PSYCHOLOGY 1B
PSYCHOLOGY 1B Psychological discovery 1
Page 2
Psychological discovery 2
Page 10
Psychological discovery 3
Page 17
Psychological discovery 4
Page 34
Psychological discovery 5
Page 44
Psychological discovery 6
Page 54
Cognitive psychology
Page 63
Social psychology
Page 74
Abnormal psychology
Page 87
Psychological discovery 1: Psychological discovery: Psychological discovery: Process of gathering and interpreting information to provide an understanding of how and why people think, fell and behave the way they do Involves the study of Research Methods and Statistics/Research Design and Analysis (RDA) Research design and analysis (RDA): Better understand how and why people think, feel and behave the way they do Goal of psychologist: o Use knowledge in clinical/research settings to aid mental well-being of individuals and/or communities o Add to their knowledge to human behaviour (make psychological discoveries) Psychologists need to understand the principles of research methods and statistics Helps develop scientific literacy and assists in: o Reading, understanding, and evaluating information o Making informed decisions o Conducting research of your own to further the knowledge-base of psychology Acquiring knowledge: Seven approaches to acquire knowledge Superstition: Knowledge based on subjective feelings, interpreting random events as non-random events, or believing in magical/supernatural events o Eg. “Bad things happen in threes”, breaking a mirror is 7 years of bad luck o Not based on observation or hypothesis testing o Not reliable or valid Intuition: Knowledge gained without being consciously aware of its source o Eg. Instincts, gut feelings and hunches o Events may be misinterpreted Illusory correlation: The perception of a relationship that does not exist (Eg. More likely to conceive after a couple have adopted a child; there is no relationship – due to more attention paid to these couples) Authority: Knowledge gained from authority figures o Eg. Parents, teachers, doctors o Problems arise when authority figures are not knowledgeable in certain fields and information is blindly accepted Tenacity: Knowledge gained from repeated ideas that are stubbornly clung to despite evidence to the contrary o Eg. Political campaigns; slogans are repeated so often that it is believed, advertisements o Accuracy of claims are questionable Rationalism: Knowledge gained through logical reasoning o Ideas are precisely stated and logical rules are applied to have a logical conclusion
Empiricism: Knowledge gained through objective observation of organisms, events, and experiences of your senses o Collection of facts and observations o Empiricism alone is never enough o Facts need to be organised and used to make useful predictions o Eg. Sun goes around the Earth due to direction when it rises and sets (showing that observation is not enough) Science: Knowledge through empirical methods and logical reasoning o Combines collecting data and observations (empiricism) and testing hypotheses (rationalism)
Problems with non-scientific approaches: Non-scientific approach have limitations: o Erroneous beliefs o Inaccurate information o Perceptions biased by prior experiences o Overgeneralisation o Illogical reasoning o Selective and inaccurate observations Scientific method allows us to overcome these limitations The scientific approach/method of psychology: Science: A method of thinking about and observing events to achieve a deeper understanding o Subject matter does not define science Scientific method: An approach to acquire knowledge involving formulating specific questions and then systematically finding answers o Involves scepticism: Questioning the validity, authenticity or truth of something appearing to be factual o Not blindly accepting new ideas or information
Page 2
Psychological discovery 2
Page 10
Psychological discovery 3
Page 17
Psychological discovery 4
Page 34
Psychological discovery 5
Page 44
Psychological discovery 6
Page 54
Cognitive psychology
Page 63
Social psychology
Page 74
Abnormal psychology
Page 87
Psychological discovery 1: Psychological discovery: Psychological discovery: Process of gathering and interpreting information to provide an understanding of how and why people think, fell and behave the way they do Involves the study of Research Methods and Statistics/Research Design and Analysis (RDA) Research design and analysis (RDA): Better understand how and why people think, feel and behave the way they do Goal of psychologist: o Use knowledge in clinical/research settings to aid mental well-being of individuals and/or communities o Add to their knowledge to human behaviour (make psychological discoveries) Psychologists need to understand the principles of research methods and statistics Helps develop scientific literacy and assists in: o Reading, understanding, and evaluating information o Making informed decisions o Conducting research of your own to further the knowledge-base of psychology Acquiring knowledge: Seven approaches to acquire knowledge Superstition: Knowledge based on subjective feelings, interpreting random events as non-random events, or believing in magical/supernatural events o Eg. “Bad things happen in threes”, breaking a mirror is 7 years of bad luck o Not based on observation or hypothesis testing o Not reliable or valid Intuition: Knowledge gained without being consciously aware of its source o Eg. Instincts, gut feelings and hunches o Events may be misinterpreted Illusory correlation: The perception of a relationship that does not exist (Eg. More likely to conceive after a couple have adopted a child; there is no relationship – due to more attention paid to these couples) Authority: Knowledge gained from authority figures o Eg. Parents, teachers, doctors o Problems arise when authority figures are not knowledgeable in certain fields and information is blindly accepted Tenacity: Knowledge gained from repeated ideas that are stubbornly clung to despite evidence to the contrary o Eg. Political campaigns; slogans are repeated so often that it is believed, advertisements o Accuracy of claims are questionable Rationalism: Knowledge gained through logical reasoning o Ideas are precisely stated and logical rules are applied to have a logical conclusion
Empiricism: Knowledge gained through objective observation of organisms, events, and experiences of your senses o Collection of facts and observations o Empiricism alone is never enough o Facts need to be organised and used to make useful predictions o Eg. Sun goes around the Earth due to direction when it rises and sets (showing that observation is not enough) Science: Knowledge through empirical methods and logical reasoning o Combines collecting data and observations (empiricism) and testing hypotheses (rationalism)
Problems with non-scientific approaches: Non-scientific approach have limitations: o Erroneous beliefs o Inaccurate information o Perceptions biased by prior experiences o Overgeneralisation o Illogical reasoning o Selective and inaccurate observations Scientific method allows us to overcome these limitations The scientific approach/method of psychology: Science: A method of thinking about and observing events to achieve a deeper understanding o Subject matter does not define science Scientific method: An approach to acquire knowledge involving formulating specific questions and then systematically finding answers o Involves scepticism: Questioning the validity, authenticity or truth of something appearing to be factual o Not blindly accepting new ideas or information
