Unit I

The Science of Psychology

 Unit 1. The science of Psychology
a) The history of Psychology.
b) The Field of Psychology Today.
c) Scientific research.
d) Ethics of Psychological Research.
e) Applying Psychology to Everyday life.
Teach subtopic ‘Psychology in India’ in brief
(questions will not be set on this sub-topic in the
semester-end examination) -
A. The History of Psychology

1. In The Beginning

2. Three Influential Approaches

 A. The History of Psychology
What is Psychology?
Scientific study of behavior and
mental processes
Studies both human beings & animals
Scientific - Precise, Measurable,
Observations without bias
Behavior
How long psychology has been around?
Aristotle and Plato
Mind and Body Connection
Helmholtz- Fechner –
Visual & Auditory Experiments in
Perception Psychology
 1. In The Beginning

Wundt
Titchener
James
Contributions of some early pioneers in
psychology
 1st Laboratory of Wilhelm Wundt
Psychology
(Father of Psychology)
LEIPZIG, Germany
in 1879

Objective
Introspection
analyze
consciousness
into its basic
elements
Psychological Science is Born
Wundt and psychology’s first
graduate students studied
the “atoms of the mind” by

Wundt (1832-1920)
conducting experiments.
Attention to Objectivity,
establishment of the First
Laboratory of Psychology –
important milestones
 Structuralism - Edward Titchener
Structure of Mind
‘Objective Introspection’
for
sensations, emotions, and images.

examining & measuring one’s own thoughts & mental

processes by trained subjects

Died out in early 1900’s

 Functionalism

James (1842-1910)

Mary Calkins
American philosopher William James wrote an important
psychology textbook ‘Principals of Psychology’.
Mary Calkins, James’s student, became the APA’s first female
president.
 Functionalism
• Focus on how the mind allows people to
function in real world - study of
consciousness.
• Influenced by Darwin’s theory of ‘Natural
selection’ - Psychological traits also passed
down the same way.
• No longer a major perspective today
2. Three Influential Approaches

Gestalt

Psychoanalysis

Behaviorism
Wertheimer
Gestalt –
Perception ‘Whole’
An organized whole,
Configuration
Perceiving & sensing
cannot be broken into
smaller elements
"the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts“
 Psychoanalysis

Freud (1856-
1939)
Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician, and his
followers emphasized the importance of the
unconscious mind and its effects on human
behavior
 Psychoanalysis

- Studied disorders of nervous system

- Emphasized first 6 years of life
- Adler, Jung, Horney
- Anna Freud - Ego Movement
- Psychoanalysis – both theory & therapy
 Pavlov, Watson & Behaviorism
• Ivan Pavlov – Russian physiologist (person who studies
the workings of the body) who discovered classical
conditioning through his work on digestion in dogs.

• Classical conditioning - learning to make a reflex response

to a stimulus other than the original, natural stimulus
that normally produces the reflex.
 Pavlov, Watson & Behaviorism
Watson
Focus on Observable behavior

Watson (1878-1958)
All behavior is learned
Expt. on Little Albert – fear of white
rat.
Expt. on Little Peter by Mary Cover
Jones – both conditioning &
counterconditioning
Watson and later Skinner emphasized the study of
overt behavior as the subject matter of scientific
psychology.
 B. Field of Psychology Today

1. Modern Perspectives

2. Psychology Professionals and Areas of

Specializations
 B. Field of Psychology Today
1. Modern Perspectives - Seven
Psychodynamic
Behavioral
Humanistic
Cognitive
Sociocultural
Biopsychological
Evolutionary
 Psychodynamic perspective
• Focus on Unconscious mind, Childhood
experiences, but focus on Sex & aggression
reduced
• Emphasis on development of sense of self,
social & interpersonal relationships, other
motivations
• Also look for link between neurobiology &
psychodynamic concepts.
 Operant Conditioning
• Skinner – New leader

• Operant conditioning - the learning of voluntary

behavior through the effects of pleasant and
unpleasant consequences to responses.
• if behavioral responses are followed by a
pleasurable consequences, they will tend to be
repeated, and if followed by an unpleasant
consequence, they will tend not to be repeated.
 Humanistic Psychology
Third force in Psychology
Maslow (1908-1970)

