Psychology: the Science of Mind and Behaviour [3 ed.] 1760422797, 9781760422790

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Written by a team of Australian and New Zealand-based academics, each a subject matter expert, this edition contains updated case studies and In the News, a brand new feature that presents interesting topics in Psychology. Additional local and global cases explore crosscultural and Indigenous Psychology, and probing questions encourage students to think critically about cases and to examine the research methods used in real-life examples.   Aided by its strong pedagogical framework, Psychology makes use of cutting-edge learning technology and interactive resources to provide a comprehensive learning solution.

Connect is proven to deliver better results. Content integrates seamlessly with enhanced digital tools to create a personalised learning experience that provides precisely what you need, when you need it. Maximise your learning with SmartBook, the first and only adaptive reading experience designed to change the way you read and learn. It creates a personalised reading experience by highlighting the most impactful concepts you need to learn at that moment in time. To learn more about McGraw-Hill SmartBook® visit www.mheducation.com.au/student-smartbook

PASSER | SMITH

Felicity Allen ● Simon Boag ● Jeroen van Boxtel ● Emily Castell ● Sarah Cowie Mark Edwards ● Darren Garvey ● Charini Gunaratne ● Nicholas Harris ● Mark Kohler Andrew J. Lewis ● Jacqui Macdonald ● Ben Morrison ● Natalie Morrison Kimberley Norris ● Con Stough ● Marianna Szabó ● Carolyn Wilshire

PSYCHOLOGY

The third edition of Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour provides an authoritative and highly-regarded introduction to this fascinating topic. Although many approaches to the study of Psychology are presented in this text, the emphasis is on the biopsychosocial model. This serves as an underlying commonality to the examination of each topic, giving direction to students at the beginning of their studies in this well-researched field.

MICHAEL W. PASSER | RONALD E. SMITH

The science of mind and behaviour www.mhhe.com/au/passer3e

spine: 20mm tbc

PSYCHOLOGY The science of mind and behaviour

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MICHAEL W. PASSER | RONALD E. SMITH

The science of mind and behaviour

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Copyright © 2019 McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd Additional owners of copyright are acknowledged on credit page. Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge copyrighted material. The authors and publishers tender their apologies should any infringement have occurred. Reproduction and communication for educational purposes The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10% of the pages of this work, whichever is the greater, to be reproduced and/or communicated by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the institution (or the body that administers it) has sent a Statutory Educational notice to Copyright Agency (CA) and been granted a licence. For details of statutory educational and other copyright licences contact: Copyright Agency, 66 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000. Telephone: (02) 9394 7600. Website: www. copyright.com.au Reproduction and communication for other purposes Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the written permission of McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd including, but not limited to, any network or other electronic storage. Enquiries should be made to the publisher via www.mcgraw-hill.com.au or marked for the attention of the permissions editor at the address below.

Passer, M., & Smith, R.E., Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour 3e ISBN: 9781760422790 Published in Australia by McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd Level 33, 680 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Product Manager: Lisa Coady Senior product developer: Alex Payne Senior production editor: Claire Linsdell Copy editor: Alison Moore Proofreader: Yani Silvana Cover design: Simon Rattray Typeset in NimbusRomDOT 10/13 by SPI, India Printed in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd on 70 gsm matt art. Cover image: © Shutterstock

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Contents in brief CHAPTER 1 The science of psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

CHAPTER 10 Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

CHAPTER 2 Studying behaviour scientifically. . . . . . . . . . . . 35

CHAPTER 11 Motivation and emotion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

CHAPTER 3 Genes, environment and behaviour . . . . . . . . . 73

CHAPTER 12 Development over the life span. . . . . . . . . . . . 451

CHAPTER 4 The brain and behaviour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

CHAPTER 13 Personality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

CHAPTER 5 Sensation and perception. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

CHAPTER 14 Health and well-being. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

CHAPTER 6 States of consciousness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

CHAPTER 15 Psychological disorders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595

CHAPTER 7 Learning: the role of experience . . . . . . . . . . . 235

CHAPTER 16 Treatment of psychological disorders. . . . . . . 645

CHAPTER 8 Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

CHAPTER 17 Social thinking and behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695

CHAPTER 9 Language and thinking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

CHAPTER 18 Indigenous and cross-cultural psychology. . . . 737

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Contents Preface About the authors About the local authors Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1 The science of psychology

xiv xv xv xix

1

THE NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY Psychology’s scientific approach Thinking critically about behaviour Goals of psychology Australian focus Why it pays to think scientifically Basic and applied research Psychology’s broad scope: a simple framework Global focus Terrorists or terrorised?

2 4 5 7 8 9 9 10

PERSPECTIVES ON BEHAVIOUR Psychology’s intellectual roots Early schools: structuralism and functionalism The psychodynamic perspective: the forces within The behavioural perspective: the power of the environment Thinking critically Are the students lazy? The humanistic perspective: self-actualisation and positive psychology The cognitive perspective: the thinking human The sociocultural perspective: the embedded human Research close-up Would you marry someone you didn’t love? In the news The APS Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples The biological perspective: the brain, genes and evolution

12 12 13 13 14 16

USING LEVELS OF ANALYSIS TO INTEGRATE THE PERSPECTIVES An example: understanding depression Summary of major themes Levels of analysis Causal factors in depression

16 16 18 18 20 21 23 24 24 25

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY A global science and profession Psychology, society and your life Applying psychological science How to enhance your academic performance

25 26 27

CHAPTER SUMMARY

31

GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT

34

CHAPTER 2 Studying behaviour scientifically SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES IN PSYCHOLOGY Scientific attitudes Gathering evidence: steps in the scientific process

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29

35 36 36 36

Digital resources Text at a glance Case matrix

xxii xxiii xxv

Two approaches to understanding behaviour Defining and measuring variables Levels of analysis Measuring exam stress

38 40 41

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN RESEARCH Ethical standards in human research Ethical standards in animal research

42 43 44

METHODS OF RESEARCH Descriptive research: recording events Thinking critically Should you trust internet and pop media surveys? Correlational research: measuring associations between events Research close-up Very happy people Thinking critically Does eating ice-cream cause people to drown? Experiments: examining cause and effect

45 45

THREATS TO THE VALIDITY OF RESEARCH Confounding of variables Placebo effects Experimenter expectancy effects Replicating and generalising the findings Australian focus The use and misuse of research  Global focus Sensational statistics 

57 58 58 59 59 60 61

ANALYSING AND INTERPRETING DATA Being a smart consumer of statistics Using statistics to describe data Using statistics to make inferences In the news Uses and abuses of crime data In Australia Meta-analysis: combining the results of many studies

61 62 63 65 66 67

CRITICAL THINKING IN SCIENCE AND EVERYDAY LIFE Applying psychological science Evaluating claims in research and everyday life

67

CHAPTER SUMMARY

69

CHAPTER 3 Genes, environment and behaviour

48 48 49 52 53

68

73

GENETIC INFLUENCES ON BEHAVIOUR Chromosomes and genes Applying psychological science Gene manipulations and therapies Epigenetics Behaviour genetics

75 76 78 79 80

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C O NT E NTS

THE ROLE OF LEARNING IN ADAPTING TO THE ENVIRONMENT How do we learn? The search for mechanisms Why do we learn? The search for functions Learning and evolution

83 83 83 84

BEHAVIOUR GENETICS, INTELLIGENCE AND PERSONALITY 85 Genes, environment and intelligence 86 GENE–ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS How the environment can influence gene expression How genes can influence the environment In the news Australia Day or Invasion Day?

88 88 89 90

EVOLUTION, CULTURE AND BEHAVIOUR Evolution of adaptive mechanisms Thinking critically Natural selection and genetic diseases Evolution and human nature Research close-up Sex differences in the ideal mate: evolution or social roles? Global focus The decline of aggression and war? Levels of analysis Gene-environment research Australian focus The evolutionary history of Indigenous Australians

92 92 94 94

103

CHAPTER SUMMARY

105

GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT

108

98 100 102

CHAPTER 4 The brain and behaviour

109

NEURONS The electrical activity of neurons

110 111

HOW NEURONS COMMUNICATE: SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION Neurotransmitters Specialised neurotransmitter systems Applying psychological science Understanding how drugs affect your brain

114 114 115 116

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM The peripheral nervous system The central nervous system Global focus Reading the brain 

118 118 120 124

INTERACTIONS WITH THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

1 25

STRUCTURES AND BEHAVIOURAL FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN The forebrain The midbrain In the news ‘Turn on, tune in, drop out’—The use of LSD in therapy

126 126 132 133

HEMISPHERIC LATERALISATION: THE LEFT AND RIGHT BRAINS 134 Research close-up Splitting the brain: one body, two minds? 135 Thinking critically Left-brained versus right-brained 1 37 PLASTICITY IN THE BRAIN: THE ROLE OF EXPERIENCE AND THE RECOVERY OF FUNCTION How experience influences brain development Healing the nervous system

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138 138 139

Australian focus Language development and the cochlear implant  Levels of analysis Brain, behaviour and environment

140 1 41

CHAPTER SUMMARY

141

CHAPTER 5 Sensation and perception

145

SENSORY PROCESSES Stimulus detection: the absolute threshold The difference threshold Australian focus Parallel pathways in the brain  Sensory adaptation

147 148 149 149 151

VISION The human eye Photoreceptors: the rods and cones Visual transduction: from light waves to nerve impulses Brightness vision and dark adaptation Colour vision In the news That dress: blue and black or gold and white? Analysis and reconstruction of visual images

152 152 153 155 155 155 158 159

AUDITION Auditory transduction: from pressure waves to nerve impulses Coding of pitch and loudness Sound localisation Thinking critically Navigating in fog: Professor Mayer’s topophone Hearing loss

160

TASTE AND SMELL: THE CHEMICAL SENSES Gustation: the sense of taste Olfaction: the sense of smell

165 165 165

THE SKIN AND BODY SENSES The tactile senses The body senses Applying psychological science Sensory prosthetics: restoring lost functions

166 166 168

PERCEPTION: THE CREATION OF EXPERIENCE Perception is selective: the role of attention Perceptions have organisation and structure Perception involves hypothesis testing Perception is influenced by expectations: perceptual sets Global focus Culture can impact the way we perceive the world  Percepts are stable under changing viewing conditions: perceptual constancies Thinking critically Why does that rising moon look so big?

172 172 174 175 176

PERCEPTION OF DEPTH, DISTANCE AND MOVEMENT Depth and distance perception Perception of motion

179 180 181

ILLUSIONS: FALSE PERCEPTUAL HYPOTHESES Thinking critically Explain this striking illusion Research close-up Stalking a deadly illusion

181 183 183

162 163 163 164 164

169

177 178 179

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C O N TEN TS

EXPERIENCE, CRITICAL PERIODS AND PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT Cross-cultural research on perception Critical periods: the role of early experience Restored sensory capacity Levels of analysis Sensation and perception

185 186 187 188 189

CHAPTER SUMMARY

190

GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT

194

CHAPTER 6 States of consciousness

195

THE PUZZLE OF CONSCIOUSNESS What is consciousness? Characteristics of consciousness Why do we have consciousness contents? Levels of consciousness Measuring contents of consciousness Behavioural measurements of unconscious influences Global focus A consciousness meter Attention and consciousness The neural basis of consciousness Neurophysiological disorders and consciousness Disorders of consciousness Brain activity and disorders of consciousness Applying psychological science Treating phantom limb pain

196 197 198 198 198 199 200 200 201 202 204 204 205 206

SLEEP AND DREAMING Stages of sleep Getting a night’s sleep: from brain to culture How much do we sleep? Sleep deprivation The nature of dreams In the news Reading brain activity, and predicting dream content Levels of analysis Sleep and dreaming

207 207 208 210 210 212

DRUG-INDUCED STATES Drugs and the brain Drug tolerance and dependence Depressants Research close-up Drinking and driving: decision-making in altered states Stimulants Opiates Hallucinogens Marijuana From genes to culture: determinants of drug effects Levels of analysis Drug-induced states

217 217 218 218

HYPNOSIS The scientific study of hypnosis Hypnotic behaviours and experiences Thinking critically Hypnosis and amazing feats Australian focus Ghosts in your brain Theories of hypnosis The hypnotised brain

226 226 226 227 228 229 230

CHAPTER SUMMARY

231

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213 216

220 221 222 223 223 224 225

CHAPTER 7 Learning: the role of experience

235

ADAPTING TO THE ENVIRONMENT

236

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: ASSOCIATING ONE STIMULUS WITH ANOTHER Pavlov’s pioneering research Basic principles Thinking critically Why did Carol’s car phobia persist? Applications of classical conditioning Thinking critically Was the ‘Little Albert’ study ethical?

237 237 238 240 242 243

OPERANT CONDITIONING: LEARNING THROUGH CONSEQUENCES Thorndike’s law of effect Skinner’s analysis of operant conditioning Antecedent conditions: identifying when to respond Consequences: determining how to respond Australian focus Stranger danger! Teaching predators to avoid cane toads  Thinking critically Identifying the consequences of maintaining sporting performance In the news Harnessing the power of delayed reinforcers Thinking critically Can you explain the ‘supermarket tantrum’? Shaping and chaining: taking one step at a time Generalisation and discrimination Schedules of reinforcement Escape and avoidance conditioning In the news Behavioural addictions Applications of operant conditioning Global focus Hero rats detect landmines Applying psychological science Using operant principles to modify your behaviour CROSSROADS OF CONDITIONING Biological constraints: evolution and preparedness Cognition and conditioning

244 244 245 246 247 249 251 252 253 254 256 256 259 260 261 262 263 265 265 267

OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING: WHEN OTHERS SHOW THE WAY Bandura’s social-cognitive theory Applications of observational learning Research close-up Using social-cognitive theory to prevent AIDS: a national experiment

269 270 271 272

THE ADAPTIVE BRAIN Levels of analysis Learning

273 274

CHAPTER SUMMARY

275

CHAPTER 8 Memory

279

MEMORY AS INFORMATION PROCESSING A three-stage model

280 281

ENCODING: ENTERING INFORMATION Effortful and automatic processing

286 286

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C O NT E NTS

Levels of processing: when deeper is better Exposure and rehearsal Organisation and imagery How prior knowledge shapes encoding Thinking critically Would perfect memory be a gift or a curse?

290

STORAGE: RETAINING INFORMATION Memory as a network Types of long-term memory

291 291 292

RETRIEVAL: ACCESSING INFORMATION The value of multiple cues The value of distinctiveness Arousal, emotion and memory The effects of context, state and mood on memory

294 294 295 295 296

FORGETTING The course of forgetting Why do we forget? Forgetting to do things: prospective memory Amnesia Australian focus—Alzheimer’s disease within Australia’s Indigenous population

297 298 298 300 300

MEMORY AS A CONSTRUCTIVE PROCESS Memory distortion and schemas Research close-up Memory illusions: remembering things that never occurred Misinformation effects and eyewitness testimony The child as eyewitness The recovered-memory controversy Culture and memory construction Global focus Memory error: cannot retrieve file. Challenging the computer–brain analogy

303 303

MEMORY AND THE BRAIN Where are memories formed and stored? How are memories formed? Levels of analysis Memory In the news Can memories transcend generations? In the news The Australian perspective Applying psychological science Improving memory and academic learning

311 312 313 314 315 316

CHAPTER SUMMARY

318

CHAPTER 9 Language and thinking

286 287 287 289

302

304 306 308 309 309 310

316

323

THE STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE The structure of language

324 325

UNDERSTANDING AND PRODUCING SPEECH Understanding speech Producing speech

328 328 332

ACQUIRING A FIRST LANGUAGE Social learning processes  Developmental timetable Is there a critical period for acquiring a first language?

334 335 335 336

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READING Dyslexia

337 338

BILINGUALISM AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION How important is age when it comes to learning a second language? Thinking critically Speaking two languages: a blessing or a curse? What impact does bilingualism have on a child? When should we teach a second language? Global focus Does the language we speak affect the way we think?  Language and thought Levels of analysis Language

339

THINKING AND COGNITION Thought and cognition Thinking and reasoning Research close-up The future is now: Thinking about the future enhances self-control

343 344 344

THE LIMITS OF REASONING Why do we sometimes make mistakes? Australian focus Problem-solving in real life  Heuristics Applying psychological science Guidelines for creative problem-solving

349 350 350 351

EXPERTISE AND AUTOMATICITY Schemas and scripts Is there a cost to expertise? People with special expertise In the news Why are doctors missing heart attack symptoms in women?

353 353 353 354

339 340 340 341 341 342 343

347

352

354

‘HOT’ COGNITION: THE ROLE OF EMOTION IN ­DECISION-MAKING Metacognition: knowing your own cognitive abilities Wisdom Levels of analysis Thinking processes

355 356 356 358

CHAPTER SUMMARY

358

CHAPTER 10 Intelligence

363

INTELLIGENCE FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Sir Francis Galton: quantifying mental ability Alfred Binet’s mental tests Binet’s legacy: an intelligence-testing industry emerges

365 365 365 366

THE NATURE OF INTELLIGENCE The psychometric approach: the structure of intellect Cognitive process approaches: the nature of intelligent thinking Broader conceptions of intelligence: beyond mental competencies

367 368

THE MEASUREMENT OF INTELLIGENCE Increasing the informational yield from intelligence tests Should we test for aptitude or achievement?

375 376 376

371 372

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C O N TEN TS

Psychometric standards for intelligence tests Assessing intelligence in non-Western cultures Australian focus Inspection time and intelligence  Global focus The Lothian Birth Cohort Studies 

377 381 382 384

HEREDITY, ENVIRONMENT AND INTELLIGENCE In the news Work on identifying the genes for intelligence continues and helps us to understand misconceptions of intelligence  Applying psychological science Early-childhood interventions: a means of boosting intelligence?

385

GROUP DIFFERENCES IN INTELLIGENCE Ethnic group differences Sex differences in cognitive abilities Beliefs, expectations and cognitive performance Research close-up Sex hormones, gender stereotypes and cognitive performance

390 390 392 393

EXTREMES OF INTELLIGENCE The intellectually gifted Thinking critically Are gifted children maladjusted? Intellectual disability Levels of analysis Intellectual functioning

397 397 397 398 399

CHAPTER SUMMARY

400

CHAPTER 11 Motivation and emotion

387 388

394

403

MOTIVATION Perspectives on motivation Thinking critically Is Maslow’s need hierarchy valid?

404 404 408

HUNGER AND WEIGHT REGULATION The physiology of hunger Psychological aspects of hunger Environmental and cultural factors Obesity Eating disorders: anorexia and bulimia

409 409 412 414 415 416

SEXUAL MOTIVATION Sexual behaviour: patterns and changes The physiology of sex The psychology of sex Cultural and environmental influences Sexual orientation In the news Same-sex marriage in Australia

418 418 418 420 420 422 423

ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION Motive for success and fear of failure Achievement goal theory Achievement goal orientations Family, culture and achievement needs Motivational conflict Applying psychological science Systematic goal setting: a motivational approach that works

425 425 425 426 427 428

EMOTION The nature of emotions Australian focus Aboriginal expressions of emotion 

430 431 438

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THEORIES OF EMOTION The James-Lange somatic theory The Cannon-Bard theory The role of autonomic feedback The role of expressive behaviours Cognitive-affective theories Research close-up Cognition-arousal relations

440 440 440 441 441 442 443

HAPPINESS Global focus What makes us happy?  Levels of analysis Emotion

445 446 447

CHAPTER SUMMARY

448

CHAPTER 12 Development over the life span

451

MAJOR ISSUES AND METHODS 452 Life-span development: a guiding model 453 Thinking critically Can you describe your personal ecology? 455 PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT Genetics and sex determination Environmental influences

455 456 456

INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD The amazing newborn Physical development Cognitive development Social-emotional and personality development Applying psychological science Understanding how divorce and remarriage affect children Thinking critically solutions Advice to a friend with young children regarding divorce Global focus Child development in the danger zone 

458 458 459 461 467 472 473 477

ADOLESCENCE AND ADULTHOOD 478 Physical development 479 Cognitive development 481 Social-emotional development 485 Australian focus Forming an ethnic identity in multicultural Australia: the challenge for refugees  485 Research close-up What does it take to become an adult? 488 In the news When should adulthood legally begin? 490 Thinking critically Do Erikson’s stages describe your psychosocial development accurately? 492 Levels of analysis Life-span development 495 CHAPTER SUMMARY

497

CHAPTER 13 Personality

501

WHAT IS PERSONALITY?

503

THE PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE Freud’s psychoanalytic theory Neoanalytic and object relations approaches Research close-up Does avoidant attachment influence what we remember? Evaluating the psychodynamic approach

504 504 507 509 511

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THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL-HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE George Kelly’s personal construct theory Carl Rogers’s theory of the self Thinking critically Is self-actualisation a useful scientific construct? Research on the self Evaluating the phenomenological-humanistic approach THE TRAIT PERSPECTIVE: MAPPING THE STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY Factor analytic approaches Evaluating the trait approach Global focus Traits and culture: how universal are personality traits? 

512 512 513 514 515 516 517 517 520 521

BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF PERSONALITY Genetics and personality Personality and the nervous system Evaluating the biological approach

522 522 523 525

THE SOCIAL-COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE Julian Rotter: expectancy, reinforcement value and locus of control Albert Bandura: social learning and self-efficacy Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda: the cognitive-affective personality system Reconciling personality coherence with behavioural inconsistency Evaluating social-cognitive theories Applying psychological science Understanding the Granny Killer: what can the personality perspectives tell us?

526

CULTURE, GENDER AND PERSONALITY Culture differences Levels of analysis Conceptions of personality Gender schemas In the news Cyberculture and personality in the digital era

534 535 536 537 537

PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT Interviews Behavioural assessment Remote behaviour sampling Personality scales Projective tests Australian focus Personality, culture and the Stolen Generations 

538 539 540 540 540 541

CHAPTER SUMMARY

545

CHAPTER 14 Health and well-being BEHAVIOURAL FOUNDATIONS OF HEALTH Exercise Obesity Global focus What is diabetes?  Health-threatening behaviours How people change: the transtheoretical model Maintaining positive change: relapse prevention

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526 527 529 531 531 532

543

549 551 552 553 556 557 563 564

Australian focus The typical life experience of an Indigenous Australian 

565

STRESS AND WELL-BEING Stressors The stress response: a mind–body link Effects of stress on well-being Thinking critically Do stressful events cause psychological distress?

566 567 568 570

RESILIENCE: FACING DOWN ADVERSITY Social support Coping self-efficacy and perceived control Optimism and positive attitudes Trauma disclosure and emotional expressiveness Finding meaning in stressful life events Coping strategies Beyond resilience: post-traumatic growth Research close-up Stress resilience, coping and illness Levels of analysis Stress and resilience

572 574 574 575 575 576 577 579 579 581

PAIN AND ILLNESS Psychological influences on pain Controlling pain and suffering Lifestyle changes and medical recovery In the news Euthanasia: a clash of compassions?

582 582 584 585 586

HAPPINESS How happy are people? What makes people happy? Applying psychological science How to be happy: guidelines from psychological research

588 588 589

CHAPTER SUMMARY

591

CHAPTER 15 Psychological disorders THE NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS What is ‘abnormal’?

570

590

595 596 597

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR 600 Thinking critically Do I have that disorder? 601 ANXIETY AND RELATED DISORDERS Phobic disorders: specific phobias, social phobia (social anxiety disorder) and agoraphobia Panic disorder Generalised anxiety disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder Causal factors in anxiety and related disorders In the news Can your guts make you anxious?

602

SOMATIC SYMPTOM AND DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS Somatic symptom and related disorders Dissociative disorders

609 610 610

DEPRESSIVE AND BIPOLAR DISORDERS Depression Bipolar disorder Prevalence and course of mood disorders

612 612 613 613

603 603 604 604 605 606 607

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C O N TEN TS

Causal factors in depressive and bipolar disorders Global focus Does social media use affect your mental health?  Applying psychological science Understanding and preventing suicide Levels of analysis Anxiety and depressive disorders

61 4 616 618 620

SCHIZOPHRENIA Characteristics of schizophrenia Subtypes of schizophrenia Causal factors in schizophrenia Australian focus Psychological disorders in Indigenous Australians 

621 621 622 623

PERSONALITY DISORDERS Antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy Research close-up Inside the brains of successful and unsuccessful psychopaths Borderline personality disorder Categorical and dimensional approaches to personality disorders

627 627

626

630 631 632

NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS: CHILDHOOD ONSET Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder Autism spectrum disorder

633 634 634

SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL ISSUES IN DIAGNOSIS Consequences of diagnostic labelling

636 637

CHAPTER SUMMARY

639

GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT

644

CHAPTER 16 Treatment of psychological disorders

645

PSYCHOLOGICAL TREATMENTS

646

PSYCHODYNAMIC THERAPIES Psychoanalysis Brief psychodynamic and interpersonal therapies

648 648 650

HUMANISTIC PSYCHOTHERAPIES Person-centred therapy Gestalt therapy

651 651 652

COGNITIVE THERAPIES Ellis’s rational–emotive therapy Beck’s cognitive therapy

653 653 654

BEHAVIOUR THERAPIES Exposure: an extinction approach Systematic desensitisation: a counterconditioning approach Aversion therapy Operant conditioning treatments Modelling and social skills training

655 655 656 657 658 660

THE ‘THIRD WAVE’ OF COGNITIVE-BEHAVIOURAL THERAPIES In the news Mindfulness: a cure for all problems or a useless fad with no scientific evidence?

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660 662

GROUP, FAMILY AND COUPLES THERAPIES Family therapy Couples therapy

665 665 665

CULTURAL AND GENDER ISSUES IN PSYCHOTHERAPY Cultural factors in treatment usage Gender issues in therapy

666 666 668

BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO TREATMENT Drug therapies Australian focus Cultural competence: improving mental health services for Indigenous Australians  Electroconvulsive therapy Other non-surgical treatments Psychosurgery Mind, body and therapeutic interventions Levels of analysis Therapeutic change

668 668

EVALUATING TREATMENTS Psychotherapy research methods Thinking critically Do survey results provide an accurate picture of treatment effectiveness? Factors affecting the outcome of therapy Research close-up Drug versus psychological treatments for depression: a randomised clinical trial

676 676

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AND SOCIETY Deinstitutionalisation Mental health treatment in today’s health-care environment Global focus Using online treatments to improve mental health around the world Preventive mental health Applying psychological science When and where to seek therapy

683 683

CHAPTER SUMMARY

690

CHAPTER 17 Social thinking and behaviour

671 672 673 673 674 675

679 679 681

684 685 686 688

695

SOCIAL THINKING Attribution: perceiving the causes of behaviour Forming and maintaining impressions Attitudes and attitude change

696 696 699 700

SOCIAL INFLUENCE Norms, conformity and obedience Research close-up The dilemma of obedience: when conscience confronts malevolent authority Thinking critically Do women differ from men in obedience? Detecting and resisting compliance techniques Behaviour in groups In the news Social media and group-level behaviour: fear of missing out and phubbing

704 704

SOCIAL RELATIONS Attraction: liking and loving others

715 715

707 709 710 711 714

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C O NT E NTS

Applying psychological science Making close relationships work: lessons from psychological research Prejudice: bias against others Global focus Decreasing prejudice Thinking critically Does pure altruism really exist? Aggression: harming others Australian focus Immigration to Australia: social psychological principles in action  Levels of analysis Aggression CHAPTER SUMMARY

719 720 726 728 729 732 733 733

CHAPTER 18 Indigenous and cross-cultural psychology 737

Thinking critically Locating yourself Fact or fantasy? Thinking critically The object of fantasy Australian focus Considering identity: will the ‘real’ Indigenous person please stand up?  Unpacking ‘Indigenous’ Race and culture Global focus Fear and fascination: regarding the savage 

753 754 754 754 755 756 757

CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY Cultural differences in communication: ‘An academic walks into a cafeteria . . .’ Considering differences across the world Implications of working multiculturally Australian focus A practising psychologist on the topic of working with Indigenous clients  Cultural differences, racism and mental illness: where social justice issues have been negated Global focus In the frame: Charlottesville

758

INDIGENOUS PSYCHOLOGY The role of psychologists with Indigenous Australians: ‘But it’s all too much!’ Cultural consultants

769

INDIGENOUS RESEARCH Social research and knowledge production: by whom, how and for what purpose? Methodology: yarning as an emerging method in Indigenous and cross-cultural research Research close-up Cultural agility and diverse cultural contexts: a qualitative examination of the ‘Indigenous mental health arena’ Levels of analysis An ecological approach

772

760 762 764 765 767 768

INTRODUCING THIS CHAPTER Applying psychological science Research insight into student experience Structure of the chapter

739

DEFINING CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY Describing ‘critical reflection’ Cultural competence Considering ‘power’ Describing ‘culture’ Psychology in China Enculturation, acculturation and cultural adaptation Research close-up Working in unfamiliar territory

741 741 742 743 745 745 746 747

MULTICULTURALISM AND RACE Policy approaches to managing difference In the news Celebrating Australia Day To change or not to change? That is the question

749 750 753

CHAPTER SUMMARY

779

Glossary References

783 799

Index

861

740 741

770 771

772 774 776 777

Appendix: Statistics in psychology (online)

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Preface Mind and behaviour is a fascinating area of study. Through Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour 3e, we have the pleasure and privilege of sharing this with you. The study of psychology has something to offer everyone, whether it is the development of new approaches to everyday life issues, an appreciation for the myriad ways psychological research has changed human understanding, or engagement with new concepts and theories. This third edition of Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour has been fully revised to help you achieve your personal goals in your psychology studies. Feedback from lecturers, tutors and students across Australia has contributed to making this edition the best learning resource for you. This textbook is a core source of information to help you with your studies. We know that not everyone learns best by reading long extracts of content. That is why each chapter is filled with features to help you study in the way that best suits you. While the emphasis is on Australian research and experience, each chapter has a global focus to give an international perspective. The learning experience also moves beyond the pages of this textbook and into the interactive and engaging Connect and SmartBook platforms. These are powerful resources that are proven to improve grades and get you to where you want to be. FOLLOWING WHERE THE SCIENCE LEADS . . . TO CRITICAL EXAMINATION While reading this text we want you to critically examine the content you are learning. To support this critical examination, we first help you understand the content. As we move from topic to topic, and from chapter to chapter, we don’t want to leave you feeling that psychology is merely a massive collection of disjointed facts. And, to those of you who may be expecting answers to important personal and intellectual questions, we must tell you that behaviour is complex, so answers to such questions are rarely simple. To meet these challenges, we start with the science. Genetic and neurological contributions to behaviour, memory and perception are covered in clear and relevant ways. By following where the science leads, you can learn the core concepts involved in language and thinking, intelligence, normal human development and personality and are ushered through the process of critical examination of recent discoveries in these areas. Psychologists typically deal with issues that affect mentally well people, but there is also a need to consider psychological disorders and the effectiveness of the available treatments from a critical standpoint. We recognise that psychologists study behaviour from multiple vantage points that emphasise biological, psychological, and environmental and social determinants. This recognition will show you that, despite the wide ranging topics psychologists study and the diverse approaches they use, there is an underlying commonality to how any topic can be examined. To show you where the science leads and how to follow the trail, Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour 3e will help you develop basic tools of critical examination through a wealth of features both in this text and online. Felicity Allen Lead Editor

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About the authors MICHAEL W. PASSER

RONALD E. SMITH

Dr Michael Passer coordinates the introductory psychology program at the University of Washington, which enrols about 2500 students per year, and is also the faculty coordinator of training for new teaching assistants. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester and his PhD in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a specialisation in social psychology. Dr Passer has been a faculty member at the University of Washington since 1977. A former Danforth Foundation Fellow and University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award finalist, Dr Passer has had a career-long love of teaching. Each academic year he teaches introductory psychology twice and a required course in research methods. Dr Passer developed and teaches a graduate course on the teaching of psychology, which prepares students for careers in the academic classroom and also has taught courses in social psychology and attribution theory. He has published more than 20 scientific articles and chapters, primarily in the areas of attribution, stress and anxiety, and has taught the introductory psychology course for over 20 years.

