Chapter 1 introduction full

Chapter 1: Welcome to
Psychology
Interactive Lecture PowerPoint
Interactive Psychology: People in Perspective
© 2020 W. W. Norton & Company

Study Unit 1.1
Introduction to Interactive Psychology: People in Perspective (1)
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and
behavior.
• It is relevant to all aspects of human experience.
• It can help us solve problems individually and
societally.

Study Unit 1.1
Introduction to Interactive Psychology: People in Perspective (2)
Interactive Psychology: People in Perspective
• Our ebook and learning system
o applies psychological knowledge to maximize engagement and
to learning psychology.
• Learning tools:
o Study Units break chapter topics into sub-topical chunks.
o Explore questions introduce each study unit with topics and
ideas that prepare the brain for learning.
o Interactive Figures offer interesting and engaging learning
experiences that relate to study unit topics.
o Check Your Understanding questions conclude each study unit
with an opportunity to assess and improve comprehension.

Study Unit 1.1
Video Discussion: Misconceptions About Psychology (1)
In this video, an undergraduate psychology major
comically illustrates the “10 most annoying things” that
she gets asked as a psychology major.

Study Unit 1.1
Video Discussion: Misconceptions About Psychology (2)
What misconceptions do the “annoying” questions the
psychology major mentions reveal about the field of
psychology?
Why do you think there’s a strong tendency for people
who have studied biology to also study psychology? Do
you think there are any other fields where the
tendency to switch to or also study psychology is
growing stronger?

Study Unit 1.2
Thinking Like a Psychological Scientist (1)
Psychology is broader and more scientific than popular
media often portrays.
• Psychological science: The scientific study of mind
and behavior.

Study Unit 1.2
Psychological science is:
• Critical
o Curiosity and wonder are
combined with healthy
skepticism.
• Summative
o Multiple sources of
evidence are considered,
and conclusions are not
absolute.
o Understanding of
phenomena grows over
time, as new information is
presented.

Study Unit 1.2
There are difficulties in accurately observing human
phenomena and making nonbiased conclusions.
• Overconfidence effect is the tendency to be overly
sure of what we know
• Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out, pay
attention to, and believe only evidence that
supports what we are already confident we know.

Study Unit 1.2
Learning about the principles of psychological science
and potential biases can help you to overcome biases
and recognize them elsewhere.
• Recognize fake news and misinformation
• Find reliable sources of information

Study Unit 1.2
Recognize fake news and
misinformation

Study Unit 1.2
Find reliable sources of
information
RELIABLE SOURCES OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION ...
are published in well-known and respected academic
journals that are indexed in the major academic databases,
such as JSTOR and ProQuest.
are published by established and reputable publishing
houses, such as university presses and major publishers (for
example, Knopf, Random House, W. W. Norton).
are sponsored by organizations that are dedicated to
scientific truth. These organizations include not only private
and public institutions and research universities but also
government agencies such as the National Institutes for
Mental Health (NIMH), the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Census Bureau.
often acknowledge earlier research on the topic to provide
background information and context.
provide detailed descriptions of the experimental methods
used, which allows other scientists to evaluate an
experiment's methods and results.
suggest reasonable conclusions based on the research
conducted, but also identify areas of potential weakness
and suggest areas for future study.

What Is Psychology?
How do people come to understand each other? One way to learn
about other people is to ask them questions about their likes and
dislikes, their favorite activities, their life experiences, and their
feelings about themselves.

Study Unit 1.2
Activity Sheet: What Is Psychology? (8)
Confirmation Bias
• The tendency to seek out, pay attention to, and
believe only evidence that supports what we are
already confident we know

Study Unit 1.2
Study on Confirmation Bias (Snyder & Swann, 1978)
• Participants were told that they would take part in a
study on how people come to understand one
another.
• Participants were then asked to test one of two
“hypotheses”:
1. Whether the person was an introvert, or
2. Whether the person was an extravert.

Study Unit 1.2
Study on Confirmation Bias (Snyder & Swann, 1978)
• People chose to ask questions that would confirm
whether the person fit the profile, but not those that
would disconfirm whether this person fit the profile
(e.g., that would test whether an introvert responds
positively or negatively to a question about
extraversion)

Study Unit 1.3
A Brief History of Psychology (1)
Psychology has existed for a little over a century.
• Psychology is young compared to other sciences.
• It began in Western Europe.
• Early psychology was sometimes based on false
assumptions and used unethical research methods.

Study Unit 1.3
Early psychology developed in two distinct and independent ways.
• Scientific approach: intellectual endeavors and scientific
experimentation at universities
o Originated with Wilhelm Wundt in Germany and William
James in the USA
• Study of perception, thought, behavior
• Clinical approach: therapeutic interventions for psychological
disorders in medical settings
o Originated with Sigmund Freud in Austria, then England
• Psychotherapy, psychiatry, clinical practice

Study Unit 1.3
Psychological science today
• The two approaches are merged. Scientific evidence
from research is used to help people with
psychological problems.
• Psychology is focused on adhering to strict ethical
guidelines and using open science practices that
emphasize transparency of research.

