Psychology Study of mental processes and behavior mental

Psychology Study of mental processes and behavior mental processes – language acquisition, thinking, memory, learning, etc. behaviors – actions

Psychology Is Psychology Intuitive?

Stanley Milgram

Shock Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Switch Labels and Voltage Levels “Slight Shock” 15 30 45 60 “Moderate Shock” 75 90 105 120 “Strong Shock” 135 150 165 180 “Very Strong Shock” 195 210 225 240 Shock Level 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Switch Labels and Voltage Levels “Intense Shock” 255 270 285 300 “Extreme Intensity Shock” 315 330 345 360 “Danger: Severe Shock” 375 390 405 420 “XXX” 435 450

120 “Ugh! Hey this really hurts. ” 150 “Ugh! Experimenter! That’s all. get me out of here. I told you I had heart trouble. My heart’s starting to bother me now. ” 300 (agonized scream) “I absolutely refuse to answer any more. get me out of here You can’t hold me here. Get me out. ” 330 (intense & prolonged agonized scream) “Let me out of here. My heart’s bothering me. Let me out, I tell you…”

5 stopped @ 300 4 stopped @ 315 2 stopped @ 330 1 stopped @ 345 (23 rd shock) 1 stopped @ 360 (24 th shock) 1 stopped @ 375 (25 th shock) 0 stopped @ 390, 405, 420, & 435 26 went to 450 (30 th shock)

“With numbing regularity good people were seen to knuckle under the demands of authority and perform actions that were callous and severe… The kind of character produced in American democratic society cannot be counted on to insulate its citizens from brutality and inhumane treatment at the direction of malevolent authority…”

What does all of this mean? Is Psychology Intuitive?

Follow-Up Studies to Milgram • • Original study Different building Teacher with learner Put hand on shock Orders by phone Ordinary man orders 2 teachers rebel Teacher chooses shock level Percentage of subjects administering the maximum shock (450 volts)

Introduction to Psychology - Study of mental processes & behavior - Long past, short history - First psychology laboratory founded – 1879 by Wilhelm Wundt - SCIENCE - Past goes further back to Aristotle, John Locke (tabula rasa), etc. - nature v. nurture Philosophical Approaches - Empiricism Experience all reality is experienced reality - Rationalism Reason reality needs reason to make sense - Materialism Matter all that matters is matter

Introduction to Psychology Early schools or approaches Structuralism - break down the conscious experience to its most basic components (structures) - Edward Titchener – student of Wundt - used introspection as method to break down conscious experience -Problem – experience differs from time to time; also different people give different responses - later schools (behaviorist) object to introspection - school fails

Introduction to Psychology Next school or approach to bomb out! Functionalism – study how behaviors helps us function in our environment - heavily influenced by evolutionary theories - want to apply psychology to everyday problems - key figure William James - wanted to study consciousness - process stream of consciousness - influential - became interested in too many non-scientific – clairvoyance, mental telepathy, etc and functionalism quickly went the way of structuralism

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools Let’s start a little out of order - Gestalt - Max Wertheimer - Perception - view the world as a whole - like simplicity and completeness Laws 1. Law of Closure - The mind may experience elements it does not perceive through sensation, in order to complete a regular figure (that is, to increase regularity).

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools - Gestalt Law of Similarity — The mind groups similar elements together - similarity might -------------depend on relationships of form, color, size, or brightness

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools - Gestalt Law of Proximity — Spatial or temporal proximity of elements may induce the mind to perceive a collective or totality

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools - Gestalt Law of Continuity — The mind continues visual, auditory, and kinetic patterns No pictures to demonstrate – so let me draw one for you

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Gestalt & other cool perception stuff Faces or Vase

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Gestalt & other cool perception stuff Trumpet Player or Face? Old woman or young woman?