Dr Ronald E. Smith is Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Psychology Training at the University of Washington, where he also has served as Area Head of Social Psychology and Personality. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Marquette University and his PhD from Southern Illinois University, where he had dual specialisations in clinical and physiological psychology. His major research interests are in anxiety, stress and coping, and in performance enhancement research and intervention. Dr Smith is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute for his contributions to the field of mental health. He has published more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters in his areas of interest and has authored or co-authored 29 books on introductory psychology, human performance enhancement and personality, including Introduction to Personality: Toward an Integration, with Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda (Wiley, 2004). An award-winning teacher, he has more than 15 years of experience in teaching the introductory psychology course.

About the local authors FELICITY ALLEN

SIMON BOAG

Dr Felicity Allen is a consultant psychologist and evaluator, and until 2010 worked as an Associate Professor at Monash University. She has served as Chair of the Melbourne Branch of the Australian Psychological Society and was a Board member for two years. Felicity has written three books and co-authored two novels, numerous articles, chapters and monographs, and presented at many conferences. Her main interests are in health psychology and equal opportunity. Some of her research combines both of these areas, for example an evaluation of the needs of people with disabilities in Victoria. Felicity has a strong commitment to promoting positive health behaviours, such as exercise, and has considerable experience in evaluating the impact of the intervention strategies of major public and private sector employers and service providers.

Dr Simon Boag is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Macquarie University where he teaches personality, psychological theory, and research methods. He has published papers on the topics of personality and psychological theory, particularly in the area of psychoanalysis, unconscious processes and the theory of repression. Simon has also written on the history of personality psychology in Australia and is the editor of two published collections of Australian personality research. His most recent book discusses metapsychology and the foundations of psychoanalysis, as well as two volumes on psychoanalysis and philosophy of mind. Simon is currently conducting research in the areas of dynamic personality approaches, personality assessment, and the philosophy of psychoanalysis.

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JEROEN VAN BOXTEL Dr Jeroen J. A. van Boxtel is an Associate Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience at Monash University. During his graduate and undergraduate years he studied both in the Netherlands and in France. He holds a Masters degree in Cognitive Sciences from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, and the Collège de France, Paris. He also obtained a Masters degree in Biology at Utrecht University, where his topics were binocular rivalry and motion perception, and then travelled to the United States to undertake postdoctoral fellowships at University of California Los Angeles and the California Institute of Technology, studying biological motion and the interaction between attention and consciousness. Jeroen’s current areas of research focus on attention and consciousness, and action perception and understanding. EMILY CASTELL Dr Emily Castell is a Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Curtin University in Western Australia. She completed a BPsych (hons), Masters in Clinical Psychology and achieved a doctoral qualification at Curtin University. Emily’s PhD research formed an exploration of the social construction of intellectual disability, sexuality, and relationships. Her approach is shaped by a philosophy that education should be transformative in fostering a fair and just society. In keeping with this philosophy, she coordinates undergraduate psychology units with a social-justice focus (e.g., qualitative research, addictions counselling, and community and Indigenous psychology). Emily supervises research students in the areas of qualitative methodology, method, and methodological pluralism, community and applied psychology, and Innovation of Scholarship of Learning and Teaching. SARAH COWIE Dr Sarah Cowie is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She teaches and researches in the area of behaviour analysis, and supervises students with basic and translational research interests. Sarah’s research focuses on understanding how simple decision-making depends on past, present, and potential rewards, and on the nature of errors that occur when past experience is used to extrapolate about the likely future. MARK EDWARDS Dr Mark Edwards is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the Australian National University. Mark’s first degree was in Mechanical Engineering, from the University of Queensland. He then did a psychology degree at the ANU and a PhD at the University of Melbourne. Following seven years of research at NTT Basic Research Laboratories in Japan and the School of Optometry at the

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University of California at Berkeley he returned to ANU in 2001. His area of research is visual perception, with particular focus on motion and depth perception and face processing. One of the main themes running through his research has been determining how different visual pathways interact at different levels in the brain, for example how motion and form signals interact. Mark’s current research focuses on the neural underpinnings of visual attention. DARREN GARVEY Dr Darren Garvey was born and raised in Cairns, North Queensland and his heritage extends to and reflects the diversity of the Torres Strait. Darren has a degree in psychology from James Cook University, and postgraduate qualifications in health promotion and tertiary education. He has worked at Curtin for over 20 years and is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Aboriginal Studies. Darren’s PhD examined the contested arena of Indigenous mental health and identified the complex constructions of that space by providers and recipients of service. In 2000 he helped edit and contribute to a handbook for psychologists working with Indigenous Australians, and later authored Indigenous identity in contemporary psychology: Dilemmas, developments, directions (Garvey, 2007) which was shortlisted for the AIATSIS Stanner Award. Darren’s current interests include examination of the theoretical and practical elements of intercultural competence and cultural agility, particularly how they can inform better experiences of mental health service for recipients and providers, and for students preparing to engage in that space. CHARINI GUNARATNE Dr Charini Gunaratne is a Lecturer at the Australia College of Applied Psychology, and teaches introductory psychology, and research methods and statistics. Previously she was a Lecturer at Charles Sturt University, teaching across a number of topics including first year psychology, research methods, personality, stress and trauma, with a particular focus on first year psychology. Charini completed her Bachelor of Arts at Ohio Wesleyan University, USA, in astrophysics and psychology. She completed her PhD at Deakin University in psychology. While at Deakin, she was a part of the Australian Unity wellbeing research team for a number of years. Charini’s research focuses on trauma, resilience, the first-year undergraduate university experience, and psychological well-being. NICHOLAS HARRIS Dr Nicholas Harris is a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Psychological Sciences at the Australian College of Applied Psychology. Nicholas teaches and researches in the area of

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A B O UT T HE LO CA L AUT HO RS

social psychology, intercultural psychology, and statistics, and supervises students with interests in attitudes, stigma, and the influence of social media (e.g. phubbing and FoMO). His research focuses on intercultural anxiety, investigating the mechanisms underpinning their development, such that strategies can be implemented and tested to reduce this anxiety. MARK KOHLER Dr Mark Kohler is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Program Director for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of South Australia. He teaches cognitive neuroscience, states of awareness, developmental psychology and research methods, with a particular research interest in the role of sleep for cognitive processes. Prior to this Mark received his Bachelor’s degree from Flinders University and PhD from the University of South Australia before working as Research Fellow in the Discipline of Paediatrics, University of Adelaide. ANDREW J. LEWIS Dr Andrew J. Lewis is a clinical psychologist and an Associate Professor and the Director of Clinical Psychology in the School of Psychology and Exercise Science at Murdoch University in Perth. Following a clinical career working in child mental health at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Andrew’s research has focused on the causes of child psychopathology and the most effective forms of psychological intervention for children and adolescents. Andrew has published over 100 refereed journal papers, book chapters and treatment manuals, as well as edited Integrative Assessment in Clinical Psychology (Australian Academic Press). Generally, Andrew’s research has focused on understanding the relationship between biological and environmental factors in pregnancy and early childhood as predictors of later psychological or developmental disorders. JACQUI MACDONALD Dr Jacqui Macdonald is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at Deakin University in developmental psychology. Her expertise is in life-course and intergenerational longitudinal studies of social and emotional development. She co-leads the Lifecourse Sciences Theme in Deakin University’s Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development (SEED) and is an Honorary Research Fellow with both the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne. Jacqui is a collaborator on several of Australia’s and New Zealand’s largest longitudinal studies, studying how life events, relationships and mental illness in one generation affect parent-child relationships in the next generation.

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BEN MORRISON Dr Ben Morrison is a Senior Lecturer in the discipline of Psychological Sciences at the Australian College of Applied Psychology. He completed a Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) and PhD at Western Sydney University, and a Masters of Organisational Psychology at Macquarie University. He has also worked in various academic positions across a number of higher education institutions including ACAP, WSU, University of New South Wales, and Macquarie University. Ben has research interests in cognitive and organisational psychology, with an emphasis on human performance and decision making. This focus has seen him work in a number of applied settings including law enforcement, the military, and professional sports organisations. NATALIE MORRISON Dr Natalie Morrison is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine at Western Sydney University. She completed her Bachelor of Psychology (Hons), Master of Psychology (Clinical) and PhD at Western Sydney University and has held academic and research positions at Western Sydney University, Macquarie University and the Australian College of Applied Psychology, as well as working with NSW Health Services and various private NGOs in the mental health field. Natalie’s research focuses on cognitive psychology, with an interest in attention and memory domains. Her background in cognitive psychology is now reflected in her clinical work with trauma populations. Natalie’s current research focus is in the areas of transgenerational trauma, decision making by professionals, and the impact of trauma on the professional psychologist’s clinician-client relationships. KIMBERLEY NORRIS Dr Kimberley Norris is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine (Psychology) at the University of Tasmania. Her research focuses on the learning and teaching of psychology, motivation and performance within academic contexts, and developing and testing models of adaptation in both normal (e.g. parental adaptation to their child’s health issues) and extreme environments (e.g. Antarctica). Additional research interests focus on understanding the attitudes and belief  systems that predict family violence, and on interventions to minimise its occurrence. Kimberley has worked collaboratively with the Australian Antarctic Division to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the resilience and vulnerability factors experienced by expeditioners and their partners during the course of Antarctic employment. She educates health professionals (including psychologists, psychiatrists, general practitioners and paramedics) on effective communication skills, with a focus on working with clients from different cultural backgrounds.

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Kimberley is also a practising clinical psychologist, working in the private sector. CON STOUGH Dr Con Stough is a Professor of Psychology at Swinburne University where he teaches in the area of intelligence, emotional intelligence, personality, psychopharmacology and cognition. He is Co-Director of the Swinburne Centre for Human Psychopharmacology and his scientific interests are in understanding human intelligence and cognition, from both psychological and biological perspectives (particularly using pharmacological methods). A significant part of his approach is to better understand the cognitive effects of a wide range of pharmacologically active substances, ranging from illicit drugs to herbal and nutrient medicines, and how these may be used to improve cognition or to ameliorate cognitive decline. Con is also interested in improving emotional competencies in schools and has established a new series of emotional intelligence programs for schools. Con is an advisor to many nutrition and pharmaceutical companies in the area of cognition and is a member of the International Society for Intelligence Research, the Association for Psychological Science, the American Psychological Association, and he is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition. MARIANNA SZABÓ Dr Marianna Szabó is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the School of Psychology, University of Sydney. She coordinates the Abnormal Psychology course in the school and lectures on conceptual issues in classification and diagnosis, as well as on

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the nature and causation of specific disorders. She contributes to teaching or supervising topics related to abnormal or clinical psychology at all levels of training, from the first year course to supervising Masters and PhD theses. Marianna’s research interests include examining basic diagnostic and conceptual issues in abnormal psychology, as well as the nature of child and adult anxiety and mood disorders, particularly generalised anxiety disorder. She has a long standing interest in mindfulness and related practices, both as a researcher and a clinical psychologist. Marianna is a registered psychologist and member of the Australian Psychological Society College of Clinical Psychologists. CAROLYN WILSHIRE Dr Carolyn Wilshire is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She teaches introductory psychology (language, the brain, cognitive neuroscience), and also more advanced courses in cognitive psychology, cognitive and behavioural neuroscience and cognitive neuropsychology. Carolyn’s research explores the mental processes we use to produce and understand language, and the brain structures that support these processes. She is also interested in ‘executive functions’, those mental functions that allow us to plan, reason, create and generally to control our impulses in the service of a wider goal. Much of her work focuses on special populations, such as developmental dyslexia, stroke and brain tumour. More recently Carolyn has turned her interest to reasoning within clinical psychology and in the design and the assessment of clinical trials of psychological interventions.

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Acknowledgements Teamwork has been an essential part of the creation of this important book. We are very proud to acknowledge the contributions made by our esteemed author team. REVIEWERS This third Australian edition has grown and changed as a result of review feedback from distinguished colleagues and peers, whose time and effort in contributing to the project is greatly appreciated. We would like to thank our most recent reviewers, including: • Felicity Allen, The Australian Psychological  Society

• Jennifer Loh, Edith Cowan University

• Hannah Bereznicki, Deakin University

• Stephanie Quinton, Charles Sturt University

• Natasha Buist, Victoria University of Wellington

• Rhonda Shaw, Charles Sturt University

• Trevor Hine, Griffith University

• Tania Signal, Central Queensland University

• Mark Kohler, University of South Australia

• Carolyn Timms, James Cook University

• Ewald Neumann, University of Canterbury

DIGITAL CONTRIBUTORS We must also thank the subject matter experts who have contributed to the rich collection of digital resources, without which this title would not be complete, including: • Beatrice Alba, La Trobe University

• Richelle Mayshak, Deakin University

• Elizabeth Allworth, Allworth Juniper Organisational Psychologists

• Alina Morawska, University of Queensland

• Denholm Aspy, University of Adelaide

• Natalie Morrison, Western Sydney University • Stephen Moston, Central Queensland University 

• Andrew Campbell, University of Sydney

• Kimberley Norris, University of Tasmania

• George van Doorn, Federation University 

• Stefania Paolini, University of Newcastle

• Aaron Drummond, Massey University 

• Helen Paterson, University of Sydney

• Nicholas Harris, Australian College of Applied Psychology

• Kelly Prandl, Curtin University

• Nenagh Kemp, University of Tasmania • Daniel King, University of Adelaide • Riki Lane, Monash University • David Lewis, Murdoch University

• John Reece, Australian College of Applied Psychology • Damien Riggs, Flinders University • Tania Signal, Central Queensland University • Nikolaos Tiliopoulos, The University of Sydney • Shaun Watson, Federation University

• Tanya Machin, University of Southern Queensland

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Digital resources McGraw-Hill Connect brings every learning resource that accompanies this text together in one place, and can also integrate and interact with your LMS. Connect gives instructors the opportunity to provide a blended or flipped classroom approach to their teaching.

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POWER OF PROCESS Power of Process guides students through the steps of critical reading, analysis and writing. Teachers select journal articles for students to analyse and comment upon, gaining insight into application of the scientific method.

INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES Instructor resources, including a Testbank, PowerPoint presentations, an Instructor’s Manual, sample exams, additional cases and Artwork Library, will assist lecturers and tutors in delivering their Introductory Psychology course.

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Text at a glance DEVELOPED FOR AUSTRALIAN STUDENTS BY AUSTRALIAN AUTHORS

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This third edition of Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour has been fully revised by expert Australian authors to help students to engage with and apply the concepts and theories of psychology. Each chapter includes work by Australian and New Zealand academics and researchers, local statistics, cases and examples. In each chapter’s Australian Focus feature we explore a uniquely Australian topic. These features include ‘The evolutionary history of Indigenous Australians’ (chapter 3), ‘Forming an ethnic identity in multicultural Australia’ (chapter 12), ‘The typical life experience of an Indigenous Australian’ (chapter 14), and ‘Immigration to Australia: social psychological principles in action (chapter 17). In chapter 18 we look closely at Indigenous and

cross-cultural psychology within an Australian context. We aim to encourage active engagement with the topic and emphasise critical reflection and the development of frameworks and strategies to assist in future study and work. The importance of cross-cultural psychology and the need to be informed of international developments in psychology has led to a new collection of Global Focus cases, which examine topical applications for psychological research from around the world. Topics include ‘Terrorist or terrorised’ (Chapter 1), ‘Culture can impact the way we perceive the world’ (Chapter 5) and ‘Hero rats detect landmines’ (Chapter 7). CHAPTER 2 Stud ying beha viour

Scientific

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GLOBAL FOCUS Sensational statistics

P SYCH O LOGY

AUSTRALIAN FOCUS The use and misuse of research Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterised by difficulties in communication, social interactions, and a restricted range of interests and activities demonstrated since early childhood (APA, 2013). It is a complex disorder with no single cause. The research interests of Jon Brock and colleagues, from Macquarie University in Sydney, focus on the cognitive and neural aspects of developmental disorders including ASD. In 2002 Brock and colleagues published a review article entitled ‘The temporal binding deficit hypothesis of autism’. This article did not detail results from a specific study they had undertaken. Instead, it presented a summary of existing research about ASD culminating in a suggestion (or hypothesis) that ASD may be partially caused by reduced communication between different regions of the brain. In other words, it was an idea that needed to be tested through research. You can imagine their surprise, then, when a colleague alerted them to a chiropractic doctor who claimed to have used this paper to inform his ‘evidence-based’ treatment of ASD! Brock was intrigued—at no point had the paper being referred to mentioned chiropractic treatment for ASD, let alone endorsed it. Motivated by scientific curiosity he further investigated the claims being made by this doctor and found that:

2. The doctor did not explain how he treated ASD through chiropractic means. 3. The doctor failed to recognise, or at least mention, that the paper being referred to provided no empirical evidence to support the idea that there was decreased communication between brain regions in people with ASD. 4. The doctor did not explain how chiropractic techniques could address this supposed deficit in neural communication. 5. The doctor grossly oversimplified the nature of ASD, and over-exaggerated current understandings of the mechanisms that lead to its expression. Brock tried to contact the doctor to clarify the perceived misunderstanding, without success. He has, however, written a witty blog about this event (available at http:// crackingtheenigma.blogspot.com.au/?q=chiropractor), using it as a platform to remind us all about the importance of (a) accurate use of research and (b) critical thinking skills when evaluating claims that purportedly rely on scientific facts. The moral of this story? Careful attention, and use of critical thinking skills, to evaluate claims supposedly based on scientific research enabled readers to identify the misinterpretation (and subsequent misuse) of the work of Brock and colleagues, and thereby warn others, including naïve consumers.

CRITICAL EXAMINATION 1.

The doctor did not explain how the paper had informed his practice, just that ‘it had’.

There is a long history of statistics being used and abused to sensationalise issues across many mediums including the media, blogs and politics. A recent example of this was reported by journalist Amanda Taub, who found herself questioning a news article which cited a report detailing that United Nations aid workers had raped 60 000 humanitarian victims over a 10-year period. This was a horrifying statistic, and one with far-reaching implications for the safety of humanitarian victims, as well as the United Nations organisation. Using good critical thinking skills, and employing key principles of the scientific method, Taub asked, ‘where’s the evidence this is true?’. By contacting the author (Andrew McLeod) of the original report on which the news story was based, Taub found that:

who perpetrated sexual offences against humanitarian victims each year. There was no statistical evidence to support his estimate, it was simply an estimate he decided on. So, with 311 peacek eeper and an assumed 289 non-peacekeeper perpetrators, he came to the conclusion that there were 600 victims in 2017. There was no population-specific data to support his estimate of the number of civilian offenders in this regard and, as such, the number is nothing more than a guess. 4. From here, McLeod estimated that only 10 per cent of incidents were actually recorded. Therefore, he multiplied his initial estimate by 10 to reach a figure of 6000 victims per year. In order to estimate the number of victims over a decade, he then multiplied this figure by 10 to reach 60 000.

1.

In essence, although the logic of McLeod’s calculations is apparent, his estimate of 60 000 victims is based on nothing more than his own beliefs—and as we know, beliefs are not a form of objective evidence. The reality is, there is insufficient data to know exactly how many victims there are; it could be that 60 000 is somewhat accurate, or it could be that there are many more, or many less. McLeod emphasised to Taub that he never intended for people to interpret his report as containing peerreviewed statistical data and analyses. Instead, he claimed to be attempting to convey information about an important topic and wanted to use numbers to support this. However, by misusing statistics he may have inadvertently detracted from the very real and important issue of sexual exploitation of vulnerable populations. You can read Amanda Taub’s full article here: www. nytimes.com/2018/02/28/world/americas/un-sexualassaults.html.

Although McLeod had once worked for the United Nations, he released this information well after his departure from the organisation. The information released coincided with the launch of a not-for-profit organisation by McLeod and colleagues (so he had a vested interest in receiving high levels of publicity). 2. The information on which McLeod based his report was derived from a publicly accessible 2017 United Nations report detailing 311 cases of sexual exploitation (not restricted to rape, as suggested by McLeod) being perpetrated by peacekeepers toward humanitarian victims in the previous year. This was the only piece of data with hard evidence to support it and this data was misrepresented by McLeod, who claimed it pertained only to rape, but in fact it represented many forms of sexual violence. 3. To reach his estimate of 60 000 victims, McLeod assumed that there were at least 289 civilian (i.e. non-peacekeeper) United Nations personnel

examination of information by showing the nuts and bolts of This text has been written to help Introductory Psychology Whenresearchfindingsfailtoreplicate,itmayleadtobetterresearchandnewdiscoveriesasscientistssearch LO 2.5 anal yresearch Sing and and interthe Preting data research brings to psychological knowledge students forcluestoexplainwhytheresultsturnedoutdifferentlyinonestudyversusanother.Forexample,althoughmany develop critical examination skills by providing experiments suggest that mobile phone use interferes with optimal driving performance, not all experiments do. Around election time, do you feel like you’re swimming in a sea of statistics from endless voter polls and political the analysis. tools within the text. Furtherresearchwillbeneededtosortoutthefactors,suchasdifferentdrivingconditions,thatmightaccountfor advertisements? As a student, you live in a world of academic performance—that is, marks, average results and suchresults. percentiles.Andontheinternetyou’llfindloadsofstatisticsaboutathletes,teams,theeconomyandstockprices. Research close-up topics include ‘Drinking and driving: Studiesthatconsistentlyfailtoreplicatetheresultsofearlierresearchmaysuggestthattheoriginalresearchwas Statisticsarewovenintothefabricofmodernlife,andtheyareintegraltopsychologicalresearch.We’llexplainwhy flawedorthatthefindingwasafluke.Evenso,thescientificprocesshasdoneitsjobandpreventedusfromgetting statisticsareimportantbyfocusingonafewbasicconcepts.Theappendix,Statisticsinpsychology(online),provides An understanding of how research leads to decision-making in altered states’ (Chapter 6), ‘The future caughtinablindalley. moreinformationabouttheseandotherconcepts. discovery is now: Thinking about the future enhances self-control’ CONCEPT CHECK (Chapter 9) and ‘Drug versus psychological treatments for To help students understand the research process, each • An experiment has high internal validity when it is designed well and permits clear causal depression: a randomised clinical trial’ (Chapter 16). The chapter’s Research close-up presents a specific research study conclusions. External validity is the degree to which the findings of a study generalise to other populations. ability to consider multiple factors to understand behaviour in the format of a simplified journal article. These highLevels of analysis emphasises how psychologists examine interest studies and their accompanying ‘Research design’ the interplay of biological, psychological, and environmental graphics help students understand how correlational and and social factors in their quest to understand behaviour; experimental research are carried out. The ‘Discussion’ featuring contextual introductions and full descriptions of each section provides a brief critical analysis of the study and its area of analysis. Behaviours explored include ‘Causal factors in methodology. The ’Research close-ups’ support the critical pas22797_ch02_035-072 61

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depression’ (Chapter 1), ‘Measuring exam stress’ (Chapter 2), ‘Drug-induced states’ (Chapter 6) and ‘Learning’ (Chapter 7).

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factorsalsoinfluencedrugreactionsandusage.Peoplewhohavedifficultyadjustingtolife’sdemands,orwhosecontact withrealityismarginal,maybeparticularlyvulnerabletonegativedrugreactionsandaddiction(Ray&Ksir,2004).

Levels of analysis DRUG-INDUCED STATES Drug-induced states involve an interplay of biological, psychological, and environmental and social factors. Some of these factors are summarised here. Suppose a person consumes enough alcoholic drinks within 30 minutes to reach a blood alcohol content of 0.05.

BIOLOGICAL LEVEL

In one case, suppose all the drinks are the same: all beers or all the same kind of wine. In another case, suppose each drink is different: beer, red wine and tequila. Would you expect the person to feel equally intoxicated in both cases?

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL LEVEL

⊲ Drugs increase or decrease the activity of particular neurotransmitter systems.

⊲ Cultural norms and experiences can shape users’ drug attitudes and expectations.

⊲ The body produces compensatory responses to counteract a drug’s effect, possibly leading to tolerance.

⊲ The social context and behaviour of other drug users who are present can affect how a person responds to a drug.

⊲ Withdrawal symptoms occur when drug use stops, but the body’s compensatory responses continue.

PSYCHOLOGICAL LEVEL ⊲ Drugs can alter numerous aspects of psychological functioning, including mood, memory, attention, decisionmaking, social inhibitions and pain awareness. ⊲ Users’ attitudes and expectations about drugs can influence their psychological reactions to a drug.

20

⊲ A user’s level of personal adjustment can influence the likelihood of a negative drug reaction.

⊲ Genetic factors influence biological reactivity to specific drugs.

Environmental factors

An understanding of how information can be applied 220

Thesettinginwhichadrugistakencaninfluenceauser’sreactions.Merelybeinginafamiliardrug-usesettingcan triggercompensatoryphysiologicalresponsesandcravings.Thebehaviourofotherpeoplewhoaresharingthedrug experienceprovidescuesforhowtorespondandahostileenvironmentmayincreasethechancesofabadtripwith drugssuchasLSD(Palfai&Jankiewicz,1991). PSYCH OLOGY Culturallearningalsoaffectshowpeoplerespondtoadrug(Bloomfieldetal.,2002).InmanyWesterncultures, increasedaggressivenessandsexualpromiscuityarecommonlyassociatedwithdrunkenexcess.Incontrast,members oftheCambacultureofBoliviacustomarilydrinklargequantitiesofan89percentalcoholbeverage,remainingcordial Why do intoxicated people often act in risky ways that they wouldn’t when sober? It is not simply a matter of andnon-aggressivebetweenepisodesofpassingout.Inthe1700s,TahitiansintroducedtoalcoholbyEuropeansailors loweredinhibitions.Alcoholalsoproducesalcohol myopia,shortsighted thinking caused by the inability to pay attention reactedatfirstwithpleasantrelaxationwhenintoxicated,butafterwitnessingtheviolentaggressivenessexhibitedby to as much information as when sober(Davisetal.,2007;Steele&Josephs,1990).Peoplewhodrinkstarttofocusonly drunkensailors,theytoobeganbehavingaggressively(MacAndrew&Edgerton,1969). Culturalfactorsalsoaffectdrugconsumption.Traditionally,somenon-Westerncultures,suchastheNavajotribe, onaspectsofthesituation(cues)thatstandout.Intheabsenceofstrongcautionarycues(suchaswarnings)toinhibit do not consider drinking any amount of alcohol to be normal, whereas drinking wine or beer is central to social riskybehaviour,theydon’tthinkaboutthelong-termconsequencesoftheiractionsascarefullyaswhentheyaresober. life in some European countries (Tanaka-Matsumi & Draguns, 1997). In some cultures, hallucinogenic drugs are Our‘Researchclose-up’illustratesthiseffect. feared and outlawed, whereas in others they are used in medicinal or religious contexts to seek advice from spirits (Dalgarno,2009).

