Understanding the Science of Psychology: A Journey into Behavior and Mental Processes, Study notes of Psychology

Download Understanding the Science of Psychology: A Journey into Behavior and Mental Processes and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! FOCUS ON VOCABULARY AND LANGUAGE Chapter 1 Page 1: . . . to remedy their own woes, millions turn to "psychology." In order to alleviate or fix (remedy) their misery, anxiety, grief, pain, and suffering (woes), people seek help from "psychology." (Psychology is in quotes because Myers wants to point out that not everything you think of as "psychology" is part of scientific psychology.) Page 1: Have you ever played peekaboo with a 6- month-old . . . ? Peekaboo is a game played in most cultures where a person hides or pretends to hide from a child and then reappears saying "PEEKABOO!" The important questions for psychologists are why do infants all over the world react similarly to this game; what are they actually feeling, perceiving, and thinking? Page 1: Such questions provide grist for psychology's mill . . . The expression "provide grist for the mill" derives from an earlier practice where farmers brought their grain (grist) to the mill (a building with machinery for grinding grain into flour). Today, the expression means that a greater volume of work (grist) does not present a problem; in fact, it is welcomed. The amount of grain (grist) is analogous to the variety of questions asked, and the research conducted to answer them is like the mill producing flour from the grist. Thus, psychology is a science that thrives on attempting to answer a variety of questions about how we think, feel, and act through scientific methodology (research). What Is Psychology? Page 2: This list of pioneering psychologists—"Magellans of the mind," . . . Ferdinand Magellan (1489–1521) was a famous Portuguese navigator who made many discoveries and explored areas of the world previously unknown to his fellow Europeans. Because early psychologists made exciting discoveries and explored unknown frontiers, they were preparing the way (they were pioneers) for future psychologists and can thus be considered "Magellans of the mind." Page 4: Let's unpack this definition. Unpack here means to take apart or disassemble. So psychology, defined as the science of behavior and mental processes, is broken down into overt behavior (i.e., observable events) and covert processes (i.e., events hidden within, such as thoughts, feelings, perceptions, beliefs, and so on) and is studied using the scientific or empirical method. Page 5 (caption): . . . mushrooming . . . Membership in psychological societies is growing at a rapid rate (mushrooming), and psychology is becoming more and more international (globalizing). Page 5: . . . psychologists have wrestled with many issues . . . Psychologists have struggled (wrestled) with a number of debates. The biggest and most enduring is the controversy over the relative influence that genes (biology) and environment (experience) have on the development of psychological traits and behaviors (the nature-nurture issue). Page 5: The nature-nurture debate weaves a thread from the ancient Greek's time to our own. This simply means that the issue has concerned scholars and others from the time of the Greek philosophers right up to modern times. The debate connects the past to the present (weaves a thread between the two). Page 5: Yet over and over again we will see that in contemporary science the nature-nurture tension dissolves. The main point is that both sides of the debate have something to offer: Each contributes to the search for the truth. Thus, in modern science the strained relations (tension) over this issue diminish (dissolve). As Myers notes, we are biologically predisposed (genetic influences) to adapt and learn from experiences (environmental influences); nurture works on what nature endows. Page 6: "Red in the face" and "hot under the collar" refer to the physical changes that often accompany emotional arousal (e.g., anger). A person's face may become red due to blood rushing to it (blushing), and he or she may feel hot and perspire (may be hot under the collar). Different perspectives (neuroscience, evolutionary, behavior genetics, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and social-cultural) examine the same event (emotional change) using different levels of analysis (see Table 1.1, p. 7). Myers points out that these different levels of analysis are not necessarily in opposition to each other but, rather, are complementary; that is, each level helps to complete the puzzle of why the event occurs by supplying answers from different points of view (perspectives). Page 7: The cluster of subfields we call psychology is a meeting ground for different disciplines. Myers points out that there is much diversity in the discipline of psychology (i.e., it is a cluster of subfields), but this is beneficial because it provides a setting that is comfortable to work in (a perfect home) for those who have broad or diverse (wide-ranging) interests. Thus, it is the ideal gathering place (meeting ground) for the various related subfields of the discipline (the tribe of psychology) and is united by the shared goal of describing and explaining behavior and the mind underlying it. Page 8: . . . from womb to tomb . . . Developmental psychologists conduct basic research on the changes that take place throughout the life span, from conception to death (from womb to tomb), investigating how we mature physically, psychologically, and socially. (Another humorous expression describing the life span, or life cycle, is from "sperm to worm.") Page 9: . . . psychoceramics (the study of crackpots). This joke derives its humor from the fact that some English words or phrases have more than one meaning, and it is this "play on words" that makes the joke funny. Ceramics is concerned with the work (or art) of making pottery, porcelain, and so on. Some of the pots may develop small breaks or splits and consequently would be referred to as "cracked pots." The term crackpot, on the other hand, is a colloquial (informal) expression used to describe a useless, impractical, or even a crazy person. Although psychologists engage in a variety of interdisciplinary studies, such as psychohistory, psycholinguistics, and so on, there is obviously no such thing as "psychoceramics—the study of crackpots." Clinical psychologists, of course, assess and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders (mental illness or psychopathology). (Note that Myers confesses in a footnote that he wrote this sentence on April 1st, April Fools' Day, which traditionally involves people playing practical jokes on other people. Did he fool you?) Why Do Psychology? Page 9: Although in some ways we outsmart the smartest computers, our intuition often goes awry. To err is human. Human beings are superior to computers in many ways (we outsmart them), but our beliefs, emotions, perceptions, and our feelings of instinctively knowing something (our intuitions) can often lead us astray (awry) or away from the truth. To be human means that we can, and do, make mistakes (to err is human). Psychological science, with its procedures for gathering and systematically sorting through (sifting) evidence, can help reduce or prevent mistakes (it restrains error). Page 15 (margin quote): Psychologist Gordon Allport (The Nature of Prejudice, 1954) said, "Given a thimbleful of [dramatic] facts we rush to make generalizations as large as a tub." A thimble is a small metal container that fits over the top of the thumb or finger. It is used while sewing to push the needle through the material. A tub is a very large container (e.g., a bathtub). Allport is saying that, given a small amount of information (a thimbleful), we tend to make very big assumptions (generalizations as large as a tub). Page 16: Using only 1500 randomly sampled people, drawn from all areas of a country, they can provide a remarkably accurate snapshot of the nation's opinions. A snapshot is a picture taken with a camera, and it captures what people are doing at a given moment in time. A good survey (1500 randomly selected representative people) gives an accurate picture (snapshot) of the opinions of the whole population of interest. Page 18: . . . like people on the opposite ends of a teeter-totter, one set of scores goes down precisely as the other goes up. A teeter-totter is a playground toy (also called a seesaw). To use it, two people sit at either end of bar or plank that is balanced in the middle and take turns going up and down. Myers uses this example as a way to visualize a negative correlation of minus 1 (– 1.00). As one set of scores goes up the other set goes down accordingly, and vice versa. There is an inverse relationship between the two—as one increases the other decreases (one set of scores goes down precisely as the other goes up). Page 20: If someone flipped a coin six times, which of the following sequences of heads (H) and tails (T) would be most likely: HHHTTT or HTTHTH or HHHHHH? Flipping a coin means throwing or tossing the coin into the air and observing which side is facing up when it lands. (The side of the coin that usually has the imprint of the face of a famous person on it—e.g., the president or the queen—is called heads (H). The other side is called tails (T).) By the way, all of the above sequences are equally likely, but most people pick HTTHTH. Likewise, any series of five playing cards (e.g., a bridge or poker hand in a game of cards) is just as likely as any other hand. Page 20: . . . "cold hand" . . . "hot hand" . . . In this context, "hot" and "cold" do not refer to temperature. Here, being hot (or having a "hot hand") means doing well, and doing well consistently is having a hot streak. Having a run of poor luck is a cold streak. The crucial point, however, is that our intuition about sequences of events (streaks or streaky patterns) often deceives us. True random sequences often are not what we think they should be and, thus, they do not appear to be really random. When we think we're doing well (a "hot hand"), we're very often not; we are merely noting or overinterpreting certain sequences (streaks) found in any random data. Page 21: Did I snap out of my tails funk and get in a heads groove? David Myers tossed (flipped) a coin 51 times. The results showed several sequences (streaks) that did not appear to be random (i.e., a series of tails followed by a series of heads). He asks whether this was due to his paranormal control of the coin, which ended the series of tails (he snapped out of his tails funk) and produced a new series of all heads (he got into a heads groove). This type of explanation is not necessary, because these types of sequences (streaks) exist in any random sequence. As Myers notes, the outcome of any particular toss does not predict or influence the result of the next toss. Page 23: Let's Recap. Recap is an abbreviation of recapitulate, which means to repeat or go over briefly, to summarize. Myers summarizes (recaps) the important points in each section of the chapter. Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology Page 25: . . . plunge in . . . In this context, plunge in means to move ahead quickly with the discussion. (Similarly, when you dive into a swimming pool [plunge in], you do so quickly.) Before going on with the discussion of psychology (before plunging in), Myers addresses some important issues and questions (he entertains some frequently asked questions). Page 27: . . . most universities today screen research proposals through an ethics committee . . . Ethics committees (groups of people concerned with moral behavior and acceptable standards of conduct) subject research proposals to rigorous tests (screen them) to ensure that they are fair and reasonable and that they do not harm the participants' well-being. Page 28: Values can also color "the facts." Our values (what we believe is right and true) can influence (color) our observations, interpretations, and conclusions ("the facts"). Tips for Studying Psychology Page 30: One of psychology's oldest findings is that spaced practice . . . promotes better retention than massed practice . . . Spaced practice refers to studying over a longer period of time, say 2 hours a day over 5 days rather than 10 hours on 1 day (massed practice or cramming). Distributing your study time is much better for learning and retention than an extended cramming session (one long study blitz). Be sure to follow the other tips, such as the SQ3R method, that Myers suggests in this section. CHAPTER REVIEW: Thinking Critically With Psychological Science Page 31: . . . helps us winnow sense from nonsense. Winnow means to separate out. It was originally used to describe the separation of chaff (dust, etc.) from grains of wheat. The scientific method helps sort out, or separate (winnow), good ideas from bad ones.