Rogers (1902-1987)
Maslow and Rogers emphasized current environmental
influences on our growth potential and our need for love
and acceptance.
 Humanistic Psychology
• Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

• ‘Third Force’ in Psychology

• Focus on ability to direct one’s own life

• Free will, freedom to choose one’s own destiny,

• strive for self – actualization, achievement of one’s

full potential
• Today exits as a form of psychotherapy aimed at self –
understanding and self – improvement
 Cognitive perspective
• How we think, store, remember, use information
• Studies memory, problem solving, intelligence,
language, perception, learning….
• Developed due to contribution from various
areas
• A major force in psychology today
• Cognitive neuroscience- activity of brain and
nervous system underlying mental activity
 Sociocultural Perspective
Combined two fields of study,
1. Social Psychology – groups, social roles, social
actions & relationships
2. Cultural Psychology – Cultural norms, values &
expectations
• Behavior influenced by both the factors –
individually and in larger groups too
• Used to develop theory of Children’s cognitive
development
• Cross cultural research – comparison of behavior in
2 -3 different cultures conducted
 Research on Bystander effect
1. presence of others lessens the chances that the
person will be helped – diffusion of responsibility –
someone else will take the responsibility
2. Seen in USA, also seen in India
- Mumbai- Mentally challenged girl assaulted in
train - other passengers no help
- New year celebrations – 22 year old women
molested in Guwahati – huge crowd – no one
helped
 Biopsychological Perspective
Biopsychological – study of biological bases of behavior &
mental processes.
• Biological – Genes, hormones, brain, heredity
• Psychological – Learned responses, fears, expectations

- Behavior is direct result of events in the body.

- Sleep, emotions, memory, learning, aggression studied
- E.g. Sexual orientation, Birth order, schizophrenia
influenced by biological factors
 Evolutionary Perspective
Biological bases for universal mental
characteristics we share studied

Explains why we lie, attractiveness in mate

selection, fear of snakes

Mind seen as set information processing

machines, designed by the same processes of
Natural Selection given by Darwin - we behave
the way we do because we inherited those
behaviors, thus, those behaviors must have
helped ensure our ancestors survival.
 Evolutionary Perspective
We don’t like bitter substances – ‘adaptive’ for
people living in jungles

Research on relationship between men and

women – mating behavior in humans

Some perspectives more scientific, others based

on thinking about human behavior, some
related to each other

No one perspective has all the answers

2. Psychology Professionals and Areas of Specializations

1. Psychologist –
- has Ph.D. - an academic degree
- no medical degree
- intense, specialized training in one or more
areas of psychology.
- can do counseling, teaching, and research
- may specialize in any one of a large number
of areas within psychology.
2. Psychology Professionals and Areas of Specializations

2. Psychiatrist –
- a medical doctor
- specialized in the diagnosis and treatment
of psychological disorders
- uses drugs to treat psychological disorders
- antidepressants, antianxiety drugs
2. Psychology Professionals and Areas of Specializations

3. Psychiatric Social Worker –

- Master’s degree
- trained in area of Social Work
- focuses on the environmental conditions
that can have an impact on mental
disorders, such as poverty, overcrowding,
stress, and drug abuse.
2. Psychology Professionals and Areas of Specializations

3. Licensed Professionals–
- Master’s or Doctoral degree
- Specific area of training
- Marriage counselors, Family therapists etc.
2. Psychology Professionals and Areas of Specializations

4. Counselors in Research -
Research

Basic Applied
Research to gain Research aimed to
scientific knowledge answer real – world,

practical problems

How many items can Methods to

 Fields of Psychology

Psychologist Nature of work

Studies, assesses, and treats people with
Clinical
psychological disorders
Helps people cope with personal problems,
Counseling
issues of adjustment & career choices
StudiesLife span changes in physical,
Human Development
cognitive, emotional, personality, social areas
Studies teaching – learning processes in
school settings, classroom behavior, effective
Educational
interaction with teacher, school and
educational settings
PsychologistFields of Psychology
Nature of work
Studies basic cognitive processes – memory,
Cognitive thinking, reasoning, language and problem
solving