In addition to the many applications discussed throughout the text’s narrative, Applying psychological science demonstrates how knowledge derived from basic research can be applied at both personal and societal levels. To illustrate this RESEARCH CLOSE-UP Drinking and driving: decision-making in altered states Source: Tarapas22797_ch06_195-234 225 K. MacDonald, Mark P. Zanna, and Geoffrey T. Fong (1995). Decision making in altered states: Effects of alcohol on attitudes toward drinking and driving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 973–985.

Introduction

cars, participated. They were randomly assigned to07/14/1801:13PM either the sober condition, in which they received no alcohol, or the alcohol condition, in which they received three alcoholic drinks within one hour (the average BAC was 0.074 per cent, just below the 0.08 per cent legal driving limit in Ontario, Canada). Participants then completed a drinking-and-driving questionnaire. Some items asked about general attitudes and intentions (e.g. ‘I will drink and drive the next time that I am out at a party or bar with friends’). Other items contained a facilitating cue, a special circumstance that suggested a possible reason for drinking and driving (‘If I had only a short distance to drive home . . . If my friends tried to persuade me to drink and drive . . . I would drive while intoxicated’). Participants rated each item on a 9-point scale (1 = ‘strongly disagree’; 9 = ‘strongly agree’).

Most people have negative attitudes about drunk driving and say they would not do it. They realise that the cons (e.g. risk of accident, injury, death and police arrest) far outweigh the pros (e.g. not having to ask someone for a lift). Why, then, do so many people decide to drive after becoming intoxicated? Based on alcohol-myopia principles, Tara MacDonald and her colleagues reasoned that when intoxicated people decide whether to drive, they may focus on the pros or the cons but do not have the attentional capacity to focus on both. If a circumstance that favours driving (a facilitating Party/bar diary study cue) is called to the intoxicated person’s attention (e.g. ‘It’s only a short distance’), she or he will latch onto it and Fifty-one male and female university students recorded a telephone diary while at a party or bar where they were fail to consider the cons. But in general situations that do not contain facilitating cues, intoxicated people’s feelings about driving should remain as negative as A B when they were sober. RESEARCH DESIGN The authors made two predictions. First, intoxicated and sober people will Question: If sober people hold negative attitudes toward drinking PSYC H O LO GY have equally negative general attitudes and driving, then why after becoming intoxicated do they16 decide to and intentions toward drinking and drive? Does focusing on ‘special circumstances’ play a role? driving. Second, intoxicated people will Type of study: Experimental have less negative attitudes and greater intentions toward drinking and driving than sober people in situations that contain a facilitating cue. Method Laboratory experiment Fifty-seven male introductory psychology students, all regular drinkers who owned

Independent variables • Alcoholic state (intoxicated versus sober) • Drinking-driving situation (special circumstance versus general situation)

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PSYCHO LO GY

IN THE NEWS The APS Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples As already discussed, psychologists in Australia directly and indirectly contributed to the forcible removal of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander children from their families—children who are referred to as the ‘Stolen Generation’. In 2016, the A ustralian Psychological Society (APS) formally apologised to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for ‘. . .psychology’s role in contributing to the erosion of culture . . . and mistreatment’ of Indigenous Australians (Australian Psychological Society, 2016). This apology was an important step in the ongoing efforts to enhance collaborative efforts between Indigenous and non-Indigenous psychologists and communities to meet the social and emotional well-being and mental health needs of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander people. You can access the full-text version of the APS apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at https://www. psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/ Apology-final-version.pdf. This apology does not signify the end of such efforts, or that we have met the goals of further enhancing the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Ongoing projects are designed to action the promises made in the apology to: • • • • •

listen more and talk less follow more and steer less advocate more and comply less include more and ignore less collaborate more and command less.

These include the work of the Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP), led by Professor Pat Dudgeon, which brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders (including students, educators, psychologists and employers)

to develop strategies aimed at ‘. . .increasing recruitment and retention of Indigenous psychology students, integrating Indigenous studies in psychology courses for all students, and facilitating training pathways for Indigenous mental health workers’ (AIPEP). To learn more about the work of AIPEP, go to http:// www.indigenouspsyched.org.au/ about#overview The APS Reconciliation Action Plan (Australian Psychological Society, 2016) has also been developed to assist all psychologists to better respond to and meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The key components of the plan focus on: cultural awareness, responsiveness and safety; Indigenous education and employment; governance; and respectful relationships. For more information about the plan, you can visit: https://www.psychology.org.au/ About-Us/who-we-are/reconciliationand-the-APS/reconciliation-actionplan.

Putting critical examination into practice

Thinking critically activities allow students to apply their developing critical examination skills. These activities question a belief or information presented in the text, or pose a situation that requires analysis, and then ask students to construct an answer using their critical examination tools. For most activities students can then compare their answer to one provided at the end of the chapter. Topics include ‘Are  the students lazy?’ (Chapter 1), ‘Should you trust internet and pop media surveys?’ (Chapter 2), ‘Would perfect memory be a gift or a curse?’ (Chapter 8) and ‘Do I have that disorder?’ (Chapter 15). and experiences of mental illness of Indigenous Australians (Australian Indigenous Psychology Association [AIPA],2011).SeeFigure 1.11. Overtime,psychologistsincreasinglybegantostudydiverseethnicandculturalgroups.Todaythegrowingfieldof cultural psychology(sometimescalledcross-cultural psychology)explores how culture is transmitted to its members and examines psychological similarities and differences among people from diverse cultures(Schalleretal.,2010). Oneimportantdifferenceamongculturesistheextenttowhichtheyemphasiseindividualismversuscollectivism (Triandis&Suh,2002).Mostindustrialisedculturespromoteindividualism,anemphasisonpersonalgoalsandselfidentitybasedprimarilyonone’sownattributesandachievements.Incontrast,manyAsian,Pacific,AfricanandSouth Americanculturesnurturecollectivism,inwhichindividualgoalsaresubordinatedtothoseofthegroupandpersonal identityisdefinedlargelybythetiesthatbindonetotheextendedfamilyandothersocialgroups.Thisdifferenceis createdbysociallearningexperiencesthatbegininchildhoodandcontinueintheformofsocialcustoms. ThinkingaboutRay’slonelyfirstyearinuniversity,thesocioculturalperspectiveagainleadsustoRay’sexpectations ofsocialrejectionandbeliefsaboutwhyitoccurredbefore.Wealsocanaskhowhisculturalupbringingandother socialfactorscontributedtohisshybehaviour.Throughouthisteenyears,culturalnormsformaleassertivenessmay have put pressure on Ray. His shyness may have evoked teasing and other negative reactions from his high school peers,increasinghisfeelingsofinadequacybythetimehereacheduniversity.AsforRayandKira’sdatingrelationship,

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THINKING CRITICALLY Are the students lazy?

Dependent variables • Attitude toward ‘drinking and driving’ • Intention to drive while intoxicated

SUPPORTING STUDENT LEARNING

science-into-application theme, several of these features focus on skills that can enhance learning and performance. These topics include research derived principles for studying effectively (Chapter 1), behavioural self-modification (Chapter 7) and memory enhancement (Chapter 8). To complement this, new In the News cases provide current, practical examples of how psychological science and theories are put into practice in research, clinical or commercial applications. Topics include ‘Uses and abuses of crime data in Australia’ (Chapter 2), ‘The use of LSD in therapy’ (Chapter 4) and ‘That dress: blue and black or white and gold?’ (Chapter 5).

Imagine that you are a high school teacher. Whenever you try to engage your students in a class discussion, they gaze into space and hardly say anything. You start to think that they’re just a bunch of lazy kids. From a radical behavioural perspective, is your conclusion reasonable? How might you improve the situation? Think about it, then see the solution at the end of the chapter.

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The humanistic perspective: self-actualisation and positive psychology Inthemid-20thcentury,asthepsychodynamicandbehaviouralperspectivesviedfordominancewithinpsychology,a

newviewpointcalledhumanismarosetochallengethemboth.Thehumanistic (humanism)emphasised free Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour 3e supports student learning of concepts throughout each perspective chapter. will, personal growth and the attempt to find meaning in one’s existence. Humanists rejected psychodynamic concepts of humans as being controlled by forces and • Learning objectives, tagged to headings throughout each chapter, help to pinpoint what students will learn from unconscious each section. rejectedbehaviourism’sviewofhumansasmerereactorstotheenvironment.Instead,humanistictheoristssuchas AbrahamMaslow(1908–1970)proposedthateachofushasaninbornforcetowardself-actualisation,thereaching • Concept checks at the end of each major section provide concise summaries of the key content from that section to aid ofone’sindividualpotential(Figure 1.8).Whenpeopledevelopinasupportiveenvironment,theirpositiveinner natureemerges.Incontrast,miseryandpathologyoccurwhenenvironmentsfrustratepeople’sinnatetendency with revision and study. toward self-actualisation. Humanists emphasised the importance of personal choice, responsibility, personality and positive feelings ofand self-worth. To humanists, theskills meaning of existence squarely in our • Review questions aligned to learning objectives test students’ growth critical thinking application asourwell asresides their ownhands. ThinkingaboutRay’sshynessandloneliness,ahumanistmightsaythatnomatterhowoftenRaywasrejected understanding of key concepts from the chapter. inthepast,hemusttakepersonalresponsibilityforturningthingsaround.Ahumanistmightalsowonderwhether, his first year, Ray’s and sense of self-worth resting too heavily on his hope for a good romantic • Chapter summary and Key terms and concepts features directinstudents to happiness key ideas from thewere chapter.

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relationship.Byfocusingonbuildingafewfriendships,RaywiselyfoundanotherwaytosatisfywhatMaslow(1954) called‘belongingness’,ourbasichumanneedforsocialacceptanceandcompanionship. Fewearlyhumanistswerescientistsand,historically,humanismhashadamorelimitedimpactonmainstream psychologicalsciencethanhaveotherperspectives.Still,ithasinspiredimportantareasofresearch.HumanistCarl Rogers(1902–1987)identifiedkeyaspectsofpsychotherapythatled toconstructivechangesinclients.Humanisticconceptshavealso stimulatedresearchonself-esteemandself-concept(Verplanken& Holland,2002). Humanism’sfocusonself-actualisationandgrowthisseenin today’sgrowingpositive psychology movement,which emphasises the study of human strengths, fulfilment and optimal living(Parketal., 2010).Ratherthanfocusingon‘what’swrongwithourworld’(e.g. mentaldisorders,conflict,prejudice),positivepsychologyexamines 08/09/18 08:14 how we can nurture what is best within ourselves and societyPM to createahappyandfulfillinglife.

CAS E M AT RIX

Case matrix Chapter

Case

1 The science of psychology

Australian focus: Why it pays to think scientifically

Page 8

Research close-up: Would you marry someone you didn’t love?

Page 18

Applying psychological science: How to enhance your academic performance

Page 29

Global focus: Terrorists or terrorised?

Page 10

In the news: The APS Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

Page 20

Levels of analysis: Causal factors in depression

Page 25

Levels of analysis: Measuring exam stress

Page 41

Research close-up: Very happy people

Page 49

Australian focus: The use and misuse of research

Page 60

Applying psychological science: Evaluating claims in research and everyday life

Page 68

Global focus: Sensational statistics

Page 61

In the news: Uses and abuses of crime data In Australia

Page 66

Applying psychological science: Gene manipulations and therapies

Page 78

Research close up: Sex differences in the ideal mate: evolution or social roles?

Page 98

Levels of analysis: Gene–environment research

Page 102

Australian focus: The evolutionary history of Indigenous Australians

Page 103

Global focus: The decline of aggression and war?

Page 100

In the news: Australia Day or Invasion Day?

Page 90

Applying psychological science: Understanding how drugs affect your brain

Page 116

Research close-up: Splitting the brain: one body, two minds?

Page 135

Australian focus: Language development and the cochlear implant

Page 140

Levels of analysis: Brain, behaviour and environment

Page 141

Global focus: Reading the brain

Page 124

In the news: ‘Turn on, tune in, drop out’—The use of LSD in therapy

Page 133

Australian focus: Parallel pathways in the brain

Page 149

Applying psychological science: Sensory prosthetics: restoring lost functions

Page 169

Research close-up: Stalking a deadly illusion

Page 183

Global focus: Culture can impact the way we perceive the world

Page 177

In the news: That dress: blue and black or gold and white?

Page 158

Levels of analysis: Sensation and perception

Page 189

2 Studying behaviour scientifically

3 Genes, environment and behaviour

4 The brain and behaviour

5 Sensation and perception

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CAS E M AT R IX

Chapter

Case

6 States of consciousness

Applying psychological science: Treating phantom limb pain

Page 206

Levels of analysis: Sleep and dreaming

Page 216

Research close-up: Drinking and driving: decision making in altered states

Page 220

Levels of analysis: Drug induced states

Page 225

Australian focus: Ghosts in your brain

Page 228

Global focus: A consciousness meter

Page 200

In the news: Reading brain activity, and predicting dream content

Page 213

Australian focus: Stranger danger! Teaching predators to avoid cane toads

Page 249

In the news: Harnessing the power of delayed reinforcers: Choosing between healthy snacks and unhealthy treats

Page 252

In the news: Behavioural addictions

Page 260

Global focus: Hero rats detect landmines

Page 262

Applying psychological science: Using operant principles to modify your behaviour

Page 263

Research close-up: Using social-cognitive theory to prevent AIDS: a national experiment

Page 272

Levels of analysis: Learning

Page 274

Australian focus: Alzheimer’s disease within Australia’s Indigenous population

Page 302

Research close up: Memory illusions: remembering things that never occurred

Page 304

Global focus: Memory error: cannot retrieve file. Challenging the computer– brain analogy

Page 310

Levels of analysis: Memory

Page 314

In the news: Can memories transcend generations?

Page 315

Applying psychological science: Improving memory and academic learning

Page 316

In the news: The Australian perspective

Page 316

Global focus: Does the language we speak affect the way we think?

Page 341

Levels of analysis: Language

Page 343

Research close-up: The future is now: Thinking about the future enhances self-control

Page 347

Australian focus: Problem-solving in real life

Page 350

Applying psychological science: Guidelines for creative problem-solving

Page 352

In the news: Why are doctors missing heart attack symptoms in women?

Page 354

Levels of analysis: Thinking processes

Page 358

7 Learning: the role of experience

8 Memory

9 Language and thinking

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CAS E M AT RIX

Chapter

Case

10 Intelligence

Australian focus: Inspection time and intelligence

Page 382

Global focus: The Lothian Birth Cohort Studies

Page 384

In the news: Work on identifying the genes for intelligence continues and helps us to understand misconceptions of intelligence

Page 387

Applying psychological science: Early-childhood interventions: a means of boosting intelligence?

Page 388

Research close-up: Sex hormones, gender stereotypes and cognitive performance

Page 394

Levels of analysis: Intellectual functioning

Page 399

In the news: Same-sex marriage in Australia

Page 423

Applying psychological science: Systematic goal setting: a motivational approach that works

Page 428

Australian focus: Aboriginal expressions of emotion

Page 438

Research close-up: Cognition-arousal relations

Page 443

Global focus: What makes us happy?

Page 446

Levels of analysis: Emotion

Page 447

Applying psychological science: Understanding how divorce and remarriage affect children

Page 472

Global focus: Child development in the danger zone

Page 477

Australian focus: Forming an ethnic identity in multicultural Australia: the challenge for refugees

Page 485

Research close-up: What does it take to become an adult?

Page 488

In the news: When should adulthood legally begin?

Page 490

Levels of analysis: Life-span development

Page 495

Research close-up: Does avoidant attachment influence what we remember?

Page 509

Global focus: Traits and culture: how universal are personality traits?

Page 521

Applying psychological science: Understanding the Granny Killer: what can the personality perspectives tell us?

Page 532

Levels of analysis: Conceptions of personality

Page 536

In the news: Cyberculture and personality in the digital era

Page 537

Australian focus: Personality, culture and the Stolen Generations

Page 543

Global focus: What is diabetes?

Page 556

Australian focus: The typical life experience of an Indigenous Australian

Page 565

Research close-up: Stress resilience, coping and illness

Page 579

Levels of analysis: Stress and resilience

Page 581

In the news: Euthanasia: a clash of compassions?

Page 586

Applying psychological science: How to be happy: guidelines from psychological research

Page 590

11 Motivation and emotion

12 Development over the life span

13 Personality

14 Health and well-being

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CAS E M AT R IX

Chapter

Case

15 Psychological disorders

In the news: Can your guts make you anxious?

Page 607

Global focus: Does social media use affect your mental health?

Page 616

Applying psychological science: Understanding and preventing suicide

Page 618

Levels of analysis: Anxiety and depressive disorders

Page 620

Australian focus: Psychological disorders in Indigenous Australians

Page 626

Research close-up: Inside the brains of successful and unsuccessful psychopaths

Page 630

In the news: Mindfulness: a cure for all problems or a useless fad with no scientific evidence?

Page 662

Australian focus: Cultural competence: improving mental health services for Indigenous Australians

Page 671

Levels of analysis: Therapeutic change

Page 675

Research close-up: Drug versus psychological treatments for depression: a randomised clinical trial

Page 681

Global focus: Using online treatments to improve mental health around the world

Page 685

Applying psychological science: When and where to seek therapy

Page 688

Research close-up: The dilemma of obedience: when conscience confronts malevolent authority

Page 707

In the news: Social media and group-level behaviour: fear of missing out and phubbing

Page 714

Applying psychological science: Making close relationships work: lessons from psychological research

Page 719

Global focus: Decreasing prejudice

Page 726

Australian focus: Immigration to Australia: social psychological principles in action

Page 732

Levels of analysis: Aggression

Page 733

Applying psychological science: Research insight into student experience

Page 740

Research close-up: Working in unfamiliar territory

Page 747

In the news: Celebrating Australia Day: To change or not to change? That is the question

Page 753

Australian focus: Considering identity: will the ‘real’ Indigenous person please stand up?

Page 754

Global focus: Fear and fascination: regarding the savage

Page 757

Australian focus: A practising psychologist on the topic of working with Indigenous clients

Page 765

Global focus: In the frame: Charlottesville

Page 768

Research close-up: Cultural agility and diverse cultural contexts: a qualitative examination of the ‘Indigenous mental health arena’

Page 776

Levels of analysis: An ecological approach

Page 777

16 Treatment of psychological disorders

17 Social thinking and behaviour

18 Indigenous and cross-cultural psychology

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CHAPTER ONE

The science of psychology © Exactostock/SuperStock

Kimberley Norris

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 1.1

Define psychology and describe its goals

LO 1.2

Describe how different psychological perspectives explain behaviour

LO 1.3

Explain how the different perspectives of psychology can be integrated

LO 1.4

Identify how psychological science affects society and our lives

Let’s begin our exploration of psychology with a quick exercise. Read the paragraph below, unscrambling the words as you go. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteres are at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by istlef but the wrod as a wlohe. Type ‘jumbled words’, ‘jumbled paragraph’ or ‘scrambled letters’ into an internet search engine, dig around and you’ll find multiple sites and blogs about this paragraph. Back in 2003 it was all the rage and it has been in the news since then (Daily Telegraph, 1 April 2009). The paragraph spread across the internet (with the misspelling ‘rscheearch’) and reached countless email inboxes as people—amazed by how easily they could read it—passed it along (if you had trouble, that’s okay; see the unscrambled version at the end of the chapter). Show the paragraph to people you know and see how they do.

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2

P SYC H O LO GY

Do you accept the claim that if the first and last letters of a word remain intact, ‘The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm’? From the paragraph’s immense popularity, we speculate that many people did. After all, the evidence is concrete; it’s right before our eyes. Well, whether you do or don’t accept it, here’s a challenge: can you think of reasons why this particular jumbled paragraph is easy to read? Even better, can you create a short jumbled paragraph—keeping the first and last letters of the words intact—that people would find hard to read? We’ll return to this challenge later in this chapter. So what does a jumbled paragraph have to do with psychology? If you view psychology as synonymous with therapy, shrinks or couches, then your answer might be ‘not much’. But as we’ll see, psychologists study a tremendous diversity of topics, and language—including how we recognise words—is one of them (Mousikou et al., 2010). The paragraph raises other key psychological issues, such as how we acquire knowledge and form beliefs about our world, which we will discuss shortly. Among the countless beliefs we hold and claims we hear about human nature and behaviour, how do we separate fact from fiction, myth from reality? The science of psychology leads us to engage with these questions.

LO 1.1 THE NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and the mind. The term behaviour refers to actions and responses that we can directly observe, whereas the term mind refers to internal states and processes—such as thoughts and feelings—that cannot be seen directly and that must be inferred from observable, measurable responses. For example, we cannot directly see a person’s feeling of love or admiration for someone else, but we can infer how the person feels based on observable verbal statements and actions (e.g. saying ‘I love you’, mimicking another’s behaviour as a sign of admiration). To many people, when you say the word psychologist, the first image that comes to mind is that of a therapist. This reaction is understandable, as many psychologists work in a subfield called clinical psychology: the study and treatment of mental disorders. Many clinical psychologists diagnose and treat people with psychological problems in clinics, hospitals and private practice. Some are also scientists, who conduct research on the causes of mental disorders and the effectiveness of various treatments. Yet many psychologists have no connection with therapy and instead conduct research in other subfields (Figure 1.1). For example, cognitive psychology specialises in the study of mental processes, especially from a model that views the mind as an information processor. Cognitive psychologists examine topics such as consciousness, attention, memory, decision-making and problem-solving. An area within cognitive psychology, called psycholinguistics, focuses on the psychology of language. The jumbled-word exercise relates directly to psycholinguistics. In Australia, there are nine areas of psychology practice endorsed by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA): clinical neuropsychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, counselling

Figure 1.1   Psychologists study diverse topics. Subfields that may not immediately occur to you include organisational psychology, educational psychology and psychology and the law. (left) © NASA  (middle) © Shutterstock / wavebreakmedia (right) © Aaron Roeth Photography

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CHAPTER 1  The sc i ence of psychology

psychology, educational and developmental psychology, forensic psychology, health psychology, organisational psychology, and sports and exercise psychology. To further illustrate psychology’s diversity, here are a few other subfields: • Biopsychology or behavioural neuroscience focuses on the biological underpinnings of behaviour. Students of biopsychology examine how brain processes, genes and hormones influence our actions, thoughts and feelings. Some seek to explain how evolution has shaped our psychological capabilities (e.g. our capacity for advanced thinking and language) and behavioural tendencies (e.g. acting aggressively or altruistically). • Developmental psychology examines human physical, psychological and social development across the life span and the effects of ageing on cognitive and behavioural processes. For example, some students of developmental psychology explore the infant’s emotional world, while others study how different parenting styles affect children psychologically, or how our mental abilities change during adolescence and adulthood. • Experimental psychology focuses on basic processes such as learning, sensory systems (e.g. vision, hearing), perception and motivational states (e.g. sexual motivation, hunger, thirst). Most research in this subfield involves laboratory experiments, often with non-human subjects. Although this subfield is called ‘experimental’ psychology, be aware that researchers in many psychological subfields conduct experiments. • Industrial-organisational (I/O) psychology examines people’s behaviour in the workplace. I/O psychologists study leadership, teamwork and factors that influence employees’ job satisfaction, work motivation and performance. They develop tests to help employers identify the best job applicants and design systems that companies use to evaluate employee performance. • Personality psychology focuses on the study of human personality. People who study the psychology of personality seek to identify core personality traits and the way different traits relate to one another and influence behaviour. They also develop tests to measure personality. • Social psychology examines people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour pertaining to the social world: the world of other people. Students of social psychology study how people influence one another, behave in groups and form impressions and attitudes. They study social relationships involving attraction and love, prejudice and discrimination, helping and aggression. Note that the topics studied in different subfields often overlap. Consider decision-making, which is examined in all of the areas mentioned above. A cognitive psychologist might study how wording the same information in different ways affects people’s decisions, while a social psychologist might study decision-making in groups and a developmental psychologist could examine how children’s decisionmaking strategies change with age (Joslyn et al., 2009; Toma & Butera, 2009). Moreover, many psychologists have interests that bridge different subfields. Thus, a clinical psychologist might be interested in the biological bases of how adolescents with anxiety disorders make decisions. They could have adolescents who do and who don’t have an anxiety disorder perform decision-making tasks, and use brain-imaging techniques to compare the neural activity of the two groups (Krain et al., 2008). We’ll encounter other branches of psychology throughout the text, but we hope you already get the picture. Psychologists do study the causes of mental disorders, provide therapy and evaluate therapy effectiveness, but their interests and research span the entire realm of behaviour. Indeed, the scope of modern psychology stretches from the borders of medicine and the biological sciences to those of the social sciences (Figure 1.2).

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Medicine Scientific study of health and the causes and treatment of diseases

Computer Science Scientific study of information processing and manipulations of data

Biology Scientific study of life processes and biological structures

Anthropology Scientific study of cultural origins, evolution and variations

PSYCHOLOGY Scientific study of behaviour and mental processes

Engineering Application of scientific principles to designing machines, structures and systems

Economics Scientific study of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services

Sociology Scientific study of human social relations and systems

Figure 1.2   Psychology as a scientific hub Psychology links with and overlaps many sciences.

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3

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Psychology’s scientific approach Across psychology’s diverse subfields, researchers share a common underlying scientific approach to studying behaviour. Science is a process that involves systematically gathering and evaluating empirical evidence to answer questions and test beliefs about the natural world. Empirical evidence is evidence gained through experience and observation. It includes evidence obtained from manipulating or ‘tinkering around’ with things and then observing what happens (this is the essence of experimentation). For example, if we want to know how people’s intellectual abilities change as they age, we don’t rely on intuition, pure reasoning or folk wisdom to obtain an answer. Rather, we collect empirical data by exposing people to intellectual tasks and observing how they perform. Moreover, in science these observations need to be systematic (i.e. performed according to a system of rules or conditions) so that they will be as objective and precise as possible (Shaughnessy et al., 2011).

Understanding behaviour: some pitfalls of everyday approaches Science is only one of many ways that we learn about human behaviour. Family and friends, great works of literature, secular and religious teachings, the internet and popular media all provide us with messages about human nature. Mix in our own intuition, the knowledge that each of us acquires from years of personal experience interacting with people and so-called conventional or folk wisdom, and we have potent ingredients for generating our personal beliefs about what makes people tick. The problem is, in everyday life there are many ways in which these sources can end up promoting misconceptions. Other people—via conversations, books, the internet and popular media—may provide us with information and insights that they believe to be accurate but which really are not. Even personal experiences can lead us to form inaccurate beliefs. Although our experiences and everyday observations provide us with empirical information, unlike scientific observations, everyday observations are usually casual rather than systematic, and we rarely critically evaluate them in a scientific manner. Our own experiences may also be atypical and not representative of what most people experience, yet we may not routinely acknowledge this. As we’ll explore in later chapters, misconceptions can also result from our own faulty thinking. For example: • We often take mental shortcuts when forming judgements, shortcuts that sometimes serve us poorly (White, 2009). Judging someone’s personality based solely on stereotypes about his or her physical appearance would be an example of a mental shortcut. • Because many factors in real life may operate simultaneously to influence behaviour, we may fail to consider alternative explanations for a behaviour and assume that one factor has caused it when in fact some less obvious factor was the major cause (Lassiter et al., 2007). • Once our beliefs are established, we often fail to test them further. In this vein, we tend to display a confirmation bias by selectively paying attention to information that is consistent with our beliefs and downplaying or ignoring information that is inconsistent with them (Hart et al., 2009).

