AP Psychology Unit 2 Psychology as a Science Part 1

Summary

This script challenges the misconception that psychology is not a science, emphasizing its scientific nature and the importance of critical thinking. It debunks common myths like the 10% brain usage and the hyperactivity caused by sugar. The speaker discusses cognitive biases such as hindsight and overconfidence, and the need for a scientific attitude in psychology. The script also outlines various research methods, including case studies, surveys, and the scientific method, highlighting the importance of hypothesis testing and operational definitions. It concludes by stressing the role of curiosity, skepticism, and humility in psychological research.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Psychology is a scientific discipline that studies the human mind and behavior, contrary to popular misconceptions that it relies on 'superhuman powers'.
• 🔍 The need for psychological science arises from the fallibility of human intuition and the common misconceptions about human behavior, such as the myth that we only use 10% of our brains.
• 📚 The course emphasizes the importance of understanding psychological science for the AP exam, which gives significant weight to this area of study.
• 🧐 Hindsight bias is a cognitive error where people believe they could have predicted an outcome that actually was unpredictable.
• 🚀 Overconfidence can lead people to underestimate the time or effort required to complete a task, which is a common pitfall in human thinking.
• 🎰 Humans tend to find order in randomness, which can lead to incorrect assumptions about cause and effect relationships.
• 🤔 Critical thinking involves being curious, skeptical, and humble, questioning assumptions, and being open to revising beliefs based on evidence.
• 🧪 The scientific method in psychology involves forming theories, creating hypotheses, conducting research, and revising theories based on findings.
• 📊 Descriptive methods in psychology, such as case studies, naturalistic observations, and surveys, help describe behavior but do not explain causes or effects.
• 📝 Operational definitions are necessary in research to provide clear and specific meanings to terms used, ensuring that research can be replicated.
• 🔄 The scientific process in psychology is iterative, with theories continually refined through hypothesis testing and research findings.

Q & A

What is the common misconception about psychology and psychologists?

The common misconception is that psychologists have superhuman powers to read minds or know what's going on in someone's mind just by observing their facial gestures or body language.

Why is psychology considered a science?

Psychology is considered a science because it uses systematic and empirical methods to study human behavior and mental processes, and it is based on observable evidence and data.

What is the significance of the example of folding a piece of paper 100 times?

The example illustrates how intuition can lead us astray. The thickness of the paper after folding it 100 times is incredibly vast, demonstrating that our intuitive guesses can be far from the actual outcome when not supported by scientific calculation.

What is hindsight bias and how does it affect our perception of events?

Hindsight bias is the tendency to believe that an outcome was predictable, once it has occurred. It affects our perception by making us think we knew an event was going to happen when in reality, we might not have had enough information to predict it accurately.

How does overconfidence influence our ability to learn and perform on tests?

Overconfidence can lead to underestimating the time and effort required to learn and retain information, resulting in inadequate preparation and potentially poor performance on tests.

What is the importance of looking for order in randomness and why do we tend to do it?

Looking for order in randomness is important because it can lead us to find patterns that might not actually exist. We tend to do it because our brains are wired to recognize patterns, which can sometimes lead to false conclusions when applied to random events.

What is the difference between a theory and a law in scientific terms?

A law in science is a statement that describes an observed phenomenon that occurs consistently under the same conditions, while a theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on empirical evidence and repeated experimentation.

Why are operational definitions necessary in psychological research?

Operational definitions are necessary to provide clear and specific meanings of terms used in research, ensuring that the measurements and observations are consistent and can be replicated by other researchers.

What is the Hawthorne effect and how can it impact research?

The Hawthorne effect refers to the phenomenon where individuals change their behavior due to their awareness of being observed. It can impact research by causing changes in the behavior of subjects, which may not accurately represent their typical behavior outside of the research context.

How does the wording of survey questions affect the results?

The wording of survey questions can significantly affect the results by influencing the way respondents interpret and answer the questions. Different wording can lead to different responses, even when the questions are about the same topic.

What is the significance of random sampling in research?

