Module 1

Table of Contents
Table of Contents........................................................................................................................................1
1.2...............................................................................................................................................................3
4 goals.....................................................................................................................................................3
People......................................................................................................................................................3
1.4...............................................................................................................................................................7
Psychodynamic Perspective.....................................................................................................................7
Behavioral Perspective............................................................................................................................7
Humanistic Perspective...........................................................................................................................7
Cognitive Perspective..............................................................................................................................7
Sociocultural Perspective........................................................................................................................7
Biopsychological Perspective...................................................................................................................8
Evolutionary Perspective.........................................................................................................................8
1.5...............................................................................................................................................................8
Psychiatrist..............................................................................................................................................8
Psychoanalyst..........................................................................................................................................8
Psychiatric Social Worker........................................................................................................................8
Psychologist.............................................................................................................................................9
1.6..............................................................................................................................................................10
Scientific Method...................................................................................................................................10
1.7..............................................................................................................................................................10
Naturalistic Observation........................................................................................................................10
Laboratory Observation.........................................................................................................................10
1.8..............................................................................................................................................................11
Case Studies...........................................................................................................................................11
Surveys..................................................................................................................................................11
1.9..............................................................................................................................................................12
Correlations...........................................................................................................................................12
The Experiment.....................................................................................................................................12
1.10............................................................................................................................................................12
Module 1

The Variables.........................................................................................................................................12
The Groups............................................................................................................................................12
The Importance of Randomization........................................................................................................12
1.11............................................................................................................................................................13
Experimental Hazards: The Placebo Effect and the Experimenter Effect...............................................13
Single-Bling and Double-Blind Studies...................................................................................................13
1.12............................................................................................................................................................13
Teresa Amabile and the Effect of Extrinsic Reward on Creativity..........................................................13
Top Ten Practical Tips for Writing an AP Psychology Essay...................................................................14
1.13............................................................................................................................................................15
The Guidelines for Doing Research with People....................................................................................15
1.14............................................................................................................................................................15
The Criteria for Critical Thinking............................................................................................................15
Pseudopsychologies..............................................................................................................................16
Summary...................................................................................................................................................17
Vocabulary.................................................................................................................................................19
Module 1

1.2
4 goals :

 Description
o What?
o Observations
 Explanation
o Why?
o Theory
 Prediction
o What will happen
 Control
o Modification of behavior

A theory is a general explanation for a set of observations.

A behavior is an outward action or reaction of an individual. They can be observed.

Cognitions are mental processes, such as thoughts, perceptions, and attitudes.

People

Aristotle (350BC) wrote about the soul and the body in De Anima. Mind and body are not separate
(monism)

Plato (400BC), Aristotle’s teacher, believed the soul is separate from the body, known as dualism. We
are born with innate knowledge of the world.

Rene Decartes (1600) agrees with Plato and that the pineal gland was the seat of the soul. “I think,
therefore I am.”

John Lock (1650) disagrees with Decartes. Our minds are a blank slate (tabula rosa) that soak up the
knowledge of our experiences. Empiricism is the idea that knowledge comes from experience rather
than assumptions.

Gustav Fechner and Hermann von Helmholtz (1850) were the first scientists to perform scientific
experiments.
Module 1

In Germany 1879, Wilhelm Wendt (1870) applied scientific principles to the study of the human mind.
In his lab, students were taught to study the structure of the human mind. He believed that the mind is
made up of nonphysical stuff, such as thoughts, experiments, and emotions. Objective introspection is
the process of objectively examining one’s own thoughts. The attention to objectivity is why Wundt is
known as the “father of psychology.” “Wundt you like to be my father?”

One of Wendt’s students, Edward Titchener (1900) expanded on Wendt’s idea, calling his new
viewpoint structuralism because of the structure of the mind. He believed that an experience can be
broken down into indicidual emotions and sensations.

Margaret F. Washburn (1900), Titchener’s student was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology
and published The Animal Mind, a book on animal behavior.

William James (1900) wrote Principles of Psychology and taught at Harvard, the first school in America
to offer classes in psychology. Unlike Wundt and Titchener, he was more interested in studying the
importance of consciousness that in analyzing it. He had a viewpoint called functionalism, which is the
focus of study of how the mind allows people to adapt, live, work, and play. He believed in a natural
selection for behavioral traits.

Mary Whiton Calkins (1900) was a student of James and was denied a Ph.D. from Harvard. She did
research in human memory and became the first female president of the APA.

Francis Cecil Sumner (1920) became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. at Clark University and is
the father of A.A. psychology.

Although functionalism is not a major perspective, it is still used in educational, evolutionary, and
industrial psychology.

