Introduction to Psychology and Research Methods

Enrichment Learning Links:

Psychologial Perspectives Enrichment

• Association for Psychological Science Link Page
  • This page contains numerous links to a variety of psychological associations and website resources
• Society for the Psychologcial Study of Ethnic Minority Issues
  • This is the website of Divison 45 of the American Psychological Association. It encourages research on ethnic minority issues and the application of psychological knowledge to ethnic minority issues.

Research Methods Enrichment

• Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics
  • This is the website of Divison 5 of the American Psychological Association. It is concerned with promoting high standards in both research and practical application of psychological assessment, evaluation, measurement, and statistics.
• Psychological Research on the Net
  • This website is sponsored by the American Psychological Society. It contains links to known psychological experiments.

Extra Help Hints:

• The purpose of this unit is to introduce how psychologists study human behavior and decision making. The goal is for you to learn the basic perspectives of psycholgy and the research methods.

How can I get the most out of my textbook?

• Refer to Table 1-1 on page 9 of your textbook for a helpful chart that explains the psychological perspectives.
• On page 13 and 35, there are "Rehearse It!"questions that provide good review.
• On page 37, there is "A Critical Thinkers Review," these questions will help you gain better retention of the material by reflecting on the concepts on a deeper level.
• On page 13 and 37 there is a list of key terms and concepts to remember. Flash Cards are a good way to enhance retention. Hold on to your flash cards because they will be very useful for the midterm.
• Don't forget to check out the textbook's website (Myers Textbook Website)! The website contains practice tests and review activities; check-out Self-Test 2. You can also look at the PsychSim 5 Online Quizzing sections: Whats Wrong With This Study?, Descriptive Statistics, and Correlation for more self-testing.

How can I better understand the key concepts of this chapter?

• For the six main psychological perspectives, associate each perspective with a few key words.
  • Psychodynamic - unconscious, childhood conflict
  • Behavioral - learned behavior, reinforcement
  • Cognitive - thinking, interpreting
  • Neuroscience - parts of the brain, brain chemistry
  • Social-Cultural - societal values , ethnic groups
  • Evolutionary - survival of the fittest, passing on our genes

• When identifying the independent and dependent variable, first think of the classic example - "Alcohol causes aggression." Alcohol is the independent variable because it is what is manipulated by the psychologist and it is normally stated first in the hypothesis. Aggression is the dependent variable because it is what is measured by the psychologist and it depends on whether the subject received the independent variable (treatment - i.e. alcohol).
• Also, when identifying the independent and dependent variable, state the hypothesis in an if-then statement, whatever comes after the if is the independent variable (If - Independent). For example, "if one drinks alcohol, then he or she will become aggressive."
• Correlation does not mean causation.

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