Industrial/ Studies recruitment, training, motivation,

performance appraisal, use of technology,
Organizational quality of life at workplace
Explore how we view and affect one another,
Social prejudice, conflict, leadership, impact of
social factors on life of individual
Human strengths, Virtues in positive
Positive health, well – being and quality of life
Psychology
explored
 C. Scientific Research
1. The Scientific Approach
2. Descriptive Methods
3. Correlations: Finding Relationships
4. The Experiment
5. Experimental Hazards and ways of
controlling them
6. Qualitative Methods
 C. Scientific Research
Attempt to determine facts and reduce
uncertainty and bias

1. The scientific approach

an approach to research intending to reduce
the likelihood of bias & error in the
measurement of data
 1. The Scientific Approach
Goals of Psychology – 4 goals
Description: what is happening

Explanation: why is it happening

Prediction: when will it happen again

Control: how can it be changed

 Goals of Psychology
Description: involves observing behavior,
noting everything about it, what is
happening, where it is happening, to whom
it is happening, under what circumstances it
is happening ….
Explanation: tentative explanation, develops
theory – a general explanation of set of
observed facts
 1. The Scientific Approach
Prediction: what will it happen in future?

Control: focus is to change the behavior

(situation) from undesirable to desirable one

Not all investigations will meet all the four

goals
Steps in Scientific Approach
1. Perceiving A Question
step derived from goal of description –
children aggressive after watching a
particular violent cartoon

next step to find a logical answer

Steps in Scientific Research
2. Forming A Hypothesis – at the heart
of scientific investigation – based on
theory
1. Educated Guess
2. Form a Statement – ‘if – then’ type
If is theory part of the statement, then is
the statement part of the hypothesis
Hypothesis
Testable hypothesis stated ….
If exposure to violence leads to
increased violence in children, then
children watching violent cartoon will
become more aggressive
one problem -
Confirmation Bias – people see things
that they agree with – selective
perception
Steps in Scientific Research
3. Testing the Hypothesis
Many methods – Survey, experiment
and other methods.

Experiment more suitable here

Steps in Scientific Research
4. Drawing Conclusions
Hypothesis either supported
(experiment worked), or not supported
– think of other possible explanation –
Saturday morning children are
aggressive, something to do with
breakfast…????
Steps in Scientific Research
5. Report your results

Make others aware

Research can then be replicated – same
research done again
Replication

Research may have failed

because of poor design, incorrect
methodology, poor controls

Reporting the detailed processes

essential
Focus on Empirical Investigation

What Is The Meaning Of Life? –

Not Empirical

Has Life Existed On Mars?

Empirical Qs
2. Descriptive Methods
Naturalistic Observation
Laboratory Observation
Case Studies
Survey
 Naturalistic
Observation
Observing “natural”
behavior means just
watching people /
animals in their normal
environment.
Helps to get a realistic
picture of the behavior
Precautions in Naturalistic Observation
1. Checklist – have well defined behavior,
with checklists for accurate recording
2. Observer effect – remain hidden - if
person/animal comes to know they are
being watched, they will not behave
normally
3. Participant observation - The observer
becomes a participant in the group
Problems in Naturalistic Observation
1. Observer bias – the observer has opinions
about what to expect to see – sees only those
behaviors and ignores others
To avoid this - use blind observers – observers
do not know what the research question is
2. Settings are unique – observations in one
setting may not be applicable to other settings
3. Researchers no control over the situation
 Laboratory Observation
- study people, animals in laboratory
eg Reaction of an infant to mirror image
of themselves – infant brought to the
lab. Reactions recorded.
Advantage – gives some degree of
control to the E
Disadvantage – people/animals may
react differently in this artificial world
then the real world.
 Case Studies
one individual studied in depth
Advantage: Tremendous
amount of detail, only method
to get some kind of information
e.g. Phineas Gage
Disadvantage: People unique,
cannot apply the results of one
to the other, overgeneralization
from one example
E’rs bias may work
 Surveys
A method of gathering information about many people’s
thoughts or behaviors through self-report rather than
observation. Series of questions asked – interview, telephone,
internet (google forms), Questionnaire - Same questions to all
Advantages -
Very useful in getting information about private & personal behavior
Information from 100’s of people
 Surveys
Disadvantages-
- Should be very careful about the group of people on which study is
conducted
- Representative sample chosen from the population randomly is
very important - not easy as tendency to use sample that is readily
available
- People may not give accurate answers - misremember, may lie,
give socially desirable answers.
- Courtesy bias – deliberately give answer that they think is more
socially correct, than rather than their true opinion so no one gets
offended.
 Surveys
Precautions -
Be very careful about the wording of questions
Wording effects - the results can change by word selection.

