A Historical Overview of Psychology: From Empiricism to Modern Approaches - Prof. Jennifer, Study notes of Psychology

Download A Historical Overview of Psychology: From Empiricism to Modern Approaches - Prof. Jennifer and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Psychology 2000 Chapter 1 - Introduction to the History and Science of Psychology Psychology – study of the human mind and behavior Can trace many of psychology’s current questions back through human history Origins of thoughts, emotions Empiricism – a. all knowledge comes from experience through senses b. sciences flourishes through observation and experimentation John Locke – tabula rasa – blank slate (born with ability and reflexes but not knowledge) Approaches to Psychology Wundt and Titchener – Structuralism Wundt established first psychological lab in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879. Edward Titchener brought Wundt’s ideas to the U.S. Wundt defined psychology as study of structure of conscious experience. Introspection – participants (P’s) were exposed to different type of stimuli, then reported their sensations and feelings that were associated with that stimuli. Gestalt psychology – you can’t study perception by breaking it down into its structural parts – you had to look at the experience as a whole. Wertheimer. Based on the observation, we often experience things that are not a part of our simple sensations. Movies Phi phenomenon – we perceive motion where there is nothing more than a rapid sequence of individual sensory events Built to experience structured whole as well as individual sensations See patterns even where non exist Psychoanalysis – Sigmund Freud believed that humans are motivated mainly by violent, sexual drives. Eros (natural instinct towards life) and Thanatos (our natural instinct towards violence, death, and destruction). Psychological problems resulted when we try to fit these unacceptable drives into acceptable behavior. Functionalism – stressed the functions of behavior in enabling people and animals to adapt to their environment. William James Natural selection – the environment selects individuals who possess some characteristic that contributes to survival. Survival of the fittest – organisms that possess characteristics that fit the survival requirements for a particular environmental setting “survive” in the sense of successfully passing on their genes. William James A Brief History of Psychology Behaviorism Theoretical – environment is the primary determinant of thought and behavior. Methodological – Watson said that the subject of matter of psychology should be restricted exclusively to the environmental inputs and observable responses of organisms, including humans. Approaches to Psychology (continued) Cognitive Approach – focuses on how we take in, mentally represent, store info; how we perceive or process that info; and how cognitive processes are related to beh. Example: getting get off in traffic 1. Perception 2. Recall 3. Decision 4. Labeling 5. Consideration 6. Selection 7. Enactment Humanistic Approach – AKA the phenomenological approach – focuses on each person’s ability to choose how he or she will think and act. Humans are basically good, we are in control of ourselves, and we all have an inborn tendency to grow towards our highest potentials. The eclectic orientation – doesn’t stick to one theory exclusively. Takes the best of several different theories. Design study/collect data Analyze data Descriptive statistics – summarizes data. Mean, variability Inferential statistics – compare groups Discuss implications of research findings Publish and replicate Publish findings Replicate study Replicate exact study Replicate study with systematic variation of relevant variables Build theory Types of Research Descriptive research – systematic observations No causation or prediction Case study: focus on one individual only at a time. It is used in the field when a subject is new and not thoroughly discussed by others. Survey: to find opinion or information from large groups of people at a time. The wording of the instruction or question have a great impact on how people respond. Naturalistic observation Hawthorne effect – people change their behavior when they know they are being observed. Correlational research – enables prediction Cannot introduce variable for ethical/logistic reasons Correlation coefficient – degree of relationship between two or more variables. How strongly correlated two things are two each other. Positive correlation coefficient – they change in the same direction Negative correlation coefficient – they change in opposite direction Range – zero to absolute 1.00 Zero – there is no correlation 1.0 – there is total correlation CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION!! Experimental research – causal relationship Need a sample of the population – everyone who could be involved in your research. Representative sample – accurately reflects characteristics of population. Random sample – each participant in population is equally likely to be chosen. Convenience samples – whoever is on hand Variables Independent variable – IV – manipulated by experimenter Dependent variable – DV – shows any effects of IV Experimental groups – exposed to IV Control group – not exposed to IV Extraneous variable – AKA confounding variable – anything other than IV that causes changes in DV Experimenter bias – accidently signal to participant how they are expected to respond Double-blind design – neither experimenter or participant know what group they are in Ethnocentrism – same stimulus may mean very different things to people in different cultures. Participant expectancy effects – participant change their behavior to please the experimenter and not because of the independent variable Social desirability response, AKA participant bias: