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General Psychology PSY 100: General Psychology John M. Kelley, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Endicott College Staff Psychologist, Massachusetts General Hospital Deputy Director, Program in Placebo Studies at Harvard Medical School 1 PSY 100: General Psychology John M. Kelley, Ph.D. AC 165 [email protected] 978-232-2386 2 Psychological Questions I • What makes a song popular? • Why do we dream? Do dreams have meaning? • Is intelligence inherited or developed? • How good is eyewitness testimony? 3 Psychological Questions II Small Groups (handout) • Are men more violent than women? Why? • Are people fundamentally good or evil? • Is alcoholism a disease? Are alcoholics at fault? • What causes depression? • Why do people self-destruct with alcohol or drugs? • Is there such a thing as free will? • Do our minds exist independently of our brains? 4 Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Methods • Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes • Empirical evidence (empirical vs. theoretical methods of investigation) • Critical thinking (skepticism vs. cynicism) • Who are better drivers: Men or Women? 5 Four Goals of Psychology • Describe • Explain • Predict • Change • Example: Major Depressive Disorder 6 Four Goals of Psychology • Describe: Clearly describe and classify behavior: What is depression? How does it progress? • Explain: What causes depression? Nature vs. Nurture? Genes vs. Experience • Predict: Which individuals are likely to become depressed? How will a person’s depression progress? Who will respond to treatment? • Change: Interpersonal therapy, cognitive and behavioral therapy, medication, ECT, surgery? 7 Types of Psychologists • Clinical (therapists - psychologists vs. psychiatrists) • Counseling • School • Social and Personality • Biological and Neuroscientists • Developmental • Cognitive 8 Types of Psychologists 9 Seven Psychological Perspectives 1. Psychoanalysis or Psychodynamic 2. Behaviorist 3. Humanist 4. Cognitive 5. Biological or Neuroscientific 6. Evolutionary 7. Sociocultural 10 1. Psychoanalysis or Psychodynamic • Founded by Sigmund Freud in Vienna • Late 1800’s to early 1900’s • Conflict between “acceptable” conscious thoughts and “unacceptable” unconscious thoughts • Focus on sex and aggression 11 Essential Features of Psychoanalysis 1. Focus on expression of emotion 2. Exploring attempts to avoid painful feelings (resistance and defenses) 3. Identification of recurring themes and patterns 4. Focus on past experience, especially childhood 5. Focus on interpersonal relations 6. Focus on the therapeutic relationship (transference and counter-transference) 7. Exploration of wishes, dreams, fantasies 12 Sigmund Freud 13 Copernicus, Darwin, & Freud Three narcissistic injuries suffered by mankind (1) Copernicus: We are not the center of the universe (2) Darwin: We are not set apart from the rest of nature; we do not different fundamentally from animals (3) Freud: We are not masters of our own minds. The unconscious controls us to a remarkable and surprising degree. 14 2. Behaviorism • Founders: John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov • Rejects introspection and unconscious processes and focuses on observable behavior • Pavlov’s dog (classical conditioning) – Food → Salivation (US → UR) – Food + Bell → Salivation (US + CS → UR) – Bell → Salivation (CS → CR) • B.F. Skinner – development of behavioral therapies 15 16 Skinner Box 17 Skinner Box Demo http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=PQtDTdDr8vs 18 3. Humanist • Founded by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow • Free will • Self-actualization • Optimistic: human nature as inherently positive 19 4. Cognitive • Founded by Jean Piaget • Cognition = Thinking • The brain as computer • Focus on how the brain processes information • The “cognitive revolution” starting in the 1950s as a backlash against strict behaviorism 20 5. Biological or Neuroscientific • The mind as arising out of the brain • Brain imaging techniques: – EEG (Electro-Encephalography) – CT (Computerized Tomography) – PET (Positron Emission Tomography) – MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) – fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) 21 EEG (Electro-Encephalography) 22 CT (Computerized Tomography) 23 PET (Positron Emission Tomography) 24 MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) 25 fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) 26 6. Evolutionary • Our psychological make up is the result of natural selection and adaptation to the environment • Example 1: Why are step-fathers much more likely to abuse their children than biological fathers? • Caveat: Child abuse in general is relatively rare, hence I am not impugning step-fathers in general • Example 2: Lions killing off young cubs • Example 3: Evidence suggests that women prefer older men, and men prefer younger