Red=vocabulary
Unit 1: Science of Psychology and behaviors
● What is psychology?
○ Science-behavior
○ Goals
○ Subdisciplines
● Origins of psychology as a science
○ Biological and philosophical roots
○ History of scientific approach
● Scientific study of behaviors
● Goals of psychological research
● Subfields of psychology
○ Basic
■ Pure science:
● Description,prediction,explanation
○ Applied(control)
■ Use scientific knowledge
■ Helping solve real world problems
■ Example: using a mouse to push a button to get food and the more food
they get the more they will push the button
○ Biological-focus on the brain,brain chemistry
○ Behavior analysis-nurture,learning,things that happen to you in your life
○ Cognitive-specific behaviors such as;thinking,problem solving,thoughts,short/long
term memory
○ Industrial-organizational-specific behaviors in the workplace:time
management,problem solving,difficulty with coworkers
○ Developmental-changes in behavior from one point in life to the other
○ Social-both dependent and independent that are social,sharing,helping people if
they are hurt
○ Personality-patterns of behavior,consistencies (OCD)
○ Clinical-anything that addresses an illness,assessment,help people overcome
their symptoms of illness.
● Why examine human behavior
○ Root of most problems in the world
○ Curiosity
● Depression at differing levels of explanation
a. Socal level
i. Loss of relationships
b. Behavioral level
i. Decrease in pleasurable behavior
ii. Withdrawn from others
c. Mental level
, i. Depressed thoughts
d. neurological/psychological
i. Size and functioning of the brain
e. Neurochemical level
i. Brain chemicals
f. Molecular level
i. Peoples genes
● Research goals: level of understanding
○ Goals very by subfield
○ Common goals
■ Describe:describe or report what is observed
■ Predict: predict behaviors mathematical relationships between events
■ Explain: determine cause-effect,manipulate variables. The only way this
can be done is by group design.
■ Control: use research findings to shape,modify, and control behavior
● Five factors make studying psychology difficult
○ Explain why psychology is more than just common sense
● Human behavior is difficult to predict
○ Actions are multiply determined
● Influences are rarely independent of each other
● People display individual differences
● People influence one another
○ Reciprocal determinism
● Behaviors is shaped by culture
○ emic( within-culture) vs. etic approaches (cross-cultural)
● Biases working against science
● Confirmation bias
○ seeking/noticing only supporting evidence
○ Example: going into an interview and noticing the appearance of the persons
planner having tabs. You now have the bias of thinking they are OCD
● Native realism
○ Belief that the world is as we perceive it to be
● Belief perseverance-hard to change someone's belief
● Distinctions between:
○ Science (e.g., psychology)
■ Testable,evidence based,theory-driven
○ Metaphysics (e.g., religion)-acceptance of a different input (also having other
beliefs beyond science)
■ Untestable,outside realm of science
○ Pseudo-science (e.g., ESP, astrology)-approach that pretends to be
scientific( includes bias and used in media)
■ Testable but untested, not supported by evidence.
,● 6 critical thinking principles
○ Identify and explain the texts six principles of scientific thinking
■ Ruling out rival hypotheses
■ Consider alternate explanations
● Correlation isn't causation
● Falsifiability: can the claim be disproven?
● Replicability
● Question:how can we better understand the problem of substance abuse?
○ Biological
■ How does activity in certain areas of the brain change while under the
influence of a particular drug?
○ Behavior analysis
■ How does punishment affect rate of drug use?
○ Industrial organizational
○ Cognitive
■ Do certain patterns of thinking increase risk for substance abuse?
○ Developmental psychology
■ Do adults in their early 20’s engage in more recreational substance use
than those in there
○ Socal
■ What kinds of social cues affect a teens tendency to experiment with
drugs?