Study Unit 1.4
Psychological Science: Research and Evidence (1)
Psychological scientists conduct research to answer
questions by establishing empirical evidence and
avoiding pseudoscience.
• Evidence: The available body of facts or
information indicating whether a belief or
proposition is true or valid.
• Empirical: Based on astute observation and
accurate measurement.
o The best evidence is empirical.

Study Unit 1.4
Pseudoscience: A collection of
beliefs or practices mistakenly
thought to be based on valid
science.

Study Unit 1.4
Interactive Psychology: People in Perspective uses
information gathered by psychological experiments
performed in strict accordance with the scientific
method.
• In-text research citations are usually found in
parentheses with the researchers’ names followed
by the year in which the study was published.
o Example: (Poh, Chong, & Chee, 2016)

Study Unit 1.4
Complete publication
information for each in-text
citation is provided in the
References List at the end of the
book.
o References: Previous
publications, cited
throughout a presentation of
information, that indicate
who provided the evidence
and when.

Study Unit 1.5
Popular Psychology and Critical Thinking (1)
There are some misperceptions of
psychological science.
• Popular (pop) psychology:
Claims about psychological
phenomena that are promoted
through social media,
magazines, TV shows, and other
entertainment media and that
are often accepted as truth by
the public but may lack validity.
• Psychology is more than
common sense. Sometimes,
psychological science provides
evidence that contradicts our
intuitions.

Study Unit 1.5
Sometimes pop psychology,
pseudoscience, and misperceptions
about psychological science are
dangerous.
• The fraudulent report in 1998
claiming to find a link between
vaccines and autism
o Reduced vaccinations have
led to outbreaks of
infectious diseases that had
been nearly eliminated.

Study Unit 1.5
Sometimes pop psychology, pseudoscience, and
misperceptions about psychological science are dangerous.
• Homeopathy
o Forgoing evidence-based medical treatments for
homeopathic remedies can place people at great
risk.
o Some homeopathic remedies are dangerous in
themselves.

Study Unit 1.5
An essential element of psychological literacy is
critical thinking: The purposeful, reasoned, and goal-
directed process of exploring a situation or problem; it
is an essential component of psychological literacy.
• Three key critical-thinking questions:
o What scientific evidence supports this claim?
o Has this topic been studied empirically?
o Am I listening to (or reading) someone else’s
opinion, or is this information based on facts
that are accepted by unbiased experts?

Study Unit 1.6
Psychology: People in Perspective (1)
Topics in psychology are always larger and more complex than one
perspective can understand and explain.
• Psychologists need to adopt diverse perspectives, study diverse
populations, and train diverse people to conduct research.
• Diversity and collaboration allow for a more complete and
accurate understanding of human behavior
• Psychologists must guard against assuming that what is true in
Western cultures is true elsewhere in the world.
o WEIRD samples: Research participants from Western,
educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic backgrounds.

Study Unit 1.6
Based on survey responses from
around the world, this map
shows other countries' levels of
cultural and psychological
similarity or dissimilarity to the
United States.

Study Unit 1.6
Different goals of psychology and their contributing
perspectives include:
Understanding broad patterns of
behavior
o Evolutionary perspective
o Cultural perspective
Understanding thoughts and feelings
o Cognitive perspective
o Emotional perspective
Understanding roles of body and
brain
o Biological–neuroscience
perspective
Understanding stable and changing
patterns of behavior
o Developmental perspective
o Personality perspective
o Social perspective
o Clinical perspective

Study Unit 1.6
Psychological perspectives are unified by the following
themes:
1. Nature (biology) and nurture (environment) interact
to predict behavior.
2. Psychology seeks to identify universal aspects of
behavior as well as variation.
3. Behavior is shaped by conscious understanding and
by unconscious processes.
4. We gain insights by understanding both normal
functioning and dysfunctions (disruptions to normal
functioning).
5. Applying psychology can change our lives in positive
ways.

Study Unit 1.6
Learning Activity: Cultural Influences on the Self (1)
Complete this statement with as many answers about
yourself as possible in 30 seconds:
“I am _________________________.”

Study Unit 1.6
Learning Activity: Cultural Influences on the Self (3)
Ma & Schoeneman, 1997

Study Unit 1.7
The Backdrop of Behavior: Evolutionary and Cultural
Perspectives (1)
Evolutionary perspective: The
psychological perspective on
behavior that seeks to identify how
humans’ evolutionary past shapes
certain cultural universals that all
human beings share, such as the
preference for fairness.
• Studies cultural universals that
unite all humans to determine
what is innate and biologically
driven

Study Unit 1.7
Perspectives (2)
Cultural perspective: The psychological perspective
that seeks to understand how cultural context affects
people’s thoughts and preferences.
• Culture: The rules, values, customs, and beliefs that
exist within a group of people who share a common
language and environment.
• Studies cultural variations in the way people think
and behave to determine how the environment
shapes human experience

Study Unit 1.7
Perspectives (3)
Evolution and culture often work together in their
influence on human thought, preferences, and
behavior.
• Nature/biology/evolution interact with
nurture/environment/culture to predict both broad
patterns of human behavior and individual
behavior.
• Some evolved tendencies do not match
contemporary culture.
o Can you think of some examples?

