Introduction 9/2:
● What do you think psychology is?
○ Psychologists study the reasons why people are the way they are
● What is SCOPE? (Questions psychologists ask)
○ “Why do groups create common enemies?”
○ “Why is it more difficult for an older person to retain information?”
○ “Why do some students cheat on exams?”
● Scope: (What questions do we ask?)
○ Color Visions- you see red and blue, but that is our brains transforming
lights
○ States of Consciousness- awake/alert, awake/tired
○ Motivation- do things for reward (attention, hunger, prizes, etc.)
○ Helping Behavior- are they able to help themselves, is someone else
already helping them, do they look friendly, personal gain, attraction
○ Phobias- different from fears
○ Development- what is it about development that allows a 10 year old to
take imaginary friend and a 20 year old not to
○ Personality- introverts/extroverts
○ Memory- remember your kindergarten teacher, but not your phone
● Population: (What organisms do we study?)
○ Humans
○ Rats
■ Ethics
■ Simpler systems
● Big Issues in Psychology:
○ Conscious vs Unconscious- you want to say one things, but then something
else comes out
○ Free will vs Determinism- can a person choose to get themselves out of a
depressive state
○ Individual differences vs Universals- is it okay to turn a trolley away from
killing five peo0ple on one track, to a track that would only kill one
○ Nature vs Nurture- does heredity play a major role in determining
● Neuroscience:
○ How does the brain/biology affect behavior?
● Evolutionary
○ How does behavior/mental process promote survival
● Behavior Genetics:
○ How much genes affect us
● Psychodynamic
, ○ How do unconscious conflicts/drives determine behavior?
● Behavioral
○ How do our experiences and environment affect behavior?
● Cognitive
○ How does information processing affect thoughts/behavior?
● Sociocultural
○ How do behavior/thinking vary across situations/cultures?
9/7- Isn’t Psychology just common sense?
● Overconfidence
○ People tend to be more confident than correct- we think we know more
than we really do
● Research suggests that people with low self esteem are more susceptible to
flattery than those with high self esteem
● Hindsight Bias
○ After you know the outcome of an event, you tend to believe that you
would have predicted it
● Research begins with a hunch or hypothesis
○ Where do hypotheses come from?
■ Dissatisfaction with others theories
■ New questions from prior research
■ Personal observation and curiosity
● Research Methods
Descriptive
● What is the nature of the phenomenon?
● Examine one person in depth to understand human nature
● Case Studies (Phineas Gage)
○ Limits to case studies
■ Atypicality
■ Limited generalizability
Correlational
● From knowing X, can we predict Y?
● Use: understand relationship between two things and be able to predict behaviors
● Do NOT MANIPULATE anything, just measure
, Positive correlation: Two variables rise and fall together
Example: Outgoing people go to a lot of parties
Negative correlation: When one variable goes up, the other falls
Example: More you drink alcohol you drink before exam, the lower your grade
No Correlation: No relationship between two variables
Example: The # of red sweaters in one’s closet is not related to one's GPA
*STRENGTHS: Examine factors like race, sex, and age
*WEAKNESS: Correlation does not mean causation
Third variable problem→ more ice cream leads to murder (third variable
can be HEAT)
Experimental
● Is variable X a cause of variable Y
● Manipulate one variable so that people experience it in one way or another, then
look to see the differences in behavior
*STRENGTHS: can determine cause and effect & gain control over your situation
*WEAKNESS: lacks external validity (how does this experiment play out in the real
world)
Example: Does heat affect test scores?
KEY TERMS
*Independent variable: what you manipulate (temperature)
*Dependent variable: variable you measure (test scores)
*Control: other groups in study that stay the same
*Random assignment: anyone has an equal chance of being selected for a group
Observational research
● Researcher observes people and systematically records measurement of their
behavior
○ Two Types
■ Unobtrusive observation
■ Participant observation
○ Limits
■ Lack of generalizability
■ Some behaviors are difficult to observe
● What do you think psychology is?