Using science to minimise everyday pitfalls Yes, scientists are human too and may fall victim to all of these pitfalls, and more. But by adopting a scientific approach, psychologists can take concrete steps to avoid or at least minimise biases and problems that can lead to inaccurate conclusions. For example, rather than relying on imprecise casual observations, psychologists use various instruments (e.g. video cameras, questionnaires, brain-imaging devices) to objectively and precisely record people’s responses. When directly watching people, several researchers can independently observe the same behaviours and compare their findings to ensure that their observations are reliable. To further reduce subjectivity, psychologists typically use statistics to analyse their data. To minimise erroneous conclusions about what has caused what, psychologists are often able to examine behaviour under highly controlled experimental conditions in which they intentionally manipulate one factor, try to keep other factors constant and see how the manipulated factor influences behaviour. Science is also a public affair, as occurs when psychologists publish their findings. This enables scientists to scrutinise and challenge each other’s findings if they wish. Collectively, this reduces the risk of confirmation bias. As new studies are conducted, the original findings are put to the test and may be contradicted, forcing scientists to modify their beliefs and to conduct further research to sort out the reason for the contradictory results. To be sure, science has limitations and its own pitfalls. It is ideally suited to examining testable questions about the natural world. Psychologists can study questions such as ‘Do happy people differ from unhappy people in their degree of religiousness or spirituality?’ and ‘What do people believe gives their life meaning?’ But science cannot answer

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Sugar

Butter, oil and margarine Dairy (yoghurt, milk, cheese) and protein (lean meat, fish, poultry, legumes, nuts and eggs)

Healthy fats

Margarine

Yoghurt

Cereals and fruit and vegetables

Dairy (yoghurt, milk, cheese) and other protein (lean meat, fish, poultry, legumes, nuts and eggs) Grains (pasta, rice, oats, bread)

Vegetables and fruit

Figure 1.3   Healthy eating pyramid The pyramid has changed significantly in the last 30 years in response to scientific progress. Compare the recommendations from 1986 (left) with tho se from 2015 (right). Based on Nutrition Australia, 1986, 2015.

questions such as ‘Does God exist?’ and ‘What is the meaning of life?’ The former is a question of faith that is beyond scientific measurement; the latter is a question answered by personal values. As for pitfalls, poorly designed or poorly executed studies can produce misleading data that lead to invalid conclusions. Even when studies are designed well and conducted properly, ‘false starts’ can occur in which other researchers are later unable to duplicate the original researchers’ findings. Additionally, over time, new research often modifies or completely overturns existing scientific beliefs. But it’s important to realise that these aren’t weaknesses of the scientific approach. Rather, they reveal one of its great strengths: in principle, science ultimately is a self-correcting process. At any point in history, scientific knowledge represents a best estimate of how the world operates. As better or more complete information is gathered, that best estimate may continue to be supported or it may need to be changed. Understandably, to many people (and students!), such change can be frustrating or confusing, as demonstrated each time a new healthy eating pyramid is released. The healthy eating pyramid has been updated numerous times over the past 30 years, with variations in the types of foods and recommended daily portions with each iteration. However, the most recent 2015 guidelines were quite different in that only healthy fats (such as avocado and olive oil) were included in the pyramid, whereas prior to this, added fats and sugars (as found in sweets and the like) had been included, with the caveat that they be consumed in small amounts (Nutrition Australia, 2015). An example of how the healthy eating pyramid has changed over time can be seen in Figure 1.3. While some may dismiss the ongoing changes regarding healthy eating habits as confusing or unnecessary, to scientists such change represents an evolution of knowledge called ‘scientific progress’. The healthy eating pyramid is a prime example of such scientific progress—constantly changing in response to new research findings.

Thinking critically about behaviour Because behaviour is so complex, its scientific study poses special challenges. As you become familiar with the kinds of evidence necessary to validate scientific conclusions, you will become a better-informed consumer of the many claims made in the name of psychology (and all other sciences). For one thing, this course will teach you that many widely held beliefs about behaviour are inaccurate. It will also teach you that in the absence of appropriate evidence, it’s not possible to form a sound scientific opinion. With this in mind, read through the statements contained in Table 1.1 and see if you can identify the valid from the invalid claims. Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers at this early stage of your course. The purpose of this exercise is to practise critical thinking, rather than to know the answer. In many ways, more important than the concepts you learn in this course will be the habits of thought that you acquire—habits that involve critical thinking. Critical thinking involves taking an active role in understanding the world around you, rather than merely receiving information. It’s important to reflect on what that information means, how it fits in with your experiences and what implications it has for your life and society. Critical thinking also means

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Table 1.1   Widely held beliefs about behaviour: fact or fiction? Directions: decide whether each statement is true or false. 1. Most people with exceptionally high IQs are well adjusted in other areas of their life. 2. In romantic relationships, opposites usually attract. 3. Overall, married adults are less happy than adults who aren’t married. 4. Graphology (handwriting analysis) is a valid method for measuring people’s personality. 5. A person who is innocent of a crime has nothing to fear from a lie detector test. 6. People who commit suicide usually have signalled to others their intention to do so. 7. When you negatively reinforce someone’s behaviour, the person becomes more likely to behave that way. 8. On some types of mental tasks, people perform as well or better when they are 70 years old than when they are 20 years old. 9. Usually it is safe to awaken someone who is sleepwalking. 10. A schizophrenic is a person who has two or more distinct personalities, hence the term split personality. ANSWERS: Items 1, 6, 8 and 9 are supported by psychological research. Item 7 is true by definition. The remaining items are false . (If you correctly answered nine or ten of these items, you’ve done significantly better than random guessing.)

evaluating the validity of something presented to you as fact (Levy, 2010). For example, when someone makes a claim or asserts a new ‘fact’ such as those above, ask yourself the following questions, just as a scientist would: What, exactly, is the claim or assertion? • • Who is making the claim? Is the source credible and trustworthy? • What is the evidence and how good is it? • Are other explanations possible? If so, can I evaluate them? • What is the most appropriate conclusion?

The jumbled-word challenge Let’s think critically about the jumbled-word paragraph presented earlier. First, what’s the claim? There are three, actually: (1) that people can read jumbled words without a problem as long as the first and last letters stay in the same place, (2) that this occurs because we read ‘words as a whole’ rather than reading each letter by itself and (3) that this finding is based on research at Cambridge University. Second, who is making the claim? Unfortunately, the jumbled-paragraph’s author is anonymous, which is caution flag #1. We can’t evaluate the author’s credibility and trustworthiness. Third, what’s the evidence and how good is it? The evidence begins with a claim implying that research was conducted at Cambridge. No reference information (researchers’ names, publication location or date) is given: this is caution flag #2. Indeed, it seems that there was no such research done at Cambridge, although unpublished research at another university may have been the source (Davis, 2003; Rawlinson, 1999). There’s also the dramatic evidence of your own experience: reading the jumbled paragraph easily. But this is only one short paragraph. Also, overall, the transposition (i.e. switched ordering) of letters is minimal. This is caution flag #3 and leads to the next question. Fourth, are other explanations possible for why the paragraph is easy to read? Here are some to consider: • Sixty-five per cent of the words either aren’t jumbled (because they have only one to three letters) or—with fourletter words—there is only one possible transposition (switching the second and third letters), which makes unscrambling them easy. • For the words with five or six letters, in all but one case, the transposition is minor because only a single letter is out of sequence (e.g. for ‘mttaer’, only the ‘a’ is out of order). • Thus, in total, 83 per cent of the words are either unjumbled or have only minor transpositions. This preserves much of the way the words sound when we read them. Further, these words provide contextual information that makes it easier to anticipate the meaning of some of the few longer, scrambled words.

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In everyday life, you’re unlikely to conduct a scientific study to test these alternative explanations, but you can gather additional evidence by constructing sentences with longer words and more complex transpositions and having some people try to read them. Try reading this paragraph (the section at the end of the chapter contains the unjumbled version) and see if it changes your belief about the ease of reading jumbled words. A plciaiiotn dieend the mtnaalueghsr of a clgaloeue, but was coincetvd and dlepoeevd sreeve macedil cdointonis in posirn, wrhee he deid. Arnodiistitman of agctannloauit dgurs ptttnaioeed the eefctfs of atehonr durg, and rprsoiearty frliaue rleeutsd.

Lastly, what is the most appropriate conclusion to draw? The claim that it’s relatively easy to read words as long as the first and last letters are intact appears to be too broad, too absolute. Stated as such, it’s clearly wrong. Stated in qualified terms of ‘under some conditions’, the claim has support, although one study found that even minor transpositions of interior letters slowed reading speed by 11 per cent (Rayner et al., 2006). In some languages, however, such interior transpositions may make words very difficult, if not impossible, to read (Davis, 2003).

Of astrology and asstrology: potential costs of uncritical thinking Suppose someone swallows the bait of the original jumbled-word paragraph and now erroneously believes that it’s always easy to read words with transposed letters. Unless it’s a smart-aleck student or worker who plans to turn in jumbled essays or work reports (citing ‘scientific justification’ for doing so), what’s the harm in holding this little false belief? Perhaps the immediate personal consequences are minimal, but misconceptions can add up and contribute to an increasingly misguided view of how the world operates. Unfortunately, people uncritically accept many misconceptions that do have concrete harmful consequences. For example, in the hope of making their babies smarter, consumers shelled out about $200 million annually to purchase Baby Einstein videos that the Walt Disney Company advertised as educational, despite a lack of scientific support for such educational claims (Zimmerman et al., 2007). Under government and consumer-group pressure, Disney eventually dropped the ‘educational’ claim and later agreed to partially refund consumers (Lewin, 2009). Despite a lack of scientific evidence, people spend untold amounts of their hard-earned money to have their personalities analysed and their futures forecast by astrologers, graphologists (handwriting analysts), tea-leaf readers and other so-called fortune tellers—including ‘rumpologists’ (sometimes referred to as ‘asstrologers’), who ‘read’ people’s buttocks to obtain their presumed psychic insights (Wyman & Vyse, 2008). Money aside, it’s impossible to estimate how many people have made major life decisions based on fortune tellers’ unscientific advice. It’s also hard to know how many people have not only wasted money on bogus therapies for ailments, diseases and mental disorders but also experienced needless continued distress or further bodily harm by failing to employ scientifically validated treatments. Unfortunately, pseudoscience—fields such as astrology, graphology, rumpology and so on that are dressed up to look like science but which lack credible scientific evidence—appears to attract many believers.

Goals of psychology As a science, psychology has four central goals: description, explanation, control and application. Description is the most basic goal; psychologists seek to describe how people behave, think and feel. Second, psychologists strive to explain—to understand—why people act as they do. Explanations typically take the form of hypotheses and theories that specify the causes of behaviour. Third, psychologists exert control by designing experiments or other types of research to test whether their proposed explanations are accurate. Finally, many psychologists apply psychological knowledge in ways that enhance human welfare—for example, applying knowledge of social cognition processes to reduce stereotypes and prejudice. Consider Schweitzer et al.’s (2005) research on attitudes toward refugees in a sample of Australian participants. Schweitzer and his team first conducted a review of existing research and determined that negative attitudes were held by some white Australians toward refugees (description). Next, they needed to develop a hypothesis to try and explain why these attitudes might be held. To do this, they again turned to existing research and found two social psychology constructs that had been shown to explain negative attitudes toward people from different backgrounds (referred to as ‘out-groups’)—these were symbolic and realistic threat. Symbolic threat occurs when perceived differences in cultural practices (including beliefs, values and morals) are believed to ‘impinge’ on existing cultural practices (Stephan & Stephan, 1996). Realistic threat occurs when ‘out-group’ members are perceived to pose competition for resources such as jobs, healthcare, accommodation and the like (Stephan & Stephan, 1996). As such, Schweitzer and colleagues

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proposed that the same mechanisms of realistic and symbolic threat would be able to explain why these negative beliefs were held by white Australians toward refugees who may be perceived as posing a threat to cultural practices (i.e. the ‘Aussie’ way of life) and resources (such as jobs). To test their assumptions, Schweitzer et al. conducted a study in which they asked participants carefully controlled questions about their attitudes toward refugees, as well as questions designed to assess realistic and symbolic threat. They found that realistic and symbolic threat were indeed related to attitudes toward refugees, which supported their hypothesis. The knowledge gained has already led other psychologists to examine the role of realistic and symbolic threat in shaping prejudicial attitudes (e.g. Suhnan et al., 2012), and can inform efforts to reduce negative attitudes toward refugees and other out-groups (application).

AUSTRALIAN FOCUS Why it pays to think scientifically Failing to think scientifically can have serious and longlasting consequences. Consider, for example, how failing to think scientifically contributed to the oppression and stigmatisation of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. During the early to mid-20th century, many researchers compared the performance of Indigenous and nonIndigenous Australian children (and later, adults) in tests of intelligence. The results of such studies were mixed and often difficult to interpret; for example, some studies found large differences between these groups in favour of non-Indigenous people (e.g. Porteus, 1917), while others did not (e.g. Fowler, Traylen & McElwain, 1941, as cited in Kearney, 1973). Despite these differences in results, the media primarily focused on those results which suggested that Indigenous Australians were ‘less intelligent’ than nonIndigenous Australians (Kearney, 1966), as these results were consistent with the prejudice held by non-Indigenous society at the time, for example the view that white people were ‘better than’ or ‘superior to’ indigenous people (Rickwood et al., 2010). In other words, the media and society were demonstrating a confirmation bias—a pitfall of everyday thinking. Another shortcoming of research at the time was that it overemphasised the biological level of analysis (i.e. attributed the comparatively lower performance on intelligence tests to the genetic makeup of Indigenous Australians) and largely neglected psychological, and environmental and social influences on behaviour. Clearly, there was a discrepancy in performance on these tests, but did this really mean that Indigenous Australians were less intelligent than white Australians? No, but what it did mean was that the researchers had fallen prey to another pitfall of everyday thinking—failing to consider alternative explanations for their results. Specifically, the researchers failed to consider that most tests and items in them measure culturally specific knowledge. Take, for example, the question, ‘How many months are in a

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year?’—easy, right? Maybe for those who have grown up in a Western culture. But consider the difficulty in answering this question if you come from a culture (as do Indigenous Australians) in which a year is measured by seasons rather than months. Does an inability to answer this question reflect a lack of intelligence or a lack of familiarity with Western culture? Interestingly, some researchers at the time found that Indigenous Australians who had greater interactions with white Australians performed ‘better’ on these tests than those who had not, suggesting that results may in part have been explained in terms of the degree of familiarity with Western culture (e.g. McElwain & Kearney, 1973). Despite the culturally biased nature of these and other assessments, the results contributed to policies of ‘Aboriginal protection’, which ultimately led to the removal of Aboriginal children from their families because of the perceived mental and moral deficiencies of their communities (Rickwood et al., 2010). Thus, although psychologists are not known to have been involved in physically removing Indigenous children from their families, their research did contribute to policies that led to this practice. Due to the inaccurate belief that white people were superior, a further rationale for this practice was that placement with white families would allow Indigenous children to develop European values, which was seen as more desirable than protection and celebration of Indigenous culture and values (Dudgeon & Hirvonen, 2014). The children who were affected by these policies are often referred to as the ‘Stolen Generation’ (Read, 1999). This is a tragic example of how failing to think scientifically can have serious and long-lasting consequences. Thankfully, developments in psychological research (such as the work on mother–infant bonding and attachment by John Bowlby) and improved critical thinking skills being employed by researchers later helped to bring an end to these policies (Rickwood et al., 2010), although by then many thousands of children had been negatively

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affected through being removed from their communities (Read, 1999). Sadly, despite changes in government policy, Indigenous Australians continue to experience psychosocial stressors (including poverty and violence) stemming from the experience of the stolen generation. These ongoing challenges, and failure to appropriately work with Indigenous communities to address quality of life issues, also mean that Indigenous children continue to be over-represented in out-of-home care arrangements. It is imperative that we work towards improving this situation. Around the world, psychologists—both Indigenous and non-Indigenous—fulfil many different roles in areas such as research, education and therapy. A priority for psychologists, regardless of the field in which they work, is to be aware of the impact social and cultural (i.e. environmental), as well as biological and psychological, factors have on influencing people’s behaviour. This typifies the biopsychosocial approach to health and is a very different approach from that demonstrated by early researchers as described previously. Awareness of how culture influences behaviour is raised by increasing the involvement and recognition of people with diverse cultural backgrounds within the psychology profession. Examples of this increased involvement include the establishment of the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA, 2011) and the Australian Psychological Society (APS) interest groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait

Islander Peoples and Psychology, Psychology and Cultures, and Psychology from an Islamic Perspective (APS, 2011). Ultimately, this increased participation means greater awareness and understanding of different cultural needs, meaning that psychologists are better informed and able to help people from a variety of cultural backgrounds and experiences. We also hope that it means there is less likelihood of falling prey to the pitfalls of everyday thinking when it comes to interacting with members of other cultures.

Figure 1.4   Intelligence tests can be culturally biased and can have wide-reaching negative effects, as was experienced by many Indigenous Australians in the past. © Janine Wiedel Photolibrary/Alamy Stock Photo

Basic and applied research Science involves basic research, which reflects the quest for knowledge for its own sake, and applied research, which is designed to solve specific, practical problems. For psychologists, most basic research examines how and why people behave, think and feel the way they do. Schweitzer et al.’s (2005) research on prejudice represents basic research. Their main intent was to explore the role of social cognition in attitudes and thereby increase our understanding of why prejudicial attitudes toward refugees exist. Although the knowledge gained from their study has obvious applied relevance, the purpose of their study was not to apply that knowledge or directly modify people’s attitudes. Basic research may be carried out in laboratories or real-world settings, with human participants or other species. Psychologists who study other species usually attempt to discover principles that will ultimately shed light on human behaviour, but some study animal behaviour for its own sake. In applied research, psychologists often use basic scientific knowledge to design interventions. For example, we could use the basic knowledge obtained from Schweitzer et al.’s (2005) research to design and test the effectiveness of an intervention program aimed at altering prejudicial attitudes toward refugees. Similarly, researchers have used basic research findings—such as principles concerning how people learn by observing the behaviour of others—to design and implement HIV/AIDS-prevention programs around the world (Lerdboon et al., 2008).

Psychology’s broad scope: a simple framework Because we are biological creatures living in a complex social world, psychologists study an amazing array of factors to understand why people behave, think and feel as they do. At times, this diversity of factors may seem a bit overwhelming, but we would like to provide you with a framework that will greatly simplify matters. We call it levels of analysis: behaviour

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GLOBAL FOCUS Terrorists or terrorised? Even today, people can fail to apply critical thinking skills— particularly when they perceive danger to themselves or people they care about. On September 11, 2001, a series of horrific terrorist attacks were perpetrated by Islamic militants against American citizens, resulting in the deaths of thousands. Since that time, many other acts of terrorism have occurred throughout the world, including in Egypt, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, with Islamic militants such as ISIS often claiming responsibility (Mueller, 2017). As a result, there has been extensive media coverage of terrorist attacks. Although the purpose of such coverage is to inform the public, it appears to have resulted in both increased fear of terrorism, as well as the negative stereotyping of all Muslim peoples as ‘terrorists’. This negative stereotyping occurs due to people making the incorrect assumption that because all ISIS members are Muslim, all Muslim people are terrorists. In fact, many researchers have demonstrated that fear of terrorism increases hostility toward all Muslim people, not just ISIS members (e.g. Das et al., 2009). This occurs, despite the fact that not all ISIS members are Muslim and many Westerners have joined ISIS despite not having formally studied or converted to Islam. Essentially, what researchers such as von Sikorski et al. (2017) have demonstrated is that people often fail to use critical thinking when provided with information by the media—instead, they passively absorb information as objective fact. For this reason, if reporters fail to explicitly differentiate between news about Islamic terrorists and news about Muslim people, viewers will also fail to make this distinction. Such assumptions can lead to negative behaviours toward Muslim people, including violence and hate crimes—thus, the alleged terrorists become terrorised. A recent example of this occurred following a terrorist attack in London, UK. In the immediate aftermath of pedestrians being injured, a woman wearing a hijab (which many Muslim women wear) was photographed talking on her mobile phone within the vicinity. She was instantly criticised by the world’s social media community, with

allegations that she did not care about the injured victims. However, what many people failed to acknowledge was that there were many other non-hijab-wearing white Westerners engaging in the same activity, without reproach (ABC, 2017). This highlights the failure to follow the principles of critical thinking by not evaluating all the evidence, not considering alternative explanations and as a result, not reaching an appropriate conclusion. However, negative stereotyping of all Muslim people as terrorists is much less likely to occur when people have already had positive interactions with this population (von Sikorski et al., 2017). In other words, they have additional evidence to draw upon when making conclusions about Muslim people that helps them to offer other explanations and come to a more appropriate conclusion. In other words, they are more likely to engage critical thinking processes due to the discrepancy between the information provided by the media and their own experiences. But what about those who haven’t had the opportunity to interact with Muslim people to a large degree, and who rely on media reporting as their primary source of information in this regard? How can journalists encourage critical thinking processes and discourage negative stereotypes of innocent Muslim people? By clearly and explicitly differentiating between news about Muslim people and news about Islamic terrorists (von Sikorski et al., 2017)—for example, by talking about ISIS militants perpetrating an act of terrorism and including statements of condemnation for such acts from Muslim people. The power of words cannot be underestimated in shaping people’s attitudes towards an event or group of people. Imagine for example, if people were only exposed to pro-ISIS media coverage reporting on the heroics of ’freedom fighters’—would people so readily condemn Muslim individuals when these are the messages received by the media? The irony is that the event itself would not have changed, only the way people think about it. In this context, critical thinking is not just about being informed consumers of knowledge, but being good global citizens.

and its causes can be examined at the biological level (e.g. brain processes, genetic influences), psychological level (e.g. our thoughts, feelings and motives) and environmental and social level (e.g. past and current physical and social environments to which we are exposed). Here is a brief example of how the framework can be applied. Consider a behaviour that you engage in every day: eating (Figure 1.5). At the biological level, various chemicals, neural circuits and structures in your brain respond to bodily signals and help regulate whether you feel hungry or full. At the psychological level, your moods, food preferences

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(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 1.5   (a) Biological level. This mouse weighs about triple the weight of a normal mouse. As we (or mice) eat, hunger decreases as certain brain regions regulate the sensation of becoming full. Those regions in this mouse’s brain have been damaged, causing it to overeat and become obese. (b) Psychological level. At times we may eat out of habit, stress or boredom. With chocolate bar in hand, this student is ready for some autopilot munching. (c) Environmental and social level. Does a plateful of fried ants sound appetising to you? Cultural norms influence food preferences. (left) Oak Ridge National Laboratory/Us Department of Energy/Science Photo Library (middle) © Purestock/Superstock (right): © Shutterstock/Aedka Studio

and motives affect eating. Do you ever eat when you’re not hungry, perhaps because you feel stressed or bored? The environmental and social level of analysis calls attention to specific stimuli (such as the appearance or aroma of different foods) that may trigger eating and to cultural customs that influence our food preferences. Does the aroma of freshly baked treats ever make your stomach growl? How about the sight of duck feet or a mound of fish gills on a plate? To most Westerners, duck feet and fish gills may not be appetising, but they are considered a delicacy in some regions of China.

Mind–body and nature–nurture interactions Form a mental picture of a favourite food and you may trigger a hunger pang. Focus on positive thoughts when facing a challenging situation and you may keep your bodily arousal in check; dwell instead on negative thoughts and you can rapidly stimulate the release of stress hormones (Borod, 2000). These examples illustrate what traditionally have been called mind–body interactions—the relations between mental processes in the brain and the functioning of other bodily systems. Mind–body interactions focus our attention on the fascinating interplay between the psychological and biological levels of analysis. This topic has a long history within psychology and, as you will see throughout the textbook, it remains one of psychology’s most exciting frontiers. The levels-of-analysis framework also addresses an issue that has been debated since antiquity: is our behaviour primarily shaped by nature (our biological endowment) or by nurture (our environment and learning history)? The pendulum has swung toward one end or the other at different times in history, but today growing interest in cultural influences and advances in genetics and brain research keep the nature–nurture pendulum in a more balanced position. Perhaps most importantly, modern research increasingly reveals that nature and nurture interact (Moffitt et al., 2006). Just as our biological capacities affect how we behave and experience the world, our experiences influence our biological capacities. For humans and rats alike, continually depriving a newborn of physical contact, or providing a newborn with an enriched environment in which to grow, can influence its brain functioning and biological development (Rosenzweig, 1984). Thus, while it may be tempting to take sides, ‘nature or nurture?’ is usually the wrong question. As the levels-of-analysis framework implies, nature, nurture and psychological factors must all be taken into account to gain the fullest understanding of behaviour. Later in the chapter, we’ll provide a more detailed example of how looking at behaviour from multiple levels enhances our understanding.

CONCEPT CHECK • Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and the mind and intersects with many other disciplines. • Description, explanation, control and application are the main goals of psychological science.

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LO 1.2 PERSPECTIVES ON BEHAVIOUR

Figure 1.6   Youth and beauty? Or maturity and wisdom? What we perceive depends on our perspective. If you examine this drawing, you will see either a young woman or an old one. Now try changing your perspective. The ear and necklace of the young woman are the left eye and mouth of the old woman.

Psychologists’ focus on the biological, psychological, and environmental and social factors that influence behaviour is not new; it has been an integral part of psychology’s history. But how did psychology’s scope become so broad? In part, it happened because psychology has roots in such varied disciplines as philosophy, medicine, and the biological and physical sciences. As a result, different ways of viewing people, called perspectives, became part of psychology’s intellectual traditions (Figure 1.6). In science, new perspectives are engines of progress. Advances occur as existing beliefs are challenged, a debate ensues and scientists seek new evidence to resolve the debate. Sometimes, the bestsupported elements of contrasting perspectives are merged into a new framework, which in turn will be challenged by still newer viewpoints. If you have ever met someone who views the world differently from the way you do, you know that perspectives matter. Similarly, perspectives serve as lenses through which psychologists examine and interpret behaviour. To illustrate this point, consider the case of Ray: a shy student when he first entered university. Ray knew he was shy, especially around women, yet he wasn’t sure why. He had been nervous on the few dates he had gone on in high school. During his first university semester, Ray met some women he liked but was afraid to ask them out. He didn’t make male friends either. By winter, he was depressed and his schoolwork suffered. After a good mid-semester visit with his family, Ray turned things around. He studied hard, did well in class and made friends with some guys where he lived. His mood improved and soon thereafter he met Kira. Kira was attracted to Ray but sensed his shyness, so she asked Ray out. They’ve been dating for a year and Ray is happy. He and Kira have even discussed marriage. Soon we’ll briefly look at Ray’s case through the lens of six psychological perspectives. But first, to better understand how these perspectives evolved, let’s examine psychology’s roots and two of its earliest schools of thought.

Psychology’s intellectual roots Humans have long sought to understand themselves, and for a long time the mind–body problem has occupied the centre of this quest. Is the mind—the inner agent of consciousness and thought—a spiritual entity separate from the body, or is it a part of the body’s activities? Many early philosophers held a position of mind–body dualism, the belief that the mind is a spiritual entity not subject to physical laws that govern the body. But if the mind is not composed of physical matter, how could it become aware of bodily sensations and how could its thoughts exert control over bodily functions? French philosopher and scientist René Descartes (1596–1650) proposed that the mind and body interact through the brain’s tiny pineal gland. Although Descartes placed the mind within the brain, he maintained that the mind was a spiritual, non-material entity. Dualism implies that no amount of research on the physical body (including the brain) could ever hope to unravel the mysteries of the non-physical mind. Another view, monism (from the Greek word monos, meaning ‘one’), holds that mind and body are one and the mind is not a separate spiritual entity. To monists, mental events correspond to physical events in the brain, a position advocated by English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679). Monism helped set the stage for psychology because it implied that the mind could be studied by measuring physical processes within the brain. The stage was further set by John Locke (1632–1704) and other philosophers from the school of British empiricism, which held that all ideas and knowledge are gained empirically—that is, through the senses. According to empiricists, observation is a more valid approach to knowledge than is pure reason because reason is fraught with the potential for error. This idea bolstered the development of modern science, whose methods are rooted in empirical observation. Discoveries in physiology (an area of biology that examines bodily functioning) and medicine also paved the way for psychology’s emergence. By 1870, European researchers were electrically stimulating the brains of laboratory animals and mapping the surface areas that controlled various body movements. Additionally, medical reports were linking damage in different areas of patients’ brains with various behavioural and mental impairments. This mounting evidence of the relation between brain and behaviour supported the view that empirical methods of the natural sciences could be used to study mental processes. Indeed, in the mid-1800s German scientists had already established a new

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field called psychophysics, the study of how psychologically experienced sensations depend on the characteristics of physical stimuli (e.g. how the perceived loudness of a sound changes as its physical intensity increases). Around this time, Charles Darwin’s (1809–1882) theory of evolution was generating societal shock waves. Opponents attacked his theory because it seemed to contradict philosophical and religious beliefs about the exalted nature of human beings. Evolution implied that the mind was not a spiritual entity but rather the product of biological continuity between humans and other species. Darwin’s theory also implied that scientists might gain insight about human behaviour by studying other species. By the late 1800s, a convergence of intellectual forces provided the impetus for psychology’s birth.

