Introduction to psychology 2014

Introduction to

Psychology

Douglas S. Krull


Kona Publishing and Media Group
Higher Education Division
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.konapublishing.com
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Copyright © 2014 Kona Publishing and Media Group
All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in
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ISBN: 978-1-935987-42-0




Chapter One

Introduction, History, and Research Methods

iii

contents

Preface ix
About the Author x
Acknowledgments x

chapter

1

Introduction, History,
and Research Methods 1
INTRODUCTION 1
HOW TO SUCCEED OR FAIL

chapter

2

Biological Psychology 41
WHAT IS BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY? 41
HISTORY AND OVERVIEW
OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 42

IN INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY 3

THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM 42

Perspectives in Psychology 4
Specialities in Psychology 5
Career Settings in Psychology 6

CELLS OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM 43

HISTORY 7
RESEARCH METHODS 12

Theories, Hypotheses, and Science
in General 12
Basic and Applied Research 14
Generating Ideas 15
Some Descriptive Statistics 16
Descriptive Research 18
Correlational Research 19
Experimental Research 23
Internal Validity and External Validity 28
Correlational and Experimental
Research Revisited 33
P-values, Significance,
and Inferential Statistics 33
Meta-Analysis 34
BEING A RESEARCH PARTICIPANT 35
HAVE NO FEAR! CRITICAL THINKING
IS HERE! 36

Neurons 43
Glia 46
THE FIRING OF ACTION POTENTIALS 48

The Resting State 48
Ready, Aim, Fire! 50

Stimulus Intensity 51
Propagation Down the Axon 52
Speed of Conduction 52
SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION 53

Neurotransmitters 54
THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM 57
DIVISIONS OF THE PERIPHERAL
NERVOUS SYSTEM 59
THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM 60

The Spinal Cord 60
The Cerebrospinal Fluid
and the Ventricles 62
THE BRAIN 62

Localization of Function
and Phrenology 62
The Hindbrain 63
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Contents

The Midbrain 64
The Forebrain 65
Hemispheric Specialization 70
INVESTIGATING THE BRAIN 74

GENETICS AND BEHAVIORAL GENETICS 75

Evolutionary Psychology 83

chapter

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Sensation, Perception,
and Attention 85
SENSATION VERSUS PERCEPTION 85
ADAPTATION 86
THRESHOLDS 86

Absolute Thresholds 86
Signal Detection Theory 87
The Just Noticeable Difference (JND)
and Weber’s Law 88
SUBLIMINAL PERCEPTION 89
SENSATION 89

The Visual System 89
Common Eye Disorders 91
Composition of the Retina 92
Color and Color Vision 93
The Retina and Beyond 96
THE AUDITORY SYSTEM 97

Sound 97
Structures of the Ear 98

Detection of Pitch 101
From the Ear to the Cortex 103
The Vestibular Sense 103
THE SOMATOSENSORY SENSES 104

Touch 104
Pain 108
THE GUSTATORY SENSE: TASTE 109
THE OLFACTORY SENSE: SMELL 111
PERCEPTION 113

Gestalt Princicples 116
Depth Perception 117
Perception Across Senses 121
ATTENTION 122

Selective Attention 122
Divided Attention 124
Sustained Attention 126

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Learning 127
INTRODUCTION 127
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING 128

Pavlov and His Amazing
Salavating Dogs 129

Classical Conditioning Terminology 129
Factors that Affect Conditioning
– Order of the CS/US 132
Factors that Affect Conditioning
– Relationship Between
the CS and US 133
Factors that Affect Conditioning
– Intensity of the CS/US 134
Generalization and Discrimination 135
Extinction, Spontaneous Recovery,
and Renewal 136
What is Learned in Conditioning?
S-R or S-S? 137
Classical Conditioning Phenomena
Applications 139
INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING 147

Thorndike and His Amazing
Puzzle-Solving Cats 147
B. F. Skinner and Operant/Instrumental
Conditioning 148
Instrumental Conditioning Versus
Classical Conditioning 148
Instrumental Conditioning Terminology 149
Spanking 150
Primary and Secondary Reinforcers 151
Effectiveness of Reinforcement
and Punishment 151
Extinction and the Extinction Burst 152
Discriminative Stimuli 153

Shaping and Chaining 153
Schedules of Reinforcement 155
Choices Between Behaviors 157
Behavior Analysis Perspective 158
Instinctive Drift 159
Applications 160
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING 162

Distinguishing Observational
Learning from Other Phenomena 163
Real Observational Learning 164
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory 164
Applications 165






ANIMAL COGNITION 166

Spatial Abilities 166
Communication and Language 169
Tool Use 171

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Cognitive Psychology 173

MEMORY 173

Sensory Memory 174
Short-term memory 175
Working memory 176
Long-Term Memory 179
Forgetting 186
Flashbulb Memory 188
Eyewitness Memory 188
The Recovered Memory Controversy 192
Memory Improvement 193
Metamemory 195
Organic Amnesia 196
THINKING 198

Problem Solving 198
Problem Solving in the Gestalt Tradition 199
Problem Solving Strategies 201
Reasoning 203
Heuristics and Biases
in Decision-Making 209
Prospect Theory and Economic
Decision-Making 214
Frontal Lobe Damage and Thinking
Disorders 215

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Motivation and Emotion 219
PERSPECTIVES ON MOTIVATION 219

I. Instincts 220
II. Drive 220
III. Arousal 221
IV. Incentives 221
V. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 223
HUNGER AND EATING 224

Hunger and eating – biological factors 225
Hunger and eating – social factors 226
AGGRESSION 227

Aggression – biological factors 228
Aggression – social factors
- culture 230

Contents

v

Aggression – social factors
- media 231
Aggression – social factors
- situations 234
Cognitive Mechanisms 236
Overcoming Aggression 240
SEX 242

