Chapter 1

Critically Thinking with Psychology

What is Psychology?

• What is psychology?– The scientific study of behavior & mental

processes• Science: making verifiable, objective

predictions• Behavior: observable acts•Mental Processes: storing, recalling, using

info/feelings

Understand Addiction

Understand Psychological Disorders

Understand Violence & Abuse

Understand Behavior

Question Behavior

Perspectives

Consider the question: Why are women and men different?

How this question is answered depends upon the perspective from which it is being studied.

Neuroscience Perspective

• How are their brains different? • Does women's thicker corpus callosum

influence this? • Are men biologically less able to control their

impulses?

Evolutionary Perspective

• What is the survival function of the differences?

• Does women's nurturance contribute to their babies' survival?

• Does men's aggression contribute to their survival and/or reproduction?

Behavior Genetics Perspective

• Are the differences genetically determined, for example in twin research?

• Or do they vary depending on the environment in which people are raised?

Psychodynamic Perspective

• Do men and women have different unconscious motivations?

Behavioral Perspective

• What rewards and punishments result from the behavior?

• Are men rewarded for living up to a "macho" image?

• Are women rewarded for acting "feminine" instead of assertive?

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A Theory is an explanation that integrates principles and organizes

and predicts behavior or events.

For example, low self-esteem contributes to depression.

Theory

Cognitive Perspective

• What do people think? Do they stereotype women and men?

• Is an assertive woman considered unfeminine?

• Is a sensitive man considered weak?

Social-cultural perspective

• How do cultural roles influence all this? • Is women's role as a mother responsible for

her behavior? • Does the expectation than men will earn more

money lead to their greater privileges?

Research

• Good scientific research depends on critical thinking.

• Identification and evaluation of evidence to guide decision making.

• Appropriate, plausible, ethical, well informed, credible.

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A Hypothesis is a testable prediction, often prompted by a theory, to enable

us to accept, reject or revise the theory.

People with low self-esteem are apt to feel more depressed.

Hypothesis

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Description

Case Study

A technique in which one person is studied in depth to reveal underlying behavioral

principles.

Is language uniquely human?

Susan K

uklin/ Photo R

esearchers

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Survey

A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people usually done by questioning a

representative, random sample of people.

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w.lynnefeatherstone.org

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Survey

Random Sampling

If each member of a population has an equal chance of inclusion into a

sample, it is called a random sample

(unbiased). If the survey sample is

biased, its results are not valid.

The fastest way to know about the marble color ratio is to blindly transfer a few into a smaller jar and count them.

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Naturalistic ObservationObserving and recording the behavior of animals in

the wild and recording self-seating patterns in a multiracial school lunch room constitute

naturalistic observation.

Courtesy of G

ilda Morelli

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Correlation

When one trait or behavior accompanies another, we say the two

correlate.

Correlation coefficient

Indicates directionof relationship

(positive or negative)

Indicates strengthof relationship(0.00 to 1.00)

r = 0.37+

Correlation Coefficient is a statistical measure of the relationship between two

variables.

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Illusory Correlation

The perception of a relationship where no relationship actually exists. Parents conceive

children after adoption.

Confirming evidence

Disconfirming evidence

Do notadopt

Disconfirming evidence

Confirming evidenceAdopt

Do not conceiveConceive

Michael N

ewm

an Jr./ Photo Edit

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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.

Exploring Cause & Effect

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Experimentation

Like other sciences, experimentation is the backbone of psychology research.

Experiments isolate causes and their effects.

Exploring Cause and Effect

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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.

Independent Variable

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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.

Dependent Variable

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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.

Evaluating Therapies

Double-blind Procedure

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ComparisonBelow is a comparison of different

research methods.

Ethics in Research

• Voluntary Participation• Informed Consent• Confidentiality• Anonymity• Right to Service• Institutional Review Board

Milgram Study