in a finding until it is replicated 5 Extraordinary Claims 6 Occam s razor Is the evidence as strong as the claims o Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Does a simpler explanation fit the data just as well Principle of parsimony logical simplicity Needlessly complicated explanation Describe the two great debates that have shaped the field of psychology Nature VS Nurture Are our behaviors attributable mostly to our genes nature or our rearing environments nurture Free will VS Determination To what extent are our behaviors freely selected rather than caused by factors outside of our control
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