Psychology 101 Ticket # 32121 M-218

1. Psychology 101Ticket # 32121M-218 Melissa Ferguson, PhD T/Th 7:30-8:45

2. Required Text: Invitation to Psychology 4th ed. Wade & Tavris (2008) ISBN: 9780131750630 • Viking Bookstore • (562) 938-4225 ext. 2462 • Hours: 7:30 am – 7 pm M-Th 7:30 am – 2:30 pm Fri, closed Sa/Su • Online

3. Psych 101Melissa Ferguson • Email: mferguson@lbcc.edu • Office: • Office Hours: after class and by appt

4. Melissa Ferguson, PhD • BA Psychology – SDSU • Developmental Psych Research • MA Psychology – SDSU • Physiological Psych Research • PhD Neuroscience – USC • Aging & Plasticity in the brain • Postdoc Biochemistry – USC • Aging

5. Psych 101Course Description • Survey course on: • Science of Psychology • Development, Learning, Memory, Thinking, Motivation, Emotion, Perception, Abnormal Psychology, Biology of Behavior • Critical & Scientific Thinking • Gender, Ethnic, & Cultural Differences • You will be tested on: • Text, lectures, class discussions, assignments, group activities and other multimedia supplements

6. Tests • 3 mid-term exams • Multiple choice • You will need to THINK CRITICALLY • Active review session if time permits • FINAL EXAM • Cumulative • OPTIONAL • NO MAKEUP EXAMS!!!

7. Quizzes and Assignments • Quizzes: • 3 reading quizzes  1 per section • 10 questions = 10 points = 30 points toward total grade • Will be announced IN CLASS • Combination MC, T/F, fill in blank, & short answer • Assignments: • 3 writing assignments = 25 points each • = 75 points toward final grade

8. Attendance Points • Attendance Points: • 2 points/day starting Jan 26= 50 points total • If you are late or leave early, you risk getting only half the points for that day • Can raise (or lower) your grade! • Perfect attendance = 5 extra points!

9. Extra Credit • Not a requirement • Not guaranteed to raise your grade • Opportunities throughout the semester

10. FINAL GRADE CALCULATIONNO CURVE 90-100% of total possible points = A 80-89% of total possible points = B 70-79% of total possible points = C 60-69% of total possible points = D Below 60% of total possible points = F Tests = 3 Exam Scores (x 100 points each) = 300 points Assignments (3 x 10 points each) = 75 points Quizzes (3 x 10 points each) = 30 points Attendance Points = 50 points Total = 455 points

11. Miscellaneous • Questions • Please feel free to ask questions throughout the class as I want to encourage discussions

12. What is Psychology? Learning Objectives: • Why is psychology a science, and how can it be distinguished from pseudoscience and folk wisdom? • How did psychology come to be a science, i.e. what is its history? • Understand the focus of the major perspectives, and how each explains and understands thoughts feelings and behavior. • How do the potential jobs in psychology differ from one another in their training, and background? • Be able to distinguish between psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts

13. What is Psychology • How do you know that George Washington was the first President of the United States? • Authority • We trust the authority of historians and history books • How do you know you really have a stomach? • What makes you so sure the sun will rise tomorrow? • Reason • Deductive reasoning • Inductive reasoning • Are you sure you don’t have a big hole in the back of your pants? • How do you know the color of the shirt I am wearing? • Observation

14. chapter 1 What is psychology? Psychology is Empirical • It relies on evidence gathered by careful observation, experimentation, or measurement Definition: The discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s physical state, mental state, and external environment.

15. chapter 1 What Psychology is NOT… • Psychobabble • Self-help books • Talk shows • Pseudoscience • Handwriting analysis • Astrology • Common Sense • Your baby will be smarter if he/she listens to classical music • Abused children will become abusive parents

16. chapter 1 • Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) • 1879 established first psychological laboratory • Trained introspection • Self- observation and description Psychology’s past • Phrenology • Bumps on the skull, are thought to related to the size of the underlying ‘organs’ in the brain and account for specific character and personality traits

17. chapter 1 • Psychoanalysis • Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) • Belief that physical symptoms have mental causes, resulting from internal conflict and emotional trauma that was not resolved during ones childhood. Psychology’s past • Functionalism • Emphasized function or purpose of behavior - how and why • William James (1842-1910) • broadened field of psychology to include the study of children, animals, religious experiences, and stream of consciousness

18. For next class • Get textbook! • Read Ch 1 – at least through Critical Thinking Guidelines

19. Last Class in Review • What is Psychology? • A science that relies on empirical evidence gathered by observation, experimentation or measurement • It examines behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by the physical and mental state, as well as the external environment • It is NOT psychobabble, a pseudoscience or simply common sense • What are the foundations of modern psychology, i.e. psychology’s past? • Phrenology – bumps on skull relate to character • Wilhelm Wundt – first psychological lab, observation • Functionalism – how and why of behavior • Psychoanalysis – unconscious mind controls behavior • FREUD

20. What is Psychology?Major Perspectives and Jobs • Learning Objectives: • Understand the focus of the major perspectives, and how each explains and understands thoughts feelings and behavior. • How do the potential jobs in psychology differ from one another in their training, and background? • Be able to distinguish between psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts. • What are the 8 critical thinking guidelines that help in understanding psychological issues?