Early schools: structuralism and functionalism The infant science of psychology emerged in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) established the first experimental psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany. One of his graduate students, Englishman Edward Titchener (1867–1927), later established a psychology laboratory in the United States at Cornell University. Wundt and Titchener believed that the mind could be studied by breaking it down into its basic components, as a chemist might break down a complex chemical compound. Their approach came to be known as structuralism, the analysis of the mind in terms of its basic elements. In their experiments, structuralists used the method of introspection (‘looking within’) to study sensations, which they considered the basic elements of consciousness. They exposed participants to all sorts of sensory stimuli—lights, sounds, tastes—and trained them to describe their inner experiences. Although this method of studying the mind was criticised as being too subjective and died out after a few decades, the structuralists left an important mark by establishing a scientific tradition for studying cognitive processes. In the United States, structuralism gave way to functionalism, which held that psychology should study the functions of consciousness rather than its elements. This rough analogy explains the difference between structuralism and functionalism: consider your hands. A structuralist would try to explain their movement by studying how muscles, tendons and bones operate. In contrast, a functionalist would ask, ‘Why do we have hands? How do they help us adapt to our environment?’ The functionalists asked similar questions about mental processes and behaviour. They were influenced by Darwin’s evolutionary theory, which stressed the importance of adaptation in helping organisms survive and reproduce in their environment. William James (1842–1910), a leader in the functionalist movement, taught courses in physiology, psychology and philosophy at Harvard University. James helped widen the scope of psychology to include the study of various biological and mental processes and overt behaviour. Like Wundt, James trained psychologists who went on to have distinguished careers. Among them was Mary Whiton Calkins (1863–1930), who became the first female president of the American Psychological Association in 1905. Although functionalism no longer exists as a school of thought within psychology, its tradition endures in two modern-day fields: cognitive psychology, which studies mental processes, and evolutionary psychology, which emphasises the adaptiveness of behaviour.

The psychodynamic perspective: the forces within Have you ever been mystified by why you behaved or felt a certain way? Recall the case of Ray, the student described earlier in the chapter who could not understand why he was so shy. The psychodynamic perspective searches for the causes of behaviour within the inner workings of our personality (our unique pattern of traits, emotions and motives), emphasising the role of unconscious processes. Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) developed the first and most influential psychodynamic theory (Figure 1.7).

Psychoanalysis: Freud’s great challenge In late 19th-century Vienna, Freud was a young doctor intrigued by the brain’s mysteries. Some of his patients experienced symptoms such as blindness, pain, paralysis and phobias (intense unrealistic fears) that were not caused by any apparent bodily malfunction or disease. Freud reasoned that the causes must be psychological. Moreover, if patients were not producing their symptoms consciously, Freud reasoned that the causes must be hidden from awareness—they must be unconscious. Freud eventually treated his patients using a technique called free association, in which the patient expressed any thoughts that came to mind. To Freud’s surprise, patients eventually described painful and long-‘forgotten’ childhood experiences, often sexual in nature. After patients remembered and mentally ‘relived’ these traumatic experiences, their symptoms often improved.

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Figure 1.7   Sigmund Freud founded psychoanalysis. For more than 50 years, he probed the hidden recesses of the mind. © Ingram Publishing

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Freud became convinced that an unconscious part of the mind profoundly influences behaviour, and he developed a theory and a form of psychotherapy called psychoanalysis—the analysis of internal and primarily unconscious psychological forces. He also proposed that humans have powerful inborn sexual and aggressive drives and that because these desires are punished in childhood, we learn to fear them and become anxious when we are aware of their presence. This leads us to develop defence mechanisms, which are psychological techniques that help us cope with anxiety and the pain of traumatic experiences. Repression, a primary defence mechanism, protects us by keeping unacceptable impulses, feelings and memories in the unconscious depths of the mind. All behaviour, whether normal or ‘abnormal’, reflects a largely unconscious and inevitable conflict between the defences and internal impulses. This ongoing psychological struggle between conflicting forces is dynamic in nature, hence the term psychodynamic. To explain Ray’s extreme shyness around women, Freud might have explored whether Ray is unconsciously afraid of his sexual impulses and therefore avoids putting himself into dating situations where he would have to confront those hidden impulses. Freud’s theory stirred great controversy. Even some of his followers disagreed with aspects of the theory, especially its heavy emphasis on childhood sexuality. Other psychologists viewed the theory as difficult to test. Nevertheless, Freud’s ideas stimulated research on topics such as dreams, memory, aggression and mental disorders. One review of over 3000 scientific studies examining Freud’s ideas found support for some aspects of his theory, whereas other aspects were unsupported or contradicted (Fisher & Greenberg, 1996). But even where Freud’s theory wasn’t supported, it ultimately led to important discoveries. Additionally, Freud’s work forever broadened the face of psychology to include the study and treatment of psychological disorders.

Modern psychodynamic theory Modern psychodynamic theories continue to explore how unconscious and conscious aspects of personality influence behaviour. However, they downplay the role of hidden sexual and aggressive motives and focus more on how early relationships with family members and other caregivers shape the views that people form of themselves and others (Kernberg, 2000). In turn, these views can unconsciously influence a person’s relationships with other people throughout life. To explain Ray’s shyness, a modern psychodynamic psychologist might examine Ray’s conceptions of himself and his parents. Ray’s shyness may stem from a fear of rejection of which he is unaware. This fear may be based on conceptions that he developed of his parents as being rejecting and disapproving, views that now unconsciously shape his expectations of how relationships with women and men will be. The psychodynamic perspective dominated thinking about personality, mental disorders and psychotherapy for the first half of the 20th century, and it continues to influence psychology and the practice of psychotherapy (Ryle, 2010). Although most contemporary psychological scientists reject Freud’s particular version of the unconscious mind, modern psychological research has identified brain mechanisms that produce unconscious emotional reactions and has shown that many aspects of information processing occur outside of awareness (Bargh & Morsella, 2010; Debiec & LeDoux, 2009).

The behavioural perspective: the power of the environment The behavioural perspective focuses on the role of the external environment in governing our actions. From this perspective, our behaviour is jointly determined by habits learned from previous life experiences and by stimuli in our immediate environment.

Origins of the behavioural perspective The behavioural perspective has roots in the philosophical school of British empiricism. According to the early empiricist John Locke, at birth the human mind is a tabula rasa—a ‘blank tablet’ or ‘slate’—upon which experiences are written. In this view, human nature is shaped purely by the environment. In the early 1900s, experiments by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) revealed how learning occurs when events are associated with one another. Pavlov found that dogs automatically learned to salivate to the sound of a new stimulus, such as a tone, if that stimulus was repeatedly paired with food. Meanwhile, American psychologist Edward Thorndike (1874–1949) examined how organisms learn through the consequences of their actions. According to Thorndike’s (1911) law of effect, responses followed by satisfying consequences become more likely to recur, and

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those followed by unsatisfying consequences become less likely to recur. Thus learning is the key to understanding how experience moulds behaviour.

Behaviourism Behaviourism, a school of thought that emphasises environmental control of behaviour through learning, began to emerge in 1913. John B Watson (1878–1958), who led the new movement, strongly opposed the ‘mentalism’ of the structuralists, functionalists and psychoanalysts. He argued that the proper subject matter of psychology was observable behaviour, not unobservable inner consciousness. Humans, he said, are products of their learning experiences and he issued the following challenge: Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specialised world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee you to take any one of them at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. (1925, p. 82)

Behaviourists sought to discover the laws that govern learning, and they believed that the same basic principles of learning applied to all organisms. BF Skinner (1904–1990) was a leading 20th-century behaviourist. Although Skinner didn’t deny that people have thoughts and feelings, he maintained that ‘no account of what is happening inside the human body, no matter how complete, will explain the origins of human behaviour’ (1989a, p. 18). Skinner believed that the real causes of behaviour reside in the outer world: ‘A person does not act upon the world, the world acts upon him’ (1971, p. 211). His research, based largely on studying rats and pigeons under controlled laboratory conditions, examined how behaviour is influenced by the rewarding and punishing consequences that it produces. In the case of Ray, our shy university student, a behaviourist might focus on Ray’s past dating experiences. In high school, the first time Ray invited a girl to a dance he was turned down. Later, he had a crush on a girl and they went out once, after which she turned him down. Though nervous, he asked out a few girls after that, but was turned down each time. Such punishing consequences decreased the likelihood that Ray would ask someone out in the future. Fortunately, Kira asked Ray out and the positive consequences they experienced on their first date reinforced their behaviour, increasing the odds that they would go out again. Skinner believed that through ‘social engineering’, society could harness the power of the environment to change behaviour in beneficial ways. His approach, known as radical behaviourism, was considered extreme by many psychologists, but he was esteemed for his scientific contributions and for focusing attention on how environmental forces could be used to enhance human welfare. In the 1960s, behaviourism inspired powerful techniques known collectively as behaviour modification. These techniques, aimed at decreasing problem behaviours and increasing positive behaviours by manipulating environmental factors, are still widely used today (Eldevik et al., 2010). Behaviourism’s insistence that psychology should focus only on observable stimuli and responses resonated with many who wanted psychology to model itself on the natural sciences. Behaviourism influenced Australian research on learning into the 1960s, challenged psychodynamic views about the causes of psychological disorders and led to effective treatments for some disorders. But radical behaviourism’s influence waned after the 1970s as interest in studying mental processes expanded (Robins et al., 1999). Still, behaviourists continue to make important contributions and their discovery of the basic laws of learning was one of the greatest contributions made by 20th-century psychology.

Cognitive behaviourism In the 1960s and 1970s, a number of psychologists showed that cognitive processes such as attention and memory could be rigorously studied using sophisticated experiments. This led some behaviourists to challenge radical behaviourism’s view that mental life was off-limits as a topic for scientific study. They developed a modified view called cognitive behaviourism, which proposes that learning experiences and the environment influence our expectations and other thoughts and, in turn, that our thoughts influence how we behave (Bandura, 1969; 2008). Cognitive behaviourism remains an influential viewpoint to this day. A cognitive behaviourist might say that Ray’s past dating rejections were punishing and led him to expect that further attempts at romance would be doomed. In turn, these expectations of social rejection inhibited him from asking women out and even from making male friends.

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THINKING CRITICALLY Are the students lazy? Imagine that you are a high school teacher. Whenever you try to engage your students in a class discussion, they gaze into space and hardly say anything. You start to think that they’re just a bunch of lazy kids. From a radical behavioural perspective, is your conclusion reasonable? How might you improve the situation? Think about it, then see the solution at the end of the chapter.

The humanistic perspective: self-actualisation and positive psychology In the mid-20th century, as the psychodynamic and behavioural perspectives vied for dominance within psychology, a new viewpoint called humanism arose to challenge them both. The humanistic perspective (humanism) emphasised free will, personal growth and the attempt to find meaning in one’s existence. Humanists rejected psychodynamic concepts of humans as being controlled by unconscious forces and rejected behaviourism’s view of humans as mere reactors to the environment. Instead, humanistic theorists such as Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) proposed that each of us has an inborn force toward self-actualisation, the reaching of one’s individual potential (Figure 1.8). When people develop in a supportive environment, their positive inner nature emerges. In contrast, misery and pathology occur when environments frustrate people’s innate tendency toward self-actualisation. Humanists emphasised the importance of personal choice, responsibility, personality growth and positive feelings of self-worth. To humanists, the meaning of our existence resides squarely in our own hands. Thinking about Ray’s shyness and loneliness, a humanist might say that no matter how often Ray was rejected in the past, he must take personal responsibility for turning things around. A humanist might also wonder whether, in his first year, Ray’s happiness and sense of self-worth were resting too heavily on his hope for a good romantic relationship. By focusing on building a few friendships, Ray wisely found another way to satisfy what Maslow (1954) called ‘belongingness’, our basic human need for social acceptance and companionship. Few early humanists were scientists and, historically, humanism has had a more limited impact on mainstream psychological science than have other perspectives. Still, it has inspired important areas of research. Humanist Carl Rogers (1902–1987) identified key aspects of psychotherapy that led to constructive changes in clients. Humanistic concepts have also stimulated research on self-esteem and self-concept (Verplanken & Holland, 2002). Humanism’s focus on self-actualisation and growth is seen in today’s growing positive psychology movement, which emphasises the study of human strengths, fulfilment and optimal living (Park et al., 2010). Rather than focusing on ‘what’s wrong with our world’ (e.g. mental disorders, conflict, prejudice), positive psychology examines how we can nurture what is best within ourselves and society to create a happy and fulfilling life.

Figure 1.8   The humanistic perspective emphasises the human ability to surmount obstacles in the drive toward selfactualisation. © Cultura Creative (RF) / Alamy Stock Photo

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The cognitive perspective: the thinking human The cognitive perspective examines the nature of the mind and how mental processes influence behaviour. In this view, humans are information processors whose actions are governed by thought.

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Origins of the cognitive perspective Two of psychology’s earliest schools of thought, structuralism and functionalism, reflected the cognitive perspective. Recall that structuralists attempted to identify the basic elements of consciousness, while functionalists explored the purposes of consciousness. Other pioneering cognitive psychologists, such as Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909), studied memory. By the 1920s, German scientists had formed a school of thought known as Gestalt psychology, which examined how the mind organises elements of experience into a unified or ‘whole’ perception. (Gestalt roughly translates as ‘pattern’,‘whole’ or ‘form’.) They argued that perceptions are organised so that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. Consider the painting in Figure 1.9. Many people initially perceive it as a whole—as a portrait of a strange-looking person—rather than as a mosaic of individual sea creatures. Gestalt psychology stimulated interest in topics such as perception and problem-solving but, like structuralism and functionalism, it eventually disappeared as a scientific school. As behaviourism’s antimentalistic stance strengthened during the 1920s and 1930s, the study of the mind was relegated to the back burner.

Renewed interest in the mind

Figure 1.9   This painting illustrates the Gestalt principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The individual elements are sea creatures, but the whole is perceived as a portrait of a face.

In the 1950s, interest in studying cognitive processes regained ground. In part, this interest stemmed from psychologists’ involvement during World War II in designing information displays, such as gauges in aeroplane cockpits, which enabled military personnel (e.g. pilots) to recognise and interpret that information quickly and accurately. Computer technology, in its infancy at that time, provided new © The Picture Art Collection/Alamy information-processing concepts and terminology that psychologists adapted to the study of memory and attention (Broadbent, 1958). A new metaphor developed—the mind as a system that processes, stores and retrieves information—and it remains influential today. On another front in the 1950s, behaviourists and linguists debated how children acquire language. The behaviourists, led by Skinner, claimed that language is acquired through basic principles of learning. The linguists, led by Noam Chomsky (born 1928), argued that humans are biologically ‘preprogrammed’ to acquire language and that children come to understand language as a set of ‘mental rules’. This heated debate convinced many psychologists that language was too complex to be explained by behavioural principles and instead needed to be examined from a cognitive perspective. Interest in cognition grew in other areas. For example, a theory by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896–1980), which explained how children’s thinking becomes more sophisticated with age, gained widespread recognition around the world. Overall, psychologists’ interest in mental processes swelled in the 1960s and 1970s—a period that is sometimes referred to as the ‘cognitive revolution’.

The modern cognitive perspective Cognitive psychology, which focuses on the study of mental processes, embodies the cognitive perspective. Cognitive psychologists study the processes by which people reason, make decisions, solve problems, form perceptions, and produce and understand language. Many study memory and the factors that distort it. Cognitive psychologists explore the nature of attention and consciousness and have increasingly studied how unconscious processes influence behaviour. Cognitive neuroscience, which uses sophisticated electrical recording and brain-imaging techniques to examine brain activity while people engage in cognitive tasks, is a rapidly growing area that represents the intersection of cognitive psychology and the biological perspective within psychology. Cognitive neuroscientists seek to determine how the brain goes about its business of learning language, acquiring knowledge, forming memories and performing other cognitive activities (Nyhus & Curran, 2010). From a cognitive perspective, we can examine Ray’s shyness in terms of how he processes information. The few times he went on dates, Ray’s nervousness may have caused him to focus on the slightest things that weren’t going well, while failing to notice other cues that suggested his date was having a good time. Ray may also be remembering those events as much more unpleasant than they actually were, and his interpretation of past dating failures may be based on faulty reasoning. Ray believes he was rejected because of his personal qualities (‘I’m not interesting enough’) and therefore expects that future dates will also be unsuccessful. If Ray correctly attributed the rejections to some situational factor (‘Clarissa was already interested in someone else’), then he would not necessarily expect other women to reject him in the future.

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The sociocultural perspective: the embedded human Humans are social creatures. Embedded within a culture, each of us encounters ever-changing social settings that shape our actions and values, our sense of identity, our very conception of reality. The sociocultural perspective examines how the social environment and cultural learning influence our behaviour, thoughts and feelings.

The social psychological component For over a century, social psychologists have studied how the presence of other people influences our behaviour, thoughts and feelings (Rubin & Badea, 2010; Triplett, 1898). The word ‘presence’ connotes actual physical presence (e.g. you’re in a group), implied presence (e.g. you’re dressing for a party, aware that at the party people will evaluate how you look) and imagined presence (e.g. driving a car, you slow down because you incorrectly think the car behind you is an unmarked police car). The social psychological approach overlaps with many other perspectives. For example, like behaviourism, social psychology pays special attention to how the environment influences our behaviour, but its emphasis is narrowed to the social environment. Consistent with a cognitive perspective, much social psychological research examines social cognition: how people form impressions of one another, how attitudes form and can be changed, how our expectations affect our behaviour and so forth. Intersecting the biological perspective (which we discuss next), social psychologists have increasingly examined the biological bases of social thinking and behaviour. For example, it appears that social pain—as can occur when people reject or ostracise us—shares many of the same brain circuits that underlie physical pain (Lieberman & Eisenberger, 2009).

RESEARCH CLOSE-UP Would you marry someone you didn’t love? Based on: Robert Levine, Suguru Sato, Tsukasa Hashimoto, and Jyoti Verma (1995). Love and marriage in eleven cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 26, 554–571.

Introduction Would you marry someone you did not love? According to one theory, people in individualistic cultures such as those found in Australasia, America and Europe, are more likely to view romantic love as a requirement for marriage because love is a matter of personal choice (Goode, 1959). In collectivistic cultures like those found in Asia, concern for the extended family plays a larger role than love in marriage decisions. Psychologist Robert Levine and his colleagues (1995) examined university students’ views about love and marriage. Whereas previous research focused on American students, these authors studied students from 11 different countries around the world. They also examined whether students from collectivistic and economically poorer countries would be less likely to view love as a prerequisite to marriage compared to students from more affluent and individualistic cultures.

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Method The researchers administered language-appropriate versions of the same questionnaire to 1163 female and male university students from 11 countries. The key question was, ‘If someone had all the other qualities you desired, would you marry this person if you were not in love with him/her?’ The students responded ‘No’, ‘Yes’ or ‘Not sure’. The researchers determined each country’s economic status and collectivistic versus individualistic orientation from data gathered by previous cross-cultural investigators. Results Within each country, the views of female and male students did not differ significantly. In contrast, beliefs across countries varied strongly (Figure 1.10 ). In India, Thailand and Pakistan, most students said they would marry or at least consider marrying someone they did not love. In the Philippines and Japan, a sizeable minority—just over a third—felt the same way. In contrast, students from the other countries overwhelmingly rejected the

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Discussion

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notion of marrying somebody they did not love. Overall, students from collectivistic and economically poorer countries were less likely to view love as a prerequisite to marriage.

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˜ˇ ˜ 6 ˜6 Among most of our own students, ˜ˆ ˇ˛ ˝˛ ˜° 78 ˇ° the notion that you marry someone you love is a truism. They are 64 64 ˆ° surprised—as perhaps you are— ˙° that many students in other ˆ˛ ˆˇ countries would consider marrying ˙ˇ ˝° someone they did not love. In many such countries there is an ° acceptance of arranged marriages as culturally appropriate, if not expected. This acceptance also No Not sure Yes shapes expectations of love as something that can develop and Figure 1.10   Love and marriage in 11 cultures grow (Chantler, 2014), rather than Data from Levine et al., 1995. having to exist prior to marriage. This study reminds us that as members of a particular culture, it is easy to mistakenly irrelevant to marriage? Not necessarily, because other assume that ‘our way’ is the ‘normal way’. research has found that ‘mutual attraction/love’ is viewed As in all research, we must think critically and interpret across most cultures as a desirable quality in a mate the results carefully. For example, among those students (Buss, 1989). Thus, the results of this study suggest only who said they would marry someone without being in love, that in some cultures love is not viewed as an essential would it be accurate to conclude that they view love as prerequisite to enter into marriage.

The cultural component Culture refers to the enduring values, beliefs, behaviours and traditions that are shared by a large group of people and passed from one generation to the next. All cultural groups develop their own social norms, which are rules (often unwritten) that specify what behaviour is acceptable and expected for members of that group. Norms exist for all types of social behaviours, such as how to dress, respond to people of higher status or act as a woman or man (Figure 1.11). For culture to endure, each new generation must internalise, or adopt, the norms and values of the group as their own. Socialisation is the process by which culture is transmitted to new members and internalised by them. Throughout much of the 20th century, psychological research largely ignored non-Western groups. Even within Western societies, for decades participants in psychological research typically were white and came from middle- or upper-class backgrounds. There are important exceptions, however, such as Pat Dudgeon, Tracey Westerman, Graham Gee and other Indigenous psychologists who have examined cultural manifestations, social determinants

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Figure 1.11   Social norms differ across cultures and over time within cultures. The idea of women engaging in aggressive sports or military combat is unthinkable in many cultures. A few generations ago, it was also unthinkable in Australia. (left) © Ingram Publishing/SuperStock (right) © Shutterstock / NEstudio

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IN THE NEWS The APS Apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples As already discussed, psychologists in Australia directly and indirectly contributed to the forcible removal of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander children from their families—children who are referred to as the ‘Stolen Generation’. In 2016, the A ustralian Psychological Society (APS) formally apologised to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for ‘. . .psychology’s role in contributing to the erosion of culture . . . and mistreatment’ of Indigenous Australians (Australian Psychological Society, 2016). This apology was an important step in the ongoing efforts to enhance collaborative efforts between Indigenous and non-Indigenous psychologists and communities to meet the social and emotional well-being and mental health needs of Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander people. You can access the full-text version of the APS apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at https://www. psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/ Apology-final-version.pdf. This apology does not signify the end of such efforts, or that we have met the goals of further enhancing the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Ongoing projects are designed to action the promises made in the apology to: • • • • •

listen more and talk less follow more and steer less advocate more and comply less include more and ignore less collaborate more and command less.

These include the work of the Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP), led by Professor Pat Dudgeon, which brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders (including students, educators, psychologists and employers)

to develop strategies aimed at ‘. . .increasing recruitment and retention of Indigenous psychology students, integrating Indigenous studies in psychology courses for all students, and facilitating training pathways for Indigenous mental health workers’ (AIPEP). To learn more about the work of AIPEP, go to http:// www.indigenouspsyched.org.au/ about#overview The APS Reconciliation Action Plan (Australian Psychological Society, 2016) has also been developed to assist all psychologists to better respond to and meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The key components of the plan focus on: cultural awareness, responsiveness and safety; Indigenous education and employment; governance; and respectful relationships. For more information about the plan, you can visit: https://www.psychology.org.au/ About-Us/who-we-are/reconciliationand-the-APS/reconciliation-actionplan.

and experiences of mental illness of Indigenous Australians (Australian Indigenous Psychology Association [AIPA], 2011). See Figure 1.12. Over time, psychologists increasingly began to study diverse ethnic and cultural groups. Today the growing field of cultural psychology (sometimes called cross-cultural psychology) explores how culture is transmitted to its members and examines psychological similarities and differences among people from diverse cultures (Schaller et al., 2010). One important difference among cultures is the extent to which they emphasise individualism versus collectivism (Triandis & Suh, 2002). Most industrialised cultures promote individualism, an emphasis on personal goals and selfidentity based primarily on one’s own attributes and achievements. In contrast, many Asian, Pacific, African and South American cultures nurture collectivism, in which individual goals are subordinated to those of the group and personal identity is defined largely by the ties that bind one to the extended family and other social groups. This difference is created by social learning experiences that begin in childhood and continue in the form of social customs. Thinking about Ray’s lonely first year in university, the sociocultural perspective again leads us to Ray’s expectations of social rejection and beliefs about why it occurred before. We also can ask how his cultural upbringing and other social factors contributed to his shy behaviour. Throughout his teen years, cultural norms for male assertiveness may have put pressure on Ray. His shyness may have evoked teasing and other negative reactions from his high school peers, increasing his feelings of inadequacy by the time he reached university. As for Ray and Kira’s dating relationship,

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we might examine how norms regarding courtship and marriage differ across cultures. The first ‘Research close-up’ examines cross-cultural attitudes about love and marriage. Throughout this book we will look at cross-cultural topics, attitudes, issues and debates in the context of each chapter.

The biological perspective: the brain, genes and evolution The biological perspective examines how brain processes and other bodily functions regulate behaviour. Biological psychology has always been a prominent part of the field, but its influence has increased dramatically over recent decades.

Behavioural neuroscience Ray and Kira are in love. They study and eat together. They hold hands and kiss. Yet a year earlier, Ray was depressed. What brain regions, neural circuits and bodily chemicals enable us to feel love, pleasure and depression; to read, study and feel hunger? These questions pertain to behavioural neuroscience (also called physiological psychology), which examines brain processes and other physiological functions that underlie our behaviour, sensory experiences, emotions and thoughts (Rolls, 2010). An early pioneer of biological psychology, American Karl Lashley (1890–1958), trained rats to run mazes and then measured how surgically produced lesions (damage) to various brain areas affected the rats’ learning and memory. His research inspired other psychologists to map brain regions involved in specific psychological functions. Another pioneer, Canadian Donald O. Hebb (1904–1985), proposed that changes in the connections between nerve cells in the brain provide the biological basis for learning, memory and perception. His influential theory inspired research that eventually led to the discovery of neurotransmitters, which are chemicals released by nerve cells that allow them to communicate with one another. Closer to home, Charles Watson (from Curtin University), has led extensive research in mapping mammalian brain structures and functions, leading to a better understanding of brain anatomy in general, as well as other important findings, including how genetics influences the development of the brain stem. Professor Watson has written numerous books on the subject, with one text (The Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates, also known as the Rat Brain Atlas) being cited over 60 000 times! Today, modern brain-imaging techniques allow psychologists to watch activity in specific brain areas as people experience emotions, perceive stimuli and perform tasks (Figure 1.13). These advances have led to new areas of study that link various psychological perspectives. For example, cognitive neuroscience—the study of brain processes that underlie thinking and information processing—represents an intersection of cognitive psychology and behavioural neuroscience.

Figure 1.12   Professor Pat Dudgeon (centre), pictured here with the AIPEP team, was the first identified Indigenous psychologist in Australia, and has made substantial contributions to the discipline in the areas of psychology, Indigenous people and issues. Courtesy of Pat Dudgeon

Figure 1.13   Behavioural neuroscientists use positron-emission tomography (PET) scans to measure brain activity as people perform various tasks. Viewed from above, each image shows a horizontal slice of the brain with the front of the brain at the top. Yellow and red indicate the regions of greatest activity: (top left) visual task, (top centre) auditory task, (top right) cognitive task, (bottom left) memory task and (bottom right) motor task. © Courtesy of Drs Michael Phelps and John Mazziotta, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Behaviour genetics Psychologists have had a long-standing interest in behaviour genetics, the study of how behavioural tendencies are influenced by genetic factors (Plomin & Haworth, 2009). Animals can be selectively bred not only for physical traits but also for behavioural traits such as aggression. This is done over generations by mating highly aggressive males

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Figure 1.14   Charles Darwin, a British naturalist, formulated a theory of evolution that revolutionised scientific thinking. © Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division #LCUSZ62-52389

Figure 1.15   Natural-selection pressures result in physical changes. The peppered moth’s natural colour is that of the lighter insect. However, over many generations, peppered moths that live in polluted urban areas have become darker—not from the pollution but because moths that inherited slightly darker colouration blended better into their grimy environment. Thus, they were more likely to survive predators and pass their ‘darker’ genes on to their offspring. However, a trip into the countryside to visit their light-coloured relatives could easily prove fatal for these darker urban insects. © (top)ampics/123RF (bottom)Martin Fowler / Alamy

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and females. In Thailand, where gambling on fish fights is a national pastime, selective breeding has produced the highly aggressive Siamese fighting fish. The male of this species will instantly attack his own image in a mirror. Identical human twins, who result from the splitting of a fertilised egg and therefore have the same genetic makeup, are more similar to one another on many behavioural traits than are fraternal twins, who result from two different fertilised eggs and therefore are no more similar genetically than are nontwin siblings. This greater behavioural similarity is found even when identical twins have been reared in different homes and dissimilar environments (Lykken, 2006). Thinking about Ray, perhaps he inherited a tendency to be shy. Some infants display an extremely shy, inhibited emotional style that seems to be biologically based and persists into adulthood (Kagan, 1989; Newman et al., 1997). Dating rejections may have reinforced Ray’s natural reluctance to ask women out.

