The Because "Hueristic"

How Powerful is the word "because"? It is probably more powerful than you think!

Share this and please share this with your friends. 

Test Study Guide (Test1) Aug. 23

Study Guide Psychology ( Test on Wednesday AUG. 23 )

Placebo – fake treatment. Example (sugar pill)

Independent variable – Experimenter manipulates.

Dependent variable – this is the outcome of the experiment or the affect of the independent variable.

Hypothesis – educated guess of the outcome of an experiment.

Negative Correlation – when lines on a graph are going in opposite directions.

Positive Correlation – when lines on a graph are going in the same direction. (Both down or both up)

Volunteers Bias – In a study there are times surveys are biased based upon the individual’s bias.

One of the most important assessment tools for psychologist is measuring behavior through observation.

Difference between a

Psycho-therapist – doesn’t require any degree. The term is not regulated. Could be anybody off the street.

Psychologist – has an M.D. or PHD. May treat any type of emotional disorder

Psychiatrist – M.D and is able to prescribe medication for appropriate mental ailments.

Biological Perspective – focuses on how bodily events affect behavior.

Cognitive Perspective – Emphasizes what goes on in peoples head – how people reason, remember language, understand language, solve problems, explain experiences.

Phrenology – the study of bumps on one’s head and how they affected ones overall character.

Originator of Psychology – Wilhelm Wundt

Father of Modern Day Psychology – Sigmund Freud

If you were to conduct two experiments with the same outcomes, can you come to a conclusion on the outcome of the experiment? Why or why not?

Difference between a double blind study and single blind study?

Double Blind Study – Researcher and the participant have limited understanding of what is going on in order to prevent the researcher from tainting the test.

Single Blind Study – The participant does not know anything about the experiment but the researcher does.

Cool Video "Genetics vs. Environment"

This is a brief video explaining the difference between genetics and the environment. Which one is most powerful and how does one go about measuring the differences? Very interesting!

This Weeks Agenda!

Agenda Aug 17-21

!!!!Do not forget to do the homework. !!!!

I need an article attached and I would like if the article is regarding psychology or sociology. 

a 1 The Psychological Perspectives (History) Identify major contributors to the study of psychology. 2 days  Tuesday Aug. 17th.

Bell Ringer: If you were a counselor do you think that you would over time become stressed due to the unique challenges of your patients? Explain why or why not?

Exit Ticket: How much can parents shape there children's behavior?

Game: Small Groups will take turns as a Dr. and a patient.


1b Foundation of Psychology
Describe the development of psychological study from one of theory to that of science. 2 days
 Thursday Aug. 19th

Bell Ringer:  How do your peers influence your behavior? For instance, if you went to a school in California would you learn to speak, dress and like other styles? Explain yourself.

Exit Ticket: Are there inheritable personalities that you have picked up from your parents? Can you actually work towards eliminating these traits.



1c 3 Theories and the Evolution of Psychology Analyze the relationship of psychology to other sciences (e.g., sociology, biology, etc.) 1 day
Monday Aug. 24

Short Quiz based upon our notes. Practice Questions to be posted soon!

Study Guide ( Review ) Please Read

The Science of Psychology

• Psychology is the discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s external and internal environment. Psychology’s methods and reliance on empirical evidence distinguish it from pseudoscience and “psychobabble.”


• Psychological findings sometimes confirm, but often contradict, common sense. In any case, a result does not have to be surprising to be scientifically important.
• Psychology’s forerunners made some valid observations and had some useful insights, but without rigorous empirical methods, they also made serious errors in the description and explanation of behavior, as in the case of phrenology.
• The official founder of scientific psychology was Wilhelm Wundt, who established the first he psychological laboratory in 1879, in Leipzig, Germany. Wundt emphasized the analysis of experience into basic elements, through trained introspection. A competing approach, functionalism, was inspired in part by the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin; it emphasized the purpose of behavior. One of its leading proponents was William James. Psychology as a method of psychotherapy was born in Vienna, with the work of Sigmund Freud and the establishment of psychoanalysis. (For information on major contributors to the field of psychology, go to the "Psychology on the Web" module and visit web destination link #7 - "History of Psychology".
)

• Five points of view predominate today in psychology. The biological perspective emphasizes bodily events associated with actions, thoughts, and feelings. A new area of speciality in the biological perspective is evolutionary psychology. This area focuses on the influence of genetics on common human behaviors and mental processes, and traits and their past and/or present adaptive function. (For information on this, go to the "Psychology on the Web" module and visit web destination link #5 – “Evolutionary Psychology”.) The learning perspective emphasizes how the environment and a person’s history affect behavior; behaviorists reject mentalistic explanations and social-cognitive learning theorists combine elements of behaviorism with the study of thoughts, values, and intentions. The cognitive perspective emphasizes mental processes in perception, problem solving, belief formation, and other human activities. The sociocultural perspective explores how the social context and cultural rules affect an individual’s beliefs and behavior. And the psychodynamic perspective, which originated with Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis, emphasizes unconscious motives, conflicts, and desires; it differs greatly from the other approaches in its methods and standards of acceptable evidence. Each approach has made important contributions to psychology, but many, if not most, psychologists are eclectic, drawing on more than one school of thought.

