Psychology Roots Big ideas and Critical Thinking Tools
Psychology Roots Big ideas and Critical Thinking Tools 1 Siegerman Chapter One
Psychology With hopes of satisfying curiosity, many people listen to talk-radio counselors and psychics to learn about others and themselves. http: //www. photovault. com http: //www. nbc. com Dr. Crane (radio-shrink) 2 Siegerman Chapter One Psychic (Ball gazing)
Psychology’s Roots Aristotle (384 -322 B. C. ) http: //faculty. washington. edu Aristotle, a naturalist and philosopher, theorized about psychology’s concepts. He suggested that the soul and body are not separate and that knowledge grows from experience. 3 Siegerman Chapter One
Dec 1879 Psychology is born Wilhelm Wundt creates a machine that measures the speed people can tap a telegraph key This is psychology’s first experiment Psychology has some very early pioneers Wundt was both a philosopher and physiologist. Charles Darwin was an English Naturalist Ivan Pavlov was a Russian Physiologist Sigmund Freud was a personality Theorist Jean Piaget was a Swiss Biologist William James was an American Philosopher 4 Siegerman Chapter One
Psychology Early Pioneers May Caulkins worked with William James was denied her Ph. D. because she was a women. She would later go on to be the president of APA. Margaret Flog Wasburn – 1 st Women to receive a P. h. D in Psychology. 5 Siegerman Chapter One
Psychology developed at any leveles by many people The definition of Psychology has changed over the 6 years. 1 st the science of mental life 1920’s John B. Watson and later B. F. Skinner stated that Psychology must be “ The Scientific study of observable behavior” Behaviorists were one of two major forces in psychology well in the 1960’s Humanistic rejected the Definition of Psychology, this was lead by Carl Rodgers and Abraham Maslow, they also found that Freudian and Behaviorism was too limiting. Siegerman Chapter One
Psychological Science is Born Freud (1856 -1939) Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician, and his followers emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind and its effects on human behavior. 7 Siegerman Chapter One
Psychological Science Develops Rogers (1902 -1987) http: //www. carlrogers. dk 8 http: //facultyweb. cortland. edu Maslow (1908 -1970) Humanistic Psychology Maslow and Rogers emphasized current environmental influences on our growth potential and our need for love Siegerman Chapter One and acceptance.
Rodgers and Maslow Drew attention to ways that a Positive Environment can enhance our growth and to our needs for love and acceptance. Defining Humanism- emphasized the Growth potential of healthy people and the individual’s potential for personal growth. The rebellion of the 1960’s is called the COGNITIVE REVOLUTION which led the field back to the Mental Processes that humans use. 9 Siegerman Chapter One
TODAY We use science to find out how our mind perceives, processes and remembers information. Cognitive Neuroscience has enriched our understanding of brain activity The Current definition of Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Behavior is anything a human or nonhuman animal does. Any action we can observe and record. 10 Siegerman Chapter One
Today continued Mental processes are internal states we infer from behavior: o. Thoughts o. Beliefs o. Feelings 11 Siegerman Chapter One
Psychology’s Subfields: Research Psychologist Biological Developmental Cognitive Personality Social What she does Explore the links between brain and mind. Study changing abilities from womb to tomb. Study how we perceive, think, and solve problems. Investigate our persistent traits. Explore how we view and affect one another. Siegerman Chapter One 12
Psychology’s Current Perspectives Perspective Focus Sample Questions Neuroscience How the body and brain enables emotions? How are messages transmitted in the body? How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives? Evolutionary How the natural selection of traits the promotes the perpetuation of one’s genes? How does evolution influence behavior tendencies? Behavior genetics How much our genes and our environments influence our individual differences? Siegerman Chapter One To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and vulnerability to depression attributable to our genes? To our environment? 13
Psychology’s Current Perspectives Perspective Focus Sample Questions Psychodynamic How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts? How can someone’s personality traits and disorders be explained in terms of sexual and aggressive drives or as disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas? Behavioral How we learn observable responses? How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, say to lose weight or quit smoking? Siegerman Chapter One 14
Four Big Ideas in Psychology Critical Thinking is Smart Thinking 2. Behavior is a Biopsychosocial Event 3. We Operate with a Two-Track Mind (Dual Processing) 4. Psychology Explores Human Strengths as Well as Challenges 1. 15 Siegerman Chapter One
Big Idea #1 Critical Thinking Is smart thinking Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions It examines assumptions, uncovers hidden values, weights evidence, and assesses conclusions. 16 Siegerman Chapter One
Big Idea #2 Biopsychosocial Approach An integrated approach that incorporates different but complementary views from biological, psychological , and social-cultural perspectives. Nature versus Nurture 17 Siegerman Chapter One
Big Idea #3 Dual Processing The Principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks in our brains. 18 Siegerman Chapter One
Big Idea #4 Explaining human Strength Martin Seligman- Positive Psychology- the Study of Positive Emotions, positive characters traits, and enabling institutions. 19 Siegerman Chapter One