Study Unit 1.8
Understanding Conscious and Unconscious Mental
Processes: Cognitive and Emotional Perspectives (1)
Cognitive perspective: The psychological perspective
that studies the mental processes that underlie
perception, thought, learning, memory, language, and
creativity.
• An example finding from this perspective:
o Humans are sensitive to dilated (enlarged)
pupils in others as a sign of interest and arousal,
and perceiving pupil dilation can change the
way we evaluate another person’s
attractiveness.

Study Unit 1.8
An example finding from this
perspective:
• Humans are sensitive to
dilated (enlarged) pupils in
others as a sign of interest
and arousal, and perceiving
pupil dilation can change the
way we evaluate another
person’s attractiveness.

Study Unit 1.8
Emotional perspective: a psychological perspective
that seeks to identify how our capacity to feel, express,
and perceive emotions influences decision making,
behavior, and social relationships
• Example findings from this perspective:
o There is a strong relationship between (a) the
fundamental human motivation to form social
connection and (b) emotional well-being.
o Consistently viewing others’ highlighted life
moments on social media takes an emotional
toll on us.

Study Unit 1.8
We do not have direct access to many of the ways we
process cognitive and emotional information.
• Unconscious: The part of our mental life that
influences our thoughts, feelings, and actions that
we cannot directly observe and of which we are
unaware.
• Both conscious and unconscious mental processes
shape our interpretations of reality in ways that
affect our behavior.
o Sometimes they conflict, as in the example of
mate preferences.

Study Unit 1.9
Focusing on the Brain and the Body: Biological–
Neuroscience Perspectives (1)
Biological-neuroscience perspective: The
psychological perspective that seeks to understand the
biological underpinnings of how humans think, act,
and behave.
• Everything psychological is simultaneously
biological.
• Neuroscience is the scientific study of how nerves
and cells send and receive information from the
brain, body, and spinal cord.

Study Unit 1.9
Example research questions from this perspective:
• What is the genetic basis for psychological
disorders?
• What patterns of brain activity are responsible for
understanding and producing speech?
• What role do bodily reactions play in our experience
of emotion?

Study Unit 1.9
Historically, scientists relied on studying cases of brain
dysfunction.
• By understanding how specific types of dysfunction
relate to damage in certain areas of the brain,
scientists could infer how the brain functions
normally.
Today, scientists can measure brain activity in real time
and analyze complex maps of how brain regions relate
to one another.

Study Unit 1.9
Biology can change with
experience, as demonstrated by
increased hippocampus size in
London taxi drivers.

Study Unit 1.10
Human Stability and Change: Developmental, Personality,
Social, and Clinical Perspectives (1)
Developmental perspective
studies how people change
physically, cognitively, socially,
and emotionally as they age.
• Encompasses all phases of
the human life cycle, from
conception to old age.

Study Unit 1.10
Example research questions from this perspective:
• Why do different age groups display different
patterns of reasoning, language, and social
behavior?
• How do early relationships create a template for
how much we trust romantic partners in
adolescence and later in life?

Study Unit 1.10
Two complementary viewpoints:
• Personality perspective
• This perspective would ask: “Do some people possess
traits that make them more socially skilled?”
• Social psychological perspective
• This perspective would ask: “Are people more
socially skilled in some situations than in other
situations?”

Study Unit 1.10
Clinical perspective: The psychological perspective
that focuses on the causes and treatment of
psychological disorders, with the goal of improving
human well-being, daily functioning, and social
relationships.
• Sigmund Freud’s early influence.
• Example research question from this perspective:
o Are there gender differences in the likelihood of
depression following a romantic breakup in
adolescence, and why?

Study Unit 1.10
A key point across these perspectives is that behavior,
personality, and psychological disorders are influenced
by context and therefore open to change.
• Growth mindset: The belief that human
personality and behavior can be changed.
Psychology should help people to develop their own
perspectives on people and situations by
understanding their complexity and building empathy.

Study Unit 1.11
Applying Psychology to Your Life (1)
Psychology has provided important insights into
improving mental health, families, careers, and
communities.
This introductory psychology course can help you
better understand the insights of psychology and apply
the content to your everyday life.

Study Unit 1.11
Applying Psychology to Your Life (2)
Positive psychology: The scientific study of the factors
that make people happy, keep them healthy, and help
them manage stress; includes the study of important
human experiences, such as hope, courage, and
creativity.
• Positive psychology promotes three components of
happiness:
o Positive emotions and pleasure
o Engagement with life
o Living a meaningful life with good relationships
and a history of accomplishment

Study Unit 1.12
Applying Psychology to Your College Course and Career (1)
An understanding of psychology and critical thinking
skills provide insights that are relevant and useful to
non-psychology college courses and careers.
• Criminal justice courses and the legal profession
• Education courses and teaching
• Political science courses and careers in
international relations
• Sports industry

Study Unit 1.12
Applying Psychology to Your College Course and Career (2)
In an age when knowledge is
widely accessible with the
internet, the college experience
is less about learning facts and
more about learning to think
critically and how to use
information to make decisions.

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