Week 1: Introduction to Psychology Flashcards
Navigating Principles of Psychology; Why Science; Thinking Like a Psychological Scientist; History of Psychology
Academic Adjustment
One’s ability to adequately cope with the demands of post-secondary education
Large research literature - concept encompasses much more than doing well in courses; includes one’s motivation to learn, satisfaction with uni life, and a sense of goals/purpose (e.g., Baker & Siryk, 1986) - social/emotional adaption to uni
Challenges to navigating academic adjustment
Loneliness, financial stress, class format, freedom, social opportunities, personal/emotional problems
Psych is a …
The study of psychology is firmly grounded in empiricism and the scientific method
In order to understand/ interpret research in psych, it’s critical to have a firm grasp of research design, hypothesis testing, and statistics.
RDOC project
One example of drawing on information from diverse fields is the National Institute of Mental Health’s influential Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project - psych is interdisciplinary
Launched in 2008, the RDoC framework has shaped how scientists study the causes and symptoms of mental illnesses.
A core RDoC tenant is that mental illness must be classified and studied at multiple “units of analysis” (e.g., molecules, cells, brain circuits, behaviours).
Psych is …. …..
Very Broad - Sensation and Perception, Clinical Psychology, Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology, Learning/Behavioural Psychology, and Cognitive Psychology - history/research methods/statistics
Human processes
How we perceive, think, feel, and behave
University Mental Health
Late 2014, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Mental Health International College Student (WMH-ICS) surveys were launched.
More than 1 in 3 (35.3%) of first year students reported at least one diagnosable mental illness - Among these, the most common were Major Depressive Disorder (21.2%) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (18.6%), mental illnesses characterized by low mood and/or a lack of pleasure and persistent, frequent anxiety, respectively.
Critically, more than 80% of these mental illnesses began prior to the start of university, and fewer than 1 in 5 students with at least one mental illness reported receiving even minimally adequate treatment in the year prior to being surveyed.
Trigger Warnings
In balance, we think trigger warnings likely do very little to make tough content easier to consume. Further, we are concerned about the potential unintended side effects of such warnings. For those reasons, trigger warnings are not used in Principles of Psychology.
Fight or Flight system
Our bodies are equipped with something called the fight or flight system, which is activated when we are under stress. This response consists of a series of biochemical changes that prepare our bodies to deal with threat or danger
Our bodies are also equipped with a relaxation response which can counter the activation of our fight/flight response.
People who have made positive contributions to humanity
Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Edward Jenner, Norman Borlaug, Fritz Haber
Jenner, Borlaug, and Haber
Jenner, Borlaug, and Haber were scientists whose research discoveries saved millions, and even billions, of lives.
Jenner - father of immunology (vaccinations - small pox)
Haber and Bourlag - green revolution (hybrid agricultural crops and synthetic fertilizer)
Systematic Observation
The careful observation of the natural world w the aim of better understanding it - observations provide the basic data that allow scientists to track/tally/organize info about the natural world
Science is the use of systematic observation in order to acquire knowledge
Empirical Methods
Approaches to inquiry that are tied to actual measurement and observation
ex. children in a science class might combine vinegar and baking soda to observe the bubbly chemical reaction
Essential elements of science
- Systematic Observation - core of science; measure phenomenon we are observing, record observations so that memory biases are less likely to enter in to our conclusions - systematic in that we try to observe under controlled conditions & also systematically vary the conditions of our observations so that we can see variations in the phenomena and understand when they occur/don’t
- Observations lead to hypotheses we can test - when we can develop HYPOTHESES & THEORIES, we state them in a testable way
- Science is democratic - people are more likely to want to be able to form their own opinions/debate conclusions these days; scientists are skeptical/have open discussions about observations/theories - debates often occur as scientists publish competing findings w the idea that best data will win the argument
- Science is cumulative - we can learn the important truths discovered by earlier scientists & build on them; everyone knows mora than Isaac Newton did even though he was most brilliant physicist of all time; crucial aspect of scientific progress is that after we learn of earlier advances, we can build and move farther along path of knowledge
Hypotheses
A logical idea that can be tested
Theories
Groups of closely related phenomena/observations
Francis Galton
Important pioneering researcher
