General Psychology Ch 1

1. CHAPTER 1
Introduction
& Research
Methods

2. Lecture Overview
• Introducing Psychology
• Origins of Psychology
• The Science of Psychology
• Research Methods
• Getting the Most from Your Study of Psycholog

3. Introducing Psychology
• What is psychology?
The scientific study of behavior & mental
processes.
• Psychology focuses on empirical evidence
& critical thinking.
• Pseudopsychologies (e.g., psychics,
mediums) are nonscientific.

4. Pause & Reflect:
Psychology & Life
• Psychology helps us scientifically evaluate
common beliefs & misconceptions about
behavior & mental processes. For
example, can you identify which of the
beliefs on the following slide are true or
false?

5. True or False?
1. Most brain activity stops during sleep.
2. Eyewitness testimony is often unreliable.
3. People with schizophrenia have two or
more distinct personalities.
4. Similarity is one of the best predictors of
long-term relationships.

6. Answers
1. Most brain activity stops during sleep.
 (False See Chapter 2)
1. Eyewitness testimony is often unreliable.
 (True See Chapter 7)
1. People with schizophrenia have two or more
distinct personalities.
 (False See Chapter 13)
1. Similarity is one of the best predictors
of long-term relationships.
 (True See Chapter 15)

7. Psychology’s Four Goals
1. Description: tells “what” occurred
2. Explanation: tells “why” a behavior or mental
process occurred
3. Prediction: identifies conditions under which a
future behavior or mental process is likely to
occur
4. Change: applies psychological knowledge to
prevent unwanted behavior or to bring about
desired goals

8. Sample Careers in Psychology
• Biopsychology/ • Experimental
Neuroscience Psychology
• Clinical & Counseling • Forensic Psychology
Psychology • Gender/Cultural
• Cognitive Psychology Psychology
• Developmental • Health Psychology
Psychology • Industrial/Organiza-
• Educational tional Psychology
Psychology • Social Psychology

9. Careers in Psychology: Percentage
of Psychology Degrees by Specialty

10. Origins of Psychology
• Wilhelm Wundt: “father of
psychology”
• Structuralism: sought to identify
the basic building blocks, or
structures, of mental life through
introspection (Titchener key
leader)
• Functionalism: studied how the
mind functions to adapt William James
organisms to their environment (1842-1910)
(James key leader)

11. Origins of Psychology: Continued
• Psychoanalytic/
Psychodynamic
Perspective: unconscious
processes & unresolved
past conflicts
• Freud was key founder
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939)

12. Origins of Psychology: Continued
• Behavioral Perspective:
objective, observable
environmental
influences on overt
behavior
• Watson & Skinner were
key figures
B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)

13. Origins of Psychology: Continued
• Humanistic Perspective: free will & self-
actualization—led to modern field of positive
psychology (Rogers & Maslow were key figures)
+ =
Carl Rogers Abraham Maslow
(1902-1987) (1908-1970)

14. Origins of Psychology: Continued
• Cognitive
Perspective:
thoughts, perception,
& information
processing

15. Origins of Psychology: Continued
• Neuroscientific/
Biopsychological
Perspective:
genetics & other
biological processes
in the brain & other
parts of the nervous
system

16. Origins of Psychology: Continued
• Evolutionary
Perspective: natural
selection, adaptation,
& evolution of
behavior & mental
processes
• Sociocultural
Perspective: social
interaction & cultural
determinants of
behavior & mental
processes

17. Origins of Psychology: Continued
• Biopsychosocial model:
combines biological,
psychological, & social
processes; interacts with
the seven major
perspectives

18. Pause & Reflect:
Critical
Thinking
• Why do psychologists & other scientists
need multiple perspectives? (One possible
answer appears on the next slide.)

19. Do You See a Vase &/or Two Faces?
• Multiple perspectives allow psychologists to better
understand complex behavior & mental processes.