women. Why might this be so? 27 Charles Darwin 28 7. Sociocultural • Our psychological make up is determined by social and cultural factors • Why do each of us wear our clothes and hair the way we do today? • What makes a particular song popular? Research on different musical “universes” • Do Asians differ psychologically from Americans? • Are people from Oregon friendlier than people from New York? 29 The Scientific Method 30 Ethics in Research and Practice • Research: – Informed Consent – Debriefing if deception is used – Protecting nonhuman animals – Institutional Review Boards • Therapy – Confidentiality – Limits of Confidentiality • Suicidal or Homicidal 31 Types of Variables in Research • Independent Variable (IV) • Dependent Variable (DV) • In theory the IV causes the DV • IV → DV (in theory, IV causes DV) • Extraneous or Confounding Variables • Example of smoking • Example of omega 3 fatty acids 32 Correlational Research • Sometimes called Observational Research • The more one smokes the more likely one is to get lung cancer • Concept of correlation 33 Correlations • Ranges from r = 1 to r = -1 • Strength of correlation is the absolute value (e.g., r = -.7 is a stronger correlation than r = +.6) • Positive correlation • Negative correlation • Zero correlation 34 Correlations 35 Positive Correlation 36 Negative Correlation 37 Correlation Does Not Equal Causation • Smoking and lung cancer • My daughter’s height and the height of a tree • Ice cream sales and homicides • States with stricter gun laws have lower homicide rates • Next slide, gender as confounding or extraneous variable 38 Extraneous Variable (Gender) 39 Positive, Negative, or Zero Correlation? • Health and exercise • Hours of TV watching per day and GPA • Level of happiness and level of helpfulness • Student ID number and GPA • Weight of car and MPG • Years of education and salary • Age and salary 40 Experimental Research • Can establish cause and effect relationships because the experiments are controlled in several ways • Random Assignment to Groups controls extraneous variables • Control condition (often using a placebo). Example of blood-letting • Double-blind controls for patient and experimenter expectancies • Single-blind controls for patient expectancies only 41 Research Examples - Discussion • Experimental or Correlational? • IV, DV, extraneous variables • Analgesics $10 vs. 10 cents • Cell phone use and brain cancer • Family dinners and better performance in school • Knee surgery • Life stress and depression 42 Chapter 2 Biopsychology and Neuroscience 43 Case History • The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat • By Oliver Sacks, MD, neurologist • Patient was a well-known musician on faculty at a music school • Visual agnosia • Damage to occipital lobes. He can still see, but his ability to recognize objects has been destroyed • See Canvas handout for details 44 Capgras Delusion • The patient believes that a family member or close friend is a double, an imposter • It is thought that the delusion arises because of a deficit in the connection between the visual area of the brain and the emotional parts of the brain 45 The Uncanny Valley • http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=CNdAIPoh8a4 46 Chapter 2 Overview • DNA in cells • Neurons in the brain and nervous system • Endocrine system (hormones) • Brain anatomy • Divisions of the peripheral nervous system • Somatic nervous system (soma = body) • Autonomic nervous system (arousing or calming us without conscious control) 47 Genetics • Cell Nucleus contains 23 Chromosome pairs • Chromosomes contain DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) • Single gene traits (eye color) • Dominant • Recessive • Polygenic traits: most psychological traits are polygnenic 48 49 Structure of DNA (Double Helix) 50 Behavioral Genetics • Nature vs. Nurture (Genes vs. Environment) • What do each of the studies below tell us? • Family Studies • Adoption Studies • Twin Studies • Monozygotic = Identical • Dizygotic = Fraternal 51 Twin Studies 52 Evolutionary Psychology • Natural Selection • Adaptations to the environment • Discuss in small groups • Why did humans evolve? Is evolution moving toward ever more complexity, and ever more intelligent organisms? (Teleology) • Or is evolution blind and simply moves in a direction that makes the organism more adaptive, regardless of complexity or intelligence? 53 Charles Darwin 54 Vast Number of Neurons • One trillion neurons in the body • One trillion = 1,000,000,000,000 • 3,600 seconds in an hour • 86,400 seconds in a day • 31,536,000 seconds in a year • 32,000 years worth of seconds = one trillion • Each neuron connects with up to 10,000 others 55 Structure of a Neuron • Cell body with nucleus • Dendrites receive inputs from other neurons • Axon with myelin sheath and nodes • Terminal buttons 56 Structure of a Neuron 57 How Neurons Talk to Each Other
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