Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
Psychology

Summary

PsychologySummary
Table of contents
  1. Preface
  2. 1 Introduction to Psychology
    1. Introduction
    2. 1.1 What Is Psychology?
    3. 1.2 History of Psychology
    4. 1.3 Contemporary Psychology
    5. 1.4 Careers in Psychology
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Critical Thinking Questions
    10. Personal Application Questions
  3. 2 Psychological Research
    1. Introduction
    2. 2.1 Why Is Research Important?
    3. 2.2 Approaches to Research
    4. 2.3 Analyzing Findings
    5. 2.4 Ethics
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Critical Thinking Questions
    10. Personal Application Questions
  4. 3 Biopsychology
    1. Introduction
    2. 3.1 Human Genetics
    3. 3.2 Cells of the Nervous System
    4. 3.3 Parts of the Nervous System
    5. 3.4 The Brain and Spinal Cord
    6. 3.5 The Endocrine System
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. Review Questions
    10. Critical Thinking Questions
    11. Personal Application Questions
  5. 4 States of Consciousness
    1. Introduction
    2. 4.1 What Is Consciousness?
    3. 4.2 Sleep and Why We Sleep
    4. 4.3 Stages of Sleep
    5. 4.4 Sleep Problems and Disorders
    6. 4.5 Substance Use and Abuse
    7. 4.6 Other States of Consciousness
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. Review Questions
    11. Critical Thinking Questions
    12. Personal Application Questions
  6. 5 Sensation and Perception
    1. Introduction
    2. 5.1 Sensation versus Perception
    3. 5.2 Waves and Wavelengths
    4. 5.3 Vision
    5. 5.4 Hearing
    6. 5.5 The Other Senses
    7. 5.6 Gestalt Principles of Perception
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. Review Questions
    11. Critical Thinking Questions
    12. Personal Application Questions
  7. 6 Learning
    1. Introduction
    2. 6.1 What Is Learning?
    3. 6.2 Classical Conditioning
    4. 6.3 Operant Conditioning
    5. 6.4 Observational Learning (Modeling)
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Critical Thinking Questions
    10. Personal Application Questions
  8. 7 Thinking and Intelligence
    1. Introduction
    2. 7.1 What Is Cognition?
    3. 7.2 Language
    4. 7.3 Problem Solving
    5. 7.4 What Are Intelligence and Creativity?
    6. 7.5 Measures of Intelligence
    7. 7.6 The Source of Intelligence
    8. Key Terms
    9. Summary
    10. Review Questions
    11. Critical Thinking Questions
    12. Personal Application Questions
  9. 8 Memory
    1. Introduction
    2. 8.1 How Memory Functions
    3. 8.2 Parts of the Brain Involved with Memory
    4. 8.3 Problems with Memory
    5. 8.4 Ways to Enhance Memory
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Critical Thinking Questions
    10. Personal Application Questions
  10. 9 Lifespan Development
    1. Introduction
    2. 9.1 What Is Lifespan Development?
    3. 9.2 Lifespan Theories
    4. 9.3 Stages of Development
    5. 9.4 Death and Dying
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Critical Thinking Questions
    10. Personal Application Questions
  11. 10 Emotion and Motivation
    1. Introduction
    2. 10.1 Motivation
    3. 10.2 Hunger and Eating
    4. 10.3 Sexual Behavior
    5. 10.4 Emotion
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Critical Thinking Questions
    10. Personal Application Questions
  12. 11 Personality
    1. Introduction
    2. 11.1 What Is Personality?
    3. 11.2 Freud and the Psychodynamic Perspective
    4. 11.3 Neo-Freudians: Adler, Erikson, Jung, and Horney
    5. 11.4 Learning Approaches
    6. 11.5 Humanistic Approaches
    7. 11.6 Biological Approaches
    8. 11.7 Trait Theorists
    9. 11.8 Cultural Understandings of Personality
    10. 11.9 Personality Assessment
    11. Key Terms
    12. Summary
    13. Review Questions
    14. Critical Thinking Questions
    15. Personal Application Questions
  13. 12 Social Psychology
    1. Introduction
    2. 12.1 What Is Social Psychology?
    3. 12.2 Self-presentation
    4. 12.3 Attitudes and Persuasion
    5. 12.4 Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience
    6. 12.5 Prejudice and Discrimination
    7. 12.6 Aggression
    8. 12.7 Prosocial Behavior
    9. Key Terms
    10. Summary
    11. Review Questions
    12. Critical Thinking Questions
    13. Personal Application Questions
  14. 13 Industrial-Organizational Psychology
    1. Introduction
    2. 13.1 What Is Industrial and Organizational Psychology?
    3. 13.2 Industrial Psychology: Selecting and Evaluating Employees
    4. 13.3 Organizational Psychology: The Social Dimension of Work
    5. 13.4 Human Factors Psychology and Workplace Design
    6. Key Terms
    7. Summary
    8. Review Questions
    9. Critical Thinking Questions
    10. Personal Application Questions
  15. 14 Stress, Lifestyle, and Health
    1. Introduction
    2. 14.1 What Is Stress?
    3. 14.2 Stressors
    4. 14.3 Stress and Illness
    5. 14.4 Regulation of Stress
    6. 14.5 The Pursuit of Happiness
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. Review Questions
    10. Critical Thinking Questions
    11. Personal Application Questions
  16. 15 Psychological Disorders
    1. Introduction
    2. 15.1 What Are Psychological Disorders?
    3. 15.2 Diagnosing and Classifying Psychological Disorders
    4. 15.3 Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
    5. 15.4 Anxiety Disorders
    6. 15.5 Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
    7. 15.6 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
    8. 15.7 Mood Disorders
    9. 15.8 Schizophrenia
    10. 15.9 Dissociative Disorders
    11. 15.10 Personality Disorders
    12. 15.11 Disorders in Childhood
    13. Key Terms
    14. Summary
    15. Review Questions
    16. Critical Thinking Questions
    17. Personal Application Questions
  17. 16 Therapy and Treatment
    1. Introduction
    2. 16.1 Mental Health Treatment: Past and Present
    3. 16.2 Types of Treatment
    4. 16.3 Treatment Modalities
    5. 16.4 Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders: A Special Case
    6. 16.5 The Sociocultural Model and Therapy Utilization
    7. Key Terms
    8. Summary
    9. Review Questions
    10. Critical Thinking Questions
    11. Personal Application Questions
  18. References
  19. Index