Sexual behavior – biological factors 242
Sexual behavior – social factors 244
Gender 247
Sexually transmitted disease 249
Sexual orientation 250
EMOTION 254

Universal emotions 254
Theories of emotion 255
Neuroscience of Emotion 258
Affective Forecasting 259
Happiness 260

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Development 263

Research Methods 264
Organization of This Chapter 266

BIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT 267

Genetics and Behavioral Genetics 267
Prenatal Development 271
Physical Development in Childhood 274
Puberty 279
Young Adulthood 280
Middle Adulthood 281

Late Adulthood 282
Theories of Aging 282
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 283

Language Development 283
Piaget’s Theory
of Cognitive Development 285
Assimilation and Accommodation 291
Adolescent Egocentrism 291
Vygotsky’s Theory
of Cognitive Development 292
The Information Processing Perspective 292
Kohlberg’s Model
of Moral Development 293
Cognitive Development in Young
and Middle Adulthood 295
Cognitive Development
in Late Adulthood 296


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Contents

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 298

Erikson’s Psychosocial Model 298
Development of Emotions 299
Attachment 300
Parenting Styles 301

Peers 302
Identity 303
Socioemotional Development
in Adulthood 306

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Personality and Individual
Differences 313
PERSONALITY MEASUREMENT 314

Reliability 315
Validity 318
Bias 320
THE PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE 321

Freud’s Model of Mind
and Structure of Personality 322
Psychosexual Stages of Development 323
Anxiety and Defense Mechanisms 325
Psychoanalysis 329
Evaluating Freud 329
NEO-FREUDIANS 330

Jung 331
Adler 332
Horney 332

Personality Versus the Situation 348
Evaluating the Trait Perspective 350
THE BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE 350

Genes 350
Extroversion and Eysenck’s Theory 351
Brain Asymmetry 351
Male-Female Differences 352
Evaluating the Biological Perspective 353
INTELLIGENCE 354

Theories of Intelligence 354
Intelligence Testing 355

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Psychological Disorders and
Treatments 359

Diagnosis of Psychological Disorders 359

MODELS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
DISORDERS 363
ANXIETY DISORDERS 368

Comorbidity 380
MOOD DISORDERS 380

Suicide 389
SCHIZOPHRENIA 390
DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS 397

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder 400
PERSONALITY DISORDERS 401

THE LEARNING, SOCIAL LEARNING,
AND COGNITIVE SOCIAL
LEARNING PERSPECTIVE 333

Miller and Dollard 334
Rotter 335
Bandura 336
Mischel 337
Evaluating the Learning Perspective 338
THE HUMANISTIC, EXISTENTIAL,
AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE 339

Abraham Maslow 340
Carl Rogers 340
Victor Frankl 341
George Kelly and Personal Constructs 342
Evaluating the Humanistic, Existential,
and Phenomenological Perspective 343
THE TRAIT PERSPECTIVE 344

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Health Psychology 405
INTRODUCTION 405
RESEARCH METHODS
IN HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY 406

Healthy Behaviors 407
THEORIES ABOUT HEALTH BEHAVIOR 408
PROMOTING HEALTHY BEHAVIOR 410

Promoting Healthy Behavior
– Attitude Change 410
Promoting Healthy Behavior – Behavioral
and Cognitive Treatments 412
The Danger of Relapse 413
Social Engineering 413






NUTRITION 414
EXERCISE 415
SLEEP 417
OBESITY 419

Causes of obesity 421

Losing weight 423

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Psychology of Religion 501
INTRODUCTION 502
HISTORY 506

EATING DISORDERS 425

RESEARCH METHODS 509

SMOKING 427

BIOLOGY 516

Smoking Cessation and Prevention 429
ALCOHOL ABUSE 431

Alcohol Abuse Treatment
and Prevention 433
STRESS 434

Theories About Stress 435
Predictors of Stress 437
How Does Stress Cause Disease? 439
Coping With Stress 440
CORONARY HEART DISEASE 442

COPING WITH CHRONIC DISEASE 445
PATIENTS, PROVIDERS,
AND TREATMENT 446

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Social Psychology 451
THE SELF 451

Positive Illusions and Biases 454
Self-Esteem 456
Self-Regulation 457
Self-Presentation 458
ATTRIBUTION 460
ATTRACTION AND RELATIONSHIPS 466
HELPING 470

Genes and Religiosity 516
Biology and Mystical and Religious
Experience 517
SENSATION/PERCEPTION/ATTENTION,
COGNITION, LEARNING,
AND MOTIVATION/EMOTION 522
DEVELOPMENT 524

Religious Thinking 524
Parenting Style 524
Parents and Peers in the Development

of Religiosity 525
Attachment 526
Identity Development 528
Marriage 529
PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES 529

Religiosity and the Big Five 529
Terror Management 530
Moral Frameworks 533
Gender Differences in Religiosity 534
PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH 535

Scrupulosity 537
PHYSICAL HEALTH 539
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 540

Self-Control 540
Helping Behavior 540
Prejudice and Discrimination 543

STEREOTYPING AND PREJUDICE 475
INFLUENCE 484
ATTITUDES 490
GROUPS 496

Contents

Index 547
References 567

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Introduction, History, and Research Methods

Chapter One

ix

preface

A preface is an introduction, so, reader, meet psychology text. Psychology
text, meet reader. Now that introductions are out of the way, let me summarize some of the major features of this text. First, psychology is a science, a field based on research, and I hope this text illustrates that clearly.
However, as one of my colleagues has said, psychology is a cool science,
and I hope I have managed to convey some of its coolness in an engaging
way. Moreover, I don’t think science needs to be dry or confusing. Who
wants to read dry and confusing material? I prefer an informal, conversational style, and that is what I have strived for in this text. I hope I have
also illustrated concepts with clear (and occasionally goofy) examples and
that my enthusiasm for the field of psychology has come through. In addition, critical thinking skills are very important. Indeed, it is probably more
important to be able to think critically than it is to know a collection of psychological findings (although that’s important too). Consistent with this, I
have regularly included opportunities to exercise critical thinking. Finally,
I have included a chapter on the psychology of religion, which is not only
interesting and important, but also makes a good capstone for introductory
psychology because many of the topics in introductory psychology are also
topics in the psychology of religion. More could be said, but let me encourage you to read on and explore for yourself.