○ Personality
○ Clinical
● Review questions
a. The brain produces natural opiates that ease pain and elevate mood (T)
b. Most mothers are depressed after their children grow up (T/F)-clinical
c. There are detectable differences between ale and female brains (T)-biological
d. The amount of information that can be stored in human memory is
limited(cognitive)
e. The most common form of schizophrenia is split personality(F)-Clinical
f. Children act more aggressively if the observe aggressive models, only if models
behavior is rewarded (T)
g. Most people who lose weight eventually gain it back(T)-clinical
h. Without professional help,people who suffer psychological disorders inevitably
get worse(F)
i. Most people would help a stranger in trouble(F)-socal
j. 50% of 3 year olds have tantrums, whereas only 25% of 5 year olds do(T)-
developmental
k. Preschoolers will share more often if rewarded for doing so(T)behavior analysis
● Applied subfields
, ○ Clinical neuropsychologist
■ Behavior effect of disease or trauma
○ Heath psychologist
■ What behaviors maintain health/prevent illness?
○ School psychologist
■ Strategies that help with learning in a school environment
○ Consumer psychologist
■ What motivates consumers to purchase?
○ Forensic psychologist
■ Was the accused mentally competent at the time of the crime?
● Professional organizations
○ American psychological association
○ Association for psychological science
● Roots,schools and perspectives
○ Philosophical roots
○ Nature nurture people
■ Plato-soul before birth
■ Aristotle-experiences in nature
■ Descartes-separate entities
■ Fechner-mind body connection
● History of psychology
○ Psychophysics
○ Structuralism
○ Functionalism
○ Freud's psychodynamic theory
○ Behaviorism
○ Reaction against behaviorism
■ Cognitive revolution
■ Humanistic psychology
○ Biological revolution
● Structuralism
○ Wundt and titchener (late 1800’s)
■ Structure of mind:basic reactions to stimuli
■ Method:introspection
● Functionalism
○ James(late 1800’s)
○ Biological emphasis,especially on darwin
○ environment (adapting to change)
○ Methods: introspection and direct observation
● Freudian (psychoanalysis)
○ Subconscious mechanisms (ID,EGO,Superego)
○ Methods:
■ Dream analysis
■ Word association
Unit 1: Science of Psychology and behaviors
● What is psychology?
○ Science-behavior
○ Goals
○ Subdisciplines
● Origins of psychology as a science
○ Biological and philosophical roots
○ History of scientific approach
● Scientific study of behaviors
● Goals of psychological research
● Subfields of psychology
○ Basic
■ Pure science:
● Description,prediction,explanation
○ Applied(control)
■ Use scientific knowledge
■ Helping solve real world problems
■ Example: using a mouse to push a button to get food and the more food
they get the more they will push the button
○ Biological-focus on the brain,brain chemistry
○ Behavior analysis-nurture,learning,things that happen to you in your life
○ Cognitive-specific behaviors such as;thinking,problem solving,thoughts,short/long
term memory
○ Industrial-organizational-specific behaviors in the workplace:time
management,problem solving,difficulty with coworkers
○ Developmental-changes in behavior from one point in life to the other
○ Social-both dependent and independent that are social,sharing,helping people if
they are hurt
○ Personality-patterns of behavior,consistencies (OCD)
○ Clinical-anything that addresses an illness,assessment,help people overcome
their symptoms of illness.
● Why examine human behavior
○ Root of most problems in the world
○ Curiosity
● Depression at differing levels of explanation
a. Socal level
i. Loss of relationships
b. Behavioral level
i. Decrease in pleasurable behavior
ii. Withdrawn from others
c. Mental level
, i. Depressed thoughts
d. neurological/psychological
i. Size and functioning of the brain
e. Neurochemical level
i. Brain chemicals
f. Molecular level
i. Peoples genes
● Research goals: level of understanding
○ Goals very by subfield
○ Common goals
■ Describe:describe or report what is observed
■ Predict: predict behaviors mathematical relationships between events
■ Explain: determine cause-effect,manipulate variables. The only way this
can be done is by group design.