21. chapter 1 Major Psychological perspectives • Biological perspective • Learning perspective • Cognitive perspective • Sociocultural perspective • Psychodynamic perspective

22. Albert Einstein

23. chapter 1 The biological perspective Psychological approach that focuses on how genes, hormones, brain function, and other biological factors affect behavior, feelings, perceptions, and thoughts

24. chapter 1 The learning perspective Emphasizes how the environment and experience affect a person’s or animal’s actions • Behaviorists • Focus on environmental rewards and punishers • Observation is key • Social-Cognitive • Combines behavioralism with research on thoughts, values, and intentions • Environment, imitation, and internal thoughts influences behavior

25. chapter 1 The cognitive perspective Psychological approach that emphasizes what goes on in people’s heads • Examines internal mental processes • Creativity • Perception • Thinking • Problem Solving • Memory • Language

26. chapter 1 The sociocultural perspective Psychological approach that emphasizes social and cultural forces outside the individual • Addresses ethnicity, gender, culture, and socio-economic status and how people’s behavior and outlook differ because of these factors.

27. chapter 1 The psychodynamic perspective Psychological approach that emphasizes unconscious dynamics within the individual, such as inner forces, conflicts, or the movement of instinctual energy • Unconscious thoughts, desires, and conflicts • Outgrowth from Freud

28. chapter 1 Humanist psychology Psychological approach that emphasizes personal growth and the achievement of human potential, rather than the scientific understanding of behavior • Free will, personal growth, resilience, • achievement of human potential and self- • fulfillment

29. What can you do with a background in Psychology? • Teaching and research at colleges and universities • Psychological practice • Research or application of psychology in non-academic settings

30. chapter 1 Psychological research Research in areas of basic or applied psychology • Experimental psychologists • Physiological psychologists • Developmental psychologists • Social psychologists • Educational psychologists • Industrial/organizational psychologists • Psychometric psychologists

31. chapter 1 Psychological practice • Counseling psychologists • help people deal with problems associated with everyday life • School psychologists • work to enhance student performance and provide • a supportive learning environment • Clinical psychologists • diagnose, treat, and study mental or emotional problems. • PhD, PsyD or EdD • Psychiatrists • diagnose, treat, and study mental or emotional problems • have an MD

32. chapter 1 Psychologists in other settings Sports Consumer issues Advertising Organizational problems Environmental issues Public policy Opinion polls Military training Animal behavior Legal issues

33. chapter 1 Critical thinking guidelines 1. Ask Questions 2. Define you terms 3. Examine the evidence 4. Analyze Assumptions and Biases 5. Avoid emotional reasoning 6. Don’t oversimplify 7. Consider other interpretations 8. Tolerate uncertainty

34. For Next Class • Finish reading Ch 1

35. Last class in review • 5 Psychological Perspectives • Biological – genes, hormones, brain function • Learning – environment and experience • Cognitive – what is in people’s heads • Sociocultural – ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status • Psychodynamic – unconsciousness • Plus Humanism – self- fulfillment and –achievement • Jobs in Psychology • Research – basic & applied • Practice – counseling, school psych, clinical • Other settings • Critical Thinking Guidelines

36. Critical Thinking Guidelines and Research Methods • Learning Objectives: • What are the 8 critical thinking guidelines that help in understanding psychological issues? • What are the defining elements of descriptive research? Can you give an example of a case study, observational study, a psychological test, and a survey? • What are positive and negative correlations and what do they look like?

37. Group Exercise • Work in groups of 3-4 • Identify the critical thinking guidelines that were violated in the stories presented on the handout

38. Methods used to gather empirical evidence • Descriptive Studies • Correlations • Experiments

39. chapter 1 Descriptive methods Methods that yield descriptions of behavior, but not necessarily causal explanations • Case Studies • Observational Studies • Tests • Surveys

40. chapter 1 Case studies A detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated, which may be used to formulate broader research hypotheses • Most commonly used by clinicians • Occasionally used by researchers

41. Observational studies Researchers carefully and systematically observe and record behavior without interfering with behavior • Naturalistic observation • Natural environments • Laboratory observation • Controlled setting

42. Rorschach Inkblot Test Psychological tests Procedures used to measure and evaluate personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, and values • Objective - inventories • Projective – ambiguous stimuli

43. Psychological tests cont. • Characteristics of a good test include: • Standardization • Reliability • Validity • content & criterion

44. Surveys Questionnaires and interviews that ask people about experiences, attitudes, or opinions • Representative sample • Group of subjects, selected from the population for study, which matches the population on important characteristics such as age and sex • Volunteer Bias

45. Correlational study A descriptive study that looks for a consistent relationship between two phenomena • Correlation • A statistical measure of how strongly • two variables are related to one another • Correlational coefficients can range from • 0.0 – 1.0 • negative or positive

46. Positive correlations An association between increases in one variable and increases in another, or decreases in one variable and decreases in the other. Negative correlations An association between increases in one variable and decreases in another. Direction of correlations

47. Scatterplots Correlations can be represented by scatterplots.

48. Your turn What kind of correlation is this? 1. Positive 2. Negative 3. No correlation

49. Your turn What kind of correlation is this? 1. Positive 2. Negative 3. No correlation

50. Correlations do NOT prove Cause and Effect! • It is very important to remember that just because 2 variables are correlated, that doesn’t mean that 1 causes the other • X and Y are positively correlated • X causes Y • Y causes X • X and Y can be the result of variable Z