20. Origins of Psychology: Continued
• Mary Calkins--one of
the first women in
psychology; first
female president of
APA
• Margaret Floy
Washburn--first
woman to receive
Ph.D. in psychology

21. Origins of Psychology: Continued
• Francis Cecil Sumner--first
African American Ph.D. in
psychology
• Kenneth B. Clark--first
African American APA
president; he & his wife
(Mamie Clark) documented
harmful effects of racial
segregation in schools

22. The Science of Psychology
• Basic Research:
conducted to advance
scientific knowledge
• Applied Research:
designed to solve
practical problems

23. Pause &
Reflect:
Assessment
• Is this an
example of
basic or
applied
research?

25. The Science of Psychology
• Ethical Guidelines for Human Research
Participants:
• Informed consent
• Voluntary participation
• Restricted use of deception
• Debriefing
• Confidentiality
• Alternative activities
• Prior approval of research

26. The Science of Psychology
• Rights of Nonhuman Participants: Psychologists
take great care in handling research animals, &
animal care committees ensure proper
treatment. But the use of nonhuman animals for
research remains controversial.
• Rights of Psychotherapy Clients: Therapists
must maintain highest of ethical standards &
uphold clients’ trust & confidentiality.

27. Pause &
Reflect:
Assessment
1. What are the four major goals of
psychology?
2. The _____ perspective focuses on
natural selection, adaptation, & evolution.

28. Research Methods
• Four key research
methods:
1. Experimental
2. Descriptive
3. Correlational
4. Biological

30. Four Key Research Methods
• Experimental Research:
carefully controlled
scientific procedure that
manipulates variables to
determine cause & effect

31. Research Methods: Experimental
• Key features of an experiment:
--Independent variable (IV) (factor that is
manipulated) versus dependent variable
(DV) (factor that is measured)
--Experimental group (receives treatment) vs.
control group (receives no treatment)

32. Research Methods:
Experimental
• Does TV increase
aggression? Only
an experiment can
determine cause &
effect.

33. Research Methods:
Experimental (Continued)
• Potential researcher
problems:
– Experimenter bias:
researcher influences
research results in his or
her expected direction
– Ethnocentrism: believing
one's culture is typical of
all cultures

34. Research Methods:
Experimental (Continued)
Potential participant problems:
• Sample bias: research
participants are
unrepresentative of the
larger population
• Participant bias: research
participants are influenced
by the researcher or
experimental conditions

35. Research Methods:
Experimental (Continued)
• One way to offset
experimenter &
participant bias is
to create single-
&/or double-blind
experimental
design.

36. Research Methods: Experimental (Cont.)

37. Research Methods: Descriptive
2. Descriptive Research:
observes & records
behavior without
producing causal
explanations

38. Research Methods: Descriptive (Cont.)
Three types of descriptive research:
• Naturalistic Observation: researchers
systematically measure & record
participants’ behavior, without interfering
• Survey: tests, questionnaires, polls, &
interviews that assess a sample or
population
• Case Study: in-depth study of a single
research participant

39. Why Study Psychology?
(You discover topics like naturalistic observation, which also
helps you “get” the underlying humor of popular cartoons.)

40. Research Methods: Correlational
3. Correlational
Research:
observes or
measures
(without directly
manipulating) two
or more variables
to find
relationships
between them
Art of Preiction

41. Correlational Research:
(Continued)
• Positive Correlation:
two variables move
(or vary) in the same
direction—either up
or down

42. Correlational Research:
(Continued)
• Negative Correlation:
two variables move (or
vary) in the opposite
direction—either up or
down

43. Research Methods: Correlational
(Continued)
• Zero Correlation: no
relationship between
two variables (when one
variable increases, the
other can increase,
decrease, or stay the
same)

44. Correlational Research:
(Continued)

45. Correlational Research:
(Continued)
• Can you see
why correlation
can never
show cause &
effect?

46. Pause &
Reflect:
Assessment
1. Why is an experiment the only way we can
determine cause & effect?
2. What is the difference between a positive
correlation & a negative correlation?

47. Research Methods: Biological
4. Biological Research:
scientific studies of
the brain & other
parts of the nervous
system

48. Tools for Biological Research

49. Tools for Biological Research (Cont.)

50. Getting the Most from Your Study
of Psychology

51. Getting the Most from Your Study
of Psychology (Continued)
• Six major tools:
– Familiarization
– Active Reading (SQ4R)
– Visual Learning
– Time Management
(baseline & realistic
schedule)
– Distributed Study
– Overlearning

53. Pause & Reflect:
Critical
Thinking
•Which of the tips offered in this section do you
plan to work on to improve your academic
performance?

54. End of CHAPTER 1
Introduction
& Research
Methods