Psychology Notes: Chapter 1 Supplemental Notes

"Clever Hans"

Psychology: Scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Pseudopsychology: looks like psychology on the surface, but not done according to the scientific method
Psychology's Historical Roots

Wilhelm Wundt and Structuralism

Wundt founded the first laboratory/school of psychology in 1879
Devoted to uncovering basic structures that make up mind and thought
Used a method called Introspection as a way of attempting to study these structures

William James and Functionalism

Believed mental processes could best be understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and function
Influenced by Charles Darwin
James wrote the first psychology text book

Gestalt psychologists

Interested in how we (actively) construct “perceptual wholes”

Behaviorism

Argued psychology should deal solely with observable events

B.F. Skinner

John B. Watson

Psychoanalysis

Asserted mental disorders arise from conflicts in the unconscious mind

Sigmund Freud

Discovering Psychology Video

How do psychologists develop new knowledge?

By using the scientific method, and conducting an empirical investigation

Guided by a larger theory, an investigator proposes a hypothesis (which means "little theory") or specific prediction about the relationship between two variables

For the purposes of a study, a scientist must come up with operational definitions of the variables being studied

Afterwards, other researchers may attempt to replicate the study, to see if they get the same results.

Five types of psychological research

1. Experiments

Independent and Dependent Variables
Experimental and control groups
Use of placebos (in double-blind studies)
Random assignment

2. Correlational studies

Look for relationships between naturally occurring variables.

Strength of relationship is computed by a correlation coefficient, a number that indicates how well you can predict the value of one variable if you know the other.

Correlation coefficients range from -1.0 to +1.0.
The sign indicates direction, and the size indicates strength.