Used patches of colour to test people’s ability to distinguish between them; also invented self-report questionnaire; he was able to use self-reports to examine people’s differing ability to accurately judge distances
Lacked modern understanding of genetics, but had the idea that scientists could look at behaviours of identical/fraternal twins to estimate degree to which genetic/social factors contribute to personality - “nature-nurture question”
Peer Report Measures
Psychologists ask close friends and family members about happiness (or smth)of a target individual; researchers can then compare ratings to self-report ratings and check for discrepancies
Memory Measures
Idea that disposiationally positive people have aneasier time recalling pleasant events & negative people have an easier time recalling unpleasant events
Modern psychologists even use biological measures such as saliva control samples/fMRI images of brain activation
Psychological science is ……
Useful for creating interventions that help people live better lives
Ex. many studies have shown that cognitive behavioural therapy can help many people suffering from depression & anxiety disorders (Butler, Chapman, Forman, & Beck, 2006; Hoffman & Smits, 2008). - contrast, research reveals some types of therapies actually might be harmful on average (Lilienfeld, 2007)
In Organizational Pscyhology…
A number of psychological interventions have been found by researchers to produce greater productivity/satisfaction in the work place (e.g., Guzzo, Jette, & Katzell, 1985)
Human factor engineers have greatly increased the safety and utility of the products we use - Ex. human facors psychologist Alphonse Chapanis and other researchers redesigned the cockpit controls of aircraft to make them less confusing/easier to respond to - led to a decreased in pilot errors and crashes
Forensic Sciences have…
Made courtroom decisions more valid - dramatic cases hinge on psychological findings - Ex. Elizabeth Loftus conducted research demonstrating the limits & unreliability of eyewitness testimony/memory; psychological findings are having practical importance in the world outside the lab
Ethics of Scientific Psychology
Psych differs from natural sciences because researchers conduct studies w human research participants - natural tendency to want to guard research participants against potential psychological harm; Ex. interesting to see how people handle ridicule but might not be advisable to ridicule research participants
- Scientific psychologists follow a code of ETHICS - extensive ethical guidelines for how human participants should be treated in psychological research (Diener & Crandall, 1978; Sales & Folkman, 2000)
- INFORMED CONSENT - people should know when they are involved in research & understand what will happen during study; should be given a free choice as to whether to participate
- CONFIDENTIALITY - info that reserachers learn abt individual participants shouldn’t be made public w/o consent of individual
- PRIVACY - researchers shouldn’t make observations of people in private place (bedrooms) w/o knowledge/consent; shouldn’t seek confidential info from others (x. school authorities) w/o consent of participant/guardian
- BENEFITS - researchers should consider beenfits of proposed research & weigh these against potential risks to participants; people who participate in psych studies should be exposed to risk only if they fully understand risks & only if benefits clearly outweigh risks
- DECEPTION - some researchers need to deceive participants in order to hide true nature of study; typically done to prevent participants from modifying behaviour in unnatural ways; researchers required to “debrief” participants after they’ve completed the study; debriefing is opportunity to educate participants abt true nature of study
Ethics
Professional guidelines that offer researchers a template for making decisions that protect research participants from potential harm & that help steer scientists away from conflicts of interest/ other situations that might compromise integrity of research
Why learn abt scientific pscyhology?
- To understand ourselves
- To understand other people and groups
- To be better able to influence others (ex. socializing children, motivating employees)
- To learn how to better help others/improve world (ex. effective psychotherapy)
- To learn a skill that will lead to a profession (ex. social worker, professor)
- Learn how to evaluate. the research claims you hear/read abt
- Because it’s interesting/fun - it can be rewarding in itself to study
Data
In research, information systematically collected for analysis and interpretation
Science is a way of using observable data to help explain and understand the world around us in a trustworthy way - determining what info is well informed is a crucial concern/central task of science
Induction
To draw general conclusions from specific observations - scientific/everyday reasoning both employ it
Ex. a person’s opinion that cramming for a test increases performance may be based on memory of passing an exam after an all-nighter; a researcher’s conclusion AGAINST cramming may be based on studies comparing the test performances of people who studied material in different ways - conclusions drawn from a sample
Sample
In research, a number of people selected from a population to serve as an example of that population
Distinguishing Scientific Thinking - How?