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Preface

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Doug Krull thought he wanted to be a veterinarian and went to the
University of California, Davis to study animal science. However,
along the way he changed his major to psychology and graduated
in 1985. He went to the University of Texas at Austin for graduate
school in social psychology and graduated in 1990. He worked at
the University of Missouri-Columbia and then moved to Northern
Kentucky University in 1996. In addition to introductory psychology, he regularly teaches social psychology, social psychology lab,
and consumer psychology, and he has also taught cognitive psychology and the psychology of religion. His research interests include attribution/first impressions, perceptions of science, and multiple topics in the psychology of religion. With regard to personal
matters, he is a Christian; he and his wife, Lori, have four daughters
and one son; and he enjoys music, reading, and movies. He also
finds it odd to write about himself in the third person.
Photo by: Abigail Krull

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Kyler Ferguson and the editorial team at Kona Publishing &
Media Group for giving me the opportunity to write this text. I also want to thank
the many colleagues who reviewed chapters, shared their expertise and suggestions, or otherwise helped me with this project, including Mark Bardgett, Robin
Bartlett, Kim Breitenbecher, Sharon Burns, Kathleen Fuegen, Perilou Goddard,
Richard Griggs, Heather Hatchett, Steve Hoekstra, David Hogan, Ralph Hood, Jay
Kidwell, Angela Lipsitz, Cecile Marczinski, Ray Paloutzian, Jessica Park, David
Silvera, Jeff Smith, Jim Thomas, Jordan Wagge, and Jennifer Williams: I take full
responsibility for all content and any mistakes, but your suggestions improved the

text immensely. I’m also thankful for the many textbooks and other resources from
which I have learned over the years. I want to thank my family (Lori, Sarah, Rachel,
Abigail, Keziah, and David) for their help and encouragement and for their understanding when I spent extra hours working: I appreciate your sacrifices. Finally,
most of all I want to thank God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for blessing
me in this project and in every way.


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01

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Introduction, History,
and Research Methods
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to introductory psychology! I hope you find this material to be
extremely interesting. It sure would be disappointing if you found it to be
mind-numbingly dull, wouldn’t it? Fortunately, I have a big advantage over
many other textbook writers because I get to write about psychology rather
than…well, maybe I’d better not mention anything specific.
Psychology is the study of thoughts (also called cognition), emotions
(also called affect), and behavior. Sometimes psychology is called a behavioral science, but that really reflects a time when it was taboo to study
thoughts and feelings. Today psychology is primarily a cognitive
science, although it includes all three. In the course of studying
thoughts, emotions, and behavior, psychologists seek to describe
(for example, describing how shy people behave differently from
people who are not shy), predict (for example, predicting job performance from a cognitive test), and explain (for example, explaining
why stereotypes are used more under some circumstances than
others). Psychologists in some areas might also be interested in
applying what has been learned to help people to change (for example, helping people to overcome eating disorders).
Unfortunately, our society’s view of psychology seems to be
heavily influenced by the media, so it might be useful to point out
some important differences between psychology in movies and
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Chapter One

Introduction, History, and Research Methods

television and what we will cover in this textbook. According to one of my
colleagues who has studied psychology in film (Lipsitz & colleagues, 2000),
there are several differences between how psychologists are portrayed in
films and the real field of psychology. Consider three of these differences.
First, movie psychologists are nearly always involved in the investigation or
treatment of abnormal people; in contrast, many psychologists and most areas in psychology study normal people. Very few psychologists study serial
killers, and very few are employed as profilers. If you glance at the table of
contents of this text, you’ll see that only one chapter addresses disorders
and treatments. Now, psychological disorders are very interesting (although
very challenging for those who have them), but that is only a small part of
the field of psychology.
Second, psychologists in the media are nearly always therapists. Once again, it
is true that many psychologists are therapists, but there are also many who are
not. For example, I’m a social psychologist, so I was never trained as a therapist. Most of my psychology colleagues were never trained to practice therapy.
Indeed, even though we have several clinical psychologists in the department, none
of them has a private practice and most of them have no interest in doing therapy.
Third, the portrayal of psychologists in films usually has little to do with science. In contrast, we will focus pretty much exclusively on science. It might surprise some of you to learn that psychology is a science just as much as biology
or chemistry. Now, some psychologists are really sensitive about this. If someone
suggested to a particular colleague of mine that psychology is not a science, or is
somehow inferior to the natural sciences, that someone might receive an education offered rather stridently. I’m not so sensitive, but the fact of the matter is that
psychology is a science because it is an empirical discipline; that is, it employs the
scientific method of generating an idea and collecting data to test that idea (more
about that when we get to methods).