Evolutionary psychology In his theory of evolution, Darwin (1859, as cited in Darwin et al., 2002) noted that within a species, some members possess specific traits to a greater extent than do other members (Figure 1.14).  Through a process he called natural selection, if an inherited trait gives certain members an advantage over others (such as increasing their ability to attract mates or escape from danger), these members will be more likely to survive and pass these characteristics on to their offspring. In this way, species evolve as the presence of adaptive traits increases within the population over generations. Traits that put certain members at a disadvantage tend to become less common within a species over time because members having those traits will be less likely to survive and reproduce. As environments change, the adaptiveness of a trait may increase or decrease. Thus, through natural selection, a species’ biology evolves in response to environmental conditions (Figure 1.15). Evolutionary psychology seeks to explain how evolution shaped modern human behaviour (Simpson & Beckes, 2010). Evolutionary psychologists stress that human mental abilities and behavioural tendencies evolved along with a changing body (Tooby & Cosmides, 2005). According to one theory, as our humanlike ancestors developed new physical abilities (such as the ability to walk upright, thus freeing the use of the arms and hands), they began to use tools and weapons and live in social groups (Pilbeam, 1984). Certain psychological abilities—thought, language, the capacity to learn and solve problems— became more important to survival as our ancestors had to adapt to new ways of living. Within any generation, genetically based variations in brain structure and functioning occur among individuals. Ancestors whose brain characteristics better supported adaptive mental abilities were more likely to survive and reproduce. Thus, through natural selection, adaptations to new environmental demands contributed to the development of the brain, just as brain growth contributed to the further development of human behaviour. Evolutionary psychologists also attempt to explain human social behaviour. Recall that Ray and Kira are contemplating marriage. Why is it that across the world, on average, men desire a younger mate and women tend to seek an older mate? Whereas sociocultural psychologists argue that socialisation and economic gender inequality cause most sex differences in mate preferences, some evolutionary psychologists propose that through natural selection, men and women have become biologically predisposed to seek somewhat different qualities in a mate (Buss, 1989; 2007).

CONCEPT CHECK • There are several major perspectives within psychology—psychodynamic, behavioural, humanistic, cognitive, sociocultural and biological.

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LO 1.3 USING LEVELS OF ANALYSIS TO INTEGRATE THE PERSPECTIVES As summarised in Table 1.2, psychology’s six major perspectives provide differing conceptions of human nature. Fortunately, we can distil their essence into the simple three-part framework that we introduced earlier. Behaviour can be examined at biological, psychological, and environmental and social levels. At the biological level of analysis, we can study behaviour and its causes in terms of brain functioning, hormones and genetic factors shaped over the course of evolution. At the psychological level of analysis, we might look to the cognitive perspective and analyse how thought, memory and planning influence behaviour. Borrowing from the psychodynamic and humanistic perspectives, we can examine how motives and personality traits influence behaviour. Finally, at the environmental and social level of analysis, the behavioural and sociocultural perspectives lead us to consider how stimuli in the physical and social environment shape our behaviour, thoughts and feelings. Realise that a full understanding of behaviour often moves us back and forth between these three levels. Consider Ray and Kira. When we describe the culture in which they were raised, such as its religious values and social customs, we are operating at the environmental and social level of analysis. However, if Ray and Kira adopt those cultural values and make them part of their identities, this represents the psychological level of analysis. Similarly, we might describe a family environment as abusive, but an abused child’s tendency to worry and feel anxious—and the chemical changes in the brain that underlie this anxiety—move us to the psychological and biological levels of analysis. In psychology, the term biopsychosocial is used to describe the biological, psychological, and environmental and social perspectives.

Table 1.2   Comparison of six major perspectives on human behaviour Psychodynamic

Behavioural

Humanistic

Cognitive

Sociocultural

Biological

Conception of human nature

The human as controlled by inner forces and conflicts

The human as reactor to the environment

The human as free agent, seeking selfactualisation

The human as thinker

The human as social being embedded in a culture

The human animal

Major causal factors in behaviour

Unconscious motives, conflicts and defences; early childhood experiences and unresolved conflicts

Past learning experiences and the stimuli and behavioural consequences that exist in the current environment

Free will, choice and innate drive toward selfactualisation; search for personal meaning of existence

Thoughts, anticipations, planning, perceptions, attention and memory processes

Social forces, including norms, social interactions and group processes in one’s culture and social environment

Genetic and evolutionary factors; brain and biochemical processes

Predominant focus and methods of discovery

Intensive observations of personality processes in clinical settings; some laboratory research

Study of learning processes in laboratory and real-world settings, with an emphasis on precise observation of stimuli and responses

Study of meaning, values and purpose in life; study of self-concept and its role in thought, emotion and behaviour

Study of cognitive processes, usually under highly controlled laboratory conditions

Study of behaviour and mental processes of people in different cultures; experiments examining people’s responses to social stimuli

Study of brainbehaviour relations; role of hormones and biochemical factors in behaviour; behaviour genetics research

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An example: understanding depression To appreciate how the levels-of-analysis framework can help us understand behaviour, let’s briefly examine a common but complex psychological problem: depression. Most people experience sadness, grief or the blues at some time in their lives. These feelings are often normal responses to significant negative events or losses that we experience. However, when these emotions are intense, persist over a long period and are accompanied by thoughts of hopelessness and an inability to experience pleasure, we have crossed the boundary between a normal reaction and clinical depression. Looking first at the biological level, genetic factors appear to predispose some people toward developing depression (Edvardsen et al., 2009). In a meta-analysis conducted by Australian researcher Wilde and colleagues (2014), it was reported that relatives of people who had developed major depression were about twice as likely to become depressed at some point than were relatives of non-depressed people. Biochemical factors also play a role. For many depressed people, certain neurotransmitter systems that send signals between the brain’s nerve cells do not operate normally, and the most effective antidepressant drugs restore neurotransmitter activity to more normal levels. Moving to a psychological level, cognitive viewpoints emphasise that depression is associated with a pessimistic thinking style (Strunk & Adler, 2009). Depressed people can find the black cloud surrounding every silver lining. They tend to blame themselves for negative events that occur in their lives, take little credit for the good things, view the future as bleak and may have perfectionist expectations that make them overly sensitive to how other people evaluate them (Bieling et al., 2004). Psychodynamic theorists believe that severe loss, rejection or trauma in childhood help create a personality style that causes people to overreact to setbacks, setting the stage for future depression (Bowlby, 2000). At the environmental and social level, behaviourists propose that depression often begins as a reaction to an environment that provides fewer rewards for the person. As depression intensifies, some people stop doing things that ordinarily give them pleasure. They may also complain a lot and seek excessive social support, eventually causing other people to avoid them. The net result is a vicious cycle: an environment with even fewer rewards, reduced support from other people and worsening depression (Hopko & Mullane, 2008; Lewinsohn et al., 1985). Sociocultural factors also affect depression. Although depression is found across all cultures and ethnic groups, its symptoms, causes and prevalence may reflect cultural differences (Jackson & Williams, 2006). For example, in Western countries such as Australia, feelings of sadness are typically a major component of depression. In some regions of China, however, many depressed people report feelings of boredom or internal pressure but not sadness (Kleinman, 2004). Now, let’s summarise the causal factors in depression that we’ve discussed by grouping them into the three levels of analysis, as shown in ‘Levels of analysis’.

Summary of major themes Our excursion through psychology’s major perspectives and levels of analysis reveals several principles that you will encounter repeatedly as we explore the realm of behaviour: As a science, psychology relies on systematic empiricism to study behaviour. • • Although committed to studying behaviour objectively, psychologists recognise that our personal experience of the world is subjective. • Behaviour is determined by multiple causal factors, including our biological endowment (‘nature’), the environment and our past learning experiences (‘nurture’), and psychological factors that include our thoughts and motives. • Behaviour is a means of adapting to environmental demands; capacities have evolved over each species’ history because they facilitated adaptation and survival. • Behaviour and mental processes are affected by the social and cultural environments in which we develop and live.

CONCEPT CHECK • Factors that influence behaviour can be organised into three levels of analysis—biological, psychological and environmental/social.

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Levels of analysis CAUSAL FACTORS IN DEPRESSION It’s important to realise that some of the factors we describe can act as a cause but can also be an effect. For example, depression (cause) may lead to a decrease in social support (effect), and in turn decreased social support (cause) can deepen the person’s depression (effect). Also recognise that the causes of depression may vary from case to case and that multiple causes can combine or interact with one another. Interaction means that the way in which one factor influences behaviour depends on the presence of another factor. For example, someone who experiences a minor setback may become depressed if she or he has a strong biological predisposition for depression or a highly pessimistic thinking style. The same setback might barely

BIOLOGICAL LEVEL ⊲ People’s genetic inheritance influences their susceptibility toward developing depression. ⊲ Abnormal activity of neurotransmitters in the brain can cause depression. ⊲ Antidepressant drugs restore more normal levels of neurotransmitter activity and relieve symptoms of depression for many people.

faze a person who has a weak biological predisposition for depression or an optimistic thinking style. Thus, just as boiling water softens celery and hardens an egg, the same environmental factor can affect two people differently, depending on their biological and psychological makeup. You’ve now seen how a levels-of-analysis approach can be applied to examining depression. Earlier in the chapter, we briefly described how it could be applied to the everyday behaviour of eating. Focus on another aspect of human behaviour that interests you the most and think about how it might be examined at the biological, psychological, and environmental and social levels.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL LEVEL

PSYCHOLOGICAL LEVEL

⊲ Prior losses and rejections, especially early in life, may lead people to overreact to current losses or rejections.

⊲ A pessimistic thinking style and negative interpretations of events may trigger or intensify depression.

⊲ A significant decrease in pleasurable experiences may help trigger depression.

⊲ Perfectionist expectations can make people overly sensitive to how other people evaluate them.

⊲ Social support may decrease if people avoid the depressed person. ⊲ Cultural norms may influence how people react to negative events and express unhappiness.

⊲ Heightened sensitivity to loss or rejection may lead people to overreact to setbacks.

LO 1.4 PSYCHOLOGY TODAY As a science and profession, psychology today is more diversified and robust than ever before. Because of psychology’s enormous breadth, no psychologist can be an expert on all aspects of behaviour. You have already encountered some of psychology’s major subfields throughout the chapter, and Table 1.3 introduces six more. Remember, however, that psychological research often cuts across subfields. For example, psychologist Shelley Taylor (Figure 1.16) explores how people’s biological responses to stress and illness vary depending on their beliefs, values and social relationships. Her work draws on several traditional subfields of psychology—including social psychology, personality psychology and biopsychology—as well as a newer subfield, called health psychology, that she helped pioneer.

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Table 1.3   Some additional subfields within psychology Specialty

Major focus

Animal behaviour (comparative psychology)

Study of non-human species in natural or laboratory environments; includes genetics, brain processes, social behaviour, evolutionary processes

Counselling psychology

Consultation with clients on issues of personal adjustment; vocational and career planning; interest and aptitude testing

Educational psychology

Study of psychological aspects of the educational process; curriculum and instructional research; teacher training

Forensic psychology

Application and study of psychological principles pertaining to the criminal justice system, including law enforcement and the courts

Health psychology

Study of psychological and behavioural aspects of physical health and illness, and mental health and well-being; development of programs that promote healthy behaviour

Quantitative psychology

Study of measurement and data-analysis issues; development of mathematical models of behaviour

A global science and profession Modern psychology is diversified in terms of geography, ethnicity and gender. A century ago, psychological research was conducted almost entirely in Europe, North America and Russia by white males. Today, these regions remain scientific powerhouses, but you will find women and men from diverse backgrounds conducting psychological research and providing psychological services around the globe. Founded in 1951 to support psychology worldwide, the International Union of Psychological Science consists of major psychological organisations from 71 countries (IUPsyS, 2009). Moreover, across the world, university students are eagerly studying psychology. Psychology is an increasingly popular field of study in Australia, with the number of psychologists with postgraduate qualifications almost doubling between 1991 and 2001 (Ford, 2004). The American Psychological Association (APA), founded in 1892, is the largest individual Figure 1.16   Shelley Taylor psychological association in the world. With more than 19 000 members, the Australian Psychological studies people’s biological Society (APS) is the national body representing the discipline of psychology in Australia (APS, 2010). responses to stress and Established in 1966, one of the main goals of the APS is to use psychological knowledge to increase the illness. She is a leading well-being of all Australians in all areas of their life, including work, sport, health and leisure. The APS researcher in health psychology and social is also responsible for developing standards for psychology practice, training and education in Australia psychology. (Voudouris & Littlefield, 2011). Courtesy of Dr Shelley Taylor A career in many psychological subfields requires a postgraduate degree based on 4 to 6 years of training beyond the undergraduate degree. Graduate training includes broad exposure to knowledge in psychology, concentrated study in one or more subfields and extensive training in research methods. In some areas (such as clinical, counselling, school and industrial-organisational psychology), additional supervised practical experience in a hospital, clinic, school or workplace setting is generally required. As depicted in Figure 1.17, there are multiple pathways to becoming a psychologist in Australia, although all require completion of a 4-year undergraduate degree (including Honours). Following this, those who wish to work in a research setting will usually complete a PhD (generally 3 years in duration). In contrast, those who wish to work as a therapist may undertake 2 years of supervised practice; may study a 2-year Masters degree, which includes supervised practice; or may study a 1-year internship program followed by a year of supervised practice. More specific details on what each of these pathways entails can be found on the Psychology Board of Australia website, . Please note, however, that

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Four year psychology sequence

STEP

3-year sequence OR 3-year bridging program

4-year sequence OR 4-year bridging program

4th year of psychology Honours/Graduate Diploma

STEP 3

Undergraduate psychology sequence

STEP 2

CHAPTER 1   T he s cien ce of ps

y chol og y

Provisional Registration

4 + 2 Internship

5 + 1 Internship

2 years of supervised practice

5th year of psychology PLUS 1 year of supervised practice

General registration

and 6th (plus) years of psychology At least 2 years of study with one or more approved areas of practice endorsement

General registration plus Area of Practice Endorsement

Figure 1.17   Pathways to registration as a psychologist Based on https://www.psychologycouncil.org.au/pathways_registration_psychologist

psychologists who perform mental health services are not the same as psychiatrists. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who, after completing their general training in medicine, receive additional training in diagnosing and treating mental disorders. Besides its fascinating subject matter, psychology attracts many people with its rich variety of career options. Figure 1.18 shows the major settings in which psychologists work. Many psychologists teach, engage in research or apply psychological principles and techniques to help solve personal or social problems.

Psychology, society and your life Many Australians are unaware of the work that psychologists do outside of clinical settings (Hopson & Cunningham, 1995). Those who have a better understanding tend to view psychology more favourably than those who do not (Hartwig & Delin, 2003). Many people don’t realise the range and depth of psychology’s applied contributions or how they affect our lives. Many people also fail to recognise that such contributions are rooted in scientific research. Let’s consider some examples.

Example 1: Fly the friendly skies . . . safely The next time you board an aeroplane or know someone who does, you might reflect for a moment on the work of several types of research psychologists who have made air travel safer, but who you’ve probably never heard about: aviation psychologists and human factors psychologists (human factors is the study of human-machine interfaces). They have helped develop and assess training programs to improve the teamwork of cockpit crews. Many years ago they identified a night-time visual illusion that led pilots to misjudge their plane’s altitude while landing, which resulted in several fatal crashes. For decades, these psychologists have also helped to design instrument displays so that pilots can quickly and accurately process the information provided by the many dials, gauges and digital readouts crammed into the cockpits of commercial and military planes (Casner, 2009). Because these contributions partly rest on the shoulders of experimental, cognitive and social psychologists who for decades have studied the basic nature of human vision,

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Independent private practice School sector Tertiary education Corporate/commercial Community mental health Not-for-profit (incl. NGO) Govt. dept. (not listed elsewhere) Main job

28

Hospital—mental health Hospital—general health

information processing and social interaction, we all might tip our proverbial hats to them as well (Monk et al., 2008). We’re guessing that most people would appreciate psychological science’s contribution to air safety, if only they knew about it.

Example 2: President Obama’s ‘behavioral dream team’

Community health

Even if you live outside the United States, the outcome of US presidential elections can affect your life through Justice/corrective the US president’s domestic and international policies Drug and alcohol (Figure 1.19). In 2008, Barack Obama’s presidential Defence election campaign team secretly assembled a group, Primary care/ GP clinic (employee) called the Consortium of Behavioral Scientists, to Other provide advice on issues such as fundraising and Missing increasing voter turnout. This ‘behavioral dream 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 team’, as Time magazine reporter Michael Grunwald Percentage of participants (2009) called it, included social psychologist Robert Figure 1.18   Percentage of surveyed psychologists in different work settings Cialdini, an expert who has conducted basic and in Australia applied research on persuasion. The team also Adapted from R. Mathews, D. Stokes, B. Grenyer, 2010, ‘ A snapshot of the Australian workforce’, included Nobel Prize-winning cognitive psychologist InPsych: The Bulletin of the Australian Psychological Society Ltd, 32(5), p. 28 Daniel Kahneman, an expert in the thought processes and biases that affect people’s decision-making. When dream team members provided Obama’s campaign with recommendations, they included reference citations to the scientific research on which that advice was based. Mike Moffo, a field director in the campaign, noted that ‘it was amazing to have these bullet points telling us what to do and the science behind it . . . These guys really know what makes people tick’ (Grunwald, 2009, p. 29). Many governmental campaigns rely on behavioural science. For example, by introducing the carbon tax, the Gillard government (like other governments before it) was dealing with the fundamental issue of changing people’s habits. As you will see in later chapters, psychological science has a lot to say about behavioural change. Disability

Psychology and public policy Modern society faces a host of complex social problems, many of which may affect you directly or indirectly. Psychology, as a science and profession, is poised to help solve them. Through basic research, © NASA/Jim Grossmann psychologists provide fundamental knowledge about behaviour. In applied research, they use this knowledge to design, implement and assess intervention programs. Together, basic research and applied research are pillars for evidence-based public policies that affect the lives of millions of people. Increasingly, psychologists are being called on to tackle social issues and shape public policy. Consider these examples:

Figure 1.19   Former US President Barack Obama speaking to an audience in Florida.

• Combating racism: Racism is an important issue in a multicultural society such as Australia. Pederson and colleagues (2005) found that racism can be reduced when people see similarities between themselves and different races, empathise with others from different races, are given information that contradicts negative stereotypes, interact with members of the stereotyped group, and focus on behavioural (not just attitude) change. • Mental health: When research indicated that many Australians were unable to afford to see a psychologist, the APS strongly advocated for the implementation of the Better Access to Mental Health Initiative. This initiative enables people to claim a Medicare rebate on costs associated with seeing a psychologist, thereby providing more affordable mental health care (APS, 2011).

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• Disaster prevention and management: How can we best help those in need following a disaster? Psychologists from around Australia (e.g. Paton & Wright, 2008) have been involved in developing disaster prevention and management plans, especially following natural disasters such as the Victorian bushfires in 2010 and the Queensland floods in 2011. Psychologists also influence national policy by helping politicians draft legislation dealing with a host of other social issues, from preventing AIDS and obesity to enhancing childcare and national security. Moreover, their influence is not limited to Australia. School bullying, for example, is a serious problem in several countries. Norwegian psychologist Dan Olweus, a leading researcher on bullying, developed a prevention program that the Norwegian government makes available in all of its public schools (Olweus, 2004). Schools outside Norway have also adopted it.

Applying psychology to your life We’re biased, of course, but to us, psychology is the most fascinating subject around and we hope that some of this enthusiasm rubs off on you. Beyond the immensely important goals of satisfying people’s intellectual curiosity about human behaviour and helping to solve societal problems, psychological research yields many principles that you can actively apply to enhance your own life. For example, the truism ‘to trust your first instinct’ on multiple-choice and true–false exams is actually more myth than reality and may be harming your exam performance if you follow it blindly. Other research by behavioural, cognitive and educational psychologists on learning and memory provides additional guidelines that can improve your academic performance. To conclude this chapter, our first ‘Applying psychological science’ feature describes some of these guidelines.

APPLYING PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE How to enhance your academic performance University life presents many challenges, and working smart can be as important as working hard. The following strategies can help you increase your learning and academic performance (Figure 1.20 ).

Timemanagement skills

Study skills

Effective time management If you efficiently allocate study time, you will have a clear conscience when it’s time for recreational activities and relaxation. First, develop a written schedule; this forces you to decide how to allocate time and increases your commitment to the plan. Write down your class schedule and other responsibilities. Then block in periods for study, avoiding times you are likely to be tired. Distribute study times throughout the week. Schedule some study times immediately before enjoyable activities, which you can use as rewards for studying. Second, prioritise your tasks. Don’t procrastinate by working on simple tasks while putting off the toughest tasks. This can result in never getting to the major tasks (e.g. writing essays, studying for exams) until too little time remains. Each day, ask ‘What is the most important thing to get done?’ Do that first, then move to the next most important task and so on. You may even decide to use an electronic list, which can be numbered in order of importance. Then, as you complete each task, you can

Enhanced academic performance

Testpreparation strategies

Test-taking skills (testwiseness)

Figure 1.20   Improving academic performance Academic performance-enhancement methods include strategies for managing time, studying more effectively, preparing for tests and taking tests.

have the satisfaction of deleting the item and then seeing what rises up to the top, and still needs to be done. Third, break large tasks into smaller parts. Important tasks often are too big to complete all at once. Break them continued

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continued down into a set of specific and realistic goals (e.g. number of pages to be read). Successfully completing each goal is rewarding, strengthens your study skills and increases your feelings of mastery. Studying more effectively After planning your study time, use that time effectively. Choose a study place where there are no distractions and where you do nothing but study, say, a quiet library rather than a busy cafeteria. In time, you will learn to associate that location with studying and studying there will become even easier (Watson & Tharp, 1997). To enhance your memory of the material, distribute your studying over multiple sessions (Rohrer & Taylor, 2006). How you study is vital to your academic success. Don’t read material passively and hope that it will just soak in. Instead, use an active approach to learning. For example, when reading a textbook chapter, first look over the chapter outline, which will give you a good idea of the information you are going to be processing. As you read the material, think about how it applies to your life or how it relates to other information that you already know (Higbee, 2001).

you’ll find several ‘Concept check’ boxes. Use these, along with the list of key terms at the end of each chapter, to help assess your understanding of important concepts. Write an explanation of each term and check your accuracy by rereading the relevant textbook material. To determine how well you truly know and remember the material, be sure to assess your understanding after a time delay, such as after completing all the readings (Thiede & Anderson, 2003). Also realise that the ‘Concept check’ items and key terms focus on only a portion of the content in each chapter. Thus, your studying should extend beyond these items—as a start, make use of the online resources (Connect and LearnSmart) that are associated with this text. Test-taking strategies Some students are more effective test takers than others. They know how to approach different types of tests (e.g. multiple-choice or essay) to maximise their performance. Such skills are called testwiseness (Fagley, 1987). Here are some strategies that testwise students use: •

Preparing for tests and assessing your understanding Contrary to what many students believe, introductory psychology is not an easy course. It covers a lot of diverse material and many new concepts must be mastered. Many students entering university don’t realise that the academic demands far exceed those of high school. Moreover, many students don’t realise how hard high achievers actually work. In one study, researchers found that failing students spent only one-third as many hours studying as did A-grade students (who studied about 2 hours for every hour spent in class). Yet the failing students thought they were studying as much as anyone else and many wondered why they were not doing well (Watson & Tharp, 1997). As we noted earlier, a written study schedule helps spread your test preparation over time and helps avoid last-minute cramming. Cramming is less effective because it is fatiguing, taxes your memory and may increase test anxiety, which interferes with learning and test performance (Chapell et al., 2005). In preparing for tests, repeatedly assess your knowledge. Unfortunately, some studies reveal that students are not highly accurate in judging how well they comprehend textbook material (Dunlosky & Lipko, 2007). This can lead to overconfidence. Therefore, take concrete steps to monitor your understanding. For example, in each textbook chapter,

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•

•

• •

Use time wisely. Check your progress occasionally during the test. Answer the questions you know first (and, on essay exams, the ones worth the most points). Do not get bogged down on a question you find difficult. Mark it and come back to it later. In essay exams, outline the points you want to make before you begin writing, then cover the key points in enough detail to communicate what you know. In multiple-choice tests, read each question and try to answer it before reading the answer options. If you find your answer among the alternatives, that alternative is probably the correct one. Still, read all the other alternatives to make sure that you choose the best one. Despite popular belief, don’t be reluctant to change an answer if you believe that the alternative is better. Some multiple-choice questions have ‘all of the above’ as an alternative. If one of the answer choices is clearly incorrect, eliminate the ‘all of the above’ option; if you are sure that at least two of the answer choices are correct but are not sure about the third, choose ‘all of the above’.

Time management, study skills, test-preparation strategies and testwiseness are not acquired overnight; they require effort and practice. This book also comes with Connect and LearnSmart, which you can use to study the learning objectives in each chapter. LearnSmart will help show you what you know now, where you can improve, and will help you study.

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CHAPTER 1  The sc i ence of psychology

CONCEPT CHECK • Modern psychologists perform a variety of roles including teaching, research, therapy and counselling.

CHAPTER SUMMARY The nature of psychology  [LO 1.1]

• Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and the mind. Psychologists systematically gather and evaluate empirical evidence to answer questions about how people behave, think and feel.

• Psychology’s systematic approach yields more

accurate knowledge about behaviour than everyday casual observations and conventional folk wisdom, which have generated many misconceptions and myths about human nature.

• Description, explanation, control and application

are the main goals of psychological science. Basic research reflects the quest for knowledge for its own sake. Applied research focuses on solving practical problems.

• Because psychologists study biological,

psychological, and environmental and social factors that affect a wide array of behaviours, psychological science intersects with many other disciplines.

Perspectives on behaviour  [LO 1. 2]

• Several major perspectives have shaped

psychology’s scientific growth. In the late 1800s, Wundt and James helped found psychology. Structuralism, which examined the basic components of consciousness, and functionalism, which focused on the purposes of consciousness, were psychology’s earliest schools of thought.

• The psychodynamic perspective proposes that

unconscious motives, conflicts and defence mechanisms influence our behaviour. Freud emphasised how unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses and childhood experiences shape personality. Modern psychodynamic theories focus on how early family relationships and our sense of self unconsciously influence our behaviour.

• The behavioural perspective emphasises how the external environment and learning shape behaviour. Watson and Skinner believed that psychology should study only observable

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stimuli and responses, not unobservable mental processes. Cognitive behaviourists believe that learning experiences influence our thoughts, which in turn influence our behaviours.

• The humanistic perspective emphasises personal

freedom and choice, psychological growth and self-actualisation. Humanism has contributed to research on the self, the process of psychotherapy and today’s positive psychology movement.

• The cognitive perspective, embodied by the

subfield of cognitive psychology, views humans as information processors who think, judge and solve problems. Cognitive neuroscience examines brain processes that occur as people perform mental tasks.

• The sociocultural perspective examines how

social environment and cultural learning influence our behaviour and thoughts. Cultural psychologists study how culture is transmitted to its members and examine similarities and differences among people from various cultures.

• The biological perspective examines how bodily

functions regulate behaviour and psychological characteristics. Behavioural neuroscientists study brain activity and hormonal influences, behaviour geneticists examine the role of heredity, and evolutionary psychologists seek to explain how evolution has biologically predisposed modern humans toward certain ways of behaving.

Using levels of analysis to integrate the perspectives  [LO 1. 3]

• Factors that influence behaviour can be organised into three levels of analysis. The biological level examines brain processes, hormonal and genetic influences and evolutionary adaptations. The psychological level focuses on mental processes and psychological motives. The environmental and social level examines the physical and social stimuli, including cultural factors, that shape our behaviour and thoughts.

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• Biological, psychological, and environmental

and social factors contribute to depression and also interact with one another. Interaction means that the way in which one factor (e.g. a personal setback) influences behaviour depends on the presence of another factor (e.g. a weak or strong biological vulnerability to develop depression).

Psychology today  [LO 1. 4]

•

Modern psychologists work in many settings. They teach, conduct research, perform therapy and counselling, apply psychological principles

to enhance human welfare and help shape public policy.

• To enhance your learning and chances of

performing well on tests, you can apply scientific psychological principles regarding time management, strategies for studying more effectively, test-preparation strategies and techniques for taking tests.

• The psychology profession in Australia is working

toward better understanding and supporting the mental health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS Each term has been boldfaced and defined within the chapter. applied research (p. 9) basic research (p. 9) behaviour genetics (p. 21) behavioural neuroscience (p. 21) behavioural perspective (p. 14) behaviourism (p. 15) biological perspective (p. 21) biopsychology or behavioural neuroscience (p. 3) British empiricism (p. 12) clinical psychology (p. 2) cognitive behaviourism (p. 15) cognitive neuroscience (p. 17)

cognitive perspective (p. 16) cognitive psychology (p. 2) cultural (cross-cultural) psychology (p. 20) developmental psychology (p. 3) evolutionary psychology (p. 22) experimental psychology (p. 3) functionalism (p. 13) humanistic perspective (humanism) (p. 16) industrial-organisational (I/O) psychology (p. 3) interaction (p. 25)

natural selection (p. 22) neurotransmitters (p. 21) norms (p. 19) personality psychology (p. 3) positive psychology movement (p. 16) psychoanalysis (p. 14) psychodynamic perspective (p. 13) psychology (p. 2) social psychology (p. 3) sociocultural perspective (p. 18) structuralism (p. 13)

REVIEW QUESTIONS LO 1.1 1.1 In psychological terms, what does behaviour refer to? 1.2 Describe the four central goals of psychology. LO 1.2 1.3 Elena keeps a dream diary, documenting each dream she remembers, searching for hidden meaning relevant to her daily life. She also regularly purchases and reads dream-interpretation books. Elena’s behaviour is consistent with which psychological perspective? 1.4 Most people are familiar with the dogs used by customs officials in airports to identify the presence of contraband items including food, drugs, seeds and the like. They patrol the airport terminal and the baggage carousels. When they indicate to the handler that they have found something, the handler praises them and rewards them with a game/toy. This pattern of rewarding desired behaviours is consistent with which psychological perspective? LO 1.3 1.5 What are the three levels of analysis by which a psychologist can examine human behaviour? 1.6 In Australia, what is the term used to describe the psychological approach that incorporates multiple perspectives of behaviour and experience?

