Chapter1: The Psychology of Scientific Thinking
• Psychology - The scientific study of the mind and behavior (Contemp)
The definitions: W&T= "The sciences of mental life" 1900~
Cog psychologist: studied internal mental processes using neuro 1960s~
• Aristotle - Made guesses - had ideas of how the mind and body worked
• Empiricism: Gained knowledge through both observ. and exp.
o W Wundt - Two Keys to make Psych = A real science
Carefully measured observations and experiments
• Wundt's Experiment (Pushed button when ball dropped vs Conciously aware button push)
o 1/10th sec vs 2/10th seconds
• Structuralism : Used introspective reports to build a perspective of the mind's structure
o Edward T (Learned from Wundt)
Used data from introspection
• Introspection : the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes.
• Functionalism : School of thought : Psychological processes have functions - assisting in survival as indivs. adapting as species
o Developer: William James
His question: How did human thinking and our behavior let out ancestors live long enough to reprod?
• Differences of S and F
o F was a Response to S (Structure vs Purpose)
• Trends in Psych
o Freud/Psychoanalytics
Sugmund Freud (Founded psychoananalysis)
• Studied/assisted people with various mental disorders
o Gestalt Psych
Wertheimer, Koffka Kohler (German early 20th c.)
• Focused on humans in entirety than indiv parts
o Behaviorism
Watson, Skinner, Pavlov (American early 20th c.)
• Studied and experimented with observable behavior
o Watson experimented with specified responses
o Skinner studied the way consequences shaped behavior (saw no value in introspection)
o Humanism
Maslow, Rogers (1960s)
• Studied those who thrived rather than those diagnosed with psych problems
o Developed theroies and treatments to help people feel fulfilled (Maslows hiearchy)
o Cognitvite Psych/Revo
Chomsky and Tolman
• Goal: examining the role of mental processes on behavior
• Nature vs Nurture - “Nurture works on what Nature endows.”
o To what extent are our traits already set in place at birth (our nature)? And to what extent do our traits develop in response to our environment/ experien
“Nurture”)?
Nature (Plato, Descartes, Darwin)
• Sharing a identical origin that gives us an inborn human nature in common.
Nurture (Aristotle, Locke)
• We have differences that are shaped by our environment.
• Bio + Enviornment
o bio-psychosocial levels of analysis
The Deep Level (Bio)
• Genes, brains, neuro-transmitters, survival reflexes, sensation
The Mids (Pysch)
• Thoughts, emotions, moods, choices, traits and behaviors, motives and perceptions
The Outer (Enviornmental) - Social
• Influences, culture, education, relations
• Six Blind Men and an Elephant (Spear, Snake, Fan, Wall, Rope, Tree)
o Implies that while one's subjective experience and opinion can be true, they may be limited because of insufficient holistic knowledge.
• THE SEVEN PERSPECTIVES
o Cognitive Perspective
emphasizes the importance of memory, perception and attention, language, decision-making and problem-solving.
o Social-Cultural
how family, friends, environments, and religious views of the individual influence their behaviors and thoughts.
o Behavioral Genetics
how we might inherit certain behavioral traits and how the environment influences whether we actually displayed those traits
o Neuroscience
the way that people act in terms of how they came to be.
o Psycho-dynamic
emphasizes unconscious psychological processes (for example, wishes and fears of which we're not fully aware),
o Behaviorist
all behavior is acquired through conditioning and can therefore be observed without consideration of thoughts or feelings
o Evolutionary
draws on Darwinian principles of evolution and natural selection to explain how gender differences evolve
• Psychiatrists vs Psychologists
o psychiatrists are trained in both medicine and mental health, while psychologists focus solely on mental health.
Chapter2: Research Methods
• Why is research important?
o Scientific research is empirical; Without research, we would only have intuition and groundless assumptions
Psychology is a science, therefore, research is required to not only further investigate something but provide verification and support of the findin
• Common Sense and Intuition – When our Natural Thinking Style Fails
o Hindsight bias: - “I knew it all along.”
o Overconfidence error: “I am sure I am correct.”
o Belief Perseverance: - “My mind is made up; do not confuse me with the facts.”
o Confirmation bias: - “What evidence can I find to prove I am right?”
o The coincidence error, or mistakenly perceiving error in random events: - “The dice must be fixed because you rolled three sixes in a row.”
• Components of the Scientific Attitude
o Curiosity
always asking new questions
o Skepticism
not accepting a ‘fact’ as true without challenging it; seeing if ‘facts’ can withstand attempts to disprove them
o Humility
seeking the truth rather than trying to be right; a scientist needs to be able to accept being wrong.
