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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER OUTLINE AND OBJECTIVES
I. The Science of Psychology
Psychologists develop theories and conduct psychological research to answer questions about
behavior and mental processes; these answers can impact individuals and society.
The scientific method, a means to gain knowledge, refers to ways in which questions are asked and the
logic and methods used to gain answers.
Two important characteristics of the scientific method are an empirical approach and a skeptical
attitude.
II. Science in Context
Science occurs in at least three contexts: historical, social-cultural, and moral contexts.
A. Historical Context
An empirical approach, which relies on direct observation and experimentation for answering
questions, was critical for developing the science of psychology.
The computer revolution has been a key factor in the shift from behaviorism to cognitive psychology
as the dominant theme in psychological inquiry.
B. Social and Cultural Context
The social and cultural context influences researchers’ choice of topics, society=s acceptance of
findings, and the locations in which research takes place.
Ethnocentric bias occurs when people=s views of another culture are biased by the framework or
lens of their own culture.
C. Moral Context
The moral context of research demands that researchers maintain the highest standards of ethical
behavior.
The APA=s code of ethics guides research and helps researchers to evaluate ethical dilemmas
such as the risks and benefits associated with deception and the use of animals in research.
III. Thinking Like a Researcher
To Athink like a researcher@ is to be skeptical regarding claims about the causes of behavior and
mental processes, even those that are made on the basis of Apublished@ scientific findings.
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The strongest evidence for a claim about behavior comes from converging evidence across many
studies, although scientists recognize that claims are always probabilistic.
A. Evaluating Research Findings Reported in the Media
Not all science reported in the media is Agood science.@ We must question what we read and hear.
Media reports summarizing original research reports may omit critical aspects of the method,
results, or interpretation of the research.
B. Getting Started Doing Research
When beginning a research study, students can answer the first question of Awhat to study?@ by
reviewing psychological topics in psychology journals, textbooks, and courses.
A research hypothesis is a tentative explanation for a phenomenon; it is often stated in the form of
a prediction together with an explanation for the predicted outcome.
Researchers generate hypotheses in many ways, but they always review published psychological
studies before beginning their research.
To decide if their research question is a good one, researchers consider the scientific importance,
scope, and likely outcomes of the research, and whether psychological science will be advanced.
A multimethod approach, one that searches for answers using various research methodologies and
measures, is psychology=s best hope for understanding behavior and the mind.
IV. Summary
REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
These review questions appear in the textbook (without answers) at the end of Chapter 1, and can be used
for a homework assignment or exam preparation. Answers to these questions appear in italic.
1. Describe two important characteristics of the scientific method.
2. Why did early psychologists choose the empirical approach as the favored method for psychological
investigations?
3. Identify two ways in which the computer was critical to the development of psychology in the 20th
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century.
4. Provide an example of (1) how social and cultural factors may influence psychologists= choice of
research topics and (2) how social-cultural factors may influence society=s acceptance of research
findings.
5. Describe how ethnocentric bias can be a problem in research and suggest one way in which
researchers can prevent this bias.
6. What does it mean that research is conducted in a Amoral context@?
7. Describe two ethical dilemmas that psychologists may face when conducting research.
8. Explain why researchers are skeptical about research findings, and explain how their attitude likely
differs from that of the general public.
1. Consider the hypothesis that playing violent video games causes people to be more aggressive
compared to watching violence passively on television.
A. How might you test this hypothesis? That is, what might you do to compare the two different
experiences of exposure to violence?
B. How would you determine whether people acted in an aggressive manner after exposure to
violence?
C. What additional factors would you have to consider to make sure that exposure to violence, not
some other factor, was the important factor?
2. Researchers use their observations of behavior to make inferences about psychological concepts. For
example, “boredom” could be measured by counting the number of times someone moves (fidgets) in a
chair.
A. Identify a behavior you could observe to assess each of the following concepts used by
psychologists: interpersonal attraction, embarrassment, fear, enjoyment, and shyness.
B. For each of the behaviors you came up with in Part A, what might be a different concept that is
being measured? For example, movements in a chair might measure enthusiasm or anxiety, rather
than boredom.
3. Identify how ethnocentric bias might influence each of the following research questions, then propose
an alternative to reduce ethnocentric bias.