Example:

Q: Do you agree to the new procedures for registering for classes

are too complicated?

Q: What is your opinion of the new procedures for registering for

classes ?
Question meaning same, but answer will change
3. Correlations: Finding Relationships
Correlation – is a measure of the relationship between
two or more variables
Variable – anything that changes or varies
Correlation is a statistical technique,
Also useful in finding relationships
3. Correlation coefficient
• The correlation coefficient is a number representing the strength
and direction of correlation.
• The strength of the relationship refers to how close the dots are to
a straight line, which means one variable changes exactly as the
other one does; this number varies from 0.00 to +/- 1.00.
• The direction of the correlation can be positive (both variables
increase together) or negative (as one goes up, the other goes
down).

Perfect Perfect No
positive negative relationship,
correlatio no correlation
correlati
on n

+ 1.00 - 1.00 0.00

Correlation
Example- Cigarette Smoking & Life Expectancy –

Find from medical records information about

smokers who have died – consider the number of
cigarettes smoked per day – find he correlation
 Other examples

correlation can be studied between-

1. No. of hours of sleep, episodes of aggression
displayed
2. heavier the clothes worn by children in a
classroom, more likely the child will fall asleep
than those wearing lighter clothes
3. more the number of facebook friends, the less
will be the time spent studying
Important to know-
Correlation Is Not Causation!
.
 If self-esteem correlates with
depression,
there are still numerous possible causal links:
Cigarette smoking and Life expectancy
 4. The Experiment
How do we find out about causation? -
by experimentation.
• Manipulation of the
variable that may cause
Experimentation:
some behavior
manipulating one
(Violent Cartoon)
factor in a
 Other variables that
situation to
might interfere held
determine its
constant / unchanging
effect
(Age, Socio-
economic status, amount
of time seeing cartoon)
 4. The Experiment
How do we find out about causation? -

An experiment is a type of
research in which the
researcher carefully
manipulates a limited
number of factors (IVs) and
measures the impact on
other factors (DVs).
in psychology, the effect of
the experimental change (IV)
on a behavior or mental
process (DV) is studied
 4. The Experiment

• Manipulation of the variable that may cause some

behavior (Violent Cartoon)

 Other variables that might interfere held

constant / unchanging (Age, Socio-economic
status, amount of time seeing cartoon)

 Effect seen on behavior (Aggression)

Select a sample
• If you want to find out aggression in
children, you can’t study every single
child on earth.
• Sampling saves time. You can find the
ratio of colors in this jar by making sure
they are well mixed (randomized) and
then taking a sample. sampl
e
populatio
n
Random sampling is a Random” means
technique for making that your
sure that every selection of
individual in a participants is
population has an equal driven only by
chance of being in your chance, not by
sample. any characteristic.
Violent Cartoons and violent
behaviors in children
Operationalization -
Define meaning of
Violent Cartoon –
Random aggressive language,
hitting, punching,
selection of threatening and
children from aggressive behavior
– hitting, pushing,
population screaming
 Decide how exactly it
will be measured e.g.
checklist
 Just to clarify two similar-
sounding terms…

Random Random
sampling is how assignment of
you get a pool of participants to
research control or
participants that experimental
represents the groups is how
population you control all
you’re trying to variables except
learn about. the one you’re
manipulating.
First you sample, then
you sort (assign).
 Variables -
The variable we manipulate is called the
independent variable (IV).

The variable that is likely to change on the manipulation

of IV is called the dependent variable (DV).

• violent cartoon & aggressive behavior hypothesis:

• violent cartoon = Cause = Independent Variable

• aggressive behavior = Effect = Dependent Variable

The other variables that might have an effect
on the dependent variable are confounding
variables.
• Aggressive family background, hot tempered
 Variables -
The other variables that might have an effect on
the
dependent variable are confounding variables.