Max Wertheimer objected to structuralism because he felt that psychological events, such as perceiving
and sensing, could not be broken down into smaller elements. He believed that things are better as a
whole and not different parts. People naturally seek out patterns.

Gestalt Psychology. People naturally fill in the blanks.

Gestalt is a German word for “an organized whole.”

Module 1

Sigmund Freud was a neurologist in Austria and when he could not find a physical solution for his
patients, he believed it was the mind that repressed the threatening urges and when they tried to
surface, the created nervous disorders. He believed that personality was formed in the first six years of
life. Some of his followers were Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, and Anna Freud, who started the ego
movement. Freudian psychoanalysis, the theory and therapy based on Freud’s idea, is the basis of
modern psychotherapy. He believed that a phobia is a symptom of a repressed conflict and cannot be
cured without years of psychoanalysis.

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, worked with dogs to show that a reflex can be learned to
conditioned. He would ring a bell which caused dogs to salivate before the food was served.

John B. Watson (1900) started a view known as behaviorism, which is the science that focuses on only
the observable behavior, not consciousness. He was influenced by Ivan Pavlov. He believed that
behavior is learned. He believed that phobias are learned through conditioning. He made a baby, “Little
Albert”, cry every time he saw a white rat. He wanted to prove that behavior is a result of a stimulus.

Mary Cover Jones (1920) was fascinated with “Little Albert” and started a new experiment on “Little
Peter” with the goal of counterconditioning. She made Peter fear a white rabbit and then like rabbits
after giving him food when the rabbit was near. She is credited when people talk about the benefits and
problems associated with early and late maturation in puberty.
Module 1
Module 1

1.4
Psychodynamic Perspective

 Modern version of psychoanalysis that is focused on the development of a sense of self and the
discovery of other motivations behind a person’s behavior other than sex.
 Freudian concepts are so enduring is the lack of any scientific way to test them.

Behavioral Perspective

 Still very influential.

 After John B Watson moved on, B. F. Skinner replaced him. He developed a theory of how
voluntary behavior is learned called operant conditioning. This theory says that when behavioral
responses that are followed by pleasurable consequences are reinforced.
o A baby will cry again after getting his mother’s attention.

Humanistic Perspective

 Seen as the “third force” in psychology, besides psychoanalysis and behaviorism. This is a
perspective that people have free will to choose their own destiny.
 Followers include Abraham Maslow (1950) and Carl Rogers (1950).
o They emphasized the human ability to be the best person he could be. Not study on
animals or people with nervous disorders.

Cognitive Perspective

 Focuses on how people think, remember, store, and user information.

 1960s
 Focuses on memory, intelligence, perception, though process, problem solving, language, and
learning.
 Cognitive neuroscience is the study of the physical workings of the brin and nervous system
when engaged in memory and thinking.
o MRI, PET, and fMRI.

Sociocultural Perspective

 Combines the area of social psychology, which is the study of groups and social roles and
cultural psychology, which is the study of cultural norms.
o Both are about the effect that people have on one another.
 Reminds people that they behave not only on whether they are alone or with a group, but the
social norm, such as fads and class differences.
 Darley and Latane (1968) found that the precence of other people actually lessened the chances
that a person in trouble woul receive help.
Module 1

o Bystander affect – Tendency to feel that someone else is responsible for taking action.
o Diffusion of responsibility

Biopsychological Perspective

 Biopsychology – Study of the biological basis of behavior and mental processes.

 Human behavior is a result of events in the body
o i.e. Hormones, heredity, tumors

Evolutionary Perspective

 Focuses on the biological bases of universal mental characteristics that all humans share.
 Reason for lying and fear
 Natural selection
o People who ate the bitter poisonous plants die and those who didn’t eat them passed
those genes on to their offspring.

1.5
Psychiatrist

 Medical (M.D. or D.O.) degree

 Specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders
 Prescribe medicine
 Provide therapy
 Private practice or hospitals

Psychoanalyst

 A psychiatrist (M.D.) or a psychologist (Ph.D., Psy.D., or Ed.D) who has training in the theories of
Sigmund Freud.
 Private practice or hospitals
 This label is not protected by law so anyone can use it

Psychiatric Social Worker

 Trained in the area of social work

 Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degree
 Licensed Clinical Social Worker (L.C.S.W.)
 Focused on environemtal conditions that can have an impact of mental disorders
Module 1

o i.e. poverty, overcrowding, stress

Psychologist

 No medical training but a doctorate degree

 Cannot prescribe medication
Module 1

1.6
Scientific Method

1. Perceiving the Question

a. What is happening?
2. Forming a Hypothesis
a. A tentative explanation
b. Confirm bias – people tend to notice what they want to believe
3. Testing the Hypothesis
a. Detailed observations or a survey or experiment
4. Drawing Conclusions
a. Hypothesis was or was not supported
b. Could have been a poor design
5. Report Your Results
a. Write up what you did, why you did it, and how you did it
b. Allows others to replicate your research

Empirical questions are those that can be tested by observation or experience.

