Chapter 1 Psychology study of mind brain and behavior ABC s Affect Behavior Cognition Multiple levels of analysis o Social level o Behavior level o Mental level thought o Neurological physiological level brain structure chemistry o Neurochemical level o Molecular level Individual differences o No two people are exactly alike o Heredity factors o Environmental factors Common Sense and Na ve Realism pseudoscience no evidence to back it up o Two heads are better than one too many cooks in the kitchen Na ve Realism belief that we see the world exactly as it is Not everyone sees the world the same way Common sense is not always wrong o Sometimes accurate and helpful o Serves as hypothesis generator in real life o Thinking scientifically means learning when and when not to use common sense Psychology as a Science Science is not a single body of knowledge Science is an approach to critically examining evidence Empiricism acquiring knowledge through observation Opinions have no place in science o Find explanations to fit evidence or data Theories and Hypotheses A scientific theory is an explanation for a large number of findings in the A hypothesis is a specific prediction based on a theory which can be tested natural world that is based on preexisting empirical data Theories are general explanations hypotheses are specific predictions derived from them Science as a Safeguard Confirmation bias Belief perseverance o Tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypothesis and neglect or distort contradicting evidence it o Tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts o The don t confuse me with the facts bias o Ex vaccination causes disease Pseudoscience Scientists design studies to test theories and obtain evidence A set of claims that seems scientific but are not Warnings of pseudoscience Fully testable beliefs that are unsupported by evidence o Ad hoc immunizing hypothesis o Lack of self conviction o Overreliance on anecdotes Scientific Skepticism Critical Thinking Scientific skepticism is not the same as close mindedness o Evaluate all claims with an open mind but insisting on persuasive Critical thinking set of skills for evaluating claims in open minded and careful evidence fashion 6 Principles of Critical Thinking Ruling our rival hypotheses Correlation causation o Is there another explanation o Just because ice cream and rapes are correlated doesn t mean ice cream makes people commit rape Falsifiability Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence o Can science test and disprove this claim o You found a way to cure cancer and world hunger with a single pill Evidence please Occam s Razor History of Psychology o The simplest explanation is usually best Wilhelm Wundt Grandfather of Psychology Theoretical Frameworks o Developed first psychology lab in 1879 in Germany o Structuralism Wundt Titchner o Functionalism James o Behaviorism Watson o Cognitivism Piaget o Psychoanalysis Freud Nature v Nurture it is both Most commonly heard about o Evolutionary psychology Darwinism Great Debate Free will v Determinism Skinner Neisser Jung Chapter 2 Two Modes of Thinking System 1 o Intuitive thinking o Quick reflexive nearly automatic o Relies on heuristics Mental shortcuts that reduce energy needed to solve problems but over simplify reality System 2 o Analytical thinking o Slow reflective effortful The Scientific Method The more hypotheses support a theory the stronger the theory Allow us to test hypotheses derived from broader theories Theories are never proven hypotheses can be proven or disproven Scientific method provides tools needed to test hypotheses Naturalistic Observation Research Designs o Watching behavior in real world High external validity Low internal validity Case Study Longitudinal Study Generalizability of findings things to the real world Extent to which we can determine cause and effect o Studying a small number of people for extended periods of time Helpful in providing evidence that something can occur Can be misleading due to anecdotal nature of research existence proof Self Report Measures Surveys o Asking people to report characteristics about themselves or others Surveys person s opinions or abilities Self report measures person s characteristics like personality or mental illness o Not all measures and surveys are created equal equal chance of being chosen to participate Random selection ensures every person in a population has Non random selection can provide questionable results Evaluating measures o Reliability consistency of measurement o Validity extent to which measure assess what it claims to measure o Tests must be reliable to be valid but a reliable test can still be invalid o Pros Self report measures o Cons Easy to administer Direct assessment of person s state Accuracy may be skewed narcissists Potential for dishonesty Response sets Impression management Malingering Rating others o Can eliminate some self report biases but still subject to problems Halo effect one characteristic means they have other Correlation Designs characteristics Correlation extent to which things can be related o Vary from 1 to 1 o Can be positive negative or zero o Perception of statistical association where none exists Illusory correlation How to Determine Causation Via experimental design o Correlational design measure existing variables o Experimental design manipulate variables What makes an experiment Random assignment Manipulation of independent variable s o Experimental group s control group o IV what we manipulate o DV what we measure Can infer cause and effect if IV manipulated and participants randomly o Confounds differences between experimental and control groups assigned other than IV Problems with Experimental Designs Placebo effect o Change resulting from mere expectation of change generally positive Very real powerful effects often similar to active treatment Experimenter expectancy Rosenthal Effect Demand characteristics o Researchers may unintentionally bias study o Participants try to guess researchers hypothesis and modify o Need a double blind design behavior accordingly Neither researcher nor experimental person know prevent demand characteristics as well as placebo effect Ethical Guidelines for Human Research Criticism of Generalizability Research goes through careful rigorous process to ensure that ethical standards are met via institutional review board IRB o No harm should come to participants o Participants must not