Random sampling is significant in research because it ensures that every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected, which helps to reduce bias and increase the representativeness and reliability of the study's findings.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Understanding Psychology and Its Misconceptions

This paragraph addresses common misconceptions about psychology, often influenced by media portrayals that suggest psychologists possess supernatural abilities to read minds. It clarifies that psychology is indeed a science, contrary to popular belief that it relies on common sense or intuitive observations. The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding psychological science, especially for students preparing for the AP exam, where this section carries significant weight. The paragraph introduces the concept of cognitive biases and logical fallacies, such as hindsight bias and overconfidence, which can mislead our intuition and decision-making. It also touches on the idea that many 'common sense' notions, like the myth of using only 10% of our brains, are not supported by scientific evidence.

05:01

🔍 Developing a Scientific Attitude Towards Psychology

The paragraph focuses on the importance of adopting a scientific attitude in psychology, characterized by curiosity, skepticism, and humility. It discusses how people often mistakenly find order in randomness, leading to erroneous conclusions. The speaker advocates for critical thinking, which involves scrutinizing research findings, considering the source of information, and being aware of our own biases. The paragraph also explains the scientific method in psychology, starting with theories and moving towards hypotheses that can be tested through research. It highlights the importance of operational definitions to ensure that research is replicable and that terms like 'intelligence' are clearly defined within the context of a study.

10:01

📊 Exploring Descriptive Methods in Psychological Research

This paragraph delves into various descriptive methods used in psychological research, which are aimed at describing phenomena rather than explaining causes. It discusses case studies, which involve in-depth examination of individuals, and naturalistic observations, which take place in subjects' natural environments without manipulation. The paragraph also addresses the challenges of surveys, such as the impact of wording and potential biases, and the importance of random sampling to ensure that every member of the population has an equal chance of being included in the study. The speaker provides examples of how even small sample sizes, when properly selected, can represent larger populations, as seen in election polling.

15:02

📈 The Significance of Random Sampling in Research

The final paragraph emphasizes the critical role of random sampling in psychological research to avoid sampling bias and ensure that the sample is representative of the entire population. It discusses different methods for achieving random sampling, such as using random number generators or drawing names from a hat. The speaker points out that while larger sample sizes can improve the accuracy of research findings, a properly conducted random sample can yield reliable results even with a relatively small number of participants. The paragraph concludes by setting the stage for the next section, which will cover correlational studies and experiments, suggesting a continuation of the exploration into more complex research methods in psychology.

Keywords

💡Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context. In the video, it is emphasized that psychology is a science, contrary to popular misconceptions influenced by media portrayals. The script challenges the idea that psychological insights are mere common sense by highlighting the complexity and systematic study required to understand human behavior and mental processes.

💡Intuition

Intuition refers to the ability to understand or know something immediately, without the need for conscious reasoning. The video discusses how intuition can sometimes be misleading, as it may not always align with empirical evidence. An example provided is the common misconception about the extent of brain utilization, which is often overstated without scientific basis.

💡Hindsight Bias

Hindsight bias is a cognitive bias where people believe they could have predicted an outcome that was actually unpredictable. The video uses this concept to illustrate how people often falsely claim to have 'known all along' about events after they have occurred, such as predicting stock market crashes or the occurrence of terrorist events, which is a fallacy in human thinking.

💡Overconfidence

Overconfidence is the act of having excessive certainty or conviction in one's own abilities or judgments. The video points out that people often overestimate their knowledge or abilities, which can lead to errors in judgment. An example given is the time it takes to unscramble anagrams, where participants typically underestimate the time required, reflecting overconfidence in their cognitive abilities.

💡Randomness and Order

The video discusses how humans have a tendency to seek order in randomness, often perceiving patterns where none exist. This is exemplified by the poker hands example, where one hand appears more likely due to its ordered sequence, despite both having the same probability of occurrence. This concept is crucial in understanding how people can misinterpret random events as meaningful.

