Module 1:
Introduction and Careers
What is Psychology?
• The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
• Three parts of definition
• Scientific study-psychologists rely on scientific research methods in their
attempts to answer questions
• Behavior- any directly observable thing you do
• Mental processes- our thoughts, feelings, and dreams
• Psychologists also study the biology of the brain
Careers in Psychology
• Jobs such as
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Neuropsychologists
Clinical psychologists
Counseling psychologists
Social psychologists
Developmental psychologists
Experimental psychologists
Forensic psychologists
Sports psychologists
Educational psychologists
Industrial/organizational psychologists
Module 2:
History and Perspectives
Modern Psychology’s 19th Century Roots
• Wilhelm Wundt-
• German philosopher and physiologist
• Tried to understand human consciousness through introspection
• Describing conscious experiences in a systematic way
• Edward B. Titchener
• Wilhelm’s student
• Structuralism- theory of psychology that the structure of conscious experience
could be understood by analyzing basic elements of thought and feeling
• Tried to understand the structure of conscious experience
Modern Psychology’s 19th Century Roots
• Gestalt Psychology-
• Psychological perspective that emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of
information into meaningful wholes
• “The whole is different from the sum of its parts”
• William James
• Disagreed with structuralist approach
• Harvard University professor
• Functionalism- functions of consciousness, or ways consciousness helps people
to adapt to their environment
Modern Psychology’s 19th Century Roots
• Sigmund Freud
• Austrian Physician
• Founder of psychoanalysis
• Known as the father of modern psychology
Conscious- aspect of mental processing
that we can think about and talk about.
Thoughts can be retrieved at anytime.
Unconscious- feelings, thoughts, urges and
memories outside of conscious awareness
that influence behavior and experience
• Psychoanalysis
• Theory of personality and therapeutic technique that attributes our thoughts
and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts
• Focused on abnormal behavior
• Freud attributed this to unconscious drives and conflicts stemming from childhood
• Relies on personal observation and reflection rather than controlled laboratory
experimentation
Modern Psychology’s 19th Century Roots
• Ivan Pavlov
• Russian physiologist
• showed animals learn some things through association
• John B. Watson
• Founder of behaviorism
• Theory that psychology should only study observable behaviors, not mental processes
• B.F. Skinner
• American psychologist
• Focused on role of responses in learning
Modern Psychology’s 19th Century Roots
• Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
• Leaders of humanistic psychology movement
• School of thought that focused on the study of conscious experience, the individual’s
freedom to choose, and capacity for personal growth.
• Emphasized this study as a way for people to achieve full potential
• Jean Piaget and child development
• Developmental and cognitive psychologist known for his studies of children’s
thought processes
Six Contemporary Psychological Perspectives
• Cognitive Perspective-
• School of thought that focuses on how people think, how we take in and
process, store, and retrieve information
• Biological Perspective-
• Focuses on the physical structures and substances underlying a particular
behavior, thought, or emotion
• Social-Cultural Perspective-
• School of thought that focuses on how thinking or behavior changes in different
contexts or situations
Six Contemporary Psychological Perspectives
• Behavioral Perspective-
• How we learn through rewards, punishments, and observation
• Humanistic Perspective-
• How healthy people strive to reach their full potential
• Psychodynamic Perspective-
• How we are affected by unconscious drives and conflicts
Six Contemporary Psychological Perspectives
• Cognitive Perspective-
• Example - You’re having trouble in math and your internal dialogue keeps
repeating, “This math is impossible to understand.” The cognitivist would tell you
to replace that internal dialogue with something more constructive.
• Biological Perspective•
Example - In terms of depression, their focus is on the changes in the brain’s chemistry, not just
changes in mood or behavior. Are usually the most likely to prescribe medications.
• Social-Cultural Perspective•
Example A suburban white girl and a Native American boy on a reservation would have
very different life experiences. Each child’s culture influences how he/she should be counseled.
Six Contemporary Psychological Perspectives
• Behavioral Perspective• Example - Whether or not you get involved in delinquent behavior depends upon the types of rewards or
punishments that have been part of your life up to the time you make the decision
• Humanistic Perspective-
• Example - How we handle the death of a loved one (something happening in
the environment) is an individual thing in which we call on our own individual
resources to make the best of it
• Psychodynamic Perspective-
• Example - If you were angry at your mother, but knew better than to say
anything, when you call out to get her attention you might call, “Oh, Bother.”