Aggressive family background, hot tempered

They need to be controlled
The Experimental and the Control Group
• Experimental group – Participants in an experiment who are
subjected to IV –
• how do we know the change is due to manipulation of IV?
• We solve this problem by comparing this group to a Control
group, a group that is the same in every way except the one
variable we are changing.

By using random
How do make assignment:
sure the control randomly selecting
group is really some study
identical in every participants to be
way to the assigned to the
experimental control group or
group? the experimental
group.
5. Experimental Hazards and ways of
controlling them

1. The Placebo Effect

2. Experimenter Effect
The Placebo Effect

Research on new drug – supposed to improve

memory – early stage of Alzheimer’s disease
(memory loss)
Participants given drug
2 groups
Participants not given drug

Improvement in memory studied

Placebo effect

Placebo effect: Working with the

expectations of placebo effect:
the participant
about the Control groups may be
intervention can given a placebo – an
influence their inactive substance or
behavior other fake treatment in
place of the
experimental
How do we make sure that treatment.
the experimental group Sugar Pill, Salt injection
doesn’t experience an effect
because they expect to
experience it?
 Experimenter Effect
 Expectations of the Experimenter about
the outcome of the experiment
influence the results – seen both in
• Cues given to the P
animals and human participants about how to respond
 Similar to observer bias. – through body
 E sees what he expects to see language, tone of
voice, eye contact.

Experimenter’s
intentions
unintentionally influence
the results of the study
Single and Double Blind studies
The control group is ideally “blind” to
whether they are getting real or fake
treatment.
 Study on ‘student potential’ Many
studies are double-blind – neither
participants nor research staff knows
which participants are in the experimental
or control groups.
 Summary of the types of Research
Comparing Research Methods
Research Basic Purpose How What is Weaknesses
Method Conducted Manipulated
Descriptive To observe and Case studies, Nothing No control of
record behavior surveys, Lab. variables; single
Experiments cases may be
or Naturalistic misleading
observations
Correlational To detect naturally Compute Nothing Does not specify
occurring statistical cause-effect; one
relationships; to association, variable predicts
assess how well sometimes another but this
one variable among survey does not mean
predicts another responses one causes the
other
Experimental To explore cause- Manipulate The Sometimes not
effect one or more independent possible for
factors; variable(s) practical or ethical
randomly reasons; results
assign some may not
to control generalize to
group other contexts
 6. Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative methods used to know about
frequency and magnitude with which events
occurred in external condition.
• Little use
• Qualitative - significance of the experience
considered
• Qualitative research – relationship between
the observer and phenomenon being
observed considered.
 Qualitative Methods contd….
•Qualitative research is a reflective,
interpretive and descriptive endeavor to
describe and understand human action and
experience.
• Empirical, but sensitive to subjectivity
• Provides rich and thick description of the
phenomenon under investigation
 Qualitative Methods – key features
• Investigator engages with reality, acknowledges
his own perspective as vantage points for
appreciating reality
• Recognizes human values
• Respects subjectivity of the P’s
• Considers nature of reality as dynamic, emergent
and evolving, treats world as a construct
• Considers language central to communication,
interpretation and understanding
 Types of methods

Grounded Theory Discourse analysis

Interviewing Participant observation

Case study Focus group

Ethnography Cooperative inquiry

Narrative analysis Auto ethnography

Conversation analysis
 Other features…..
• emphasizes processes & emergent properties of
human behavior, meanings, relatedness & first
person perspective
• theoretical sampling, appropriate selection of P’s,

intense analysis of data & interpretation

• accepts ambiguity, whole kept in mind while

working on details
• study more bigger processes
D. Ethics of Psychological Research

1. Guidelines for doing Research with

people

2. Ethics in animal research

 1. Guidelines for doing research with
people
• No physical or psychological pain
• Review Board – looks at all aspects of research
• Few guidelines,

1. Rights and well-being of participants must be weighed against

the study's value to science - people come first, research
second.
2. Informed Consent - Participants must be allowed to make an
informed decision about participation – explain the study to the
people, for infants or children, their parents have to be
informed and give their consent.
 Ethics contd…..…..
3. Deception must be justified – use only when needed. At
times, it is necessary to deceive
4. Debriefing - The participants have to be told after the
study exactly why the deception was important.
5. Participants may withdraw from the study at any time. The
participants must be allowed to drop out for any reason.
6. P’s must be
protected from risks or told explicitly of risks. Electrical and
similar apparatus/equipments properly checked
7. Data must remain confidential.
8. If for any reason a study results in undesirable
consequences for the P’s the researcher is responsible for
detecting and removing or correcting these consequences.
 Animal research
• Why research on animals?