Introduction, History, and Research Methods

HOW TO SUCCEED OR FAIL
IN INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY
Before we go on, let me address one issue that might be important to you. I’m guessing most of you who are reading this are doing so in the context of a course you are
taking. Let me offer a few tongue-in-cheek comments about succeeding and failing.
It’s probably unnecessary, but lest anyone misunderstand my comments, let me
offer this clarification: I really do want you to succeed, so please do the opposite of
these instructions about how to fail. Here goes.
Because most students want to succeed, much has been written about how to
succeed. However, you might be a student who wants to fail. Shouldn’t you receive
some guidance? It seems only fair. An entire book could be written on this subject,
but I will limit myself to three suggestions that, if followed, would go a long way
toward achieving failure. (I know some of this through personal experiences.)
First, skip class as much as possible. It is much easier to master material if one
attends class, so skipping class is a great way to start on the road to failure. If you
cannot manage to skip every class, then try to skip extra classes in the beginning of
the course. That way you might get so far behind that even if you attend class later
it might be too late to catch up.
Second, study as little as possible. As you might imagine, studying material
is a good way to learn, so not studying is another effective way to increase your
chances of failure. If you must study, do not spread out your studying and do not
read the material in the text close to the time it is covered in class. Rather, wait until
the night before the exam and then stay up all night and try to cram all the material
into your mind in as few hours as possible. Then, not only will you have achieved a
considerable lack of studying, but you will also be very tired, which is helpful when
one wants to avoid correct answers.
Third, if you find yourself being exposed to the material, either in class or
by reading the text, try not to think about the material. Now, you might think that

if you skip class and never read the text you don’t have to worry about gaining
knowledge, but it is best to be prepared because other people might try to confront you with the information. For example, your friends might not understand
your determination to fail. They might share their notes with you or try to get
you into a study group. They might drag you to class against your will. But you
can defeat their attempts to push you toward success as long as you do not think
about the material. Do not use mnemonics (memory tricks) that might cause the
material to stick in your mind. Do not consider how the information might apply
in everyday life. Do not think of examples beyond those provided by the instructor. If you are being exposed to the material, distract yourself by, for example,
thinking about how to thwart your friends who are trying to propel you toward
success (“Let’s see. I could wear a crazed grin and burst forth with a fiendish
‘Moo Ha Ha Ha!’ Then I could cry out something like ‘You’ll never defeat me!
I have foiled your feeble plan!’”). Of course, you might actually want to succeed.
You might want to learn. You might want to earn a good grade. If so, then, well,
you know what to do.

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Before I go on I’d like to acknowledge prominently the help I received from various electronic resources (e.g., PsycARTICLES, RefWorks, PubMed, Wikipedia),
but especially PsycInfo (a searchable psychology database), on which I relied heavily throughout writing this text. PsycInfo (which is probably available electronically
through your campus library) is a terrific resource that I recommend highly to you.
Because I want you to succeed, from time to time I will encourage you to

stop and test your knowledge. It can be easy to read along without thinking, but
of course the goal is not just to read but also to learn. If you get a poor grade on a
psychology exam (which I hope never happens), protesting to your instructor that
you read the chapters three times and copied your notes twice is unlikely to get
him or her to change your grade because your instructor’s job is to evaluate your
knowledge, not your effort. So, I recommend trying to learn each section before
reading on. This will take longer, but I think it will help you to master the material. For now, can you name three types of phenomena that psychologists study?
Name three (sometimes four) things that psychologists seek to do. Describe three
ways that psychology in the media differs from the field of psychology.
Before continuing, let me pause here and note just a few stylistic matters.
First, in this text I will frequently use the abbreviation e.g., which, as you might
know, means “for example.” I understand it comes from the Latin phrase exempli
gratia. Psychologists use e.g. very often in their writing. Second, I will frequently
use that abbreviation prior to noting a journal article or book that supports a particular point. For example, if Cassandra Johansen and Rudy Parker published a series
of experiments in 2008 that indicated that people are more helpful when they are
in a good mood, I might write “Research suggests that people are more helpful
when they are in a good mood (e.g., Johansen & Parker, 2008).” Then if you’re
curious about that topic, you have a starting point for locating additional information. Third, psychologists often write cautiously. So, rather than writing “Research
proves that a good mood makes people more helpful,” I might write “Research
suggests that a good mood makes people more helpful” or “A good mood seems to
promote helping behavior.” Psychologists often write this way because scientific
findings are not definitive; current research might support a particular conclusion,
but future research might call that conclusion into question.

Perspectives in Psychology
Cognitive perspective
A perspective that investigates
psychology at the cognitive
level, such as by studying
thoughts and feelings

Behavioral perspective
A perspective that investigates
psychology by studying
behavior
Biological perspective
A perspective that investigates
psychology at the biological
level, such as by studying brain
structures or neurochemicals

Psychologists have different perspectives about how to investigate their field. As
we shall see, there are many specialties in psychology (e.g., clinical, developmental, social), but I’m not talking about training. Rather, I’m referring to the level of
analysis they prefer. For example, many psychologists have a cognitive perspective. In fact, this is probably the dominant perspective in psychology. These psychologists like to study people at the cognitive level—what people are thinking or
feeling. But other psychologists have a behavioral perspective; they like to study
behavior, not thoughts or feelings. Still other psychologists have a biological perspective; they like to study people by investigating brain structures or neurochemicals. Nearly all psychologists would subscribe to one of these three perspectives.
Now, it should be noted that there are other perspectives that are sometimes mentioned in a section like this. For example, some psychologists have a cultural perspective and like to point out similarities and differences across cultures. But they probably study cultures at the cognitive level, the behavioral level, or the biological level.




Introduction, History, and Research Methods

Some psychologists have a humanistic perspective and emphasize people’s desire to
grow and realize their full potential. We will notice more about this view in the history
of psychology section and in the personality chapter, but again, such psychologists
would still study cognitions, behavior, or biology. So, although you should know the
cultural and humanistic perspectives, I wouldn’t include them in the big three.

Specialties in Psychology
There are many specialties in psychology; let me give you brief descriptions of

some of the possibilities.


