The unconscious has replaced the “M” with a “B”.
METHODS OF RESEARCH
How psychologists answer the
“why” of animal and human behavior
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
DEFINITION:
secret observation of the subjects-animal or human-in daily
activity, recording their behavior.
ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES
• ADVANTAGE
• Creatures will behave
normally because they
don’t know anyone is
watching them.
DISADVANTAGES
Since researchers
can’t talk to
subject they may
misinterpret
behavior.
EXAMPLE OF NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
• Jane Goodall’s research with the
chimpanzees
• Charles Darwin-sea journey
INTERVIEWS
• Definition: Research method for
studying people face to face and
asking questions.
Advantages:
• Researcher can obtain personal, detailed information.
Disadvantages
• Researcher biases can influence behavior.
• How?
• People have prejudices against certain types of people, certain age
groups, etc. These factors could influence our questions as well as
our interpretations of the answers
• Subject’s responses may not be completely honest.
CASE STUDY METHOD
• Definition: Research that collects
lengthy, detailed information
about a person’s background,
usually for psychological
treatment.
CASE STUDY METHOD
 **The goal is to find out as much
as possible about how the
individual’s personality has
evolved from early years in order
to shed light on their present-day
problems. (This is an advantage to
this method)
Disadvantage:
• Subject may not be honest.
• Researcher bias can influence behavior
• **Caution: You can’t generalize from your findings—it
may not be true of others.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS:
.
• Definition: objective methods for
observation and measurement of
subjects in various areas, such as
IQ or personality
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
 Advantages: Accurate, objective information-little
chance of distorting the results.
 Disadvantages: Tests are limited in the amount of info.
they can obtain.
• Definition: a method of research that studies the same
group of people over an extended period of time. (
years)
• Advantages: good for certain types of research like
studies on development
• Disadvantages: expensive and time-consuming
• Representative sample
• Definition: method of research that looks at different
age groups at the same time in order to understand
changes that occur during lifetime.
CROSS-SECTIONAL METHOD
• Example: Does intelligence notably decline with age?
Researchers took samples from each age group and
compared them.
• Advantages: Samples used are usually representative
of population as a whole.
• Less expensive and time- consuming than longitudinal
• Disadvantages: Not appropriate for some types of
research.
DESIGNING AN EXPERIMENT
PARTS OF AN EXPERIMENT
• HYPOTHESIS
• OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
• INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
• DEPENDENT VARIABLE
• EXPERIMENTAL GROUP
• CONTROL GROUP
• SAMPLE SIZE
• RANDOMIZATION
HYPOTHESIS
• A testable prediction about the
outcome of research
Ex. Headphones influence
concentration in study halls
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
• Putting the variables in a more
specific form that allows them to
be measured. An explanation of
the procedures used to define
research variables.
Ex. Students assigned to wear
headphones each day in study hall will
have higher average grades at the end
of the marking period than students
banned from wearing headphones
----(this is the official hypothesis, it
has been operationalized)
VARIABLES
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (IV)
• The variable that should cause
something to happen; the cause
variable
Ex. The presence or absence of
headphones
DEPENDENT VARIABLE (DV)
• The variable that should show
the effect of changing the IV
Ex. Participant’s average end of
marking period grades
GROUPS
EXPERIMENTAL GROUP
CONTROL GROUP
• Participants are exposed to the
treatment
• Participants are not exposed to
the treatment
Ex. Students wearing headphones
Ex. Students banned from wearing
headphones
RANDOMIZATION
• When creating groups participants
must be placed in the experimental
and control groups randomly/by
chance
• This ensures that individual
differences among participants
(confounding variables) will most
likely be distributed equally
• Without randomization there is a
greater chance that confounding
variables will bias the results of the
experiment
SAMPLE SIZE
• Usually at least 20 participants per
group
• If the groups are too small results
can be distorted by confounding
variables
Ex. Only 2 people per group; what if
the 2 wearing headphones have jobs
and work late every night? Is that a
true reflection of the impact of
headphones on grades?
Ethical Experimentation
APA Ethical Guidelines for Research
• IRB- Internal Review Board
• Both for humans and animals.
Human Research
• No Coercion- must be
voluntary
• Informed consent
• Anonymity
• No significant risk
• Must debrief
Animal Research
• Clear purpose
• Treated in a humane way
• Acquire animals legally
• Least amount of suffering
possible.