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Gestalt & other cool perception stuff Nekker Cube

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Gestalt & other cool perception stuff Stare at the dot in the middle for 45 -60 seconds and close your eyes

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Gestalt & other cool perception stuff Which vertical line is longer? A B

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Gestalt & other cool perception stuff The Müeller-Lyer Illusion

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Gestalt & other cool perception stuff

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Gestalt & other cool perception stuff

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Psychoanalysis - Founded by Sigmund Freud - focus on the unconscious and early childhood experience - develop into many different theoretical schools - Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erikson, etc. - few psychologists practice it today - major influence in early 20 th century, both clinically & philosophically

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Behaviorism It’s all about behavior! - overt actions & private processes should be considered behavior - observable behavior is key to psychology - only way to make psychology a SCIENCE! - begins with Pavlov and Classical Conditioning - later 20 th century B. F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning Ivan Pavlov - Philosophy: individual freedom is an illusion! John Watson

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Humanistic Psychology “I’m ok, you’re ok!” - reject behaviorism & psychoanalytic schools - “Third School of Psychology” - humans have freedom to chose & self-determine - innately good - key to normal behavior is drive to reach individual potential self-actualization - should get credit for achievements & must accept responsibilities for shortcomings - key proponents - Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – The Modern Schools Cognitive – replaces behaviorism - derived from work of the Gestalt - primary interest thinking, memory, perception, language, learning, etc. internal processes Biological or Physiological – behavior determined by biological or internal chemical processes - Brain - growing field with more scientific advances neuroscience

Introduction to Psychology 20 th Century Schools – Cross-Cultural Perspective - study how ethnicity & culture affects behavior, thoughts, & other mental processes

Introduction to Psychology American Psychological Association (APA) - scientific and professional organization of psychologists - 150, 000 members – largest organization of psychologists in world - 54 divisions • encourage development and application of psychology in the broadest manner • promote research in psychology, the improvement of research methods and conditions, and the application of research findings • improve the qualifications and usefulness of psychologists by establishing high standards of ethics, conduct, education, and achievement • increasing and disseminate psychological knowledge through meetings, professional contacts, reports, papers, discussions, and publications

Introduction to Psychology How does a psychologist get their data? If you want a science, you need to use the… … Scientific Method (in case you missed it the first 100 times in your science classes) • Define the question • Gather information and resources (observe) • Form hypothesis • Perform experiment and collect data • Analyze data • Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis • Publish results • Replicate (frequently done by other scientists)

Introduction to Psychology Two methods: 1. Descriptive methods 2. Experimental method

Introduction to Psychology Let’s start with the 4 descriptive methods 1. Naturalistic Observation observe subjects in their natural habitat - few ethical problems as long as there are no privacy violations 2. Case Studies gather as much data as possible about 1 subject - interviews of subject, relatives, friends, acquaintances - Limitations time-consuming and limited number of subjects

Introduction to Psychology 3. Surveys & Questionnaires talk to many people about a narrow range of topics Good survey/questionnaire requires - proper question that does not lead the subject “Would you vote for candidate X knowing he is a child molester? ” - Representative Sample - sample that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population as a whole.

Introduction to Psychology 4. Correlation Studies Measure of the relationship between two variables - correlation coefficients – goes from -1. 0 to +1. 0 - closer to -1. 0 and +1. 0, the stronger the relationship - closer to 0, the weaker the relationship Which of the following is a stronger positive correlation – both relationship? variables go in the same direction +. 38 -. 72 negative correlation – A B variables go in opposite directions

Introduction to Psychology ALL Descriptive methods do not give causal relationships - correlation studies can tell us 2 variables have a relationship but it does not tell us one causes the other Need the Experimental Method Key concepts: independent variable – variable manipulated for a change dependent variable – variable measured for a change control group - practically identical to the experimental group, except for the single variable of interest whose effect is being tested, which is only applied to the experimental group

Introduction to Psychology Self-fulfilling prophecy - prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true - Blinds & double blinds - subjects do not know whether they are in control or experimental group AND experimenters do not know which subjects are in control & experimental groups