What is Psychology

What is Psychology? • What do Psychologists do? • What do we study in Psychology? • Who are some prominent psycholgists? What About Intuition & Common Sense? Many people believe that intuition and common sense are enough to bring forth answers regarding human nature. Intuition and common sense may aid queries, but they are not free of error. Madeleine L’Engle – “The naked intellect is an extraordinarily inaccurate instrument.” 2 Limits of Intuition Personal interviewers may rely too much on their “gut feelings” when meeting with job applicants. Taxi/ Getty Images 3 Errors of Common Sense Try this ! Fold a piece of paper (0.1 mm thick) 100 times. How thick will it be? 800,000,000,000,000 times the distance between the sun and the earth. 4 Hindsight Bias Hindsight Bias is the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon. After learning the outcome of an event, many people believe they could have predicted that very outcome. We only knew the dot.com stocks would plummet after they actually did plummet. 5 Overconfidence Sometimes we think we know more than we actually know. Anagram How long do you think it would take to unscramble these anagrams? People said it would take about 10 seconds, yet on average they took about 3 minutes (Goranson, 1978). WREAT ETYRN GRABE WATER ENTRY BARGE 6 Limits of Intuition • False Consensus Effect: – We think more people hold the opinions that we do and behave the way we do – People who cheat on their taxes or break speed limits tend to think many others do likewise. • Confirmation Bias – We have a tendency to search for evidence that confirms our perceptions. – We want to verify our ideas, not refute them. 7 The Scientific Attitude The scientific attitude is composed of curiosity (passion for exploration), skepticism (doubting and questioning) and humility (ability to accept responsibility when wrong). 8 Critical Thinking Critical thinking does not accept arguments and conclusions blindly. It examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions. The Amazing Randi Courtesy of the James Randi Education Foundation 9 A Critical Thinker is 1) Open-minded – open to surprises and new perspectives. 2) Able to identify inherent biases and assumptions. They know that people’s beliefs and experiences shape the way they view and interpret their worlds. 3) Practices an attitude of skepticism. They reexamine their own ideas. They understand our own vulnerability to error. 4) Distinguish facts from opinions. Look for evidence. 5) Don’t oversimplify. They realize that the world is complex and there may be multiple causes for behavior. 6) Use the processes of logical inference. They carefully examine the info given and recognize inconsistencies in statements and conclusions. 7) Review all the available evidence before reaching a conclusion. They will consult diverse sources of information and consider a variety of positions before making a judgment. 10 Psychology’s Big Question Nature versus Nurture The controversy over the relative contributions of biology and experience. Nurture works on what nature endows. 11 Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis 12 Psychology’s Current Perspectives Perspective Neuroscience Focus How the body and brain enables emotions? Sample Questions How are messages transmitted in the body? How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives? How does evolution influence behavior tendencies? Evolutionary How the natural selection of traits the promotes the perpetuation of one’s genes? Behavior genetics How much our genes and our environments influence our individual differences? To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and vulnerability to depression attributable to our genes? To our environment? 13 Psychology’s Current Perspectives Perspective Psychodynamic Focus How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts? Sample Questions How can someone’s personality traits and disorders be explained in terms of sexual and aggressive drives or as disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas? Behavioral How we learn observable responses? How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, say to lose weight or quit smoking? 14 Psychology’s Current Perspectives Perspective Cognitive Focus How we encode, process, store and retrieve information? How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures? Sample Questions How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Problem solving? How are we — as Africans, Asians, Australians or North Americans – alike as members of human family? As products of different environmental contexts, how do we differ? Social-cultural 15 Psychology’s Subfields: Research Psychologist Biological Developmental Cognitive Personality Social What she does Explore the links between brain and mind. Study changing abilities from womb to tomb. Study how we perceive, think, and solve problems. Investigate our persistent traits. Explore how we view and affect one another. 16 Psychology’s Subfields: Applied Psychologist Clinical Counseling Educational Industrial/ Organizational What she does Studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders Helps people cope with academic, vocational, and marital challenges. Studies and helps individuals in school and educational settings Studies and advises on behavior in the workplace. 17 Clinical Psychology vs. Psychiatry A clinical psychologist (Ph.D.) studies, assesses, and treats troubled people with psychotherapy. Psychiatrists on the other hand are medical professionals (M.D.) who use treatments like drugs and psychotherapy to treat psychologically diseased patients. 18