- ACCURACY - explanations and theories match real-world observations (Ex. people say “opposites attract,” theories that focus on role of partner similarity do a better job of explaining observed data)
- CONSISTENCY - a theory has few exceptions & shows agreement with other theories within/across disciplines (Ex. theory of evolution explains many findings across biology/ psychology predicting, for ex, humans are better able to solve problems presented in concrete rather than abstract terms)
- SCOPE - extent to which a theory extends beyond currently available data, explaining a wide array of phenomena (Ex. there’s a theory that people use mental “short cuts” when making decisions rather than weighing every single piece of evidence; can be seen in consumer purchasing behaviour, in romantic relationships, charitable donations, health choices)
- SIMPLICITY - when multiple explanations are equally good at explaining data, simplest should be selected (Ex. simplest explanation for why “good” people sometimes do “bad” things is bc they succumb to some outside influence)
- FRUITFULNESS - usefulness of theory in guiding new research by predicting new, testable relationships (Ex. explanation that competition leads to be improved performance can be tested by researching diff types of competition)
Pseudoscience
Beliefs/practices that are presented as being scientific, or which are mistaken for being scientific, but are NOT scientific (ex. astrology - presented as founded in astronomy, but it’s a pseudoscience unable to be falsified)
Falsified
In science, the ability of a claim to be tested and - possibly - refuted; a defining feature of science
In early 20th Century , Karl Popper suggested that science can be distinguished from pseudoscience because scientific claims are capable of being falsified
Popper irritated… Why? Solution?
Irritated abt nonscientific claims bc he believed them a threat to the science of psych - dissatisfied w Freud’s explanations for mental illness (Freud believed mental illness was due to childhood problems - failed to meet principle of falsifiability)
Popper argued against statements that can’t be falsified; claimed they blocked scientific progress
Popper’s solution: if science showed all the possibilities that were not true, we would be left only with what is true; we need to be able to articulate beforehand the kinds of evidence that will disprove our hypothesis & cause us to abandon
Investigating alternative explanations is how we rule out bad claims
Popper’s idea of falsification TODAY
Scientists aren’t solely interested in demonstrating what ISN’T, but also interested in providing descriptions/explanations for the way things ARE; want to describe different causes & various conditions under which they occur;
Explorations required us to draw conclusions from limited samples of data - interpretation and probability required
Probabilities
A measure of the degree of certainty of the occurrence of an event
Inductive reasoning is based on probabilities; always a matter of degree - could be extremely likely/unlikely; science is better at shedding light on probability of something than proving it
Inductive Reasoning
A form of reasoning in which a general conclusion is inferred from a set of observations (Ex. noting that “driver in that car was texting, cut me off ran a red!” (a specific observation), which leads to general conclusion that texting while driving is dangerous
Not exactly proving something though
Deductive Reasoning
A form of reasoning in which a given premise determines the interpretation of specific observations (Ex. all birds have feathers, duck is bird so it has feathers)
General principles that are applied to specific instances
PROOF is more associated w deductive reasoning - when general principles are true, and structure of argument is valid, conclusion is by definition PROVE; deductive truth must apply in all relevant circumstances
Nearly impossible to make these types of broad statements w certainty given the complexity of psychological phenomena
Representative
In research, the degree to which a sample is a typical example of the population from which it is drawn
Anecdotal Evidence
A piece of biased evidence, usually drawn from personal experience, used to support a conclusion that may/may not be correct
Population
In research, all the people belonging to a particular group (ex. the population of left handed people)
Well designed research depends on…
Observations that are SYSTEMATICALLY RECORDED, of HIGH QUALITY, and REPRESENTATIVE of the POPULATION it claims to describe
Correlation
In statistics, the measure of relatedness of two/more variables - relationship
Null-hypothesis significance testing (NHST)
In statistics, a test created to determine the chances that an alternative hypothesis would produce a result as extreme as the one observed if the null hypothesis were actually true
NHST assesses the probability that the collected data would be the same if there were no relationship between the variables in the study
Null Hypothesis
A statement that two variables are NOT related
Alternative Hypothesis
A statement that two variables ARE related
To evaluate hypotheses, researcher…
Collects DATA - then compares what she expects to find (probability) w what she acc finds (collected data) to determine whether she can falsify, reject, null hypothesis
Probability table
used to assess the likelihood of any distribution
tables reflect the work, over the past 200 years, of mathematicians and scientists from a variety of fields
Distribution
In statistics, the relative frequency that a particular value occurs for each possible value of a given variable
Spread of values
Accurate Detection
the researcher’s conclusion mirrors reality; or when a researcher finds no evidence for a new phenomenon, but that phenomenon doesn’t actually exist anyway
Type I Error
In statistics, the error of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true
When the researcher concludes there’s a relationship between two variables but, in reality, there is not
Purely coincidental finding!
