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Thinking Critically With Psychological Science Chapter 1

Thinking Critically With Psychological Science Chapter 1. INSTRUCTOR. Melanie Mack Zabel, MS, CL Office: LDC 215, Desk A Email: mzabel@whatcom.ctc.edu Phone: 383-3809. Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed Research. How do I know I have found a scholarly paper? Abstract Author Affiliation

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Thinking Critically With Psychological Science Chapter 1

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  1. Thinking Critically With Psychological ScienceChapter 1

  2. INSTRUCTOR Melanie Mack Zabel, MS, CL Office: LDC 215, Desk A Email: mzabel@whatcom.ctc.edu Phone: 383-3809

  3. Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed Research • How do I know I have found a scholarly paper? • Abstract • Author Affiliation • Specialized Terminology • Graphs/Statistical Data • References

  4. PSYCHOLOGY TODAY The scientific study of • Behavior (what we do) • Mental processes (inner thoughts & feelings) • Perception, thinking, memory, & language Learner.org - Psychology: Past, Present, & Promise

  5. AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION • Largest organization of psychology with 160,000 members world-wide • Followed by the British Psychological Society with 34,000 members. http://www.apa.org/index.aspx

  6. PSYCHOLOGY’S THREE MAIN LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

  7. PSYCHOLOGY’S CURRENT PERSPECTIVES

  8. PSYCHOLOGY’S CURRENT PERSPECTIVES

  9. PSYCHOLOGY’S CURRENT PERSPECTIVES

  10. BASIC VS. APPLIED RESEARCH • Basic Research: Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base • Applied Research: Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

  11. BASIC RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY’S SUBFIELDS

  12. PSYCHOLOGY’S SUBFIELDS: APPLIED

  13. CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY VS. PSYCHIATRY • Clinical psychologist (Ph.D.): studies, assesses, and treats people who have psychological disorders • Psychiatrists (M.D.): medical professionals who sometimes provide medical treatment (such as drugs) as well as psychological therapy to individuals with psychological disorders

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  15. Why Study Psychology? Uninformed opinions are made into examined conclusions • Leads to our understanding of how people feel, think, and actas they do

  16. 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

  17. Limits of Intuition We overestimate our ability to • Detect lies • Provide eyewitness accounts • Assess interviewees • Predict risks Taxi/ Getty Images

  18. Two Common Errors • Hindsight Bias • “Knew it all along” phenomenon • Overconfidence • Tendency to think we know more than we do

  19. Hindsight Bias Implications • Jurors unable to ignore information when instructed by a judge • Second-guess decision makers after we know the outcome • We forget the previous state of our or others’ knowledge

  20. Overconfidence • There is no reason for anyone to have a computer in their home.Ken Olson, President of Digital Equipment Company, 1977 • Man will never reach the moon, regardless of all future scientific advances. Lee DeForest, inventor of the vacuum tube, 1957 • Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.Lord Kelvin, British mathematician, physicist, and President of the British Royal Society, 1895

  21. Overconfidence Sometimes we think we know more than we actually know. Anagram WREAT WATER ETYRN ENTRY How long do you think it would take to unscramble these anagrams? GRABE BARGE

  22. Overconfidence • Stems partly from confirmation bias • Tendency to search for information that confirms our preconceptions

  23. The Scientific Attitude • Curiosity • Passion for exploration • Skepticism • Doubting and questioning • Humility • Ability to accept responsibility when wrong

  24. Critical Thinking • Does not accept arguments and conclusions blindly • Examines assumptions • Discerns hidden values • Evaluates evidence • Assesses conclusions Courtesy of the James Randi Education Foundation The Amazing Randi

  25. How Do Psychologists Ask & Answer Questions? Psychologists, like all scientists, use the scientific method to construct theories that organize, summarize and simplify observations.

  26. Theory An explanation that • Integrates principles • Organizes observations & self-reports • Allows prediction of behavior or events under a set of circumstances Low self-esteem contributes to depression.

  27. Hypothesis A testable prediction • Often prompted by a theory • Enable us to accept, reject or revise the theory People with low self-esteem are apt to feel more depressed.

  28. Research Observations Research: requires us to administer tests of self-esteem and depression Individuals who score low on a self-esteem test and high on a depression test would confirm our hypothesis.

  29. Research Process

  30. Operational Definition • A statement of the procedures used to define research variables • Allows for replication & expansion of research • Often requires development of multi-faceted survey • Must be objective and clearly stated

  31. Research Approaches • Descriptive • Naturalistic Observation • Correlational • Experimental

  32. Descriptive Methods • Used to describe behavior, not explain it • Case studies • Surveys • Naturalistic observation

  33. Describing and Observing Behavior and Mental Processes Case Study A technique in which one person is studied in depth to reveal underlying behavioral principles. Used to describe behavior - not explain it. Susan Kuklin/ Photo Researchers What can happen

  34. Survey A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people usually done by questioning a representative, random sample of people. Used to describe behavior - not to explain it. http://www.lynnefeatherstone.org

  35. Survey Random Sampling Each member of a population has an equal chance of inclusion into a sample = unbiased results If the survey sample is biased, its results are not a valid representation of the population. Sample Population

  36. Naturalistic Observation Observe behavior in a natural environment and record what we see Technique for describing behavior - not explaining it Courtesy of Gilda Morelli

  37. Correlation When one trait or behavior accompanies another, we say the two correlate • Positive correlation: when the amount of Variable A • increases, the amount of Variable B also increases or • when the amount of Variable A decreases, the amount • Of Variable B also decreases • Negative correlation: when the amount of Variable A • increases, the amount of Variable B decreases or when • the amount of Variable A decreases, the amount • of Variable B increases

  38. Indicates direction of relationship (positive or negative) Correlation coefficient Indicates strength of relationship (0.00 to 1.00) Correlation When one trait or behavior accompanies another, we say the two correlate Correlation Coefficient is a statistical measure of the relationship between two variables. r = + 0.37

  39. Scatterplots Perfect positive correlation (+1.00) Scatterplot a graph comprised of points that are generated by values of two variables • Slope depicts the direction • Amount of scatter depicts the strength of the relationship

  40. Scatterplots Perfect negative correlation (-1.00) No relationship (0.00)

  41. Data

  42. Scatterplot

  43. Correlation and Causation or Correlation does not mean causation!

  44. Do not conceive Conceive Adopt Confirming evidence Disconfirming evidence Do not adopt Disconfirming evidence Confirming evidence Illusory Correlation The perception of a relationship where no relationship actually exists. Parents conceive children after adoption. Michael Newman Jr./ Photo Edit

  45. Order in Random Events Given random data, we look for order and meaningful patterns.

  46. Order in Random Events Given large numbers of random outcomes, a few are likely to express order. Jerry Telfer/ San Francisco Chronicle Angelo and Maria Gallina won two California lottery games on the same day.

  47. Experimentation • Experiments isolate causes and their effects • Experiments are used to • Manipulate factors that interest us, • Other factors are kept under control Effects generated by manipulated factors isolate cause and effect relationships.

  48. Evaluating Therapies Double-blind Procedure In evaluating drug therapies, patients and experimenters’ assistants should remain unaware of which patients had the real treatment and which patients had the placebo treatment. Allows for unbiased interpretation of results.

  49. Evaluating Therapies Assigning participants randomly to either experimental or control (formula-fed) condition Minimizes pre-existing differences between the two groups Random Assignment

  50. Independent Variable A factor manipulated by the experimenter • Focus of the study

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