What Psychologists Do

• Psychologists do research and teach in colleges and universities, provide mental-health services (psychological practice), and conduct research and apply findings in a wide variety of nonacademic settings. Applied psychology is concerned with the practical uses of psychological knowledge. Basic psychology is concerned with knowledge for its own sake. (For information on this, go to the "Psychology on the Web" module and visit web destination link #10 – “Evolutionary Psychology”.)


• Psychotherapist is an unregulated word for anyone who does therapy, including persons who have no credentials or training at all. Licensed therapists differ according to their training and approach. Clinical psychologists have a Ph.D., an Ed.D., or a Psy.D.;psychiatrists have an M.D.; psychoanalysts are trained in psychoanalytic institutes; and clinical social workers, counselors with various specialties, and marriage, family, and child counselors may have a variety of postgraduate degrees. Many psychologists are concerned about an increase in poorly trained psychotherapists who lack credentials or a firm understanding of research methods and findings.

Critical and Scientific Thinking in Psychology

• One benefit of studying psychology is the development of critical-thinking skills and attitudes. The critical thinker asks questions, defines terms clearly, examines the evidence, analyzes assumptions and biases, avoids emotional reasoning, avoids oversimplification, considers alternative interpretations, and tolerates uncertainty. These activities not only are useful in ordinary life but also are the basis of the scientific method. For example, scientists are required to state hypotheses and predictions precisely and formulate operational definitions (“define your terms”); to gather empirical evidence; to comply with the principle of falsifiability (“analyze assumptions”); to be cautious in settling on a theory (“consider other interpretations”); and to resist drawing firm conclusions until results are replicated(“tolerate uncertainty”).

Descriptive Studies: Establishing the Facts

• Descriptive methods allow psychologists to describe and predict behavior but not necessarily to choose one explanation over others. Such methods include case studies, observational studies, psychological tests, and surveys, as well as correlation methods.


• Case studies are detailed descriptions of individuals. They are often used by clinicians, and they can be valuable in exploring new research topics and addressing questions that would otherwise be difficult to study. But because the person under study may not be representative of people in general, case studies are typically sources rather than tests of hypotheses.


• In observational studies, the researcher systematically observes and records behavior without interfering in any way with the behavior. ,Naturalistic observation is used to find out how subjects behave in their natural environments.Laboratory observation allows more control and the use of special equipment; behavior in the laboratory, however, may differ in certain ways from behavior in natural contexts. (To learn more about this topic, go to Live!Psych and view the "1.1 Observational Studies" module.)


• Psychological tests are used to measure and evaluate personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, and values. A good test is one that has been standardized, is scored using established norms, and is both reliable and valid. Critics have questioned the reliability and validity of even some widely used tests. (For information on this, go to the "Psychology on the Web" module and visit web destination link #8 – “Psychological Testing”.)
• Surveys are questionnaires or interviews that ask people directly about their experiences, attitudes, and opinions. Researchers must take precautions to obtain a sample that is representative of the larger population that the researcher wishes to describe and that yields results that are not skewed by a volunteer bias. Findings can also be affected by the fact that respondents sometimes lie, misremember, or misinterpret the questions.

Correlational Studies: Looking for Relationships

• In descriptive research, studies that look for relationships between phenomena are known as correlational. A correlation is a measure of the strength of a positive or negative relationship between two variables, and is expressed by the coefficient of correlation. A correlation does not demonstrate a causal relationship between the variables. (To learn more about this topic, go to Live!Psych and view the "1.2 Correlational Studies" module.)

The Experiment: Hunting for Causes

• Experiments allow researchers to control the situation being studied, manipulate an independent variable, and assess the effects of the manipulation on a dependent variable. All research in psychology must conform to ethical guidelines. (See the Web Essayquestion #3 in the Study Guide.) This is especially true when conducting studies using the Experiment. Experimental studies usually require a comparison or control condition, and often involve random assignment of subjects to experimental and control groups. In some studies, control subjects receive a placebo. Single-blind and double-blind procedures can be used to prevent the expectations of the subjects or the experimenter from affecting the results. Because experiments allow conclusions about cause and effect, they have long been the method of choice in psychology. However, like laboratory observations, experiments create a special situation that may call forth behavior not typical in other environments. Many psychologists, therefore, have called for more field research. (To learn more about this topic, go to Live!Psych and view the "1.3 The Experimental Methods" module.)

