[Intro. to Psy Course Note] Ch 1

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Psychology, Critical Thinking, and Science

Definition: scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes.

Why is common sense not enough ?

  • Ignore the need for critical scientific inquiry.
  • Uncritical acceptance of a given piece of information
    • The info comes from a trusted source
    • A lack of significant, supporting evidence
    • Hearing the claim made over and over again
    • A desire for the assertion to be true
  • Confirmation bias
    • We attend only to data that support our belief and ignore data that refuse them
  • Pseudoscience
    • Might involve claims that appear to be legitimate or scientific but fail to satisfy any true scientific standard
      • Astrology
      • Superstition
      • Phrenology
      • Graphology
  • Empiricism
    • To improve on “commonsense” knowledge using scientific observation rather than casual observation
      • Systematic (carefully planned)
      • Intersubjective (confirmable by more than one observer)

Why is introspection unreliable ?

  • Structuralism
    • Stimuli <=> Response
    • The study of sensations and personal experience analyzed a basic elements
    • Elements of mind
    • Introspection: all human mental experience can be understood as combination of simple elements or events
  • Gestalt psychology
    • Study experiences of thinking, learning, perception as whole units, not by analyzing them into parts
  • Functionalism
    • Study of psychology that considers behavior in terms of active adaptions
    • How the mind, perception, habits and emotions help us adapt and survive
  • Shortcomings of introspection
    • Imageless thought 無形象思考
      • Mental processes of which are not subjectively aware; not open to introspection (= cognitive unconscious 潛意識認知)
      • e.g., series position on shopper’s preference
  • Introspection is not the best way to study the mind but why it is still widely used ?
    • Self-report data: info provided by participants about their own thoughts, emotions or behavior

How did psychology deal with the limitations of introspection ?

  • Behaviorism 行為主義
    • Stimuli <=> Response
    • Classical conditioning 古典制約
    • Operant conditioning 操作制約
  • Psychoanalysis
    • Sigmund Freud
      • Behavior is largely influenced by unconscious wishes, thoughts, and desires, especially sex and aggression
      • Repression occurs when threatening thoughts are unconsciously held out of awareness
      • Dynamic unconscious
      • Psychodynamic theories 心理動力: internal motives, conflicts, unconscious forces
  • Humanism
    • Free will
    • Ability to choose one’s own path was the correct approach
    • Positive growth and striving for self-actualization
  • Biopsychology
    • 反正就是科學

How do cognitive psychologists objectively study subjective mental process ?

  • Phenomenon that cannot be directly observed
  • Thinking, memory, intelligence
  • The importance of operational definition 操作型定義: specifying exactly what is being examined and how it is described and measured

What is the biopsychosocial model ?

  • Biological, psychological, social factors interact to influence human behavior and metals processes
  • Biological perspective
  • Psychological perspective
  • Social perspective
    • Social norms
    • Cultural relativity
  • Positive psychology
    • Human strength, virtues, optimal behavior

How are critical thinking and the scientific method used to archive the goals of contemporary psychology ?

  • Goals of psychology
    • Description (What ?)
    • Understanding / explanation (Why ?)
    • Prediction (Will it occur again ? If so, how ?)
    • Control (How can we influence or affect behavior)
  • Five principles of critical thinking
    • Few truths transcend the need for logical analysis and empirical testing
    • Authority or claimed expertise does not automatically make an idea true or false
    • Judging the quality of the evidence is crucial
    • Open mind
    • Try to show “true” is false: Falsification 否證
  • Operational definition 操作型定義
    • Goal focus: 離目標還有多少
    • Achievement focus: 已經做了多少 => 里程碑

How is an experiment performed ?

  • Randomly assign (IMPORTANT)
    • Experimental groups: experience the independent variable
    • Control groups: do NOT experience independent variable
  • Independent variable 導致 dependent variable
  • Controlling extraneous variables
  • Statistically significant 統計上顯著
  • Meta-analysis 後設分析: a study of results of other studies

Double-blind study

  • Double-blind study: research in which neither the observer nor the subjects know which subjects received which treatment
  • Single-blind study: research in which the subjects do now know which treat they receive
  • Subjects 受試者
  • Participants 參與者

What descriptive research method do psychologist use ?

  • Naturalistic observation
    • Observer effect 觀察者效應: changes in subjects behavior caused by an awareness of being observed
  • Correlational research
    • Examine the relationship between two variables WITHOUT drawing cause-and-effect conclusions
    • Correlation coefficient
  • Case study / clinical method
  • Survey method
    • Self-report data
    • Easy to do and can gather large amounts of data
    • BUT:
      • does the sample used represent the larger population from which it was drawn ?
      • is the sample biased ?
      • are the participants honest ?