The Science of Psychology

• Psychology is defined as a systematized body of knowledge based on facts gathered through observation, experimentation, and experiences
• Psychology is derived from the Greek words psyche (soul) and logos (study)
• Psychology is the scientific study of the behavior of living organisms, with special attention to human behavior
• Psychology is empirical and systematic, dependent upon measurement, strives to be objective, and gets its facts through observations rather than theorizing
• Behavior refers to activities that can be observed objectively, including reactions of muscles and glands, organized patterns of responses, internal processes like thinking and feeling, and other reactions inferred from external behavior
• Behavior can be categorized as overt vs. covert and intrinsic vs. extrinsic
• Social sciences related to psychology include anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, and history
• Psychology topics include learning, emotion, intelligence, heredity, environment, differences among individuals, and the nature and development of personality and groups
• Psychology is not related to intuition, religious scripture, philosophy, or personal experience for validating truth or reality
• The scientific method in psychology involves identifying a research issue, designing a study, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and communicating findings
• The purpose of using the scientific method in psychology includes description, explanation, prediction, understanding, influence or control, and developing a database of facts, concepts, theories, principles, and laws
• Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes, related to individual human beings
• Goals of psychology include description, prediction, explanation, and influence or control of behavior and mental processes
• Two types of research in psychology are basic research (to advance knowledge) and applied research (to solve practical problems)
• Critical thinking in psychology involves objectively evaluating claims, propositions, or conclusions to determine logical consistency with evidence presented
• Creative thinking in psychology involves producing new ideas or thoughts through imaginative and synthetical thinking
• Descriptive research methods in psychology include naturalistic observation, laboratory observation, case studies, surveys, interviews, and questionnaires
• Correlational method in psychology establishes the degree of relationship between two characteristics, events, or behaviors
• Experimental method in psychology involves randomly assigning participants to control and experimental groups, manipulating independent variables, measuring dependent variables, and testing hypotheses
• Experimental group is exposed to the independent variable, while the control group is not; confounding variables, placebo effect, selection bias, and experimenter bias are potential problems in experimental research
• Limitations of the experimental method in psychology include unnatural research settings, ethical concerns, and impossibility in certain areas of interest