Unit 1: Psychology’s Roots, Big Ideas, & Critical Thinking - PowerPoint Presentation

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Unit 1: Psychology’s Roots, Big Ideas, & Critical Thinking

Psychology’s Roots

Four Big Ideas in Psych

Why Do Psychology?

How do psychologists Ask & Answer Questions?Slide2

Unit 1: Psych’s Roots, Big Ideas, & Critical Thinking

1.)

Objective 1: How has psychology’s focus changed over time?

early philosophers asked big questions about lifeWilhelm Wundt – “father of psychology”start of psychology1st psych labattempt to measureFreudian PsychologyStudy unconscious thoughts & childhood memories

500 BCE

mental processes

1879

believed psychology was the

science of mental life

1900Slide3

Objective 1: How has psychology’s focus changed over time?

1920s

John Watson & B.F. Skinner

“scientific study of observable behavior.” no reference to mental processesSlide4

Objective 1: How has psychology’s focus changed over time?

1960s

Humanistic Psychology

positive environment & growth potential1990sCognitive PsychologyBack to studying mental processesStudy scientifically (brain scans, etc…)Slide5

Psychology…

Science of

Behavior

Mental Processes

AND

logos

= study ofpsyche = soulSlide6

What

event defined the start of

scientific psychology?Slide7

Psychology’s Timeline – PsychSim5

3 pages

MAKE NEAT – use rulers

Slides 5 - 9 – 13 Slide8

Objective 2: What are psychology’s current perspectives & its subfields

PERSPECTIVE

FOCUS

Neuroscience (Biological)How the body & brain enable emotions (pain messages, blood chemistry & mood, etc…)Behavioral How we learn observable responses (are we simply products of our environment)

CognitiveHow we encode, perceive/interpret, store & retrieve information

PsychodynamicHow

behavior springs from unconscious drives & conflictsSocioculturalHow behavior & thinking vary

across situations & cultures

How the effects the mental

All behavior is a result of reward/punishment (no mental process)

How we solve problems – what we remember.

Cause of behavior is rooted in childhood & in unconsciousSlide9

Objective 3: Explain the four big ideas that are themes throughout this course.

Critical Thinking is Smart Thinking

Behavior is a

Biopsychosocial EventWe Operate With a Two-Track Mind (dual-processing)Psychology Explores Human Challenges as Well as Human StrenghtsSlide10

1. Critical Thinking is Smart Thinking

science supports thinking that examines

assumptions,weighs

evidence, & tests conclusionsquestions smart psychologists ask…How do we know that?Who benefits from this?Is the conclusion based on science or intuition?Slide11

Critical Thinking & Statistics…

Theory 1:

Emergency room admissions caused by wife abuse increase after the Super Bowl especially in the city of the losing team.

Theory actually made up by group attempting to draw attention to the issue. Point: Common sense is no substitute for science. Just b/c something might be true doesn’t mean it is true.Slide12

Theory 2:

Talking on a cell phone while driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving.

Chances of being killed by a drunk driver are

18 in 1 million.Chances of making a call on cell phone & being involved in a fatality accident are 13 in 1 million.Difference of 5 in 1 million…..Is that statistically significant? Meaning does the difference make a difference? Is 5 a big enough # that it didn’t just occur by chance?

Point: Pay attention to the significance of numbers. Slide13

Theory 3:

Men speak 10,000 word per day. Women speak 35,000 words a day; therefore women communicate more than men

Is it possible to use many words and not say much?

Is it possible to communicate without using words?Point: It is possible to start with a statistic that is true and draw a wrong conclusion. You can have true statistics and still have false conclusions. Slide14

2

. Behavior is a

Biopsychosocial

Eventpsychologists must view behavior from many levelsBiologicalPsychologicalSocialEverything psychological is simultaneously biological Nature – Nurture DebateSlide15

3.

Two-Track Mind

conscious and automatic (dual processing)

We do things w/o knowing it4. Exploring Human StrengthPositive Psychology (Martin Seligman)build a “good life”build a “meaningful life”Slide16

Does the finding strike you as surprising or not surprising?

Research has found people with

low

self-esteem are susceptible to flattery. Research has found people with high self-esteem are susceptible to flattery. Slide17

Case Study: Andrea Yates

BIOLOGICAL

BEHAVIORAL

PSYCHODYNAMIC

Soc-

Cul

COGNITIVESlide18

Objective 4:

What are some limits on or intuition and common sense?

Are lie detectors accurate?

Is eyewitness testimony reliable?Does the death penalty prevent murder?Do states with the death penalty have lower homicide rates have?After states pass death penalty laws, do homicide rates go down?Do homicide rates rise in states that abandon the death penalty?NO

NO

NOSlide19

Lab #1: Testing Intuition

Experimenter:

last name/class period

Subject: last name Trial # Switch Correct Wrong Stay Correct Wrong

20 TrialsSlide20

Objective 4:

What are some limits on or intuition and common sense?

HINDSIGHT BIAS

“I-knew-it-all-along-phenomenon”“Absence makes the heart grow fonder”“Out of sight is out of mind.”If two opposite findings make sense, need science to prove.Slide21

How many seconds will it take you to unscramble the following 3 words?

WREAT

ETRYN

GRABESlide22

WREAT = WATER

ETRYN = ENTRY

GRABE = BARGE

10 seconds vs 3 minutesOVERCONFIDENCESlide23

Point to Remember…

Hindsight Bias

&

Overconfidence often lead us to overestimate our intuition.Using the scientific method can help us separate reality from illusion.Slide24
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Slide26

A.Y. Perspectives Paper

After you have categorized your observations, you are to write a formal analysis of your findings.

In paragraph form, you will introduce A.Y. and her crime, define each perspective and select one piece of information from each perspective to explain A.Y.’s behaviorSlide27

A.Y. Paper Rubric

Paragraph 1:

Intro to A.Y. crime (brief)

Paragraph 2: Define biological perspective & include one piece of evidence from A.Y. life to support this perspective. Paragraph 3: Define behavioral perspective & include one piece of evidence from A.Y. life to support this perspective. Paragraph 4: Define cognitive perspective & include one piece of evidence from A.Y. life to support this perspective.

Paragraph 5: Define psychodynamic perspective & include one piece of evidence from A.Y. life to support this perspective.

Paragraph 6: Define social-cultural perspective

& include one piece of evidence from A.Y. life to support this perspective. Paragraph 7: Conclude with which perspective you feel best explains why A.Y. did what she did. Must include explanation as to

why you believe this.

3 points

3 points

3 points

3 points

3 points

5 points

2 points

3 points

25 points

Due Wednesday