💡Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment. The video emphasizes the importance of developing a scientific attitude that is curious, skeptical, and humble. It involves questioning assumptions, examining evidence, and being open to revising one's beliefs based on logical reasoning and empirical evidence.

💡Theory

In the context of the video, a theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on empirical evidence and logical reasoning. Theories are distinguished from mere guesses or laws by being testable and often leading to further investigation. The video clarifies that a theory in science is not a guess but a robust explanation that has withstood testing.

💡Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation or assumption made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation. The video explains that a hypothesis is a testable statement that can be proven true or false, and it is a crucial part of the scientific method. It provides a clear direction for research and allows for the testing and refinement of theories.

💡Operational Definitions

Operational definitions are specific definitions used in scientific research to provide a clear, measurable, and observable meaning to a concept. The video uses the example of defining 'intelligence' in a study, where it might be operationally defined as a score on a specific IQ test. This ensures that the concept can be consistently measured and compared across different subjects or studies.

💡Descriptive Methods

Descriptive methods in research are used to describe characteristics of a phenomenon without necessarily explaining why it occurs. The video mentions case studies, naturalistic observations, and surveys as examples of descriptive methods. These methods provide detailed descriptions but do not infer causality or predict outcomes, which is a key distinction from other research methods like experiments.

💡Random Sampling

Random sampling is a method of selecting a subset of a population such that each member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen. The video explains that this method is crucial for surveys to ensure that the results are representative of the entire population. It contrasts with biased sampling and emphasizes the importance of randomness to avoid skewing research findings.

Highlights

Psychology is a science that studies the mind and behavior, contrary to popular misconceptions.

Intuition can be misleading, and psychological science uses systematic methods to study human behavior.

The AP exam places a high emphasis on understanding psychological science, requiring thorough knowledge.

Folding a piece of paper 100 times illustrates how intuition can fail us, showcasing the power of exponential growth.

Hindsight bias is a cognitive error where people believe they could have predicted an outcome after it occurs.

Overconfidence can lead to underestimating the time or effort needed to complete a task.

Humans tend to find order in randomness, which can be misleading and is a common fallacy in thinking.

Developing a scientific attitude involves being curious, skeptical, and humble.

Critical thinking involves examining assumptions and not dismissing ideas without scrutiny.

Theories in science are well-tested ideas based on numerous observations and are more than mere hunches.

Hypotheses are testable statements derived from theories and are the basis for conducting research.

Operational definitions are necessary to ensure that terms used in research have clear and specific meanings.

The scientific method is a cycle of refining theories through hypothesis testing and observation.

Descriptive methods in psychology, such as case studies and surveys, describe behavior without explaining causes.

Case studies involve in-depth examination of an individual and are useful for understanding unique experiences.

Naturalistic observations record behavior in a subject's natural environment without interference.

Surveys can gather data from a large number of individuals but are subject to biases and wording effects.

Random sampling is crucial for obtaining representative data that accurately reflects a population's views.

The Hawthorne effect demonstrates how being observed can change a subject's behavior during research.

The upcoming section will cover correlational studies and experiments, which go beyond description to examine cause and effect.