2.1 Why Is Research Important?

Scientists are engaged in explaining and understanding how the world around them works, and they are able to do so by coming up with theories that generate hypotheses that are testable and falsifiable. Theories that stand up to their tests are retained and refined, while those that do not are discarded or modified. In this way, research enables scientists to separate fact from simple opinion. Having good information generated from research aids in making wise decisions both in public policy and in our personal lives.

2.2 Approaches to Research

The clinical or case study involves studying just a few individuals for an extended period of time. While this approach provides an incredible depth of information, the ability to generalize these observations to the larger population is problematic. Naturalistic observation involves observing behavior in a natural setting and allows for the collection of valid, true-to-life information from realistic situations. However, naturalistic observation does not allow for much control and often requires quite a bit of time and money to perform. Researchers strive to ensure that their tools for collecting data are both reliable (consistent and replicable) and valid (accurate).

Surveys can be administered in a number of ways and make it possible to collect large amounts of data quickly. However, the depth of information that can be collected through surveys is somewhat limited compared to a clinical or case study.

Archival research involves studying existing data sets to answer research questions.

Longitudinal research has been incredibly helpful to researchers who need to collect data on how people change over time. Cross-sectional research compares multiple segments of a population at a single time.

2.3 Analyzing Findings

A correlation is described with a correlation coefficient, r, which ranges from -1 to 1. The correlation coefficient tells us about the nature (positive or negative) and the strength of the relationship between two or more variables. Correlations do not tell us anything about causation—regardless of how strong the relationship is between variables. In fact, the only way to demonstrate causation is by conducting an experiment. People often make the mistake of claiming that correlations exist when they really do not.

Researchers can test cause-and-effect hypotheses by conducting experiments. Ideally, experimental participants are randomly selected from the population of interest. Then, the participants are randomly assigned to their respective groups. Sometimes, the researcher and the participants are blind to group membership to prevent their expectations from influencing the results.

In ideal experimental design, the only difference between the experimental and control groups is whether participants are exposed to the experimental manipulation. Each group goes through all phases of the experiment, but each group will experience a different level of the independent variable: the experimental group is exposed to the experimental manipulation, and the control group is not exposed to the experimental manipulation. The researcher then measures the changes that are produced in the dependent variable in each group. Once data is collected from both groups, it is analyzed statistically to determine if there are meaningful differences between the groups.

Psychologists report their research findings in peer-reviewed journal articles. Research published in this format is checked by several other psychologists who serve as a filter separating ideas that are supported by evidence from ideas that are not. Replication has an important role in ensuring the legitimacy of published research. In the long run, only those findings that are capable of being replicated consistently will achieve consensus in the scientific community.

2.4 Ethics

Ethics in research is an evolving field, and some practices that were accepted or tolerated in the past would be considered unethical today. Researchers are expected to adhere to basic ethical guidelines when conducting experiments that involve human participants. Any experiment involving human participants must be approved by an IRB. Participation in experiments is voluntary and requires informed consent of the participants. If any deception is involved in the experiment, each participant must be fully debriefed upon the conclusion of the study.

Animal research is also held to a high ethical standard. Researchers who use animals as experimental subjects must design their projects so that pain and distress are minimized. Animal research requires the approval of an IACUC, and all animal facilities are subject to regular inspections to ensure that animals are being treated humanely.

PreviousNext
Order a print copy

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Citation/Attribution

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/psychology/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/psychology/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Feb 9, 2022 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.