A. A researcher seeks to determine whether happiness is associated with personal fulfillment (i.e., a
person’s ability to maximize his or her own individual goals), and compares the relationship
between happiness and self-fulfillment in America and China.
B. A psychologist has conducted research on romantic relationships for over 35 years. Although her
research questions have focused on how dating partners interact when together, she decided to
expand her research to examine texting between dating partners. Specifically, she plans to test her
idea that texting between partners leads to more superficial romantic relationships.
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the media and their impression of whether they are adversely affected by media violence. Next,
describe students’ personal experiences as anecdotal evidence (perhaps even a Acase study@) that
lacks any comparison or control condition. That is, students might consider how their attitudes and
behaviors might be different without exposure to media violence to highlight the importance of
comparison. Students also may consider the impact of these research findings on their own future
behavior (e.g., additional exposure to violence) and whether society should do more to limit media
violence.
2. The Scientific Method: Ways of Knowing
Very early in the course (in the first or second class session) we have found it useful to have a class
discussion to help students put the scientific method in context as a way of knowing. We center the
discussion on the question, “What is truth and how do we know it?@ The discussion can be done most
efficiently with students responding individually in a large group but students can also work in pairs or in
small groups prior to discussing in a large group. The entire discussion can be completed in as little as
10 or 15 minutes if it is done as one large discussion group. Steps for leading the discussion follow.
Step 1. To begin the discussion students are asked to respond to variations of a question such as “How
do you know something is true?” and “What institutions in our society claim to tell us things that are
true?@ Students typically respond that they know what is true based on personal opinion, public
opinion, or what they have been taught is true. Students identify several societal institutions that claim
to tell us things that are true. The institutions typically include education, government, the legal system,
religion, and the media. The students frequently generate science as one of the institutions; when they
do not, we either prompt students to elicit science as a response or simply add science to the list.
Step 2. In the second phase, one of the institutions from the list is selected. We have found that the
legal system works especially well for this phase. The students are to identify for the selected institution
(1) an assumption made in seeking truth; (2) rules or guidelines in seeking evidence for truth; and (3) a
decision rule for claiming truth. For the legal system, students relatively quickly identify the three
characteristics. The assumption they describe is that the accused is presumed innocent. They describe
guidelines for seeking evidence such as search warrants and rules for presenting evidence in court.
Finally, they identify the decision rule used in criminal cases of Aguilty beyond a reasonable doubt.@
Step 3. The discussion can conclude by noting that science, like the legal system and other societal
institutions, is guided by assumptions, rules of evidence, and decision rules. The research methods
course provides an introduction to the scientific method. We encourage students to begin their research
methods course with the idea that the scientific method is one of many ways of knowing truth.
3. Students= Experiences as Research Participants
Many students experienced being research participants when they enrolled in introductory psychology.
Colleges and universities commonly ask introductory psychology students to be part of a Aparticipant
pool@ and volunteer for various research projects conducted by faculty and students at the institution.
Students can be asked to share their experiences as research participants. What did they learn about
psychological research through their participation? What did it feel like to be a Asubject@ of a study?
How were they treated by researchers? Their responses may raise ethical issues associated with
research participation, which are addressed more fully in Chapter 3.
4. Reports of Psychological Research in the Popular Press
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An assignment that can be given to students early in the course is to collect reports of research findings
related to psychology that appear in news media, periodicals, and online. (This can be built into the
regular course assignments or presented as extra credit.) Not only does this assignment serve to
demonstrate the relevance of their research methods course to understanding and discussing topics of
practical interest (e.g., parenting, psychotherapy, Alzheimer=s disease, interpersonal relations), but
also provides examples of what psychologists have learned using the scientific method. Because
articles obtained by students will vary in their degree of detail, scientific foundation, and other important
characteristics, many of these research reports may be used to illustrate the problems of learning
exactly what was done from a brief media report of research. That is, students may be guided to see the
difficulty of sorting out the scientific facts in media reports and this hopefully will begin to instill in them a
healthy skepticism for what they hear or read in the media.
Students might be asked to consider the following questions:
A. What reasons would you give to another person as to why he or she shouldn’t accept uncritically
the results of psychological research as it is reported in the news media (e.g., television, online,
magazines)?