Evaluating the Findings

• Psychologists use descriptive statistics, such as the arithmetic mean and standard deviation, to summarize data. They use inferential statistics to find out how impressive the data are. Significance tests tell the researcher how likely it is that the results of a study occurred merely by chance. The results are said to be statistically significant if this likelihood is very low.


• Choosing among competing interpretations of a finding can be difficult, and care must be taken to avoid going beyond the facts. Sometimes the best interpretation does not emerge until a hypothesis has been tested in more than one way—for example, by using both cross-sectional and longitudinal methods. (To learn more about this topic, go to Live!Psych and view the "1.4 Statistics" module.)


• Statistical significance does not always imply real-world importance because the amount of variation in the data accounted for by a particular variable may be small. Conversely, a result that does not quite reach significance may be potentially useful. Therefore, many psychologists are now turning to other statistical measures. The technique of meta-analysis, for example, reveals how much of the variation in scores across many different studies can be explained by a particular variable.

Letter to Parents

Letters will going out tomorrow to all parents. I am writing this in order for all parents to know what was given on each particular date.

Students should have both the Syllabus and the Class Expectations.

The documents will be handed out the 10th of Aug, - 11th and possibly further down the line depending on the amount of students that have registered.

If not there is always a copy that lives online and it can be found below.

!!All Powerpoints!! (Virtual Book)

These are all the PowerPoint Lessons.

-You are encouraged to look at these slide prior to coming to class to promote a more conducive learning atmosphere. This is known as the flipped classroom! :) I will also be showing these slide at times in class but it gives you an advantage of you view these slides ahead of time. 

-There will never be an excuse that you do not have the book or I didn't provide you with the class lesson.

-Since we do not have books this will be your virtual book where I will source all of you lessons for the first half of the year. 

Psychology PowerPoint

Syllabus

 World History/ Psychology/ Humanities Syllabus   Instructor: Mr. Squires

Homework

Current Psychological/ Sociological Event – As a student you will be responsible for turning in a current event.

Here are the instructions for what I expect.

A. The original article must be printed from an internet source or cut out from a publication.

B. **When answering I expect each question to answered in paragraph format.**

C. You must then explain. Who, What, Where, Why, How.

I. Who or What is the article talking about?

II. Why is the article or the topic important?

III. Where did this event take place?

IV. How did this article impact, change or perhaps strengthen you stance on this subject?

Tests

Major Tests

Overview: Two (9) week examinations.   Two Finals:  1 Midterm and 1 Final.

Quiz/ Short Test

1 Quiz/Test Every Two Weeks

Classwork

At minimum you as a student will be expected to have 9 Class work Grades at the end of every quarter.

Total Work at the end of every 9 Week Grading Period:  = 23 Grades minumum

Make-Up Work

There will be no makeup work, unless I get a note from a Doctor or Parent regarding the reasoning for your absence. I will still hold you accountable for the homework to be turned in a timely manner. Remember only 1 per week! If you want to, you can complete all 9 and turn them in all at once, but it must follow the criteria. Study guides, notes and syllabus will be posted on a blog for your viewing pleasure.  

Extra Credit

Students that are dedicated to assisting the classroom environment to run smoothly will be given extra credit from time to time. -Examples: (Picking up Trash, Straightening Desks, Passing out Papers, Sweeping, Helping Grade Papers, Maintaining Good Classroom Etiquett

Classroom Expectations

Squires: History

Wingfield High School

Classroom Expectations

Please be aware that this year, I will be documenting all inappropriate behavior and will compile digital scans of every write up. These will be emailed to the proper administrator. In the past, hard copies sometimes were lost but no longer.  

1. Keep hands and feet to yourself.

2. No eating or drinking in the class. I want to maintain a clean and sanitary learning environment for everyone who walks through the door. If you must eat please go to the office and explain your issue with them.

3. No selling of food in my class. If I catch you selling in my class, I will report it and make sure your food is taken from you. A phone call will follow home as well.

4. You are expected to abide by the dress code standards set up by JPS. Sexually suggestive outfits or excessive pant sagging will not be tolerated. You will be requested to speak with an administrator to clear you.

5. You must be sitting in your seat and prepared to work prior to the bell ringing. If you are habitually late I will call home.

6. Students must have school supplies (paper, pen and notebook). I cannot be a supplier of these basic school necessities.

7. In class discussion will be promoted but there will be times when silence will be required. I will give you notice when there are appropriate times to discuss topics.

8. There is no reason that any of my students should make less than a 70% in my class. I expect my students to have a strong sense of dedication towards learning.

Consequences

1. The first time a student violates a classroom expectation or I start to see a pattern of poor work habits, I will immediately give you the student a notice.

2.  I will give a second warning and then call home to find out what can be done to get you the student back on track.

3. Referral and Call Home on third offense.