Transcript Cognitive Psychology

Psychology 101
 Introduction
 Dr.
to Psychology
Jacob Leonesio
What is psychology the study of?
Some Types of Psychologists
 Research
Psychologists (academic )
– Biological (neuroscientists)
– Cognitive Psychologists
– Social Psychologists
– Personality Psychologists
– Educational Psychologists
– Some Clinical Psychologists
Some Types of Psychologists
 Applied
Psychologists
– Clinical Psychologists
– School Psychologists
– Industrial/Organizatonal and Human
Factors Psychologists
Academic Degrees
 M.S.W
 M.A
 Ph.D.
 Ed.D.
 M.D.
Some Perspectives on the Causes of
Human Experience and Behavior:
Biological
Neuroscience (brain, genes, behavior)
Cognitive (internal mental processes are
studied)
Behavioral (study of observable responses
to observable stimuli)
Classical and operant conditioning
Some Perspectives on the Causes of
Human Experience and Behavior:

Social-Cultural Perspective
– Social Psychology
– Cross Cultural Research

Psychodynamic (unconscious motives, conflicts,
defenses)
– Case Study
– Early Childhood experience

Humanistic Perspective
– Experiential Research
– Clinical Techniques
How is Knowledge Obtained?
Classic Ways of Knowing
 Tenacity
(not a ‘method’)
 Authority (not a ‘method’)
 Intuition
 Reason (deduction and induction)
 Empiricism
The Scientific Method
 Rational
empiricism
 A dynamic method that combines
systematic empiricism with rational
inference.
Not all questions can be answered
scientifically.
 Academic
psychology only addresses
those questions that can be
answered scientifically.
 Academic
Psychology is only about
100 years old (1879 to the present).
Case Study
 Single
participant
 Historical/qualitative analysis
 Useful for generating hypotheses to
be tested with further studies and
experiments.
Correlational Study
Many participants
 Operational definitions
 Descriptive statistics, quantitative data
(means, medians, correlation coefficients)
 Inferential statistics, the probability that
the result of at least this size is due to
chance is calculated (p<.05, p<.01)
 Can determine a significant relationship,
but NOT whether one variable CAUSES
changes in another variable

Operational Definition
A
variable is defined by the precise
series of steps that describe how a
variable is measured.
 This series of steps must result in a
NUMBER.
Correlation Coefficient
Varies between -1 to +1.
 Positive
correlation: high score on
one variable is associated with a high
score on another variable.
 Negative
correlation: high score on
one variable is associated with a low
score on another variable.
A linear relationship is assumed
http://noppa5.pc.helsinki.fi/koe/flash/corr/ch16.html
http://noppa5.pc.helsinki.fi/koe/corr/misint.html
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Significance
A finding is significant if it can be
shown that it is not due to chance.
(Significant does not mean important)
Significance is always expressed
as a probability.
p < .05 means that the likelyhood
that the experimental finding
is due to chance is only
5 out of 100.
Experiment
Many participants
 Operational definitions
 The independent variable is MANIPULATED
and alternative hypothesis are eliminated
(often by using RANDOM ASSIGNMENT to
conditions)
 Descriptive statistics
 Inferential statistics
 CAN DETERMINE if one variable CAUSES
changes in another variable

Random Assignment: Every research participant had an
equal chance to be in the experimental group or the control
group.
Therefore:
1) Both groups are (on average) identical except for the
manipulated independent variable.
2) The manipulated independent variable must have caused
any differences that exist between the two statistically
identical groups.
Random Sampling: Every research
participant is some larger group had an
equal chance to be in the study.
Therefore, you can generalize your
findings (from your small sample) to a
larger population.
Dependent Variable
 The
value of the dependent variable
depends on the value of the
independent variable. It is the
variable that is believed to be
affected by the independent variable.
If the Dependent Variable
is Degree of Violence
 There
are a number of possible
operational definitions. Here is one
example:
– Mean (average) volume of participants
voice measured in decibels by a sound
meter over a 20 min period while
responding to a set of provocative
questions
Measures of Central Tendency
 10,000,000
 50,000
 40,000
 30,000
 12,000
 12,000
 10,000
Mean =
10,154,000/7 =
1,450,571.43

Median
Mode
= 30,000
= 12,000