Transcripts

you know a lot of people get their idea

about psychology and psychologists from

movies and TVs and books where they're

kind of portrayed as having these

superhuman powers where they can tell

what's going on in someone's mind just

by the gesture they make with their face

a lot of people think psychology is you

know is not a science well it is a

science what is the need for it though

aren't a lot of the findings common

sense isn't there just a lot of

intuitive things out there that we can

observe and figure out like giving

children sugar makes them hyper or that

our brain we only use 10% of our brains

all those kinds of things

well sometimes intuition can lead us

astray we're gonna look in this section

at some of the fallacies of our human

thinking and we're also gonna look at

the the methods that psychologists use

to study what's going on in someone's

mind and their behavior okay it's an

important part of this course as the AP

exam has a fairly high weighting on this

section so you need to know it inside

and out so apply some of those memory

techniques that you remember from way

back when okay let's get started

okay so the need for psychological

science you know here's the learning

objectives take a second and look at

those make sure you know what we're

looking for in module four try this just

to see all your common sense is if you

could take a piece of paper this size

which is point one millimeters thick and

you could fold it now obviously you

can't do this but if you could fold it

100 times how thick do you think that

paper will be I'll give you a couple

seconds to think about that kind of an

answer you're gonna come up with here it

is you might be shocked to find out this

is the number I can't even say what this

number is it's so large but that's that

many times the distance between the Sun

and the earth that is huge you can check

this by the way go ahead and google it

and you'll see how the math is done on

this intuitively we most of us are going

to think this is wrong unless we've

heard this before so can our intuition

lead us astray and our human logic is it

full of fallacy or do we actually know

what we're talking about a couple of

errors that we have here's one that's

really common that shows that people's

minds don't always know exactly what's

happening it's called hindsight bias

hindsight biases the new and all along

phenomena this is something happens and

then you go back and you the fact and

say oh well everybody knew that was

gonna happen people in the stock market

stockbrokers and stuff from the analysts

when the stock market crashes they'll go

oh well it was due for a correction well

why'd you have your money in there

terrorism has become a big deal in the

United States in a lot of parts of the

world people say well of course it was

going to look at we've done with our

immigration laws all of those kinds of

things you might have been on a test

having a test in class and then you

answer a question you get it wrong you

find out the right answer you go I knew

that all along that's the I knew it all

along phenomena and it is one of the

fallacies in human thinking another one

is overconfidence people tend to think

that they know more than they actually

do take a look at these words down at

the bottom of the screen here how long

do you think if we gave you these

scrambled like this how long do you

think it would take you to unscramble

those anagram

well most people said it would take

about ten seconds yet on average it took

about three minutes people were

overconfident in how long they could do

this this is one of the reasons what we

tell you you should probably try to over

learn everything that you're learning in

your classes for your tests because we

tend to get overconfident passive

learning like just simply reading or

watching a video we go oh yes I knew

that all along I'm very confident I'm

gonna do well on the test and

unfortunately it doesn't work out for a

lot of us so this is why we want you to

over learn things another thing that we

do as human beings when events happen we

want to look for order in that

randomness for example if we look at

these poker hands down in the screen

which hand are you more likely to get

well your chances of getting either of

those hands is precisely the same it's

one in two million five hundred

ninety-eight thousand nine hundred and

sixty but because there's order in one

we think it's some kind of strange event

consider this for a second let's say

there's only seven billion people and we

have surpassed that mark in the world

and there's a one in a billion chance

something's gonna happen to somebody

each day well that's gonna happen seven

times every day in our world there are

so many strange things and we like to

put it together as they're some kind of

supernatural thing occurring or whatever

there's even cases where people think

you know I've dreamt somebody dreams of

someone they haven't thought about for

ten years and that person dies the next

day it seems so out there but if you do

the math on it we'll talk about it in

class it actually should happen about

seven times a month in North America so

randomness sometimes look like order but

we like to look for order in randomness

and it's usually a mistake so we need to

approach it one of the biggest things

you get out of this class is to develop

a kind of scientific type of attitude

which is curious skeptical and humble

okay the curious eagerness you want to

find out things you but you skeptically

scrutinize competing ideas so this isn't

saying you're a skeptic like nothing is

actually right I'm against everything

it's looking at it scrutinizing if

somebody comes up to you with a research

finding you start to think about okay

this

makes sense as far as where does this

information come from who are you

quoting who did this research to survey

how big was the sample all of those