B. Are there aspects of the media report that make you skeptical about accepting the findings? What
type of information could have been provided that would make you less skeptical?
5. Ethnocentric Bias in Psychological Concepts
The important issue of ethnocentric bias can be discussed by selecting major psychological concepts
and asking students to consider how these concepts might be viewed differently across different
cultures and over time. (It is important to emphasize to students that culture measures more than
national identity.) Possible examples for discussion include personal space, achievement motivation,
intelligence, introversion.
Students may also be asked to consider to what extent (1) their own research interests and
hypotheses about behavior are influenced by their social-cultural background and (2) topics of interest
in contemporary psychology are influenced by social-cultural factors. The following questions may
guide discussion:
A. What research topics in psychology interest you? What are some questions you have about
behavior and mental processes? To get started, fill in the blank to this statement: I have often
wondered why ____________________.
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B. What hypothesis can you form about your topic?
C. Consider the ways your cultural background influences your choice of topic and the hypothesis you
have developed. How might your topic or hypothesis differ if viewed from a different cultural lens?
D. What research topics and theories are currently popular among psychologists? You may want to
page through some psychology journals or interview some of your psychology instructors.
E. How might our current social and cultural context be related to the prominence of these research
topics?
F. To what extent does ethnocentric bias play a role in the prominence of these research topics?
6. Clinical Psychology and Science
Box 1.2 (p. 15) highlights a recent critique of clinical psychology in which the practice of clinical
psychology is compared to pre-scientific medical practice of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The
authors of the critique (Baker, McFall, & Shoham, 2008) argue that most clinical psychologists are
unaware of scientific evidence that favors the use of empirically supported treatments (ESTs) and
moreover, lack the training that would allow them to understand the research methodology and
findings. They conclude their critique of clinical psychology by suggesting that training in clinical
psychology should be completely reformed to be more scientific and research-based, and that the
practice of nonscientific clinical psychology should be stigmatized.
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Students often pursue psychology because of their interest in clinical practice and some may do so
because they perceive clinical psychology to be more Apeople-oriented,@ with a focus on Atalking to
people about their problems.@ Indeed, many students regard their research methods course as an
obstacle to overcome, rather than a critical aspect of the practice of psychology. Class discussion may
focus on these questions:
A. What do you imagine the practice of clinical psychology to be like? Does it include science and
research?
B. If you were to seek treatment from a clinical psychologist, would you be interested in a treatment
that has been shown to be effective in clinical research, or would you be satisfied with the
psychologist=s personal experience in treating people? Is your answer different than what you
might seek from a medical doctor for a physical problem?
7. Additional Challenge Questions
These challenge questions (along with the concepts illustrated in each question) can be used for class
discussion or possible test questions.
A. In your courses you have learned a variety of approaches to gaining knowledge about people. For
example, in reading literature, we learn about people through the eyes of the author and the
characters he or she has developed. How is this approach to gaining knowledge different from that
used by researchers in psychology? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each
approach?
B. Across the history of research in psychology, we have witnessed a change in emphases from
sensation-perception to behaviorism and then to cognitive psychology. Within the different areas or
subdisciplines of psychology (e.g., clinical, developmental, neuroscience, social), the number of
research topics has increased tremendously.
3. The Scientific Method: This page describes the scientific method and the empirical approach.
4. Science in Context: Three contexts for scientific psychology are introduced: historical, social/cultural,
and moral.
5. Ethnocentric Bias: This page describes the ethnocentric bias.
6. Thinking Like a Researcher: This page introduces scientific skepticism.
7. Guidelines for Evaluating Reports of Psychological Research: This page offers guidelines for
evaluating research reports presented in the media.
8. Getting Started Doing Research: This page suggests ideas for getting started in research.
9. Research Hypotheses: This page defines Ahypothesis@ and compares two hypotheses regarding the
effects of media violence.
10. The Multimethod Approach to Psychological Research: This page explains why psychologists use
multiple methods to answer research questions.
11. Steps in the Research Process: This page outlines the steps involved in conducting research and
provides a good overview of topics covered in the text.
12. Discussion Questions: This page lists a number of questions that may stimulate discussion regarding
the nature of psychological research.
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The Science of Psychology
! Psychologists
Develop theories
Conduct research
Answer questions about behavior and mental processes