Type II Error
In statistics, the error of failing to reject the null hypothesis when it is false
When the data fail to show a relationship between variables that ACC exists
Probability Values (P-values)
In statistics, the established threshold for determining whether a given value occurs by chance
Researchers share your concerns, and address them by using p-values to set a threshold for type I or type II errors
“significant at a p<.05 level” - they’re saying that if the same study were repeated 100 times, we should expect this result to occur - by chance - fewer than five times - a type I error is UNLIKELY
Remember, psychological science doesn’t rely on definitive proof; it’s about the probability of seeing a specific result
Scientific Theory
An explanation for observed phenomena that is empirically well-supported, consistent, and fruitful (predictive)
Comprehensive framework for making sense of evidence regarding a particular phenomenon
Educated guess - enjoys support from many research studies, collectively providing evidence, including that which has falsified competing explanations
Empirically
Concerned with observation and/or the ability to verify a claim
Key component of good theories - they describe explain & predict in a way that can be EMPIRICALLY tested and potentially falsified
Thomas Kuhn
Historian of science - argued science, as an activity conducted by humans, is a social activity; it is subjective to the same psychological influence of all human activities
Suggested there is no such thing as OBJECTIVE theory/data - all of science is informed by values; scientists can’t help but be influenced
Objective
Being free of personal bias
Facts
Objective info about the world
Values
Belief about the way things should be
Global Warming - beliefs vs values
Vast accumulation of evidence substantiates the adverse impact human activity has on the levels of green house gases in Earth’s atmosphere leading to changing weather patterns (FACTS)
There is also a set of beliefs (VALUES), shared by many people, that influences their choices and behaviours in an attempt to address that impact (getting electric cars, recycling)
Our VALUES that Earth as we know it is in danger/should be protected - influence how we engage w FACTS
Values & Facts
All science - especially social sciences like psychology - involves values and interpretation; science functions best when people w diverse values/backgrounds work collectively to understand complex natural phenomena
Levels of Analysis
In science, there are complementary understandings and explanations of phenomena
Idea that a single phenomenon may be explained at different levels simultaneously
Levels of analysis suggests that one level is not more correct than another; appropriateness depends on the specifics of the question asked
Would suggest that we can’t understand the world around us, including human psychology, by reducing the phenomenon to only the biochemistry of genes and dynamics of neural networks - BUT neither can we understand humanity without considering the functions of the human nervous system
Causality
In research, the determination that one variable causes - is responsible for - an effect
Generalize
In research, the degree to which one can extend conclusions drawn from the findings of a study to other groups or situations not included in the study
Science as a tool of knowledge
Understanding the limits of science - including its subjectivity/uncertainty - does not render it useless; because it is systematic, using testable/reliable data, it can allow us to determine CAUSALITY & help us GENERALIZE our conclusions
By understanding how scientific conclusions are reached, we are better equipped to use science as a tool of knowledge
Empiricism
The belief that knowledge comes from experience
Prehistory of Psychology
Philosophers such as John Locke and Thomas Reid promoted empiricism - all knowledge comes from experience
Work of Locke, Reid, and others emphasized the role of the human observer/privacy of senses in defining how the mind comes to acquire knowledge
Neural Impulse
An electro-chemical signal that enables neurons to communicate
Hermann von Helmholtz
Philosophical questions abt the nature of mind/knowledge were matched in the 19th century by physiological investigations of the sensory systems of the human observer
German physiologist Hermann Von Helmholtz measured speed of the NEURAL IMPULSE & explored the physiology of hearing/vision
His work indicated that our senses can deceive us/aren’t a mirror of the external world - work showed that even though the human sense were fallible, the mind could me measured using methods of science - suggested that a science of psychology was feasible
Psychological reality and physical reality are NOT identical
Psychophysics
Study of the relationships between physical stimuli and the perception of those stiumli
The Mental & The Material
The question of the relationship between the mental (experiences of the senses) and the material (external reality) was investigated by a number of German researchers including Ernst Webber and Gustav Fechner
Psychophysics - it introduced methods for measuring the relationship between physical stimuli and human perception that would serve as basis for new science of psych
Wilhelm Wundt
Formal development of modern psychology is usually credited to the work of German physician, physiologist, and philosopher Wilhem Wundt
Helped to establish the field of experimental psychology serving as by serving as a strong promoter of the idea that psych could be an experimental field & by providing classes, textbooks, and a lab for training students
1875.- joined uni faculty and quickly began to make plans for the creation of a program of experimental psych; complemented his lectures on experimental psych w a lab experience
Introspection
A method of focusing on internal processes
Wundt - students were trained to offer detailed self-reports of their reactions to various stiumli - introspection
Consciousness - Wundt
Awareness of ourselves and our environment