1. Clinical: If I tell people I’m a psychologist, they often seem to assume
that I’m a clinical psychologist. Their assumption is not unreasonable
because clinical psychology is the most common specialty. Now, it is
important to distinguish clinical psychology from psychiatry. Clinical
psychologists are, of course, psychologists. In contrast, psychiatrists
are medical doctors—just like general practitioners, pediatricians,
or orthopedic surgeons—but psychiatrists have received specialized
training in psychiatry. Clinical psychologists go to graduate school and
earn a PhD. Psychiatrists go to medical school and earn an MD.
2. Counseling: Some might think that counseling psychology is a lesser
degree than clinical, but that is not the case. You can earn a PhD in

counseling just as you can in clinical. As you might guess, there is
substantial overlap between these fields, but clinical psychologists
are probably more likely to deal with the more severe disorders (e.g.,
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder), whereas counseling psychologists are
more likely to deal with more typical problems (e.g., marriage and family
problems, problems at work).
3. Experimental: This is actually misleading because many psychologists
who are not defined as “experimental psychologists” do conduct
experiments, but this name is often used for psychologists who study
basic psychological processes (e.g., perception, cognition, learning).
4. School: School psychologists differ from school counselors. School
psychologists often do psychological testing, such as for learning disabilities,
but they might also intervene when a child is having behavioral problems.
5. Educational: Educational psychologists study issues that pertain to
learning in educational settings, such as how to teach more effectively
or how to enhance student motivation.
6. Developmental: Developmental psychologists study aspects of
development, such as prenatal development, the effects of parents and
peers on children, or cognitive declines in old age.
7. Biological: Biological psychologists study the interaction of biology and
psychology, such as the role of a particular brain structure in memory or
the effect of a hormone on aggression.
8. Health: Health psychologists study psychology as it pertains to health.
They might work on programs to reduce smoking or study the factors
that influence decisions about health care.
9. Social/Personality: These specialties are often combined (e.g., in graduate
programs, in titles of journals), but in a sense they are opposites.

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Personality psychologists tend to focus on individual differences (e.g.,
introverts vs. extroverts), whereas social psychologists tend to focus on
how people in general react to different situations. Social psychologists
often focus on “everyday life” topics, such as attraction, helping
behavior, and persuasion.
10. Industrial/Organizational: Industrial/organizational psychologists apply
psychology to the workplace. They might help businesses to make good
hiring decisions, help leaders to be more effective, or work to increase
employee productivity and satisfaction.
11. Forensic: Forensic psychologists are about as close as one is likely to
get to being a profiler. They work at the juncture of psychology and
law. They might, for example, be involved in evaluating eyewitness
testimony or whether a person is competent to stand trial.
12. Human Factors: This is sometimes called engineering psychology or
ergonomics. These psychologists study human performance when working

with machines. For example, they might study how airplane cockpits (e.g.,
gauges, levers) should be designed to facilitate the performance of pilots
or how using a cell phone affects driving performance.

Career Settings in Psychology
Where do psychologists work? Given that clinical and counseling are the largest
areas, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that many psychologists work in a
setting that involves practicing therapy, such as a private psychology practice, a psychology clinic, or a hospital. Many also work in colleges or universities, typically
teaching and conducting research. Then there are a variety of other possibilities, such
as working in a business setting (e.g., polling organization, marketing research firm).
Now, most of the specialties and career settings I just mentioned pertain to individuals who have finished their undergraduate education and have gone on to graduate
school and earned a PhD. But it is important to point out that one could have a career in
psychology or a closely related field with a master’s degree. One could get a master’s
degree in a “helping profession,” such as counseling or social work. One could get a
master’s degree in a “business-related field,” such as industrial-organizational psychology or human factors. Money is certainly not the most important thing in life, but it
might interest you to know that people who get a master’s in I/O or human factors might
go on to earn a higher income than the PhD instructors they had in graduate school.
There are also interesting careers that one could pursue with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. One could assist psychologists in a mental health setting. One
could work in advertising or sales. Some of the psychology graduates of the university where I work have taken research positions at a local hospital. And, of course,
one could go on to an advanced degree program outside of psychology, such as
medicine, business, or law.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
What are the three main perspectives in psychology? Can
you name eight specialties in psychology? How does clinical
psychology differ from psychiatry?

Introduction, History, and Research Methods

Chapter One

7

HISTORY
It is difficult to put one’s finger on the start of the field of psychology because people have thought about psychological ideas for
millennia. Nevertheless, it is often suggested that the discipline
of psychology began in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany. That was the
year that Wilhelm Wundt started the first psychology laboratory.
Thus, psychology emerged as a scientific endeavor, rather than
merely good conversation. Wundt’s goal was to use the technique
of introspection, where one looks inward to study conscious experience. Participants would be confronted with some sensory
information, such as a rapidly or slowly ticking metronome,
and would be asked to introspect and report their reactions.
One of Wundt’s students, Edward Titchener, moved to the
United States and started a psychology laboratory at Cornell
University. Titchener thought that conscious experience could be
broken down into psychological elements, just as chemical compounds can be broken down into basic elements. Consistent with
this emphasis on discovering the structure of conscious experience, this school of thought is called structuralism. But Wundt
held to a different perspective, which he called “voluntarism” to
emphasize his view that attending to a sensory impression is an act of will (Thorne
& Henley, 2001).
Of course, not everyone agreed with structuralism. Indeed, several historically
important schools of thought disagreed vehemently with structuralism and introspection. William James was one who disagreed. Unlike Titchener, the practical James
proposed that it is the function of conscious experience, not the structure, that is
important. In other words, what are thoughts and behaviors good for? How do they
enable people and animals to achieve their goals? This school of thought came to be
called functionalism. Incidentally, James’ Principles of Psychology (1890) is still

quoted from today (I quote from it in chapter 6). He also wrote a briefer version,
and I understand the two works came to be called the “James” and the “Jimmy.”
But James wasn’t the only one who disagreed with structuralism. So did three
psychologists in Germany: Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, and Kurt Koffka.
They advocated gestalt psychology. I understand the German term gestalt refers
to a form or pattern. Contrary to the structuralist goal of breaking down mental
events, the gestalt psychologists emphasized that people see whole forms and that
the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Why is the whole more than the sum of
the parts? Is that just some grandiose-sounding statement? No. Rather, the whole is
more than the sum of the parts because we do not passively receive sensory information; instead, our minds add to the parts of sensory information to help construct
the whole of perception.
Consistent with gestalt psychology, Wertheimer demonstrated apparent
motion, where things appear to move even though they are stationary. For example, if you simultaneously turn off one light bulb and turn on another, it appears
that the light jumps from one to the other even though each light bulb is only going
on or off. Perhaps when driving through construction on the highway you’ve seen
a sign where one set of lights in the shape of an arrow turns off just as another set