1.7
Naturalistic Observation

 Watch subjects behave in their normal environment

o Animal researchers
 Allows researchers to get a realistic picture of how behavior occurs
 Observer Effect – When subjects know they are being watched and do not behave normally
 Participant Observation – When the researcher becomes a participant in the group being
researched
 Observer Bias – When the researcher has an opinion and sees what he wants to see.
o Blind Observers – Researchers who do not know the question
 Observations made at one time in a certain setting might not be the same at another time

Laboratory Observation

 When observing behavior in subjects is not practical in a natural setting

 More controlled
Module 1

1.8

Case Studies

 Case Study – When one individual is studied in greater detail

 Provides a lot of detail
 Study rare things
 Phineas Gage – famous case study
 Disadvantage is that researchers cannot apply the results to similar people
 Vulnerable to bias

Surveys

 Used to find personal and covert behavior

 Has a large sample
 A representative sample is a group of people that represent the population, which is the entire
group that researchers study.
 Response bias, people will lie
 Courtesy bias – When people lie to make themselves seem more favorable
Module 1

1.9
Correlations

 A correlation is a measure of the relationship between multiple variables

 A variable is anything that can change or vary
 A correlation coefficient (r) is a number that represents the direction and strength of a
relationship

The Experiment

 Determins the cause

 An experiment is when researchers deliberately manipulate the variable

1.10
The Variables

 The operational definition is the definition of a variable of interest that allows it to be

measured.
o Makes qualitative variables measurable

The Groups

 The best way to control for confounding variables is to make groups

o Experimental group – group that receives the experimental manipulation (independent
variable).

The Importance of Randomization

 Random selection is the best way to choose the participants for any study.
 Random assignment is the best way to control over extraneous variables. In random
assignment, each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to a group.
Module 1

1.11
Experimental Hazards: The Placebo Effect and the Experimenter Effect

 People are often influenced by their own thoughts

 If there is a placebo effect, the control group will show changed in the dependent variable
 Experimenter Effect – The tendency of the experimenter’s expectations for a study to
unintentionally influence the results of the study.
o The behavior of the experimenter caused the participant to change his response pattern

Single-Bling and Double-Blind Studies

 To control the placebo effect, give the control group an actual placebo
o Sugar pill
o Salt water injection
 Single-blind Study – When the experimenter knows but the participants are “blind”
 Double-blind Study – Neither the participants nor the experimenter knows who got what
o Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson (1968) wrote in Pygmalion in the Classroom that
some teachers were told which students had high success rate and they were treated
differently.

1.12
Teresa Amabile and the Effect of Extrinsic Reward on Creativity

Dr. Teresa Amabile (1982) was a famous Harvard Business College professor. She worked in the study of
creativity in children and adults

In a study, she randomly selected a group of girls from a local school (age 7-11) and divided them into
two groups to have an “art party.” Her hypothesis was that girls who create art for extrinsic rewards
would be less creative than those who create art for intrinsic motivation. In the experimental group, she
said she would give prizes to the best three collages and in the control group, they would be raffled
away. She then had local artists come in and rate the colleges. He hypothesis was correct. The children
that competed for prizes were lower than the other group.
Module 1

Top Ten Practical Tips for Writing an AP Psychology Essay

1. Read the prompt two times, and read it slowly and carefully.
2. What specifically is the essay asking for in the question?
3. Determine how many points the essay is worth (most are worth about 10 points)
4. Picture visually what the rubric is for the grader.
5. Write a brief outline on your essay booklet to this rubric.
6. Write a thorough, but concise essay.
7. Keep an eye on the clock. (Start wearing a watch if you don’t normally)
8. Write in a technical, rather than creative, style to address each point.
9. Assume the grader DOES NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY! (Explain and underline
each term or concept)
10. Write neatly and in pen (not pencil)
Module 1

1.13
Institutional review boards are groups of psychologists at universities that look over a research study
and judge it according to its safety.