Why do Psychology? Is psychology intuition? Hunches are good! Critical Thinking means checking assumptions, weighing evidence, inviting criticism and testing conclusions. 20 Siegerman Chapter One
Two common flaws in Intuitive thinking 1 Hindsight bias- tendency to believe after learning an outcome that one would have fore seen it. Overconfidence A point to remember : Hindsight bias and overconfidence often lead us to over estimate our intuition. 21 Siegerman Chapter One
The Scientific Attitude 3 Basic attitudes toward the scientific Attitude Curiosity Skepticism Humility 22 Siegerman Chapter One
The Scientific Method In science a Theory explains behaviors or events by offering ideas that organize what we have observed. Hypothesis- a testable prediction Research and observation The case study The Survey Wording Effects Random Sampling Naturalistic Observation 23 Siegerman Chapter One
Research Process 24 Siegerman Chapter One
Correlation When one trait or behavior accompanies another, we say the two correlate. Indicates strength of relationship (0. 00 to 1. 00) Correlation coefficient Correlation Coefficient is a statistical measure of the relationship between two variables. 25 Siegerman Chapter One r = + 0. 37 Indicates direction of relationship (positive or negative)
Correlation and Causation Correlation does not mean causation! or 26 Siegerman Chapter One
Positive Correlation Between 0 and +1. 00 indicates a direct relationship Increase or decrease together i. e. height correlates positively with weight in growing children Siegerman Chapter One 27
Negative Correlation An inverse relationship 0 between -1. 00 As one increases the other decreases. Siegerman Chapter One 28
Correlations Help us predict Correlations indicates the possibilities of a cause and effect relationship, but it does not prove causation. Siegerman Chapter One 29
Illusory Correlation The perception of a relationship where no relationship actually exists. Parents conceive children after adoption. Do not conceive Adopt Confirming evidence Disconfirming evidence Do not adopt Disconfirming evidence Confirming evidence Siegerman Chapter One Michael Newman Jr. / Photo Edit Conceive 30
A fact to remember When we notice random coincidences we may forget that they are random Siegerman Chapter One 31
Experimentation Exploring Cause and Effect Like other sciences, experimentation is the backbone of psychological research. Experiments isolate causes and their effects. Siegerman Chapter One 32
Exploring Cause & Effect Many factors influence our behavior. Experiments (1) manipulate factors that interest us, while other factors are kept under (2) control. Effects generated by manipulated factors isolate cause and effect relationships. 33 Siegerman Chapter One
Evaluating Therapies Double-blind Procedure In evaluating drug therapies, patients and experimenter’s assistants should remain unaware of which patients had the real treatment and which patients had the placebo treatment. 34 Siegerman Chapter One
Evaluating Therapies Random Assignment Assigning participants to experimental (breastfed) and control (formula-fed) conditions by random assignment minimizes pre-existing differences between the two groups. 35 Siegerman Chapter One
Independent Variable An independent variable is a factor manipulated by the experimenter. The effect of the independent variable is the focus of the study. For example, when examining the effects of breast feeding upon intelligence, breast feeding is the independent variable. 36 Siegerman Chapter One
Dependent Variable A dependent variable is a factor that may change in response to an independent variable. In psychology, it is usually a behavior or a mental process. For example, in our study on the effect of breast feeding upon intelligence, intelligence is the dependent variable. 37 Siegerman Chapter One
Experimentation A summary of steps during experimentation. 38 Siegerman Chapter One
Comparison Below is a comparison of different research methods. 39 Siegerman Chapter One
Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology Q 1. Can laboratory experiments illuminate everyday life? Ans: Artificial laboratory conditions are created to study behavior in simplistic terms. The goal is to find underlying principles that govern behavior. 40 Siegerman Chapter One
FAQ Q 2. Does behavior depend on one’s culture and gender? Ans: Even when specific attitudes and behaviors vary across cultures, as they often do, the underlying processes are much the same. Biology determines our sex, and culture further bends the genders. However, in many ways woman and man are similarly human. Ami Vitale/ Getty Images Siegerman Chapter One 41
FAQ Q 3. Why do psychologists study animals, and is it ethical to experiment on animals? Ans: Studying animals gives us the understanding of many behaviors that may have common biology across animals and humans. From animal studies, we have gained insights to devastating and fatal diseases. All researchers who deal with animal research are required to follow ethical guidelines in caring for these animals. Siegerman One Society D. Shapiro, ©Chapter Wildlife Conservation 42
FAQ Q 4. Is it ethical to experiment on people? Ans: Yes. Experiments that do not involve any kind of physical or psychological harm beyond normal levels encountered in daily life may be carried out. 43 Siegerman Chapter One
FAQ Q 5. Is psychology free of value judgments? Ans: No. Psychology emerges from people who subscribe to a set of values and judgments. Siegerman Chapter One © Roger Shepard 44
FAQ Q 6. Is psychology potentially dangerous? Ans: It can be, but is not when practiced responsibly. The purpose of psychology is to help humanity with problems such as war, hunger, prejudice, crime, family dysfunction, etc. 45 Siegerman Chapter One
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