Introspection
Looking inward at one’s own
conscious experience
Structuralism
Focused on discovering
the structure of conscious
experience by breaking it down
into psychological elements
Functionalism
Proposed that it is the function,
not the structure, of thoughts
and behaviors that is important
Gestalt psychology

In contrast to structuralism,
gestalt psychology emphasized
that people see whole forms
and that the whole is more
than the sum of the parts
Apparent motion
A perceptual phenomenon
in which objects appear to
move even though they are
stationary


8

Chapter One

Psychodynamic
Freud’s personality perspective,
which emphasizes aspects of
personality that are active and
in conflict
Psychoanalysis
Freudian therapy. From the
psychoanalytic perspective,
disorders can be caused by
unconscious problems, so a
primary goal of therapy is to
gain insight into what is buried
in one’s unconscious so those
problems can be addressed

Free association
A psychoanalytic technique in
which the client talks about
whatever comes to mind

Introduction, History, and Research Methods

turns on, and then that second set turns off as a third set turns on. It appears that the
arrows move, perhaps indicating that the lane is about to end and you should
change lanes before you crash into a crane. Clearly it’s important to study wholes
as well as parts; if one only studied a single light bulb, one would never discover
apparent motion.
We’re not finished with those who disagreed with structuralism, but let’s
take a brief aside. Who is the most famous psychologist of all? Whose ideas
have infiltrated our culture in numerous ways? For example, what do we call
it when we slip and say something we shouldn’t have? Do psychologists ask
people to lie down on a couch and talk about their mothers? Ever heard of an
Oedipus complex or penis envy? Do we repress painful memories? Is it true
that, as a Disney song says, “A dream is a wish your heart makes”? And what
psychologist was identified as a significant historical figure in that authoritative and most triumphant film, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure? Of course,
it’s none other than Sigmund Freud.
Freud was trained as a medical doctor, but he came to believe that many
ailments had psychological causes, a view that many still subscribe to today.
He also thought that sexual difficulties were the cause of many psychological
problems, a view that few hold today. Freud developed a comprehensive theory to explain such psychological problems as well as techniques to treat them.
He proposed that our conscious minds are just the tip of the iceberg and that many
of our thoughts and activities are strongly influenced by our unconscious, a seething cauldron of sexual and aggressive drives, forbidden wishes, and memories
of traumatic events. Because the different aspects of personality are struggling
against one another, his perspective is called psychodynamic. Because Freud
believed that the task of the therapist is to bring problems into the open where

they can be addressed, his therapy, called psychoanalysis, involves exploring
the unconscious. Patients might be asked to talk about whatever comes to mind,
a technique called free association, or to relate their dreams for the therapist to
interpret. Freud’s ideas are still popular with some therapists, but in academic
settings his views are often discussed primarily for their historical significance.




Introduction, History, and Research Methods

In 1913 John B. Watson published a landmark paper, “Psychology as the
Behaviorist Views It.” It’s probably one of the most influential articles in the
history of psychology. In it, Watson described his perspective for the field of
psychology, a perspective called behaviorism. Watson argued that psychology should be the science of behavior. In this view, there is no need to use
introspection or speculate about consciousness. Psychology should be a natural
science focused exclusively on the prediction and control of observable behavior. Watson’s view was a radical departure from structuralism, but by 1920
behaviorism had become the dominant perspective in American psychology,
a position it held for about 40 years.
Although Watson was successful in his career, his personal life was a different story (Thorne & Henley, 2000, was very helpful in this section on behaviorism as well as in the following section on humanistic psychology). Although he
was married, Watson became romantically involved with one of his current students, Rosalie Rayner (we’ll get to a famous demonstration they conducted on the
development of fear in the learning chapter). Watson was dismissed from Johns
Hopkins, but he obtained a position with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. Watson was successful in applying learning principles to advertising (including
a cold cream ad featuring the queen of Romania!). Watson also wrote psychology
articles for popular magazines like Harper’s and Cosmopolitan and so communicated his psychological ideas to the general public.
Like philosopher John Locke, Watson thought that an infant is a tabula rasa,
a “blank slate,” and that everything we become is the result of learning. He made
a famous boast that if he were given a dozen healthy infants and his own world in
which to raise them, he could cause them to turn out however he chose. He could
make one a doctor, another an artist, another a thief. Watson also thought that children were too coddled and that they should not be hugged or kissed, a view that,

not surprisingly, might have had negative consequences for his children. However,
there can be no doubt that Watson was, and continues to be, a very influential figure
in psychology.
But, although Watson’s influence on psychology was substantial, the impact
of another behaviorist, B. F. Skinner, was probably even greater. Skinner was also
committed to the view that psychology should be the science of behavior, but he
was interested in the effects of reward on behavior. Because in behaviorism there is
no need to consider thinking, Skinner, like many behaviorists, chose to work with
animals. He was good at building gadgets, and he constructed a box (sometimes
called a “Skinner box,” although I understand that Skinner did not prefer that name)
in which an animal (e.g., a rat, a pigeon) could perform a behavior (e.g., press a
lever, peck a disk) to receive food. Skinner went on to have a long and successful
career studying behavior, and he applied his ideas in a wide variety of settings.
Among other accomplishments, he taught pigeons (his preferred research subject)
to guide missiles, designed a device (called “the baby-tender” and later marketed
as the Aircrib) to help raise children, built a self-paced teaching machine, and
wrote a novel, Walden Two, about a utopian community based on learning principles. Right up to his death in 1990, Skinner insisted that psychology should be
exclusively the study of behavior. Although he did not found behaviorism, Skinner is
probably the most famous behaviorist and the most famous psychologist after Freud.