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CHAPTER 1  The sc i ence of psychology

LO 1.4 1.7 Name three different types of psychologists. 1.8 In Australia, what is a student required to complete in order to enter a career in many psychological subfields?

THINKING CRITICALLY SOLUTIONS Jumbled-word paragraphs: unscrambled versions Paragraph 1: According to a researcher at Cambridge University, it doesn’t matter what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letters are at the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without a problem. This is because we do not read every letter by itself but the word as a whole. Paragraph 2: A politician denied the manslaughter of a colleague but was convicted and developed severe medical conditions in prison, where he died. Administration of anticoagulant drugs potentiated the effects of another drug, and respiratory failure resulted.

Are the students lazy? It may be tempting to blame the students’ unresponsiveness on laziness, but a radical behaviourist would not focus on internal mental states to explain their inaction. First, to say that students are unresponsive because they’re lazy doesn’t explain anything. Consider this reasoning: how do we know that the students are lazy? Answer: because they are unresponsive. Therefore, if we say that students are lazy because they’re unresponsive and then turn around and conclude that students are

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unresponsive because they are lazy, all we are really saying is that ‘students are unresponsive because they are unresponsive’. This is not an explanation at all but rather an example of circular reasoning. From a behavioural perspective, people’s actions are shaped by their environment and learning experiences. Put yourself in the hypothetical role of the high school teacher. You may not realise it, but when students sit quietly, you smile and seem more relaxed. When students participate in class discussions, you are quick to criticise their ideas. In these ways, you may have taught your students to behave passively. To change their behaviour, you can modify their educational environment so they will learn new responses. Reward behaviours that you want to see (raising hands, correctly answering questions and so on). For example, praise students not only for giving correct answers but also for participating. If an answer is incorrect, point this out in a non-punitive way while still reinforcing the student’s participation. Modifying the environment to change behaviour is often not as easy as it sounds, but this example illustrates one way in which a behaviourist might try to rearrange the environmental consequences rather than jump to the conclusion that the situation is hopeless.

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GRADUATE SPOTLIGHT Name: Mary Salama Degree studied: Bachelor of Psychological Science, Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science, Bachelor of Science (Hons.), and Masters of Psychology (Clinical) University: University of New South Wales, University of Southern Queensland, and Australian College of Applied Psychology Current position: Psychologist (Clinical Registrar) Employer: Elite Psychology Services, RWPsychology Psychology Practice, and The Hills Private Hospital (Healthscope)

What interested you about working in psychology?

help them achieve their therapeutic goals and manage their mental health symptoms.

I was interested in working in psychology as it was a way to understand myself and people around me. Psychology applies to every aspect of life and utilises scientific methods to understand human behaviour.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

What have you been up to since graduation? Following the completion of my Master’s degree, I was provided with the opportunity to work in a range of fields that related to my university placements. I currently work in a private hospital and private practice settings, which I find highly enjoyable and rewarding. What does your job involve? My job is very interesting in the sense that no two days are the same and I get to work with a range of populations and presentations. When a client arrives at the clinic or hospital, I would do an initial assessment to identify their symptoms and therapeutic goals. The client and I would work together as I apply evidence-based strategies to

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The most fulfilling aspect of my work is being able to observe the change and growth my clients experience. It is such a rewarding career as you are able to offer compassion, inspire hope, and teach others the skills required to overcome their current challenges. Working as a psychologist will also allow you to further your self-development and grow as an individual. What advice would you give to students wanting to work in psychology? I would recommend that you attempt to gain experience in the field and try to develop your skills outside of university. Once you gain experience in the field, you will gain insight on what area in psychology you would like to work in. I would also suggest that you connect with people in the field and ask for advice when you need help.

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CHAPTER TWO

Studying behaviour scientifically © lightpoet/123RF

Kimberley Norris

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 2.1

Describe factors that underpin the scientific study of behaviour and identify the characteristics of a good theory

LO 2.2

Explain how psychologists address ethical issues in human and animal research

LO 2.3

Identify the key features of descriptive, correlational and experimental research

LO 2.4

Identify factors that threaten the validity of research and describe how psychologists can protect against these

LO 2.5

Explain how an understanding of statistics helps people to be smart consumers and describe how psychologists use statistics in their research

LO 2.6

Explain how we can use critical thinking skills to evaluate claims made in everyday life

In a strategically lit television studio, the audience is waiting in anticipation. The presenter, a psychic medium, has an expression of fixed concentration, pacing up and down, occasionally lifting his eyes to the heavens. He pauses in the centre of the stage, looks toward the audience and says, ‘I’m getting the letter “J” coming through. Is the letter “J” of significance to anyone—a John maybe, or Jim?’ A middle-aged woman cries out excitedly, tears in her eyes, ‘My father’s name was John!’ [presenter] ‘Yes, I believe it is your father. I’m sensing that his death was quite distressing for you, and there’s still a lot of pain and grief there. He wants you to know that he is without pain and is watching over you—every time you get a cold shiver, it’s him reaching out to you.’

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[audience member] ‘Oh, thank you, I needed to know he was okay.’ Psychic mediums enjoy immense popularity, with people tuning in to television shows, radio broadcasts, telephone hotlines and live shows in the hope of communicating with deceased loved ones. ‘Fantasy-prone’ is an easy and popular explanation for people’s apparent willingness to accept psychic phenomena as fact. A curious scientist would also consider whether plausible alternative explanations exist and think of ways to test them. We’ll soon see how an Australian researcher and her colleague have done just that.

Science frequently has all the mystery of a detective story. Consider the psychological puzzle of bystander intervention. If you were in trouble and needed help from bystanders, would you receive it? Ordinary citizens often act decisively to help someone in need (Figure 2.1). But as other tragedies illustrate, people do not always come to the aid of others. Why do bystanders sometimes risk injury and death to assist a stranger, yet at other times fail to intervene—even when helping or calling the police entails little personal risk? In this chapter we explore the principles and methods that form the foundation of psychological science. These principles also promote a way of thinking—critical thinking—that can serve you well in many aspects of your life.

LO 2.1 SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES IN PSYCHOLOGY At its core, science is an approach to asking and answering questions about the universe around us. Certainly, there are other ways we learn about our world and ourselves: through reason, intuition and common sense; religion and spirituality; the arts; and the teachings of family, friends and others. What distinguishes science from these approaches is a process guided by certain principles.

Scientific attitudes Curiosity, scepticism and open-mindedness are the driving forces behind scientific inquiry. Like a child who constantly asks ‘Why?’, the good scientist is intensely and persistently curious. And like a master detective, the good scientist is an incurable sceptic. Each claim is met with the reply ‘Show me your evidence’. Scientists must also remain open-minded to conclusions supported by facts, even if those conclusions refute their own beliefs. Researchers such as Krissy Wilson, at Charles Sturt University, were curious as to why people are prone to paranormal beliefs, including those associated with psychic phenomena. Wilson and colleagues have proposed that those who believe in paranormal processes have poor probabilistic reasoning, have a tendency to misremember events (such as recalling more of what a psychic gets right in a reading, versus what they get wrong) and are higher in fantasy proneness than non-believers. At present they are undertaking studies to test their explanations.

Gathering evidence: steps in the scientific process Science involves a continuous interplay between observing and explaining events. Figure 2.2 shows the five steps that reflect how scientific inquiry often proceeds.

Figure 2.1   What determines whether a bystander will help a victim? © McGraw-Hill Education/Rick Brady

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Step 1: Identify a question of interest  Curiosity sparks the first step: identifying a question of interest. From personal experiences, news events, scientific articles and books, and other sources, scientists observe something that piques their interest and they ask a question

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CHAPTER 2 Stud ying beh a v io u r scientifica lly

USING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD Examining bystander intervention:

1 3

STEP

Why do people sometimes fail to help a victim in need during an emergency, even when there is little or no personal risk? What factors increase or decrease the likelihood that a bystander will intervene?

IDENTIFY

Identify question of interest Kitty Genovese is murdered. The attack lasts over 30 minutes. Neighbours fail even to call the police until it is too late. The public is shocked. Why did no one help?

STEP

HYPOTHESISE Gather information and form hypothesis A di°usion of responsibility may have occurred. Hypothesis: IF multiple bystanders are present, THEN each bystander’s likelihood of intervening will decrease.

TEST Test hypothesis by conducting research Conduct an experiment by creating an emergency in a controlled setting. Manipulate (control) the number of other bystanders that each participant believes to be present, and then measure whether and how quickly each participant helps the victim.

5

STEP

2

STEP

BUILD

4

STEP

Build a body of knowledge; ask further questions; conduct more research; develop and test theories Additional experiments support the hypothesis. A theory of social impact is developed based on these findings. The theory is then tested directly by deriving new hypotheses and conducting new research.

ANALYSE Analyse data, draw tentative conclusions, and report f indings The data reveal that helping decreases as the perceived number of bystanders increases. The hypothesis is supported. (If the data are found not to support the hypothesis, revise hypothesis or procedures and retest.)

Figure 2.2  Using the scientific method

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about it. Wilson and colleagues observed that many people hold paranormal and other anomalous beliefs, and then asked ‘Why?’.

Step 2: Gather information and form a hypothesis  Next, scientists examine whether any studies, theories or other information already exist that might help answer their question. Then they form a hypothesis. Noting a pattern in the types of people who reported paranormal beliefs, Wilson and French proposed the existence of a ‘belief personality’ typified by fantasy proneness, poor probabilistic reasoning, and inaccurate memories of events. This tentative explanation is then translated into a hypothesis, a specific prediction about some phenomenon that often takes the form of an ‘if-then’ statement: ‘IF an individual is prone to fantasy, inaccurate memories of events and has poor probabilistic reasoning, THEN they are more likely to report paranormal beliefs’. Step 3: Test the hypothesis by conducting research  The third step is to test the hypothesis by conducting research. In one instance, Wilson and French (2008) showed a group of participants (some of whom held paranormal beliefs, some who did not) a video in which someone was receiving a reading from an alleged psychic. Depending on the condition they had been assigned to, the participants then watched an interview with the person who had received the reading in which she either correctly or incorrectly recalled information the psychic had provided. Unbeknown to participants, the video they viewed was entirely scripted and actually performed by actors. To test whether there were differences in the recall of information between believers and non-believers, measures assessing paranormal beliefs and recall of the interview were also completed by all participants. Step 4: Analyse data, draw tentative conclusions and report findings  At the fourth step, researchers analyse the information (called data) they collect, draw tentative conclusions, and report their findings to the scientific community. Wilson and French found that those participants who held paranormal beliefs reported less accurate recall of the psychic reading, irrespective of whether they were exposed to misinformation (i.e. incorrect recollections by the person who received the reading) or not. In contrast, non-believers’ recall was quite accurate unless exposed to misinformation—and then it was as poor as the believers. These results suggest that those with paranormal beliefs are prone to inaccurate recall regardless of misinformation effects, suggesting the beliefs reflect inherent personal characteristics rather than vulnerability to external cues. Wilson and French then submitted a report describing their research to a scientific journal. Expert reviewers favourably judged the quality and importance of the research, so the journal published the article. Publishing research is essential to scientific progress. It allows fellow scientists to learn about new ideas and findings, to evaluate the research and to challenge or expand on it. Step 5: Build a body of knowledge  At the fifth step, scientists build a body of knowledge about the topic in question. They ask further questions (e.g. ‘What other factors affect belief in the paranormal?’), formulate new hypotheses and test those hypotheses by conducting more research. As evidence mounts, scientists may attempt to build theories. A theory is a set of formal statements that explains how and why certain events are related to one another. Theories are broader than hypotheses. Scientists use theories to formulate new hypotheses, which are then tested by conducting more research. In this manner, the scientific process becomes self-correcting. If research consistently supports the hypotheses derived from a theory, confidence in the theory increases. If predictions made by the theory are not supported, then it will need to be modified or, ultimately, discarded.

Two approaches to understanding behaviour Humans have a strong desire to understand why things happen. Why do scientists favour the preceding step-by-step approach to understanding behaviour over the approach typically involved in everyday common sense: hindsight?

Hindsight (after-the-fact understanding) Many people erroneously believe that psychology is nothing more than common sense. ‘I knew that all along!’ is a common response to some psychological research. For example, decades ago a New York Times book reviewer criticised a report titled The American Soldier (Stouffer et al., 1949a; 1949b), which summarised the results of a study of the attitudes and behaviour of soldiers during World War II. The reviewer blasted the government for spending a lot of money to ‘tell us nothing we don’t already know’.

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Consider the following statements. How would you account for each of them? 1. Compared to Caucasian soldiers, African-American soldiers were less motivated to become officers. 2. During basic training, soldiers from rural areas had higher morale and adapted better than soldiers from large cities. 3. Soldiers in Europe were more motivated to return home while the fighting was going on than they were after the war ended. You should have no difficulty explaining these results. Typical reasoning might go something like this: (1) Due to widespread prejudice, African-American soldiers knew that they had little chance of becoming officers. Why should they torment themselves wanting something that was unattainable? (2) It’s obvious that the rigours of basic training would seem easier to people from farm settings, who were used to hard work and rising at the crack of dawn. (3) Any sane person would have wanted to go home while bullets were flying and people were dying. Did your explanations resemble these? If so, they are perfectly reasonable. There is one catch, however. The results of the actual study were the opposite of the preceding statements. In fact, African-American soldiers were more motivated than Caucasian soldiers to become officers, city boys had higher morale than farm boys during basic training, and soldiers were more eager to return home after the war ended than during the fighting. When told these actual results, our students quickly find explanations for them. In short, it is easy to arrive at reasonable after-the-fact explanations for almost any result. In everyday life, hindsight (after-the-fact explanation) is probably our most common method of trying to understand behaviour. The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard noted, ‘Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards’. The major limitation of relying solely on hindsight is that past events can usually be explained in many ways, and there is no sure way to know which—if any—of the explanations is correct. Despite this drawback, after-the-fact understanding can provide insights and is often the foundation on which further scientific inquiry is built.

Understanding through prediction, control and theory building Whenever possible, scientists prefer to test their understanding of ‘what causes what’ more directly. If we truly understand the causes of a given behaviour, then we should be able to predict the conditions under which that behaviour will occur in the future. Furthermore, if we can control those conditions (e.g. in the laboratory), then we should be able to produce that behaviour. Wilson and French’s research illustrates this approach. They predicted that the existence of paranormal beliefs would make people more vulnerable to the misinformation effect (i.e. remembering inaccurate information). Next, they carefully staged a psychic reading and controlled participants’ exposure to misinformation. Their prediction was partially supported—people with paranormal beliefs did remember inaccurate information, but this occurred regardless of whether they were exposed to misinformation within the experimental paradigm. Understanding through prediction and control is a scientific alternative to after-the-fact understanding. Theory building is the strongest test of scientific understanding because good theories generate an integrated network of predictions. A good theory has several important characteristics. • It incorporates existing knowledge within a broad framework; that is, it organises information in a meaningful way. • It is testable. It generates new hypotheses whose accuracy can be evaluated by gathering new evidence (Figure 2.3). • The predictions made by the theory are supported by the findings of new research. • It conforms to the law of parsimony: if two theories can explain and predict the same phenomenon equally well, the simpler theory is the preferred one.

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Figure 2.3  The importance of testability Is a scientist’s claim of discovering an ‘eternal life potion’ a testable hypothesis? Yes, because it is possible to show the hypothesis to be false. If people drink it but still die at some point in time, then we have refuted the hypothesis. Therefore it is testable. It is, however, impossible to absolutely prove true. If a person drinks the potion, then no matter how long she or he lives— even a million years—she or he might die the next day. Thus, we cannot prove that the potion can make you live forever. © McGraw-Hill Education

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Even when a theory is supported by many successful predictions, it is never regarded as an absolute truth. It is always possible that future observations will contradict it or that a newer, more accurate theory will displace it. The displacement of old beliefs and theories by newer ones is the essence of scientific progress. Finally, although scientists use prediction as a test of ‘understanding’, this does not mean that prediction requires understanding. Even a child can predict that thunder will follow lightning without knowing why it does so. But prediction based on understanding (i.e. theory building) has advantages: it satisfies our curiosity and generates principles that can be applied to new situations.

Defining and measuring variables Psychologists study variables and the relations among them. A variable, quite simply, is any characteristic or factor that can vary. People’s height, hair colour, income, age, sex and average grades are variables: they vary from one person to another, and many also vary within a given person over time. Many variables that psychologists study represent abstract concepts that cannot be observed directly. For example, ‘self-esteem’, ‘stress’ and ‘intelligence’ are concepts that refer to people’s internal qualities. We might say that Tania has high self-esteem, Shaun is intelligent and Claire feels stressed, but how do we know this? We can’t directly look inside their heads and see ‘self-esteem’, ‘intelligence’ or ‘stress’, yet such concepts must be capable of being measured if we are to study them scientifically. Because any variable may mean different things to different people, scientists must define their terms clearly. And when conducting research, scientists must also define variables operationally. An operational definition defines a variable in terms of the specific procedures used to produce or measure it. Operational definitions translate abstract concepts into something observable and measurable. To illustrate, suppose we want to study the relationship between stress and academic performance among university students. How shall we operationally define our variables? ‘Academic performance’ could mean a single test score, a course mark or one’s overall average course result. So, for our study, let’s operationally define it as students’ final exam scores in an introductory psychology course. We also have many options for operationally defining exam stress. See the ‘Levels of analysis’ section to consider how exam stress can be defined from biological, psychological, and environmental and social perspectives. Measurement is challenging because psychologists study incredibly varied and complex processes. Some processes are directly observable, but others are not. Fortunately, psychologists have numerous measurement techniques at their disposal (Figure 2.4).

Self-reports and reports by others Self-report measures ask people to report on their own knowledge, attitudes, feelings, experiences or behaviour. This information is often gathered through interviews or questionnaires. The accuracy of self-reports hinges on people’s ability and willingness to respond honestly. Especially when questions focus on sensitive topics, such as sexual habits or drug use, self-reports may be distorted by social desirability bias, the tendency to respond in a socially

(a)

(b)

(c)

Figure 2.4  (a) Self-report, (b) physiological and (c) behavioural measures are important scientific tools for psychologists. (left) © rido/123RF (middle) © Shutterstock/StockLite (right) © Shutterstock/CandyBox Images

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Levels of analysis MEASURING EXAM STRESS In measuring exam stress, we do not have to limit ourselves to one operational definition of stress or of academic performance. Incorporating multiple levels of analysis, we might measure students’ pre-exam stress hormones and self-reported worry, their nervous habits during the exam and the exam’s difficulty. We can then examine how these different stress measures relate to immediate exam

BIOLOGICAL LEVEL Before, during and after the final exam, we can physiologically measure students’: ⊲ stress hormone levels ⊲ heart rate and respiration rate ⊲ muscle tension and sweating.

performance and students’ overall average course result. This strategy of measuring a conceptual variable (i.e. a ‘construct’) in multiple ways can yield a much more complete picture than does using a single type of measure. If you were designing a research study, what measures would you choose to operationally define exam stress?

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL LEVEL We can measure aspects of the academic environment that create greater or lesser demands on students, such as: ⊲ the difficulty of the exam and of the overall course marking scale ⊲ time pressures and room noise during the exam ⊲ the level of achievement expectations set by the students’ parents.

PSYCHOLOGICAL LEVEL ⊲ Two weeks before the final exam, we can administer a personality test to students that measures their self-reported general level of anxiety over taking exams. ⊲ Just before the final exam, we can ask students to report their level of worry, tension and anxiety. ⊲ D uring the exam, we can directly observe ‘nervous behaviours’ such as fingernail biting, foot wiggling and hair pulling.

acceptable manner rather than according to how one truly feels or behaves. Researchers try to minimise this bias by establishing rapport with participants and allowing them to respond confidentially or anonymously. Questionnaires can also be designed to reduce social desirability bias. We can also get information about someone’s behaviour by obtaining reports made by other people, such as parents, spouses and teachers who know the person. For example, a job supervisor might be asked to rate a worker’s competence. As with self-reports, researchers try to maximise participants’ honesty in reporting about other people.

Measures of overt behaviour Another measurement approach is to record overt (i.e. directly observable) behaviour. In an experiment on learning, we might measure how many errors a person makes while performing a task. In an experiment on drug effects, we might measure people’s reaction time—how rapidly they respond to a stimulus (such as the onset of a light)—after ingesting various amounts of alcohol. Psychologists also develop coding systems to record different categories of behaviour. While a parent and child jointly perform a task, we might code the parent’s behaviour into categories such as ‘praises child’, ‘assists child’ and ‘criticises child’. Observers must be trained to use the coding system properly so that their measurements will be reliable (i.e. consistent). If two observers watching the same behaviours repeatedly disagree in their coding, then the data are unreliable and of little use.

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Humans and other animals may behave differently when they know they are being observed. To counter this problem, researchers may disguise their presence or use unobtrusive measures, which record behaviour in a way that keeps participants unaware that certain responses are being measured. For example, if we ask people to report their mood on a questionnaire, then they are aware that we’re measuring their mood. In contrast, we could have people perform tasks—such as rating pleasant and emotionally neutral pictures and reading various types of words—that actually assess people’s moods but do so in a way that is not obvious to the participants; these measures are unobtrusive (Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2008). Psychologists also gather information about behaviour by using archival measures, which are records or documents that already exist. For example, to evaluate the effectiveness of an initiative to reduce schoolchildren’s disruptive classroom behaviours, researchers examined school records (e.g. student suspensions, trips to the principal’s office) gathered before and after the program was implemented (Pelham et al., 2005).

Psychological tests Psychologists develop and use specialised tests to measure many types of variables. For example, personality tests, which assess personality traits, often contain questions that ask how a person typically feels or behaves (e.g. ‘True or false: I prefer to be alone rather than in social gatherings’). In essence, such tests are specialised self-reports. Other personality tests present ambiguous stimuli (e.g. pictures that could have different meanings) and personality traits are judged based on how a person interprets these stimuli. Other psychological tests consist of performance tasks. For example, intelligence tests may ask people to assemble objects or solve arithmetic problems. Neuropsychological tests help diagnose normal and abnormal brain functioning by measuring how well people perform mental and physical tasks, such as recalling lists of words or manipulating objects (Abramowitz & Caron, 2010).

Physiological measures Psychologists also record physiological responses to assess what people are experiencing. Measures of heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, hormonal secretions and brain functioning have long been the mainstay of biopsychology, but these measures have become increasingly important in many other areas of psychology. Physiological responses can have their own interpretive problems, the main one being that we don’t always understand what they mean. For example, if a person shows increased heart rate and brain activity in a particular situation, what emotion or thought is being expressed? Nevertheless, our knowledge about links between patterns of physiological activity and specific psychological processes is rapidly expanding (Rolls, 2010). In sum, psychologists can measure behaviour in many ways, each with advantages and disadvantages. To gain greater confidence in their findings, researchers may use several types of measures within a single study.

CONCEPT CHECK • In everyday life, we typically use hindsight to explain behaviour. Psychologists prefer to test their understanding through prediction, control and theory building. • A good theory organises facts, informs testable hypotheses, is supported by data, and is parsimonious.

LO 2.2 ETHICA L PRINCIPLES IN RESEA RCH When designing their research, psychologists must weigh the knowledge and possible applications to be gained against the potential risks to research participants. To safeguard the rights of participants, researchers must adhere to ethical standards set by government regulations and national psychological organisations. Animal subjects must also be treated in accord with established ethical guidelines. At academic and research institutions, special committees review the ethical issues involved in research proposals. If a proposed study is considered ethically questionable, it must be modified or the research cannot be conducted.

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Embedded in the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines for human participants (NHMRC, 2007) and for animals (NHMRC, 2004) are principles of ethical conduct. These fundamental principles include: merit: has a potential benefit or contributes to knowledge • • integrity: done honestly and is open to public scrutiny • justice: participants are treated fairly • beneficence: its benefits to individuals and/or the wider community outweigh any risks of harm or discomfort to participants • respect: researchers recognise and maintain each person’s privacy, welfare, beliefs, culture and capacity to give informed consent (NHMRC, 2007).

Ethical standards in human research The NHMRC also requires that any psychological research project be fully explained to potential participants so that they can give informed consent to their involvement. This includes: who is undertaking the research • • the research’s purpose and procedures • their participation is voluntary and they can withdraw at any time • the research’s potential benefits and any potential risks involved • all information they provide will be kept confidential • their identity will remain anonymous • any financial benefit to the researchers or potential conflict of interest • the research has been approved by an ethics committee. The principle of informed consent emphasises the importance of risk/benefit analysis: a proposed study’s potential risks must be identified and weighed against its potential benefits. When children, seriously disturbed mental patients or other vulnerable people who cannot give true informed consent are involved, consent must be obtained from their parents or guardians. To safeguard participants’ right to privacy, researchers typically gather and report data in ways that keep participants’ identity anonymous or confidential. Deception, which occurs when participants are misled about the nature of a study, is controversial. Deception violates the principle of informed consent, but its proponents argue that when studying certain types of behaviours, deception is the only way to obtain natural, spontaneous responses from participants. Take for example Darley and Latané’s (1968) bystander experiment in which they staged an ‘emergency’ in their laboratory and recorded people’s responses. Male undergraduate participants were told that they would be discussing ‘university experiences’. To ensure privacy, they would be in separate rooms, they would communicate through an intercom system and the experimenter would not listen to their conversation. The students understood that they would take turns speaking for several rounds. In each round, a student would have 2 minutes to speak, during which time the others would be unable to interrupt or be heard because their microphones would be turned off. As the discussion began over the intercom, a speaker described his difficulties adjusting to university life and disclosed that he suffered from seizures. During the next round, this same speaker began to gasp, saying: ‘. . . Could somebody-er-er—help . . . [choking sounds] . . . I’m gonna die-er-er—help . . . seizure’ [chokes, then silence]’ (Darley & Latané, 1968, p. 379). Unbeknown to the students, they were actually listening to a recording. This ensured that all of them were exposed to the identical ‘emergency’. Thus, to investigate the bystander phenomenon, participants were deceived into believing that the emergency (in this case the seizure) was significant and real, even though this wasn’t the case. If participants had known that no one was in danger, this would have affected how they responded. Guidelines permit deception only when no other feasible alternative is available and the study has benefits that clearly outweigh the ethical costs of deceiving participants. When deception is used, the true purpose of the study should be explained to participants after it is over. The overwhelming majority of psychological studies do not involve deception. In addition to NHMRC guidelines (available at www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines-publications/e72), the Australian Psychological Society (APS) also has a Code of Ethics to which all members are bound. The Code provides guidance on conducting research ethically, as well as the practice of psychological interventions, and professional conduct. The Code of Ethics is available at the APS website www.psychology.org.au.

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Figure 2.5  Ethical standards are designed to protect the welfare of humans and non-humans in psychological research. (left) © A nnabella Bluesky/Photo Researchers, Inc. (right) © V olker Steger/Photo Researchers, Inc.

Ethical standards in animal research According to the APA’s Committee on Animal Research and Ethics (CARE, 2005), animals are subjects in 7 to 8 per cent of psychological studies. This includes research done in the wild and in controlled settings. Rodents and birds comprise 90 per cent of the animals studied; non-human primates comprise 5 per cent. Some psychologists study animals to discover principles that shed light on human behaviour, and some do so to learn about other species (Figure 2.5). The vast majority of psychologists and university psychology majors believe that animal research is necessary for scientific progress in psychology (Plous, 1996a; 1996b). As in medical research, however, some studies expose animals to conditions considered too hazardous for humans. The NHMRC (2004) guidelines (available at https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-ethics/animal-research-ethics) require that animals are used only in research where the benefits for humans or animals are justified (e.g. improvement of health or welfare). This determination, however, is not always easy to make. For example, should researchers be allowed to inject a drug into an animal in order to learn whether that drug might permanently impair memory? Before undertaking animal research, approval is required from an ethics committee that has been properly constituted according to NHMRC guidelines (NHMRC, 2004; 2007). Animal research is debated both outside and within the psychological community (Herzog, 2005). Psychologists agree that it is morally wrong to subject animals to needless suffering. Many scientists, however, do not agree with the former head of the American Anti-Vivisection Society, who maintained that animals should never be used in research that ‘is not for the benefit of the animals involved’ (Goodman, 1982, p. 61). Proponents point to numerous important medical and psychological advances made possible by animal research. They ask, ‘Does the prospect of finding a cure for cancer or of identifying harmful drug effects or the causes of psychological disorders justify exposing some animals to harm?’ Proponents also note that animal research has benefited animals. For example, using knowledge discovered in studies with dogs, researchers have changed the behaviour of coyotes, bears and other wild animals that were endangering humans or livestock, thereby sparing those wild animals from being killed (Gustavson & Gustavson, 1985). Although animal research has declined slightly in recent decades, the ethical questions remain as vexing as ever. What is most encouraging is that the welfare of animals in research is receiving the careful attention it deserves.