kinds of things and you need to have

open-minded humility open-minded

humility just basically means like you

need to accept that you don't know

everything and if somebody shows you

something and it passes your criteria

that perhaps you will adopt what they're

talking about and not just think that

everybody is stupid we call it critical

thinking so critical this is what

critical thinking it's not putting

everything down again it's using this

scientific kind of attitude we look at

assumptions we examine them we make

assumptions we assume as we talk to the

start of the state of this section about

sugar making kids hyper well there's an

assumption how do you know that makes

them hyper have you looked at research

on it and if you have you'll find out

the research kind of bears out that no

it doesn't really cause hyperactivity

and children again assessing the source

are there hidden values we all have

values we bring them in to things we

want to we want stuff to show what we

wanted to show it's called the

confirmation bias will look at anything

that we can find to confirm what we

already believe or what we're trying to

show a psychology is not value three

value free as far as results the method

is entirely value free it's like any

other science so it's the same kind of

thing we want to confirm the evidence

and assess the conclusions made from any

kind of research findings that we may

may see so in module five we're going to

move on into some of the theories and

theories in and the scientific method

that was developed Francis Bacon again

was a big part of this if you remember

way back from the history wasn't that

long ago but you probably forget oh wait

you used your memory stuff make sure

you're tying in things in together as

you go through make things personally

meaningful so we're gonna look at the

scientific method it starts with a

theory a theory is more than a mere

hunch a lot of people you know look at

it well it's a theory it can be wrong

well let's keep this in mind numbers are

a theory

algebra algebra is a theory evolution is

a theory a lot of these things are

theories now the difference between a

theory and something that happens all

the time which we know is a law would be

like a law is every single time gravity

is a law when I drop a pencil it falls

to the ground because gravity pulls it

every time that's a law however our

explanation for it would be the theory

of gravity so if you're in an argument

say someone's arguing about creationism

and evolutionary ideas of beginning a

man and someone says well you know

that's just a theory well that's not a

really good argument because theories

are usually quite tested they're based

on education educated guesses based on a

lot of observations more often than not

but from that theory what we want to do

is develop a hypothesis the hypothesis

is a statement and it can be confirmed

or denied it can be shown to be correct

or incorrect now as a researcher you're

not really you don't care if you're

correct or incorrect well you do because

that's what you're trying to find out

but it's also important to find out that

your hypothesis may not be correct

usually worded in like and if this

happens then this will happen so you

know exactly what it is in your research

that you're trying to determine often we

need operational definitions let's say

for example our hypothesis is if you

take this pill then you will become more

intelligent well that's great but we

need to define some of these terms the

pill will be defined by the pill that we

have but a big operational definition

here be intelligence what is

intelligence it means something

different to everybody so we need to

have a definition that we can use in

that research so maybe for intelligence

we'll define it as a score on some

specific IQ test and get the

intelligence quotient test that we give

somebody and that will be our definition

of intelligence is that intelligence no

but for the purpose of our research

that's how we're defining it therefore

if we do our research give it to some

other researcher they can actually redo

that experiment which we call

replication and they'll be testing

exactly the same thing you were so it's

kind of a big long circle there our

theory

then we create hypothesis then we do

research and observations and then we

revise our theories and then we create

more hypotheses and so on and so on it

it really never ends in scientific

methods we never really say anything is

really proven if it's done through this

kind of research we just refine theories

to the point where we almost accept them

as fact like numbers and those kinds of

things so a good theory is quite useful

if it organizes a range of self reports

and observations okay so it's based on

some kind of idea and it can lead to a

clearer hypothesis okay that anybody can

use to check the theory remember the

hypothesis again is the if and then

statement it you can read a look at

hypothesis and you'll know exactly how

that research will be conducted okay and

it often stimulates research that leads

to a revised theory which better

predicts what we know so we're

increasing our knowledge every time we

do this kind of research so we're gonna

look at some of the descriptive methods

we have no descriptive methods really

don't tell us anything about causes or

how something will affect something what

we're looking at is basically describing

that situation so one of the methods we

have is a case study a case that is when

we look at one individual in depth so

we'll look at them from all sides and

spend a lot of time looking at that one

individual it's useful especially if we

want to find out that one individuals

experience but the problem with case

studies is you can't really generalize

that information that you got from that

one person to the entire population okay

but they are very useful when we have a

typical individuals say somebody there's