Chapter One

Behaviorism
The view that psychology
should focus exclusively on
observable behavior

9

10

Chapter One

Introduction, History, and Research Methods

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
When was the first psychology lab started and by whom? What
is structuralism and who advocated it? What is functionalism and
on whose ideas is it based? What is gestalt psychology and who
advocated it? What is apparent motion? Are Sigmund Freud’s
views still popular in psychology? What is behaviorism and who
proposed it? Which behaviorist was interested in the effects of
reward? Can you name some of his accomplishments?

Phenomenological
perspective
The idea that subjective
perceptions of reality are
important
Humanistic psychology
An important movement in
psychology that suggested that
psychology should focus on
distinctively human qualities
Self-actualization
An aspect of the humanistic
perspective that involves
fulfilling one’s potential
Unconditional

positive regard
Care and approval that are
given unconditionally

Abraham Maslow began his career working with animals, but he soon switched
to humans. He came to believe that how we view our experiences is crucial to psychology, a view that many still hold today. The same event might happen to both you
and me, but we might think about it differently and so react to it differently. This focus
on the subjective perception of events is sometimes called the phenomenological
perspective. Of course, this suggests that animal research is not very informative
and that psychology should focus on humans; it should be a humanistic psychology.
Maslow saw humanistic psychology as the third force, after behaviorism and Freud’s
psychodynamic theory. Unlike behaviorism and Freud’s theory, humanistic psychology emphasized personal freedom and growth. Thus, humanistic psychology was
hopeful. Maslow is probably best known for his ideas about motivation (discussed in
chapter 6), particularly self-actualization, fulfilling one’s potential.
Although Maslow might have been the academic leader of humanistic psychology, the therapeutic leader was Carl Rogers. In 1951 Rogers published a book
called Client-Centered Therapy. This therapy, now called “person-centered therapy,” provides an accepting environment in which the therapist treats the client with
unconditional positive regard, that is, unconditional acceptance. During the 1940s
and 1950s, Rogers became well known and his ideas were discussed in both therapeutic
and academic settings. In 1956 he received an award from the American Psychological
Association. Both the psychoanalytic community and the behaviorists viewed Rogers
as a challenge to their views, which indeed he was. However, the humanistic perspective has primarily been influential with regard to therapy rather than in research.
We’re nearly done with history. As I mentioned earlier, behaviorism dominated the
field of psychology in America for most of the early and mid-20th century. But it doesn’t
anymore. What happened? Well, as you might guess, although the behaviorists were
making important contributions with their research on behavior, not everyone agreed
that only behavior should be studied. Consider this scenario. Suppose you observe a
young man sitting and thinking. To a behaviorist, nothing important seems to be happening because the man isn’t exhibiting any noteworthy behavior. However, the man
could be thinking about proposing marriage to his girlfriend, planning to murder his
uncle, or deciding whether he should quit his desk job so he can focus on songwriting.
Clearly, thoughts are important even though you can’t see them.

In addition, as my graduate school mentor pointed out to me, research findings
were accumulating that presented problems for behaviorism. For example, when viewing the same round symbol, it makes a difference whether one thinks of it as the
letter O or the number zero (e.g., Jonides & Gleitman, 1972; Taylor & Hamm, 1997).
From a behaviorist standpoint, that’s difficult to explain because the round symbol




Introduction, History, and Research Methods

that one sees is the same in both cases; only in the mind is
the difference important. So the field was ready for a revolution. Some would identify a particular date for the cognitive
revolution: September 11, 1956, the date of an important
symposium at MIT (Matlin, 1998). Today the cognitive
perspective, rather than behaviorism, dominates American
psychology. However, it is important to note that although
few psychologists hold that only behavior should be studied,
many psychologists still study behavior; behaviorism might
have fallen, but the behavioral approach is still going strong.

Diversity in Psychology
Although today most psychologists would never dream of
discriminating against people because of their sex, that was
not always true. For example, Mary Whiton Calkins studied with William James in the late 1800s, but she was denied the PhD at Harvard.
Despite this setback, Calkins became the first female president of the American
Psychological Association (APA) in 1905. The first woman to be awarded the PhD
in the U.S. (in 1894) was Margaret Floy Washburn, who worked with Titchener
at Cornell (she transferred there after experiencing discrimination at Columbia).
She became the president of APA in 1921. However, today the situation is very different. Far more women than men earn PhDs in psychology. Is this because psychology discriminates against men? I doubt it. Probably it occurs because more women
are interested in psychology. In an introductory psychology course it might not be

so obvious because many students are taking the course to fulfill a general studies
requirement, but in upper-division psychology courses women outnumber men by a
considerable margin. Out of curiosity, I counted the number of men and women in
my three online upper-division psychology courses this semester. Assuming I can
tell gender from the names, there were a total of 58 women and 11 men.
With regard to racial (or ethnic) diversity, in 1920 Francis Sumner became the
first African American to be awarded a PhD in psychology in the U.S. He went on to
become the psychology chairperson at Howard University, which has produced more
Black psychologists than any other university (Thorne & Henley, 2000). Kenneth
Clark became the first African-American president of APA in 1971. Kenneth Clark
and his wife, Mamie Phipps Clark, are well known for their finding that Black children preferred white dolls (Clark & Clark, 1947). Fortunately, this has changed and
Black children now prefer black dolls (Porter & Washington, 1989).

