This is not fear factor….
WELCOME TO RESEACH
METHODS
Lecture 1 – Chapter 1
Yerkes-Dodson Law (1908)
YOU
Psychology Has Many Faces:
Science, Academic Discipline, Healing Profession
Researcher
Teacher
Understand Research Methods
Clinician
Behavioral Neuroscientist…
Behavior in relation to the Brain
Strong Background in Research Methods!
Psychology
What is science?
"the observation, identification,
description, experimental investigation,
and theoretical explanation of natural
phenomena."
Who Does It?
• intellectual
activity done by humans
• satisfies a human desire
• stems from need to overcome
ignorance & fear
humans
Passion
Science: a process of inquiry
The process of formulating specific
questions and then finding answers
…better understanding…
Basic Curiosity
“We Ask Questions of Nature And
Get Answers”
D.E. Moss
Inquiry…Can be hazardous to your health…
Questioned
Socrates
Outcome
Hemlock
Moral & Ethics
Galileo
House Arrest
Church Dogma/Geocentrism
Darwin
Ridicule
Evolution
Natural Selection
Creation
Vatican admits Galileo correct
Los Angeles Times, October 31, 1992
VATICAN CITY -- It's official: The Earth
revolves around the sun, even for the
Vatican.
The Roman Catholic Church has admitted
erring these past 359 years in formally
condemning Galileo for entertaining
scientific truths it long denounced as antiscriptural heresy.
Psychology: the science of human & animal behavior
Goal: gather an organized body of knowledge
Psychological research seeks scientific explanation
for behavior
Why do we need Science?
Top 10…top 3 reason that an explanation is not scientific
1. Tenacity: accept explanation because it has been accepted
for so long or repeated so often
2. Intuition: feels intuitively true
3. Authority: accepting explanation based in who gives the
explanation (respected)
Demands….not so much
Top 10…top 3 reasons that an explanation is scientific
1. Empirical: based on observable evidence
2. Testable: verifiable through direct observation
3. Rational: follow rules of logic, consistent with known facts
(not based on assumptions known to be false or beliefs)
Demands much….
Non Scientific: Pseudoscience
does not use scientific method…
but pretends to…
- Leptoprin
- 9 out of 10 Dentists…
- makeup: reverse the aging process
lab coats, actors, anecdotal, testimonies
Homework#1
Non Scientific: Pseudoscience
does not use scientific method…
Find an example of Pseudoscience
1. Describe what it is
2. Tell me why you think it is pseudoscience
3. Who do you think it is targeting and for what reason
4. Who do you think believes it..
5. Can it harm people that believe it and how?
Scientific explanations strive to be:
1. Parsimonious: offer the least complex explanation that
requires the fewest assumptions
2. General: can be applied to more than the original set of
circumstances – broad explanatory power
3. Tentative (Skepticism): readily replaced by better explanation
Occam’s Razor: “Do not multiply hypotheses unduly”
Choose the simplest explanation!!!!
Occam’s Razor: “Do not multiply hypotheses unduly”
Choose the simplest explanation!!!!
Characteristics of the scientific method vs human nature
Everyday
Scientific
General approach
intuitive
empirical
Observation
casual, uncontrolled
systematic,
controlled
Reporting
biased, subjective
unbiased, objective
Concepts
ambiguous
clear definitions
Instruments
inaccurate, imprecise
accurate, precise
Measurement
not valid or reliable
valid and reliable
Hypotheses
untestable
testable
Attitude
uncritical, accepting
critical, skeptical
1. Immediate solution to practical problem?
2. Objective search for the truth?
3. Grows continuously?
4. Collection of facts?
5. Finished Product?
6. Technology?
1. Immediate solution to practical problem?
Immediate solutions: NO!
Science proceeds slowly…
“Shifts in Paradigms”
EX: Classical Conditioning
Pavlov vs Garcia
NS(CS) +UCS = UCR(CR)
Can anything be turned into a CS?
“Equipotentiality Hypothesis”
“Any natural phenomenon chosen
at will may be converted into a
conditioned stimulus…any visual
stimulus, any desired sound, any
odor, and stimulation of any
part of the skin” (Pavlov, 1928)
Taste Aversion doesn’t follow CC, or
Equipotentiality Theory
Bell: NS(CS) +Meat: UCS = Salivate UCR(CR)
What is Science?
Search for the Truth: NO!
Implies there is one right answer
every phenomena
…tentative...
What is Science?
Just a Collection of Facts: NO!
Integration of data but also theory
driven –
relating data to principles (theories)
What is Science?
Technology: NO!
Immediate contribution to human
welfare
Ex: The Genome Project
Sequencing of the human
genome: “the book if life”
<>
Francis Collins
Human Genome
Project (NIH)
J. Craig Venter
Celera Genomic
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=genomeprj&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Overview&list_uids=9558
What is Science?
Finished Product: NO!
One experiment inevitably leads to
other questions…serendipity!
Serendipity!!
 Electrical Stimulation of frog legs
 Contraction of the muscles
Followed up with “Animal
Electricity”
Luigi Galvani
(1596-1650)
Italian Physician
Physicist
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors:
•Iproniazid
•First antidepressant (1957)
- Treatment for TB
A flop!…serendipity intervened
What is Science?
Science Grows Continuously: NO!
Science grows awkwardly
One direction then another direction..
Science has a history of fads (style that
interests many people for a short time)
Ex: Schools of Psychology
Structuralism: the study of
the structure of conscious experience
(1832-1920)
50 years
• moved psychological study from the domain of philosophy
and the natural sciences and began to utilize physiological
experimental techniques in the laboratory – SCIENCE
Functionalism:
Consciousness as well as behavior must serve
some sort of purpose – the function of the
mind
William James (1842-1910)
“my thinking is first, last always for the sake of
doing”
Professor at Harvard
Taught first class in experimental Psych
in US
• moved psychological study from the domain of just the “mind”
to behavior
• influence of Darwin - animal research
• applied research (practical questions ie., education, training,
developmental)
50 years
Behaviorism:
All other schools to mentalistic and to
subjective – not observable, not science
Focus is on relationship between the
environment and behavior
John Watson (1878-1957)
University of Chicago
Johns Hopkins
60 years
 moved psychological away from the mind – only behavior
 transferred all mentalistic content into S-R: “we only think we think”
 animal research (Pavlov. Skinner)
 Against Freud!
No longer One School of Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Neuropsychology
Social Psychology
Biological Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Homework Assignment #2:
Read Goodstein Article
“How Science Works”
-take notes (Cornell)
-answer question via group discussion
-present answers as a group in class
If you did not read, you will be asked to leave during discussion
time