The Guidelines for Doing Research with People

1. Rights and well-being of participants must be weighed against the study’s value to science
a. People come first, research second
2. Participants must be allowed to make an informed decision about participation
a. Researchers have to explain the study to them
b. Informed consent is when the parents of children are informed and give their consent
3. Deception must be justified
a. Debriefing – Telling the participants why they were deceived
4. Participants may withdraw from the study at any time
a. Participants are allowed to drop out for any reason
5. Participants must be protected from risk or be told of risks
6. Investigators must debrief participants
7. Data must remain confidential
a. Report only group findings or false names

Animals are used in about 7% of psychological studies

1.14
Critical thinking means making reasoned judgments

The Criteria for Critical Thinking

1. There are very few “truths” that do not need to be subjected to testing
a. Think of it using the scientific method
2. All evidence is not equal in quality
a. Poorly done experiments
b. Incorrect assumptions based on correlations
c. No control group
3. Just because a person is considered to be an authority does not make everything they claim true
a. See the evidence
b. Linus Pauling, a famous scientist, claimed that vitamin C can cure the common cold
4. Critical thinking requires an open mind
a. It is still good to be a little skeptical, but not to gullible
Module 1

Pseudopsychologies

Pseudopsychologies are systems of explaining human behavior that are not based on scientific evidence
and have no real value.

Palmistry is the reading of palms.

Graphology is the analysis of personality through handwriting

Module 1

Summary
 What is Psychology?

o Definition of Psychology

 History of Psychology

o What is the difference between structuralism and functionalism? Who were the
important people in those early fields?

o Who were the important people behind the Gestalt, psychoanalytic and behaviorism
approaches?

 Modern Perspectives

o What are the seven modern perspectives?

o Describe the important contributions of Skinner, Maslow and Rogers.

 Psychological Professions

o How does a psychiatrist differ from a psychologist?

o What are other types of professionals who work in various areas of psychology?

 Psychology as a Science

o What are the steps of scientific method?

o Why is psychology considered a science?

 Types of Studies:

o What are the differences in the various types of studies and what are some drawbacks
to each?

o Case study – descriptive

o Survey

o Random sample – everyone has an equal opportunity to be chosen

o Representative samples

 Naturalistic observation

 Correlation

o Correlation Coefficient

o Illusory correlation
Module 1

o Correlation vs. Causation

 Experimental design:

o Independent vs. Dependent Variables

o Control group vs. Experimental group

o Placebo effect

o Random assignment

o Operational definitions

o Replication

o Single-blind vs. Double-blind procedures

o Extraneous and Confounding variables

 APA Ethical Guidelines for research

Module 1

Vocabulary

Abraham Maslow, 7
Adler, Alfred, 5
Amabile, Teresa, 13
Aristotle, 3
behavior, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10
Behavioral Perspective, 7
behaviorism, 5, 7
Biopsychological Perspective, 8
Biopsychology, 8
Blind Observers, 10
Calkins, Mary Whiton, 4
Carl Rogers, 7
Case Study, 11
Cognitions, 3
Cognitive neuroscience, 7
fMRI, 7
MRI, 7
PET, 7
Cognitive Perspective, 7
Confirm bias, 10
correlation, 12
correlation coefficient, 12
Courtesy bias, 11
Critical thinking, 15
Darley, 7
Debriefing, 15
Decartes, Rene, 3
Double-blind Study, 13
Empiricism, 3
Evolutionary Perspective, 8
experiment, 5, 10, 12
Experimental group, 12
Experimenter Effect, 13
Fechner, Gustav, 3
Freud, 5
Freud, Anna, 5
Freud, Sigmund, 5, 8
functionalism, 4
Gage, Phineas, 11
Gestalt, 4
Graphology, 16
Helmholtz, Hermann von, 3
Module 1

Humanistic Perspective, 7
Informed consent, 15
Institutional review boards, 15
Jacobson, Lenore, 13
James, William, 4
Jones, Mary Cover, 5
Jung, Carl, 5
Latane, 7
Lock, John, 3
Objective introspection, 4
Observer Bias, 10
Observer Effect, 10
operant conditioning, 7
operational definition, 12
Palmistry, 16
Participant Observation, 10
Pauling, Linus, 15
Pavlov, Ivan, 5
placebo effect, 13
Plato, 3
population, 11
Pseudopsychologies, 16
Psychiatric Social Worker, 8
Psychiatrist, 8
psychoanalysis, 5, 7
Psychoanalyst, 8
Psychodynamic Perspective, 7
Psychologist, 9
Pygmalion in the Classroom, 13
Random assignment, 12
representative sample, 11
Resenthal, Robert, 13
Scientific Method, 10
Single-blind Study, 13
Skinner, B. F., 7
Sociocultural Perspective, 7
structuralism, 4
Sumner, Francis Cecil, 4
theory, 3, 5, 7
Titchener, Edward, 4
variable, 12
Washburn, Margaret F., 4
Watson, John B., 5
Wendt, Wilhelm, 4
Wertheimer, Max, 4