Psychology as Science

Science• Empiricism• Testable/Falsifiable• Objectivity• Challenges Existing

Beliefs• Shared Methods

“Pop-psych”• Untestable• Simplistic• Confirms existing

beliefs• $$$$

The Five Steps of the Scientific Method

Developing a hypothesisDeveloping a hypothesis

Performing a controlled testPerforming a controlled test

Gathering objective dataGathering objective data

Analyzing the resultsAnalyzing the results

Publishing, criticizing, and Publishing, criticizing, and replicating the resultsreplicating the results

Critical Thinking Skills

• Ask questions• Examine the evidence• Look for Bias• Consider alternate

explanations• Tolerate uncertainty*

Chapter 1Chapter 1

Mind, Behavior, Mind, Behavior, and Scienceand Science

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True or False?

• Your brain makes a painkiller similar Your brain makes a painkiller similar to herointo heroin

• True: Naturally produced chemicals True: Naturally produced chemicals called called endorphinsendorphins are closely related are closely related to herointo heroin

• Many things that happen to us leave Many things that happen to us leave no record in memoryno record in memory

True or False?True or False?

• True: Most of the information around True: Most of the information around us never reaches memory, and what us never reaches memory, and what does reach memory often gets does reach memory often gets distorteddistorted

• You are born with all the brain cells You are born with all the brain cells you will ever haveyou will ever have

True or False?True or False?

• False: Recent research shows that False: Recent research shows that some parts of the brain continue some parts of the brain continue producing new cells throughout lifeproducing new cells throughout life

• The most common form of mental The most common form of mental disorder occurs in 30% of the disorder occurs in 30% of the populationpopulation

True or False?True or False?

• True: Depression, the single most True: Depression, the single most common disorder, may affect up to a common disorder, may affect up to a third of the population at some point third of the population at some point in their livesin their lives

Seven Modern Perspectives of PsychologySeven Modern Perspectives of Psychology

BiologicalBiological

EvolutionaryEvolutionary

PsychodynamicPsychodynamic

BehavioralBehavioral

CognitiveCognitive

HumanisticHumanistic

SocioculturalSociocultural

What Do Psychologists Do?

Psychology is a broad field with many specialties, grouped

in two major categories: experimental psychology and

applied psychology

Experimental Psychologists

What Do Psychologists Do?

• Conduct most research across psychological spectrum

• Often teach at college or university

• May work in private industry or for the government

Applied Psychologists

ClinicalClinical CounselingCounseling

EngineeringEngineering

RehabilitationRehabilitation

I/OI/O

SchoolSchool

What Do Psychologists Do?

• Use knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems

Psychologists in Other Settings

• Sports• Consumer Issues• Advertising• Organizational

Problems• Environmental Issues

• Public policy• Opinion polls• Military training• Animal behavior• Legal Issues

Psychology’s History

1. Wilhelm Wundt• First Laboratory 1879• Productive

Researcher• Structuralism• Introspection

William James

• “father of American psychology”

• Principles of Psychology (1890)

• Functionalism

Extreme Environmentalism

• “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up in, and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to be any type of specialist I might select - doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.”– John Broadus Watson, 1928

3. John Watson

• Upstart, disagreed with research on “mind”

• Behaviorism• Observable,

objectivity• Little Albert

4. Sigmund Freud

• Psychoanalysis• Psychosexual• Pessimistic• Unconscious• Sex/Anxiety

Final Figure

5. Carl Rogers• Humanist• Optimistic• Self actualization