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Psychology 2550A/B

Scientific method: not prove!!! Confirm or disconfirm!! Empirical verification: to formulate and hypothesis about human behavior and to test it empirically - Descriptive statement about behavior that can be confirmed or not. - A -> causes -> B - Empirical test: naturalistic observation versus experimentation Operational definition: to define the term of hypothesis by reference to observable events or measurable phenomena - But, for measuring hypothetical constructs (unobservable cause or factor that determine or explains several behaviors) we must inferred from observable phenomena (like aggression). Then test A causes B Controlled observation: to perform empirical verification under condition in which the phenomenon under observation can be controlled. - A causes B: eliminate all possible causes of B except A!!! So eliminate the confounding variable (C) => the effect of A depends on C = interaction - 2 ways to control confounding variable: o Experimental control: in laboratory studies where we can hold the others variables constant o Statistical control: in field studies where control is not possible. They measure the nuisance variable (confounding variable) Statistical generalization: observation must generalize to conditions other than those under which they were made. Using empirical confirmation, once the hypothesis has been confirmed, do the entire procedure again: - Replication: we should observe the same outcomes - Extension: rat and after pigeon and chimpanzee etc... The experiment: application of scientific method - A -> B: measure B - Manipulate A and observe the effects on B - Changes in B must co-occur with changes in A (hypothesis confirmed) Six types of experiments and quasi-experiments:  Pre-experimental designs: Name Design problems One-shot case study: - Don’t know the original mean, nothing to - Treat group with IV compare and measure DV X: individuals + - So we are not sure that X causes O - Education, Freud treatment O: observation One-group tretest-posttest - History: historical that might cause the new design: measure - Measure DV, treat, - Testing: got use to it Measure DV - Instrumentation: decay other time? - Maturation: physiological change - Pretest by treatment interaction: posttest depends on the pretest and the treatment!! Statistic-group comparison: - History, testing, maturation, - 2 naturally instrumentation are gone! constituted groups - Selection: naturally => group may have difference before treatment - Selection by treatment interaction: maybe the treatment would not work on the other group - Mortality: subjects living groups  True experimental designs: Name Design Problems Pretest—posttest control - History, maturation, testing, group design: instrumentation and interaction of - randomization: equivalence selection treatment are gone btn ALL variable (pretest not - Interaction of pretest by treatment on the necessary) post test result: sensitize subjects to the nature of manipulation Solomon (1949) Four-group - Everything gone design: - 2/4: testing effects - Randomization - 1/3: treatment interaction - But, need too much people Posttest-only control design: - enhance statistical power - may be generalized to more groups The factorial experiment: - dv: measure it factorial experiment: more - iv: observe it than one treatment applied to each group Two-factor factorial design: - 2x3 factorial design: - Determination of main effect of A (noise), main effect of B (drugs) and the interaction of A and B (hours of sleep) on the dependent variable - Read the graphics: not parallel, yes interaction / parallel, no interaction! - Correlational methods: not involve experimentation, just compare and confirming hypotheses Correlational methods: the study of naturally constituted group, where the IV in the DV vary continuously and naturally. A -> related to -> B - Large individual differences among the group members on IV - Usually done in field with only ONE group of subjects - Also called ex post facto research, not manipulate IV just measure the DV post facto! - Matched or paired data and plot them as a scattergram! - Watch the dots, no slope: A and B are not related, slope: A and B are +/- related, so we need to quantify the degree of relation = correlation coefficient! Other non-experimental methods: - Time series designs: few pre and post test! O O O O O X O O O O O - But same problem than the pretest-posttest design! - Introduce a no-treatment control: adding a control group (but often not possible in the field) - Add and then remove a treatment: O O O X O O O X O O O, if the treatment works take it away should reverse it! Theory: definition and evaluation Theory - Use to describe and explain behavior, they must matched with empirical findings - Inductive theory: observation of behavior -> induction -> theory of behavior - Deductive theory: theory -> deduction -> expected behavior (general to particular) - Operational definitions: observable behavior Theory evaluation of the goodness of theories: 9 criteria:  Logically consistent: contradiction, A->B, B->C but A not related to C  Verifiable: can generate empirically testable hypotheses!!  Falsifiable: the theory is not false, just she might be disconfirmed  Explains phenomena: explains a lot about the phenomenon  Predicts phenomena  Comprehensive: all human behavior, not just the psychopathological behavior  Parsimonious: simple in terms  Objective: based on empirical facts, independent of personal biases  Dynamic: it can change to accommodate new data (Cronbach’s theory tree ring: different pathway!) Skinnerians think that psychology is too young to create theory, they prefer accumulate empirical data (good prediction of behavior but poor understanding of behavior) Freudian psychoanalytic theory - Mind = psychic energy system => tension reduction model of the mind - Instincts are involved in the energy buildup and release: sexual and aggressive instincts - Pleasure principle: human want to gratify all instinctual desires but society places restrictions and this causes conflict and tension => leading to coping mechanism and neurosis. - Freud: behavior is determined only: person + environment= deterministic view - But we don’t know the determinants because they are carried in the unconscious mind! Psychoanalysis: theory of personality, a method of therapy, a research technique! Personality structure: mind has 3 levels of consciousness: - Conscious: we are aware - Preconscious: not now aware but can be - Unconscious: only be aware under special circumstances Unconscious is a hypothetical construct, cannot be observed but accessible through indirect means: - Hypnosis, dream, free association, parapraxes (actes manqués), jokes - Can be demonstrated experimentally: Eagle, Wolitzky, Kline: o 68% expe group used duck related words o 50% of control group used duck related words Structure of the mind: Id (inherited at birth, totally in the unconscious): - Source of drive energy: libido or dynamo - Source of sexual and aggressive instincts - Operates according to the pleasure principle seeking for release of energy - Id wants immediate gratification¸ it’s irrational, free of inhibitions Ego (about 2 years old) - Develops due to reality constraints: toilet training (loss of freedom) - Operates according to reality principle, in order to satisfy the id’s demands - Gratification is delayed - Operates by secondary process thinking (rational, logical, planful) - It deals with the self-preservation instincts, mediator btn id (pleasure seeking) and superego (perfectionist) Superego - A partioning of the ego - Represents: moral functioning, guilt and conscience (social and ethical rules) - Develops out of the ego due to parental demands (after oedipus complex) Personality dynamics: Unreleased libido can lead to anxiety: unacceptable id, impulses, gratified -> tension build up -> anxiety -> neurosis! But anxiety is cope by ego defense mechanisms (hide id’s wishes from consciousness) - Defense mechanisms of the ego: generate by unconscious but conscious expressions: 1. Repression: - First line of defense unacceptable psychosexual impulses are denied (Oedipus complex) - Active resistance but no energy released (m
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