○ Psychologists study the reasons why people are the way they are
● What is SCOPE? (Questions psychologists ask)
○ “Why do groups create common enemies?”
○ “Why is it more difficult for an older person to retain information?”
○ “Why do some students cheat on exams?”
● Scope: (What questions do we ask?)
○ Color Visions- you see red and blue, but that is our brains transforming
lights
○ States of Consciousness- awake/alert, awake/tired
○ Motivation- do things for reward (attention, hunger, prizes, etc.)
○ Helping Behavior- are they able to help themselves, is someone else
already helping them, do they look friendly, personal gain, attraction
○ Phobias- different from fears
○ Development- what is it about development that allows a 10 year old to
take imaginary friend and a 20 year old not to
○ Personality- introverts/extroverts
○ Memory- remember your kindergarten teacher, but not your phone
● Population: (What organisms do we study?)
○ Humans
○ Rats
■ Ethics
■ Simpler systems
● Big Issues in Psychology:
○ Conscious vs Unconscious- you want to say one things, but then something
else comes out
○ Free will vs Determinism- can a person choose to get themselves out of a
depressive state
○ Individual differences vs Universals- is it okay to turn a trolley away from
killing five peo0ple on one track, to a track that would only kill one
○ Nature vs Nurture- does heredity play a major role in determining
● Neuroscience:
○ How does the brain/biology affect behavior?
● Evolutionary
○ How does behavior/mental process promote survival
● Behavior Genetics:
○ How much genes affect us
● Psychodynamic
, ○ How do unconscious conflicts/drives determine behavior?
● Behavioral
○ How do our experiences and environment affect behavior?
● Cognitive
○ How does information processing affect thoughts/behavior?
● Sociocultural
○ How do behavior/thinking vary across situations/cultures?
9/7- Isn’t Psychology just common sense?
● Overconfidence
○ People tend to be more confident than correct- we think we know more
than we really do
● Research suggests that people with low self esteem are more susceptible to
flattery than those with high self esteem
● Hindsight Bias
○ After you know the outcome of an event, you tend to believe that you
would have predicted it
● Research begins with a hunch or hypothesis
○ Where do hypotheses come from?
■ Dissatisfaction with others theories
■ New questions from prior research
■ Personal observation and curiosity
● Research Methods
Descriptive
● What is the nature of the phenomenon?
● Examine one person in depth to understand human nature
● Case Studies (Phineas Gage)
○ Limits to case studies
■ Atypicality
■ Limited generalizability
Correlational
● From knowing X, can we predict Y?
● Use: understand relationship between two things and be able to predict behaviors
● Do NOT MANIPULATE anything, just measure
, Positive correlation: Two variables rise and fall together
Example: Outgoing people go to a lot of parties
Negative correlation: When one variable goes up, the other falls
Example: More you drink alcohol you drink before exam, the lower your grade
No Correlation: No relationship between two variables
Example: The # of red sweaters in one’s closet is not related to one's GPA
*STRENGTHS: Examine factors like race, sex, and age
*WEAKNESS: Correlation does not mean causation
Third variable problem→ more ice cream leads to murder (third variable
can be HEAT)
Experimental
● Is variable X a cause of variable Y
● Manipulate one variable so that people experience it in one way or another, then
look to see the differences in behavior
*STRENGTHS: can determine cause and effect & gain control over your situation
*WEAKNESS: lacks external validity (how does this experiment play out in the real
world)
Example: Does heat affect test scores?
KEY TERMS
*Independent variable: what you manipulate (temperature)
*Dependent variable: variable you measure (test scores)
*Control: other groups in study that stay the same
*Random assignment: anyone has an equal chance of being selected for a group
Observational research
● Researcher observes people and systematically records measurement of their
behavior
○ Two Types
■ Unobtrusive observation
■ Participant observation
○ Limits
■ Lack of generalizability
■ Some behaviors are difficult to observe