1.To know more about animal behavior

2.To draw comparisons between animal and human behavior
3.Some research questions extremely important, but difficult to
answer by using human Ps
4.Animals shorter lives, easy to look at long term effects
5.Easy to control – diet, conditions, genetic relatedness etc.
6.Engage in simpler behaviors, easy to manipulate
 2. Animal research
• Why research on animals? … contd

7.Can be used in ways, in which human beings cannot be used

e.g. brain surgery, cancer cell growth
8.Value of research outweighs hazards to which animals are
exposed
Ethical considerations, similar to humans
1. No pain, no suffering
2. If surgery to be performed, done under anesthesia
3. If animal must die after effect of drug/treatment, done so
humanely
4. Animals used in 7% of all the psychology research studies
E. Applying Psychology to Everyday
Life

Thinking critically about Critical Thinking

“Think critically” with psychological science…
does this mean “criticize”?
Why do I need
Critical thinking refers to to work on my
a more careful style of thinking? Can’t
forming and evaluating you just tell me
facts about
knowledge than simply psychology?
using intuition.
•The brain is
designed for
surviving and
reproducing, but
it is not the best
In addition to the scientific tool for seeing
method, critical thinking ‘reality’ clearly.
will help us develop more •To improve our
effective and accurate ways thinking, we will
to figure out what makes learn to catch
people do, think, and feel the ourselves in some
things they do. critical thinking
errors.
 Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking is
-making reasoned (Logical & well thought out)
judgments
-asking & seeking answers for critical
questions at right time
It helps to avoid false beliefs, which may lead
to poor decisions.
Critical means meeting some high
standards/high criteria
 Critical Thinking
Critical related to word ‘criteria’ – thinking that
meets some high standards/high criteria
4 basic criteria for Critical Thinking
 Four Criteria for critical thinking
1. Few truths that do not need testing eg religious beliefs &
personal values on faith. But for others, ask questions
How do you know that? What is the evidence?....
2. All evidence is not equal in quality – how evidence collected
imp- wrong methods, no control group, deliberately
manipulated….
3.Authority or expertise does not make does not make
everything that the person claims to be true – Always ask for
evidence e.g. crop circles in field – aliens? 2 British men had
played a prank
4. Critical thinking requires open mind – Good to be skeptical,
but not rigid, also not gullible – delicate balance important
 Look for
hidden
Consider if assumptions Look for
there are and decide if hidden
other you agree. bias,
possible politics,
explanations values, or
for the facts personal
or results. connections
Critical thinking: .
analyzing
information to
decide if it makes
sense, rather than
simply accepting
See if there it. Goal: getting Put aside
was a flaw at the truth, even your own
in how the if it means putting assumptions
information aside your own and biases,
was ideas. and look at
collected. the
evidence.
 Sample Questions
•Define Psychology. Describe the contribution of
Wundt, Titchner and James (or Early introspection,
Structuralism & Functionalism or early pioneers of
psychology) in early development of psychology.
•Describe the 3 influential approaches to psychology.
•Briefly describe the various modern perspectives of
psychology?
•Describe various fields of psychology. Differentiate
between various types of professionals within the field
of psychology.
•Explain the four goals of psychology.
•Describe the 5 steps of scientific approach.
 Sample Questions
•How is information collected using case study &
survey methods? State the advantages and
disadvantages of both the methods.
•How is information collected using naturalistic
observation & laboratory observation? State the
advantages and disadvantages of both the methods.
•What is correlation? Explain how is correlation used to
study relationship between two variables?
• With a proper example, explain experimental method
or identify the steps involved in designing an
experiment.
 Sample Questions
•Explain the Placebo and experimenter effect. How are
they prevented?
• Which are the various experimental hazards
experienced by the researcher? How are these hazards
controlled?
•Why do psychologists study animals? What are the
ethical guidelines to protect human and animal
research participants?
•Define critical thinking. Explain various criteria for
critical thinking.
Thank You