Goal of Wundt and students was to identify elements of CONSCIOUSNESS through experimental psychology & lab work
Work of Wundt and students demonstrated that the mind could be measured and nature of consciousness could be revealed through scientific means
Structuralism
A school of American psychology that sought to describe the elements of conscious experience
Scientific Psych in the USA
Edward Bradford Titchener - brought to America a brand of experimental psych referred to as STRUCTURALISM - interested in the contents of the mind; what the mind is
By 1900, there were more than 40 labs in the US and Canada - psych in America also organized early w the established of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1892
Titchener felt that this new org didn’t adequately represent the interests of experimental psych - created the Society of Experimental Psychologists
Margaret Floy Washburn
Titchener’s first doctoral student was a woman
1894 - Washburn became the first woman in America to earn a Ph.D. in psychology and in 1921, the second woman to be elected president of the APA
Functionalism - James, Hall, Cattell
A school of American psychology that focused on the utility of consciousness
Influenced by Darwin’s evolutionary theory, functionalists were interested in the activities of the mind - what it does
Opened the way for the study of a wide range of approaches including animal and comparative psychology
William James
Wrote Principles of Psychology 1890
Proposed that consciousness is ongoing and continuous is ongoing/continuous - cannot be isolated and reduced to elements; consciousness helped us adapt to our environments in such ways allowing us to make choices/have personal responsibility over those choices
G. Stanley Hall
Made substantial/lasting contributions to the establishment of psychology in the US
Founded APA in 1892; invited and hosted Freud on his only trip to US
Hall was interested in the process of adaption/human development - influenced by evolutionary theory; wrote extensively on child development/educaiton
James McKeen Cattel
Intereste in individual differences
Individual Differences
Ways in which people differ in terms of their behaviour, emotion, cognition, & development
Believed mental abilities such as intelligence were inherited and could be measured using mental tests; believed society was better served by identifying those w superior intelligence and supported efforts to encourage them to reproduce
Eugenics
Practice of selective breeding to promote desired traits
Cognitive Pscyhology
The study of mental oricesses
Gestalt Psychology
An attempt to study the unity of experience
Movement began in Germany w work of Max Wertheimer; Believed studying the whole of any experience was richer than studying individual aspects of that experience
“whole is greater than the sum of its parts”
Believed the mind often processes info simultaneously rather than sequentially’’
In many ways, the work of the Gestalt psychologists served as a precursor to the rise of cognitive psychology in America (Benjamin, 2007).
Behaviourism
Study of behaviour
Championed by psychologists such as John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner - behaviourism rejected any reference to mind and viewed overt and observable behaviour as the proper subject matter of psychology
Ivan Pavlov
Influenced early behaviourism in America
Work on conditioned learning, popularly referred to as classical conditoning, provided support for the notion that learning/behaviour were controlled by events in the environment and could be explained w no reference to mind or consciousness
Fredrick C Bartlett
Explored idea of constructive mind, recognizing that people use their past experiences to construct frameworks in which to understand new experiences
Turn to cognitive psych rather than behavioural
Flashbulb memory
A highly detailed and vivid memory of an emotionally significant event
In 1950s Bruner conducted pioneering studies on cognitive aspects of sensation/perception - conducted original research on language and memory
Tip-of-the-tongue Phenomenon
The inability to pull a word from memory even though there is the sensation that that work is available
Modern Intelligence Tests
Application of psych to everyday life
Developed by Binet - goal to develop a test that would identify schoolchildren in need of educational support
Hugo Munsterberg
employee selection, eyewitness testimony, psychotherapy
Clinical Psychology
Witmer - founder
American Association for Applied Psychology (AAAP)
1930s - served those in education, industry, consulting, and clinical work
Scientist-Practicioner model
A model of training of professional psychologists that emphasizes the development of both research and clinical skills
Boulder
Scholar-Practitioner model
A model of training of professional psychologists that emphasizes clinical practice
Vail Conference
Thompson and Hollingworth - women
Pioneers in research on psychology of sex differences; early 20th century
Thompson examined assumption that women were overemotional compared to men and found emotion didn’t influence women’s decisions any more than it did men’s
Hollingworth found menstruation didn’t negatively impact women’s cognitive/motor abilities
Work combatted harmful stereotypes/showed psychological research could contribute to social change
Mamie Phipps Clark and Kenneth Clark
Studied psychology of race/demonstrated ways in which school segregation negatively impacted self-esteem of African American children - research was influential in 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown V. Board of Education (ended school segregation)
In psych, greater advocacy for issues impact the African American community were advanced by creation of Association of Black Psychologists - 1968
Evelyn Hooker - 1957
“Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual” - reporting on research that showed no significant differences in psychological adjustment between homo/hetero men
Research helped to de-pathologize homosexuality/contributed to decision by American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973