• Psychology - The scientific study of the mind and behavior (Contemp)
The definitions: W&T= "The sciences of mental life" 1900~
Cog psychologist: studied internal mental processes using neuro 1960s~
• Aristotle - Made guesses - had ideas of how the mind and body worked
• Empiricism: Gained knowledge through both observ. and exp.
o W Wundt - Two Keys to make Psych = A real science
Carefully measured observations and experiments
• Wundt's Experiment (Pushed button when ball dropped vs Conciously aware button push)
o 1/10th sec vs 2/10th seconds
• Structuralism : Used introspective reports to build a perspective of the mind's structure
o Edward T (Learned from Wundt)
Used data from introspection
• Introspection : the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes.
• Functionalism : School of thought : Psychological processes have functions - assisting in survival as indivs. adapting as species
o Developer: William James
His question: How did human thinking and our behavior let out ancestors live long enough to reprod?
• Differences of S and F
o F was a Response to S (Structure vs Purpose)
• Trends in Psych
o Freud/Psychoanalytics
Sugmund Freud (Founded psychoananalysis)
• Studied/assisted people with various mental disorders
o Gestalt Psych
Wertheimer, Koffka Kohler (German early 20th c.)
• Focused on humans in entirety than indiv parts
o Behaviorism
Watson, Skinner, Pavlov (American early 20th c.)
• Studied and experimented with observable behavior
o Watson experimented with specified responses
o Skinner studied the way consequences shaped behavior (saw no value in introspection)
o Humanism
Maslow, Rogers (1960s)
• Studied those who thrived rather than those diagnosed with psych problems
o Developed theroies and treatments to help people feel fulfilled (Maslows hiearchy)
o Cognitvite Psych/Revo
Chomsky and Tolman
• Goal: examining the role of mental processes on behavior
• Nature vs Nurture - “Nurture works on what Nature endows.”
o To what extent are our traits already set in place at birth (our nature)? And to what extent do our traits develop in response to our environment/ experien
“Nurture”)?
Nature (Plato, Descartes, Darwin)
• Sharing a identical origin that gives us an inborn human nature in common.
Nurture (Aristotle, Locke)
• We have differences that are shaped by our environment.
• Bio + Enviornment
o bio-psychosocial levels of analysis
The Deep Level (Bio)
• Genes, brains, neuro-transmitters, survival reflexes, sensation
The Mids (Pysch)
• Thoughts, emotions, moods, choices, traits and behaviors, motives and perceptions
The Outer (Enviornmental) - Social
• Influences, culture, education, relations
• Six Blind Men and an Elephant (Spear, Snake, Fan, Wall, Rope, Tree)
o Implies that while one's subjective experience and opinion can be true, they may be limited because of insufficient holistic knowledge.
• THE SEVEN PERSPECTIVES
o Cognitive Perspective
emphasizes the importance of memory, perception and attention, language, decision-making and problem-solving.
o Social-Cultural
how family, friends, environments, and religious views of the individual influence their behaviors and thoughts.
o Behavioral Genetics
how we might inherit certain behavioral traits and how the environment influences whether we actually displayed those traits
o Neuroscience
the way that people act in terms of how they came to be.
o Psycho-dynamic
emphasizes unconscious psychological processes (for example, wishes and fears of which we're not fully aware),
o Behaviorist
all behavior is acquired through conditioning and can therefore be observed without consideration of thoughts or feelings
o Evolutionary
draws on Darwinian principles of evolution and natural selection to explain how gender differences evolve
• Psychiatrists vs Psychologists
o psychiatrists are trained in both medicine and mental health, while psychologists focus solely on mental health.
Chapter2: Research Methods
• Why is research important?
o Scientific research is empirical; Without research, we would only have intuition and groundless assumptions
Psychology is a science, therefore, research is required to not only further investigate something but provide verification and support of the findin
• Common Sense and Intuition – When our Natural Thinking Style Fails
o Hindsight bias: - “I knew it all along.”
o Overconfidence error: “I am sure I am correct.”
o Belief Perseverance: - “My mind is made up; do not confuse me with the facts.”
o Confirmation bias: - “What evidence can I find to prove I am right?”
o The coincidence error, or mistakenly perceiving error in random events: - “The dice must be fixed because you rolled three sixes in a row.”
• Components of the Scientific Attitude
o Curiosity
always asking new questions
o Skepticism
not accepting a ‘fact’ as true without challenging it; seeing if ‘facts’ can withstand attempts to disprove them
o Humility
seeking the truth rather than trying to be right; a scientist needs to be able to accept being wrong.
