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“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.” (Chinese Proverb). What is psychology?. The science of human behaviour. An Introduction to Psychology. Psychology is the science of the mind and behaviour
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“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.” (Chinese Proverb)
What is psychology? The science of human behaviour
Psychology is the science of the mind and behaviour • The human mind is the most complex machine on Earth. • It is the source of all thought and behaviour • The ultimate goal of Psychology is to benefit society • Research in Psychology is influential in social policies
Summer work Task • Use this PowerPoint to complete pages 2-8 of the activity workbook to demonstrate your understanding of the topics • Plan and carry out your own research
Psychological Investigations • Psychologists are interested in explaining human behaviour and often conduct investigations to support their theories • Note: experiments are just one way of investigating human behaviour. Unless you are specifically talking about the use of experiments, the correct term is investigation.
Research Methods Experimental Non-experimental
Research Methods Non-experimental Experimental Observations Case Studies Laboratory experiments Field experiments Surveys/ Self report techniques Natural experiments Questionnaires Interviews Correlational analysis
What is an aim? A general statement of why the study is being carried out.
Hypothesis • A statement not a question • A statement that can be tested. • It is a prediction of what the research will find.
Aim Hypothesis Experimental Hypothesis: All types of experiments Lab Natural Field Quasi Alternative Hypothesis All types of non-experimental research methods Social surveys Observations
Aim There are two types of hypothesis: Directional/ one tailed Non-directional/ two tailed Hypothesis Alternative Hypothesis Experimental Hypothesis Directional Non-directional Directional Non-directional
Directional Hypothesis • States that there will be a difference between two conditions/ groups • States the kind of differences or relationship between two conditions or groups of participants • States which condition will do better or worse
Non-directional Hypothesis • States that there will be a difference between two conditions/ groups • It does notstate what the difference will be. • It does not states which condition will do better or worse
Variables • Variables are anything that can change or vary, be measured or controlled. • Psychologists are interested in the relationship between variables
Examples of Variables • Age • Class • Gender • Ethnicity • IQ scores • Reading scores • Arithmetic scores
Variables Independent variables (IV) are the variables whose cause the change in dependant variables Dependant variables (DV) is dependant on the changes brought by the independent variable CONTROL
Variables Independent variables (IV) are the variables whose cause the change in dependant variables Dependant variables (DV) is dependant on the changes brought by the independent variable Extraneous/ confounding variables: These are the variables that the researcher has no control over & could ultimately effect the outcome of the experiment.
Psychological Investigations How many humans are in the world? Can psychologist study the behaviour of all these people? Explain your answer
Participants Target population? All the people who share characteristics which the researcher wishes to draw conclusions from
What is the problem with target populations? • Too largeto be investigated • A sampleof the target population is to be investigated instead
Samples Identify one problem with samples Unrepresentative = Target population Sample of target population/ sample
If the sample used in an investigation is unrepresentative of the target population then it is likely that we can not generalise the findings of that investigation to people who were not investigated. The investigation will have low population validity.
