1. the Study of Psychology

8/3/2019 1. the Study of Psychology

1/52

The Study of Psychology

Chapter - 1


2/52

What is Psychology?

Definition

The science of behavior, cognition and

physiological processes

Behavior

Anything you do,

especially if its

observable

Cognition

Mental processes

like dreaming,

thinking

Physiological

Processes

Biological processes

that accompany

behavior and

cognition


3/52

Ultimate aim To understand

behavior and help people

How does it accomplish the aim?

By meeting four basic goals:

Description

Prediction

Control

Explanation


4/52

To observe behavior and

describe, often in minute detail,what was observed as objectively

as possible

Descriptions come from

observable dataDescription


5/52

To speculate/guess what will

happen in the future based onobserved behavior

Predic

tion

An old saying: The best predictor of future

behavior is past behavior."

Test the prediction


6/52

Once predictions are verified,

behaviors can be controlled

Cont

rol

To help people control over theiractions and make a positivechange


7/52

By describing, predicting and

controlling, psychologists gaininsight into forces that motivate

people

E

xplana

tion

Then we can understand why

people behave the way they do


8/52

Basic Concepts

StimulusA thing or event

that evokes a

specific functional

reaction in anorgan or tissue

SubjectPerson being

studied or being

experimented


9/52

Consciousness

Individual awarenessof your unique

thoughts, memories,

feelings, sensations

and environment

Unconscious

A state lackingnormal awareness

of the self or

environment


10/52

The Development of Psychology

Five major historical schools of thought:

Structuralism

Functionalism

Behaviorism

Gestalt Psychology

Psychoanalysis


11/52

Proponent: Wilhelm Wundt

Subject matter: The science of

the structure of the mind

To find universal laws and principles

Methods: Introspection

Subjects would report their feelingsand whatever that comes to mind

after being subjected to a stimulus

S

tructuralism


12/52

Criticisms:

Not reliable

Based solely on non-observable behavior

Example


13/52

Proponent: William James

Based on Darwins Theory ofEvolution Survival of the fittest

Subject matter: The study of theadaptive nature of mental

activity (e.g. perception,memory, imagination, feeling,judgment) Individual indifferences

F

unctionalism


14/52

Methods: Introspection, Surveys,Experimental techniques

Key question study was

What function does the specific

behavior have?

Example: Learning, motivation etc.


15/52

Founder: John Watson

Subject matter: The study of

relationship between stimuli and

behavior Limited to observable behavior

Methods: To manipulate stimuli

and observe the effect uponbehavior

Behaviorism


16/52

Proponent: Max Wertheimer

Subject matter: To study the

whole person

People are more than the sum oftheir parts

They argued that we perceive

the entire person and not justparts of the personG

estaltPs

ycholo

gy


17/52

Founder: Sigmund Freud

Subject matter: Study the

unconscious motivations often

expressed in dreams or slips ofthe tongue

Methods: Hypnosis A sleep-like trance stateP

sychoanalysis


18/52


19/52

Methods of Research

Psychology researchers use scientific method

Major research methods: Naturalistic observation

Interview

Survey

Test

Case study

Experiment


20/52

State Problem

Develop Hypothesis

Conduct Research

How to improve the performance of the employee?

The performance of those employees which are

punished is improved

Experiment, observation, survey, test etc.


21/52

Collect data

Interpret Data

Record observations, comparison of two groups etc

Analyze the data obtained


22/52

Communicate Results

Draw Conclusions

Punishment, in some occasions, improves

performance

Share their results by publishing in scientific

journals


23/52

Objective recording of what you

see and hear when watchingpeople or animals in their natural

environment

Natur

alistic

Observ

ation

Involves recording informationabout subjects in their normal

environment

An accurate description of

naturalistic behavior is extremely

important


24/52

Subject interacts with the

psychologist by answering to

verbal questions

Interv

iew

Data gathered by

Answers given by respondents

Behavior exhibited by the subject

Types Structured

Unstructured


25/52

Obtain extensive

information

about a topic

Time consuming

Interviewer bias

Advantages Disadvantages


26/52

A questionnaire with writtenquestions which respondents

answer

Survey

orQuestionn

aire

Do sampling

Selecting few people


27/52

Takes less time Answers may not

be answered

honestly

Sampling error



28/52

To measure peoples

Abilities

Interests

Personality

IntelligenceTest


29/52

A reconstruction of a persons

life to discover the backgroundleading to the current situation

CaseS

tudy

Childhood School

Employment

Relationships etc


30/52

Understand the

individual better

Solution cannot

be applied to

another person

Difficulty in

recalling



31/52

Conducted to specifically know

what causes a particular behavior

Experiment

See the cause-and-effect

relationships

Variables

Environmental

time, light, colorof walls, time of day etc.

Subject Age, gender, background,

personality etc.


32/52

Independent

Variable

Condition which ischanged by the

experimenter and

it will cause a

response or behavior

Dependent

Variable

The behavior orresponse outcome

that is measured


33/52

The amount of preparation time given

to students before exams will affecttheir grades

Independent

Variable

Amount of

preparationtime

Dependent

Variable

Grades


34/52

Reward of a candy will affect the time

required to toilet train a toddler

Independent

Variable

Reward ofcandy

Dependent

Variable

Toilet training


35/52

Coffee reduces the amount to time a

person sleeps

Independent

Variable

Coffee

Dependent

Variable

Sleep time


36/52

Task

Write two cause-and-effect statements Identify independent and dependent

variables


37/52

Experimental

Group

People who receive

the independent

variable

Control

Group

People who do notreceive the

independent

variable


38/52

Correlation Research

Shows the degree of relationship between

two variables

Correlation coefficient

Statistical measure of relationship


39/52

-1 0 +1

Perfect

Negative

Relationship

No

Relationship

Perfect

Positive

Relationship


40/52

Closer to 1

Strong relationship

Closer to 0 Weak relationship

0.66

0.34

0.78

Strong

Strong

Weak


41/52

-ve sign Inverse relationship

Variable A

Variable A

Variable B

Variable B


42/52

Variable

A

Variable B


43/52

Relationship between light intensityand distance

Relationship between smoking and

good health

Relationship between procrastination

and performance


44/52

+ve sign Direct relationship

Variable A

Variable A

Variable B

Variable B


45/52

Variable

A

Variable B


46/52

Relationship between hours studiedand grades

Relationship between hard work andsuccess

Relationship between family income

and educational level


47/52

+0.66

+0.34

-0.78

Strong, Direct

Strong, Inverse

Weak, Direct


48/52

0 No relationship

The two variables are NOT related

to each other

Independent variables; not

dependent on each other


49/52

Variable

A

Variable B


50/52

Relationship between weight andgrades

Relationship between intelligence andsleep time

Relationship between family income

and height


51/52

Purpose of doing correlation

To allow us to make a prediction about

one variable based on what we know

about another variable.


52/52

Correlation does NOT show a cause-

and-effect relationship

It only tells that as one measure

changes, the other may also change

Date post:	07-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	zain-raza
View:	221 times
Download:	0 times

1. the Study of Psychology

Documents