■ Control: use research findings to shape,modify, and control behavior
● Five factors make studying psychology difficult
○ Explain why psychology is more than just common sense
● Human behavior is difficult to predict
○ Actions are multiply determined
● Influences are rarely independent of each other
● People display individual differences
● People influence one another
○ Reciprocal determinism
● Behaviors is shaped by culture
○ emic( within-culture) vs. etic approaches (cross-cultural)
● Biases working against science
● Confirmation bias
○ seeking/noticing only supporting evidence
○ Example: going into an interview and noticing the appearance of the persons
planner having tabs. You now have the bias of thinking they are OCD
● Native realism
○ Belief that the world is as we perceive it to be
● Belief perseverance-hard to change someone's belief
● Distinctions between:
○ Science (e.g., psychology)
■ Testable,evidence based,theory-driven
○ Metaphysics (e.g., religion)-acceptance of a different input (also having other
beliefs beyond science)
■ Untestable,outside realm of science
○ Pseudo-science (e.g., ESP, astrology)-approach that pretends to be
scientific( includes bias and used in media)
■ Testable but untested, not supported by evidence.
,● 6 critical thinking principles
○ Identify and explain the texts six principles of scientific thinking
■ Ruling out rival hypotheses
■ Consider alternate explanations
● Correlation isn't causation
● Falsifiability: can the claim be disproven?
● Replicability
● Question:how can we better understand the problem of substance abuse?
○ Biological
■ How does activity in certain areas of the brain change while under the
influence of a particular drug?
○ Behavior analysis
■ How does punishment affect rate of drug use?
○ Industrial organizational
○ Cognitive
■ Do certain patterns of thinking increase risk for substance abuse?
○ Developmental psychology
■ Do adults in their early 20’s engage in more recreational substance use
than those in there
○ Socal
■ What kinds of social cues affect a teens tendency to experiment with
drugs?
○ Personality
○ Clinical
● Review questions
a. The brain produces natural opiates that ease pain and elevate mood (T)
b. Most mothers are depressed after their children grow up (T/F)-clinical
c. There are detectable differences between ale and female brains (T)-biological
d. The amount of information that can be stored in human memory is
limited(cognitive)
e. The most common form of schizophrenia is split personality(F)-Clinical
f. Children act more aggressively if the observe aggressive models, only if models
behavior is rewarded (T)
g. Most people who lose weight eventually gain it back(T)-clinical
h. Without professional help,people who suffer psychological disorders inevitably
get worse(F)
i. Most people would help a stranger in trouble(F)-socal
j. 50% of 3 year olds have tantrums, whereas only 25% of 5 year olds do(T)-
developmental
k. Preschoolers will share more often if rewarded for doing so(T)behavior analysis
● Applied subfields
, ○ Clinical neuropsychologist
■ Behavior effect of disease or trauma
○ Heath psychologist
■ What behaviors maintain health/prevent illness?
○ School psychologist
■ Strategies that help with learning in a school environment
○ Consumer psychologist
■ What motivates consumers to purchase?
○ Forensic psychologist
■ Was the accused mentally competent at the time of the crime?
● Professional organizations
○ American psychological association
○ Association for psychological science
● Roots,schools and perspectives
○ Philosophical roots
○ Nature nurture people
■ Plato-soul before birth
■ Aristotle-experiences in nature
■ Descartes-separate entities
■ Fechner-mind body connection
● History of psychology
○ Psychophysics
○ Structuralism
○ Functionalism
○ Freud's psychodynamic theory
○ Behaviorism
○ Reaction against behaviorism
■ Cognitive revolution
■ Humanistic psychology
○ Biological revolution
● Structuralism
○ Wundt and titchener (late 1800’s)
■ Structure of mind:basic reactions to stimuli
■ Method:introspection
● Functionalism
○ James(late 1800’s)
○ Biological emphasis,especially on darwin
○ environment (adapting to change)
○ Methods: introspection and direct observation
● Freudian (psychoanalysis)
○ Subconscious mechanisms (ID,EGO,Superego)
○ Methods:
■ Dream analysis
■ Word association