something rare somebody's going through

a unique situation we want to find out

what it's like for them however we again

cannot generalize that to general

populations naturalistic observations

are done as well and they describe

behavior again it does not explain but

naturalistic observation is when we look

observe make observations in someone's

natural environment so we don't

to observe a student with ADHD do a

naturalistic observation we will observe

them in their natural area in their

classroom for example we have to be

careful we don't want to get in the way

and make them know that their watch

because there's a thing called the

Hawthorne effect which actually means

that if you are the subject of some kind

of research or observation it will

change your behavior the Hawthorne

effect was named that way because this

Hawthorne was doing research and was in

a company and they want to see if

workers produce better at different

levels of light and when they did the

actual research and they changed the

different levels of light in there they

found out that every change of light

actually increased productivity from

their baseline from before so what was

happening the workers know that they

were being watched

so they changed their behavior and

anytime there's some kind of research

and you know you're part of it you will

change your behavior to a certain point

so surveys these are those are annoying

things we get on our phones we get them

online we get them over telephones

they're there they can be quite annoying

and often they lead to scams but a

survey is really useful because it can

look at a lot of cases at once if we

want to find out it's something about

the population of our school we can

easily do a survey and ask people and

then gather the results they're easy to

do as far as the administration of them

and they're quick to get results okay

they can have problems because their

surveys that have gone out about the

same things that come back with entirely

different answers and a lot of that is

probably because of wording affects the

wording effects is how the question on a

survey might be worded so for example

there was one survey that found that 77%

of people were interested in plants and

trees but only 39% were interested in

botany botany is the study of plants and

trees it's the same thing or a total of

48 percent were interested in fossils

but only 39% were interested in

paleontology so that's different also

kind of wording effects that can happen

is if we say can't allow as opposed

to forbid or shouldn't allow so

televisions should not be allowed to

advertise cigarettes we're probably

going to get more people agree to that

than if we asked television advertising

and cigarettes should be forbidden we're

gonna get different answers so we have

to be very careful when we do our

surveys how we pick our questions we'll

look at some more examples like that in

class two of wording effects so the way

to get a good example and this is kind

of interesting the 1500 people can

represent an entire nation the size the

United States in fact during the

election which is happening around now

down there all this stuff when they do

the polls they usually only pull 1500

people and if it's done properly it'll

give you a really good overview of what

the population is thinking but it has to

be a random sampling how do we make it

random it has to be random because so

that every single person and the entire

population has an equal opportunity to

be part of our research okay we don't

want to have sampling bias this might

mean that we we interview or we survey

people that all are from one

geographical location that might have

ideas that are different than people

from other geographical locations that

would be a sampling bias okay other

things with surveys if we're actually

out there asking questions sometimes it

makes it different if you're a male or

female asking the questions for example

when interviewed by a man 64% of women

agreed abortion is a private matter that

should be left to the woman to decide

without government interference but when

interviewed by a woman 84 percent of

women respondents agreed to that so just

the person asking so there are lots of

little facets of surveys that need to be

paid attention to if you're going to

come up with with numbers or the

descriptions that you were looking for

without having anything else interfere

with it

so the random sampling again is really

an important idea when we sample a

population say we want to find out at

our

Skule something we're looking for

serving how many people spend an hour at

least one hour studying at our school

and so our population of this research

is the entire school population so a

random sampling though has to be taken

from that population and the random

sample has to be people that we've taken

that everybody had the same chance how

can we do that maybe we could have a

list of names we could get a random

number generator and use you know number

the names off it and use it that way

maybe we can write them all down and

pull them from hats there there are many

different ways that we can accomplish

this but it has to be done and it's one

of the most important things that we do

now the larger number of people that we

sample the better our results are going

to be but once again if it's done

properly you don't need a huge part of

the population so again we got the

sampling of the group we got a

population and the random sample like

we're talking about okay and then we're

gonna stop it right here and then in the

next section of this one we're going to

start to look at correlational studies

and also the experiment so once again

naturalistic observations and case

studies and surveys are all descriptive

kinds of research again they don't tell

us what's going to happen okay so we'll

see you next time for part two of this

unit bye for now