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Who are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, and with what
perspective are they associated? How does the therapist behave
toward the client in client-centered (or person-centered) therapy?
Who was the first female president of APA? Who was the first
woman to earn a PhD in psychology in the U.S.? Do men still
outnumber women in psychology? Who was the first African
American to earn a PhD in psychology in the U.S.? Who was the
first African-American president of APA?

Chapter One

11


12

Chapter One

Introduction, History, and Research Methods

RESEARCH METHODS
Before we get into this material, let me remind you that learning usually requires
thinking. One could look over this material multiple times without ever learning
it. You might get part of the way through a section and find that you are no
longer learning very effectively, but you want to read on so you can get it over
with. Let me encourage you not to do that. Try to really think about the material.
When you’re tired of thinking about it, take a break.
Have you ever heard a conversation like this?
“I know what would be fun; let’s do some statistics problems at the party,”
exclaimed Lars.
“Great idea! We could talk about research methods too,” replied Vivienne.
“Yeah! That sounds awesome,” said Lars.
Not likely. Admittedly, statistics and methods are not the most interesting aspects of psychology. However, they are probably the most important. Why are they
so important? As we noticed earlier, psychology is a very diverse field. Most psychologists specialize in a particular area of psychology and know relatively little
about the other areas. Social psychologists typically do not know very much about
clinical psychology. Clinical psychologists typically do not know very much about
the psychology of perception. Perception psychologists typically do not know very
much about developmental psychology. But all of these psychologists learn statistics and research methods. Statistics and methods enable the field of psychology
to progress. If psychologists knew nothing about statistics and research methods,
how would they learn whether a new therapy really improves psychological health?
How would they determine whether a new memory technique really helps people
to remember? How would they discern whether a new plan to reduce prejudice
has much chance of success? The only way to know is to test such ideas, and that
requires an understanding of statistics and research methods. We might say that
statistics and research methods are the foundation upon which psychology is built.
Chances are, you do not plan to go into psychology as a career. Rather, you

are probably taking this course to fulfill a general studies requirement. That’s
okay. I won’t hold it against you. I wanted to be a veterinarian when I started college. But let’s suppose you become so entranced by psychology that you change
your major and then go on to graduate school. You finish your PhD and get a job
teaching at a university. You might discover that only fifty percent of your job is
teaching. Fifteen percent is service (e.g., evaluating curriculum changes and new
courses, advising students), and, most important for our current topic, thirty-five
percent is scholarly activity (e.g., conducting research, publishing journal articles
and books, seeking grant funding). Research will be quite important to you. Truth be
told, if you get an academic job, you probably already expect this and have ideas that
you want to investigate. Let’s consider such ideas as well as how they are generated.
Theory
A general idea or framework
that helps to organize what we
know and want to know about
a topic
Hypothesis
A testable idea derived from a
theory

Theories, Hypotheses, and Science in General
Theories and hypotheses are not easy to distinguish because they overlap. However,
we might say that a theory is a general idea or framework that helps to organize
what we know or want to know about a particular topic. In contrast, an hypothesis
is a testable idea derived from a theory (testable being the key word). For example,
suppose I think that opposites attract (they usually don’t, as we shall see in the
social psychology chapter). How would I test my theory? I might throw a party

Introduction, History, and Research Methods

Chapter One

13

and give people a packet of psychological scales to complete (fun!). Using the scales, I might identify those who
are opposites and those who are similar and observe them
with a spyglass, taking note of how long they speak to each
other. My hypothesis would be that those who are opposites spend more time talking to each other than those who
are similar. Clearly, I could test this hypothesis with the
information I gathered. But I could investigate my theory
in a different way. I could still use the packet of questionnaires, but instead of observing, I could simply ask people
at the end of the party which people they liked best. My
hypothesis would be that people are more likely to mention People might think of something like this when they think
opposites than people who are similar to them. Or I could of science, but one can also study children playing in a
do something completely different, like hypothesizing that scientific manner.
married couples tend to be opposites. So, one could test the theory “opposites
attract” with many different hypotheses.
The fact that we gather data to test hypotheses is what makes psychology a science. Unfortunately, pop psychology has not always been scientifically grounded,
and, as we noticed, psychology is not usually presented as a science in the media.
As a result, many people might think that psychology is either touchy-feely nonsense or somewhat worthwhile stuff about relationships, but is certainly not real
science like chemistry or biology. As I mentioned earlier, some psychologists get
quite upset if anyone suggests that psychology is less scientific than the natural
sciences; it has been said that psychologists have physics envy because they want
to be viewed like the natural sciences.
It seems that part of the reason why psychology is
viewed as less scientific than the natural sciences is that not
everyone understands what makes a discipline a science.
Some research (Krull & Silvera, in press) suggests that

people think that a science is at least partially defined by
content, that is, what is being studied and what equipment
is being used. People seem to think that if you’re studying
recombinant DNA or using an electron microscope, that’s
science; but if you’re studying how children play in various
circumstances, that’s not as scientific (it seems that some
faculty think this way too). Of course, in reality what is
being studied has nothing to do with it. Science is method,
not content. If one is using the scientific method (generating
an hypothesis and testing it empirically, that is, testing it by
gathering data), then one is doing science. One could examine DNA in a scientific manner or an unscientific manner;
one could examine how children play in a scientific manner
or an unscientific manner. It’s the method that counts.
Indeed, one might argue that method is particularly important in psychology because there are a variety of factors
that psychologists need to consider that other fields do not. If
a researcher is studying comets, chemical interactions,
or chameleons, does it matter whether the researcher is a