CONCEPT CHECK • Psychological researchers follow extensive ethical guidelines to protect the rights and well-being of participants. Before human or animal research can be conducted, it must be approved by ethics review boards, which ensure that such rights have been considered in the study design.

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LO 2.3 METHOD S OF RESEA RCH Like detectives searching for clues to solve a case, psychologists conduct research to gather evidence about behaviour and its causes. The research method chosen depends on the problem being studied, the investigator’s objectives and ethical principles.

Descriptive research: recording events The most basic goal of science is to describe phenomena. In psychology, descriptive research seeks to identify how humans and other animals behave, particularly in natural settings. Such research provides valuable information about the diversity of behaviour and may yield clues about potential cause–effect relations that are later tested experimentally. Case studies, naturalistic observation and surveys are research methods commonly used to describe behaviour.

Case studies: the Hmong Sudden Death Syndrome A case study is an in-depth analysis of an individual, group or event. By studying a single case in detail, researchers typically hope to discover principles that hold true for people or situations in general. Data may be gathered through observation, interviews, psychological tests, physiological recordings or task performance. Case studies have several advantages. First, when a rare phenomenon occurs, this method enables scientists to study it closely. Second, a case study may challenge the validity of a theory or widely held scientific belief. Third, a case study can be a vibrant source of new ideas that may subsequently be examined using other research methods. Consider the following example. Vang is a former Hmong (Laotian) soldier who resettled in the United States in 1980 after escaping the ravages of war in Laos. Vang had traumatic memories of wartime destruction and severe guilt about leaving his brothers and sisters behind when he fled with his wife and child (Figure 2.6). The culture shock created by moving from rural Laos to the urban US increased Vang’s stress. According to a mental health team, Vang experienced problems almost immediately: [He] could not sleep the first night in the apartment, nor the second, nor the third . . . Vang came to see his resettlement worker . . . Moua Lee. Vang told Moua that the first night he woke suddenly, short of breath, from a  dream in which a cat was sitting on his chest. The second night . . . a figure, like a large black dog, came to his bed and sat on his chest . . . and he grew quickly and dangerously short of breath. The third night, a tall, white-skinned female spirit . . . lay on top of him. Her weight made it . . . difficult for him to breathe . . . After 15 minutes, the spirit left him and he awoke, screaming. (Tobin & Friedman, 1983, p. 440)

Vang’s report attracted scientific interest because about 25 Laotian refugees in the United States had already died of what was termed the ‘Hmong Sudden Death Syndrome’. The cases were similar to Vang’s: a healthy person died in his or her sleep after exhibiting laboured breathing, screaming and frantic movements. It was concluded that the deaths were triggered by the combined stress of resettlement, guilt over abandoning family in Laos and the Hmongs’ cultural beliefs about angry spirits. Researchers concluded that Vang might have been a survivor of the sudden death syndrome. The role of cultural beliefs is suggested by what happened next. Vang went for treatment to a Hmong woman regarded as a shaman (a person, acting as both doctor and priest, who is believed to work with spirits and the supernatural). She told him his problems were caused by unhappy spirits and performed ceremonies to release the spirits. Vang’s nightmares and breathing problems during sleep ceased.

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Figure 2.6  Many Hmong refugees who escaped the ravages of war in their homeland experienced great stress and guilt when they resettled in the U nited States. This stress, combined with cultural beliefs about angry spirits, may have contributed to the Hmong Sudden D eath Syndrome, which eventually claimed more than 40 lives. © Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters

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Vang’s case study suggests that cultural beliefs and stress may profoundly influence physical well-being. This work was followed by other studies of Hmong immigrants and stimulated interest in the relationship between cultural beliefs and health (Maher & Ho, 2009). The major limitation of a case study is that it is a poor method for determining cause–effect relationships. In most case studies, explanations of behaviour occur after the fact and there is little opportunity to rule out alternative explanations. The fact that Vang’s symptoms ended after seeing a shaman might not have had anything to do with his cultural beliefs; it could have been pure coincidence, or other changes in Vang’s life could have been responsible. A second potential drawback concerns the generalisability of the findings: will the principles uncovered in a case study hold true for other people or in other situations? The question of generalisability pertains to all research methods, but drawing broad conclusions from a case study can be particularly risky. The key issue is the degree to which the case under study is representative of other people or situations. A third drawback is the possible lack of objectivity in the way data are gathered and interpreted. Such bias can occur in any type of research, but case studies can be particularly worrisome because they are often based largely on the researcher’s subjective impressions. A sceptical attitude requires that claims based on case studies be followed up by more controlled methods before they are accepted. In everyday life, we should adopt a similarly sceptical view. When you encounter claims based on case examples or anecdotes, remember that the case may be atypical or the person making the claim may be biased. Try to seek out other evidence to evaluate the claim.

Naturalistic observation: bullies in the schoolyard In naturalistic observation the researcher observes behaviour as it occurs in a natural setting and attempts to avoid influencing that behaviour (Figure 2.7). For example, by observing African chimpanzees in the wild, British researcher Jane Goodall (1986) and other scientists found that chimpanzees display behaviours, such as making and using tools, which were formerly believed to lie only within the human domain (Lonsdorf, 2006). Naturalistic observation is also used to study human behaviour. Consider bullying, a topic that has received increasing attention from psychologists (Poteat & Rivers, 2010). Were you ever bullied at school? If so, did any schoolmates step in to help? In a 3-year study, psychologists recorded children’s playground interactions during breaks and lunchtime at two primary schools in Toronto (Hawkins et al., 2001). Their main goal was to describe peer interventions Figure 2.7  Psychologists conduct naturalistic during episodes of schoolyard bullying. How often do schoolmates intervene? observations in many settings, including the schoolyard. What strategies do they use? Are peer interventions effective? © Bananastock/AGE Fotostock To answer these questions, the researchers developed coding systems so that the children’s behaviour could be classified into meaningful categories. To illustrate, here are three of 10 categories representing different intervention strategies: • verbal assertion: verbally requesting that the bullying stop, without verbally attacking the bully or victim  (e.g. ‘Stop it’, ‘Knock it off’) • physical assertion: physically stepping in to separate the bully and victim but not physically attacking either one • physical aggression: hitting, pushing, shoving or otherwise physically engaging the bully or victim. Overall, of the 306 bullying episodes observed, schoolmates were present 88 per cent of the time but intervened in only 19 per cent of the episodes. In order, the three most common types of intervention were verbal assertion alone, physical aggression alone and verbal assertion combined with physical assertion. Like case studies, naturalistic observation does not permit clear causal conclusions. In the real world, many variables simultaneously influence behaviour and they cannot be disentangled with this research technique. There is also the possibility of bias in how researchers interpret what they observe. Finally, even the mere presence of an observer may disrupt a person’s or animal’s behaviour. Thus, researchers may disguise their presence so that participants are not aware of being observed. Fortunately, when disguise is not feasible, people and other animals typically adapt to and ignore the presence of an observer as time passes. This process is called habituation, and researchers may delay their data collection until participants have habituated to the observers’ presence.

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Survey research: adolescents’ early exposure to alcohol In survey research information about a topic is obtained by administering questionnaires or interviews to many people. Political polls are a well-known example, but surveys also ask about participants’ behaviours, experiences and attitudes on wide-ranging issues. For example, Mason and colleagues (2011) investigated whether early alcohol use predicts subsequent alcohol problems in mid-adolescents. The researchers surveyed students in Victoria, Australia (n = 984), and in Washington State, United States (n = 961), at around 13 and 15 years of age. Both samples were selected to be typical of the respective adolescent populations. The students’ responses supported the hypothesis that using alcohol at an early age contributes to more serious alcohol problems later in adolescence. How can the responses from 1945 students accurately reflect what is occurring among all adolescents in Victoria and Washington State? In survey research, a population consists of all of the individuals about whom we are interested in drawing a conclusion, such as ‘Australian and American adolescents’. Because it is often impractical to study the entire population, we would administer the survey to a sample, which is a subset of individuals drawn from the larger population. To draw valid conclusions about a population from a survey, the sample must be representative: a representative sample is one that reflects the important characteristics of the population (Figure 2.8). A sample composed of 80 per cent males would not be representative of the student body at a university where only 50 per cent of the students are men. To obtain a representative sample, survey researchers typically use a procedure called random sampling, in which every member of the population has an equal probability of being chosen to participate in the survey. A common variation of this procedure, called stratified random sampling, is to divide the population into subgroups based on characteristics such as gender or ethnic identity. Suppose the population is 55 per cent female. In this case, 55 per cent of the spaces in the sample would be allocated to women and 45 per cent to men. Random sampling is then used to select the individual women and men who will be in the survey. When a representative sample is surveyed, we can be confident (though never completely certain) that the findings closely portray the population as a whole. This is the strongest advantage of survey research. Modern political opinion polls typically use such excellent sampling procedures that, just prior to elections, they can reasonably predict who will win a national election from a sample of about 1000 people. In contrast, unrepresentative samples can produce distorted results. It is better to have a smaller representative sample than a larger unrepresentative one. In one famous example, a mail survey of almost 2 million US voters in 1936 by Literary Digest magazine predicted that Republican presidential candidate Alf Landon would easily defeat Democratic candidate Franklin Roosevelt. When the election took place, Roosevelt won in a landslide!

E

Unrepresentative sample

Population

D A

C E

B

A

D

B

Sampling procedure E

C

A

D Representative sample

B C

Figure 2.8  Surveys and sampling A representative sample possesses the important characteristics of the population in the same proportions. D ata from a representative sample are more likely to generalise to the larger population than are data from an unrepresentative sample.

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How could a prediction based on 2 million people be so massively wrong? The answer is that the survey’s sample was unrepresentative of the population that actually voted. The researchers obtained names and addresses from telephone directories, car registration and magazine subscription lists. In 1936, most poorer Americans did not have telephones, cars or magazine subscriptions. Thus, the sample under-represented poorer socioeconomic groups and over-represented wealthier people: bad sample, bad prediction. In sum, always consider the nature of the sample when interpreting survey results. In scientific research, surveys are an efficient method for collecting a large amount of information about people’s opinions, experiences and lifestyles, and they can reveal changes in people’s beliefs and habits over many years. But there are also several major drawbacks to surveys. First, survey data cannot be used to draw conclusions about cause and effect. Second, surveys rely on participants’ self-reports, which can be distorted by social desirability bias, by interviewer bias, by people’s inaccurate perceptions of their own behaviour and by misinterpreting survey questions. Third, unrepresentative samples can lead to faulty generalisations about how an entire population would respond. And finally, even when surveys use proper random sampling procedures, once in a while—simply by chance—a sample that is randomly chosen will turn out not to be representative of the larger population. Overall, in properly conducted professional and scientific surveys, this happens less than 5 per cent of the time, but it does happen.

THINKING CRITICALLY Should you trust internet and pop media surveys? Tom fills out a political-attitude survey posted on the internet. Claire mails in a dating-satisfaction survey that came in a fashion magazine to which she subscribes. Sam responds to a local TV news phone-in survey on a tax issue (‘Call our number, press “1” to agree, “2” to disagree’). For each survey, can the results be trusted to reflect the general public’s attitudes? Think about it, then see the solution at the end of the chapter.

Correlational research: measuring associations between events What factors distinguish happily married couples from those headed for divorce? Do firstborn children differ in personality from later-born children? Is monetary wealth related to happiness? These and countless other psychological questions ask about associations (or relationships) between naturally occurring events or variables. To examine such relationships, scientists typically conduct correlational research, in which they relate one set of scores to another. In its simplest form, correlational research has three components: 1. The researcher measures one variable (X), such as people’s birth order. 2. The researcher measures a second variable (Y), such as a personality trait. 3. The researcher statistically determines whether X and Y are related. Remember that correlational research involves measuring variables, not manipulating them. As such, it is not possible to determine cause and effect when using correlational designs. If a variable is manipulated, we are measuring cause-and-effect and no longer have a correlational design. Naturalistic observation and surveys are often used not only to describe events but also to study associations (relationships) between variables. For example, in the naturalistic observation study of schoolyard bullying, the researchers examined associations between the children’s gender and peer intervention (Hawkins et al., 2001). They found that girls were more likely to intervene when the bully and victim were female and that boys were more likely to intervene when the bully and victim were male. Other types of studies also fall under the correlational umbrella, as our ‘Research close-up’ illustrates.

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RESEARCH CLOSE-UP V ery happy people Source: Ed D iener and Martin E. P. Seligman (2002). V ery happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 81–84.

Introduction What characteristics distinguish very happy people from other people? Thousands of studies have examined depressed, anxious or otherwise unhappy people. Yet according to psychologists Ed Diener and Martin Seligman, this study is the first to explore factors correlated with high happiness. In the spirit of critical thinking, let’s test your common sense. Which of the following statements do you expect to be true? In university, compared to students who experience average happiness, the happiest students: • • • • • •

worry less about things in general have more satisfying close friendships, family relationships and romantic relationships generally are more outgoing have more money have higher grades are more physically attractive.

Method At a university, 222 students completed questionnaires and psychological tests measuring their general levels of positive and negative emotions, personality traits, social relationships, satisfaction with life and other characteristics. People who knew the students rated how often the students experienced positive and negative emotions. For 51 days, the students also recorded their daily emotions in a diary. Based on these measures, the researchers identified the 10 per cent of university students who were consistently the happiest, the 10 per cent who consistently were the unhappiest and a group (27 per cent) that displayed average happiness. The ‘Research design’ figure summarises key aspects of the method.

However, compared to average-happiness peers, the happiest students did not differ in how much money they said they had. University transcripts revealed that, overall, they did not have a higher average grade, nor did independent observers rate them as being more physically attractive. Discussion Although strong social relationships were related to greater happiness, they did not guarantee happiness; some unhappy university students also had satisfying social relationships. Diener and Seligman found a similar pattern for the other variables in their study and concluded that ‘there appears to be no single key to high happiness that automatically produces this state’ (p. 83). Instead, high levels of happiness seem to involve a combination of social and psychological factors. Were all of your predictions accurate? As you might imagine, had the results shown that the happiest university students had more money and higher marks and were more physically attractive, many people would likely say ‘Big deal, that’s just common sense’. In fact, researchers have demonstrated the positive relationship between income, attractiveness and happiness in broader populations (Judge, Hurst & Simon, 2009). But the findings did not support these conclusions, illustrating why scientists gather data—rather than relying solely on intuition—to answer the questions they pose. This study also illustrates basic characteristics of correlational research. The researchers measured several variables—happiness, social relationships and so on—and then examined whether these variables were statistically related to one another. In contrast to experiments, correlational studies only measure variables that occur naturally. Diener and Seligman did not manipulate any variables; they didn’t try to influence people’s happiness or relationships. As we will now discuss, the correlational approach has advantages and limitations.

Results Compared to the other participants, very happy university students reported spending the greatest amount of time socialising with people and having the most satisfying social relationships with close friends, family and romantic partners. Ratings from other people also indicated that very happy students had the most satisfying social relationships. Conversely, the unhappiest university students reported the least satisfying social relationships and spent the most time alone. Very happy university students were also more outgoing and agreeable and worried less about things in general.

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A B

RESEARCH DESIGN

Question: What characteristics distinguish very happy people from other people? Type of study: Correlational Variable X Personal characteristic (e.g. satisfaction with social relationships; physical attractiveness)

Variable Y Degree of happiness (very happy, average happiness, least happy)

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(a) Social relationships and happiness are correlated Greater happiness (Y )

Better social relationships (X )

(b) Bidirectionality problem Does X cause Y ? Better social relationships (X )

Does Y cause X ?

Better social relationships (X )

Greater happiness (Y ) Greater happiness (Y )

(c) Third-variable problem There may be no causal relation between X and Y

Better social relationships (X )

Greater happiness (Y )

Personality style (Z)

Figure 2.9  Correlation does not establish causation (a) Students who have better social relationships are happier. But why does this association occur? (b) Good social relationships could cause people to become happier or, conversely, being a happier person could make it easier to form good social relationships. This is the bidirectionality problem. (c) There may be no causal link between social relationships and happiness. Other variables, such as personality traits (e.g. having a more outgoing, agreeable disposition), may be part of the true common origin of better social relationships and of happiness. This is the third-variable problem.

Correlation does not establish causation As just described, Diener and Seligman (2002) found that very happy people had stronger, more satisfying social relationships than unhappy people (Figure 2.9a). It is tempting to conclude from these findings that stronger social relationships cause people to be happier, but correlational research does not allow us to draw such a conclusion. A key catchcry for you to remember is that ‘correlation does not equal causation’. Why can’t we infer causality from correlations? First, the direction of causality could be the opposite. Perhaps being happy causes people to have stronger social relationships. For example, maybe happiness makes a person more receptive to going out and forming close relationships. In correlational research, you must consider the possibility that variable X (social relationships) has caused variable Y (happiness), that Y has caused X or that both variables have influenced each other. This interpretive problem is called the bidirectionality (i.e. two-way causality) problem (Figure 2.9b). Second, the association between social relationships and happiness may be artificial, or what scientists call spurious (not genuine). Although social relationships and happiness are statistically related, it may be that neither variable has any causal effect on the other. A third variable, Z, may really be the cause of why some people have better social relationships and also why those people are happier. For example, Z might be a certain personality style. Recall that very happy people in Diener and Seligman’s study were, in general, more outgoing and agreeable and tended to worry less. Perhaps this personality style makes it easier for people to establish good social relationships. At the same time, this style may help people soak up more joy from life and therefore feel happier. Thus, on the surface it looks as if social relationships and happiness are causally linked, but in reality this may be due only to Z (in this case, personality style). This interpretive problem is called the third-variable problem: Z is responsible for what looks like a relation between X and Y (Figure 2.9c). As Z varies, it causes X to change. As Z varies, it also causes Y to change. The net result is that X and Y change in unison, but this is caused by Z—not by any direct effect of X or Y on each other. In sum, we cannot draw causal conclusions from correlational data, and this is the major disadvantage of correlational research.

The correlation coefficient

A correlation coefficient is a statistic that indicates the direction and strength of the relation between two variables. When reporting a correlation coefficient (also known as a Pearson product-moment correlation), we preface it with the letter r ​​(e.g. r  =  .36)​. This statistic was developed by Karl Pearson (hence the term ‘Pearson’ in its descriptor); the term ‘product moment’ refers to the mean (or ‘moment’) of a set of products (or scores) used to calculate the correlation coefficient (as cited in Stanton, 2001). Although many computer software programs will calculate correlation coefficients for you, knowing how to calculate them by hand helps you to understand where the ‘r’ comes from. In order to calculate the correlation coefficient, we need to do the following: NΣXY − ​(ΣX)(​ ΣY)​ ​r = ​___________________________   ___________________________           ​ ​  ​[ NΣ​X​ 2​ − ​(ΣX)​ ​ 2    ​ ]​[ NΣ​Y​ 2​ − ​(ΣY)​ ​ 2​ ]​ ​ √ N = number of pairs, i.e. the number of paired scores on the two different variables Σ = sum of (add together) XY = product of XY (i.e. what you get when you multiply X and Y together) ΣXY = multiply each X times Y, then sum the products

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Let’s imagine that you want to look at the correlation between age and height. You have obtained the following data: Participant

Age (years)

Height (m)

1

18

1.82

2

56

1.79

3

32

1.54

4

4

1.10

5

12

1.44

Step 1: Multiply X (which is your first variable, in this case age) and Y (which is your second variable, in this case height) together for each pair of scores (this becomes your XY score). Participant

Age (years)

Height (m)

XY

1

18

1.82

18  × 1 .82 = 32.76

2

56

1.79

56 × 1 .79 = 100 .24

3

32

1.54

32 × 1 .54 = 49.28

4

4

1.10

4 × 1 .10  = 4.40

5

12

1.44

12  × 1 .44 = 17 .28

Step 2: Square each individual score in the X column (i.e. multiply it by itself) to create your X2 column. Then do the same for the Y column to create your Y2 column. Participant

Age (years)

Height (m)

XY

X2

Y2

1

18

1.82

18  × 1 .82 = 32.76

18  × 18  = 324

1 .82 × 1 .82 = 3.31

2

56

1.79

56 × 1 .79 = 100 .24

56 × 56 = 3136

1 .79 × 1 .79 = 3.20

3

32

1.54

32 × 1 .54 = 49.28

32 × 32 = 1024

1 .54 × 1 .54 = 2.37

4

4

1.10

4 × 1 .10  = 4.40

4 × 4 = 16

1 .10  × 1 .10  = 1 .21

5

12

1.44

12  × 1 .44 = 17 .28

12  × 12  = 144

1 .44 × 1 .44 = 2.07

Step 3: Sum all the numbers in each column of your table, except for the ‘participant’ column. Participant

Age (years)

Height (m)

XY

X2

Y2

1

18

1.82

18  × 1 .82 = 32.76

18  × 18  = 324

1 .82 × 1 .82 = 3.31

2

56

1.79

56 × 1 .79 = 100 .24

56 × 56 = 3136

1 .79 × 1 .79 = 3.20

3

32

1.54

32 × 1 .54 = 49.28

32 × 32 = 1024

1 .54 × 1 .54 = 2.37

4

4

1.10

4 × 1 .10  = 4.40

4 × 4 = 16

1 .10  × 1 .10  = 1 .21

5

12

1.44

12  × 1 .44 = 17 .28

12  × 12  = 144

1 .44 × 1 .44 = 2.07

ΣY = 7.69

ΣXY = 203.96

ΣX2 = 4644

ΣY2 = 12 .16

ΣX = 122

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Step 4: Substitute each of the values from the ‘Σ’ column into the equation. NΣXY − (ΣX) (ΣY) r = ​​ ______________________________         ​​ ____________________________

√ ​  ​[     NΣX2 − (ΣX)2 ]​​[ NΣY2 − (ΣY)2 ]​ ​

5 × (203.96) − (122 × 7.69) r = ​​ ________________________________________           ​​ ______________________________________ ​√      ​[ 5 × 4 644 − (122)2 ]​ × ​[ 5 × 12.16 − (7.69)2 ]​ ​

81.62 _______________ = ​​ _________________      ​​ ​√    ​[ 8 366 ]​ × ​[ 1.66 ]​ ​ 81.62 _________ = ​​ ___________   ​​  ​√ 13 887.56 ​  = 0.69 (rounded to 2 decimal places) This result would be described as a strong correlation. Cohen suggests that when describing correlation coefficients, anything less than .3 is weak; .3 is moderate; and .5 or above is strong. Variables can be correlated either positively or negatively. A positive correlation means that higher scores on one variable are associated with higher scores on a second variable. Thus, social relationships and happiness are positively correlated such that more satisfying relationships are associated with higher levels of happiness. Similarly, people’s height and weight are positively correlated (i.e. in general, taller people tend to weigh more).

THINKING CRITICALLY Does eating ice-cream cause people to drown? Nationally, ice-cream consumption and drownings are positively correlated. Over the course of the year, on days when more ice-cream is consumed, there tend to be more drownings. Are these two variables causally related? What causal possibilities should you consider? Think about it, then see the solution at the end of the chapter. A negative correlation occurs when higher scores on one variable are associated with lower scores on a second variable.  Job satisfaction and job turnover are negatively correlated, which means that workers who are more satisfied with their jobs tend to have lower rates of turnover (e.g. quitting, being sacked). Likewise, students’ test anxiety and exam performance are negatively correlated (students with higher levels of test anxiety tend to perform more poorly on exams). Correlation coefficients range from values of ​+1.00​ to ​–1.00​. The plus or minus sign tells you the direction of a correlation (i.e. whether the variables are positively or negatively correlated). The absolute value of the statistic tells you the strength of the correlation. The closer the correlation is to ​+1.00​ (a perfect positive correlation) or −1.00 (a perfect negative correlation), the more strongly the two variables are related. Therefore, a correlation of −0.59 indicates a stronger association between X and Y than does a correlation of ​+0.37​. Note that normally you would not include a 0 in front of the correlation coefficient as the maximum range is between −1.00 and +1.00, but we have included here to help with your understanding. A zero correlation ​(​ 0.00)​​ means that X and Y are not related statistically: as scores on X increase or decrease, scores on Y do not change in any orderly fashion. Figure 2.10 illustrates three scatterplots: graphs that show the correlation between two variables. (For more detailed information about the correlation coefficient, see the online appendix, Statistics in Psychology.)

Correlation as a basis for prediction Why conduct correlational research if it does not permit clear cause–effect conclusions? One benefit is that correlational research can help establish whether relationships found in the laboratory generalise to the outside world. For example, suppose laboratory experiments show that talking on a mobile phone while operating a driving simulator

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(a) A positive correlation

(b) Zero correlation High

Score on X Low Low

High

Variable X (hours of studying per week)

Variable Y (WAM)

Score on Y

High

Variable Y (WAM)

High Variable Y (WAM)

(c) A negative correlation

Low Low

Low High

High Variable X (hours of TV watched per week)

Low

Variable X (number of apples consumed per week)

Figure 2.10   Scatterplots depicting correlations A scatterplot depicts the correlation between variables. The horizontal axis represents variable X, the vertical axis variable Y. Each data point represents a specific pair of X and Y scores, such as the number of hours a week a student studies (X) and that student’s weighted average mark (Y). The three scatterplots show (a) a strong positive correlation, (b) a zero correlation (0.00) and (c) a strong negative correlation for hypothetical sets of data.

Alcohol problem at age 15

causes people to get into more simulated crashes. Correlational studies, while 30 not demonstrating cause–effect, can at least establish whether there is a realworld association between driver mobile phone usage and car accident rates. 25 (By the way, there is.) A second benefit is that correlational research can discover associations that are subsequently studied under controlled laboratory 20 conditions. Third, for practical or ethical reasons, some questions cannot be studied with experiments, but can be examined correlationally. We cannot 15 experimentally manipulate how religious someone is, but we can measure people’s religiousness and determine if it is associated with other variables, 10 such as personality traits. Another benefit is that correlational data allow us to make predictions. 5 If two variables are correlated, either positively or negatively, knowing 6 8 10 0 2 4 the score of one variable helps us estimate the score on the other variable. Alcohol use at age 13 For example, the responses of a random subsample in the survey of early Figure 2.11   Correlation of early alcohol use and alcohol use are displayed in the scatterplot in Figure 2.11 (Mason et al., 2011). later alcohol problems This scatterplot represents The dots on the scatterplot indicate the response by each student at age 13 and data for a random subsample of A ustralian students. their corresponding response at age 15. For instance, the student indicated by The horizontal axis represents variable X, reported the purple arrow has a response of just below four at age 13 and just below 10 alcohol use at age 13 years. The vertical axis at age 15. You can see that higher use of alcohol at age 13 is positively represents variable Y, the same students’ reported level of alcohol problems at age 15 (Mason et al., correlated (orange dotted line) with higher reported alcohol problems at 2011). V ariables X and Y are positively correlated. age 15. In general, the findings indicate that higher alcohol use at an early age can predict problems with alcohol in mid-adolescents. The predictive relationship is not perfect. For instance, the student indicated by the red circle has one of the highest scores at age 15, but their score at age 13 was quite low. Remember, we are not saying that early alcohol use causes alcohol problems in mid-adolescence, only that it allows us to say that we can predict the occurrence of problems later on from early use of alcohol.

Experiments: examining cause and effect Do you ever drive while talking on a mobile phone? Fuelling the fire of a sometimes passionate public and political debate, several correlational studies have found that hand-held and hands-free mobile phone use while driving is associated with a substantially increased risk of having a vehicular collision (McEvoy et al., 2005). But as you just learned, correlation does not establish causation. How then can we obtain a clearer causal picture?

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In contrast to descriptive and correlational methods, experiments are a powerful tool for examining cause-and-effect relations. An experiment has three essential characteristics: 1. The researcher manipulates (i.e. controls) one or more variables. In the simplest possible experiment, the researcher manipulates one variable by creating two different conditions to which participants are exposed. For example, we could create a variable called ‘mobile phone use’ by randomly assigning half of our participants to drive without talking on a mobile phone and assigning the other participants to drive while conversing on a hands-free mobile phone. These would represent the two groups (conditions) of the experiment (i.e. drive condition, drive + phone condition). Figure 2.12   Simulators have been used in several experiments that examine how talking on a mobile phone while driving affects drivers’ performance. The simulator can be programmed to display various driving conditions, such as city and highway traffic. © Shutterstock/Sushitsky Sergey

3. The researcher attempts to control extraneous factors that might influence the outcome of the experiment. For example, while each participant is driving, there will be no passengers and no CD or radio playing. It would also be ideal to expose the drive and drive + phone participants to the same travel routes and also to the same traffic and weather (temperature, visibility) conditions. By doing so, any differences we find in braking performance between the two groups could not possibly be due to these extraneous environmental factors. To achieve this type of rigorous environmental control, and also for ethical reasons of safety, let’s do what most researchers have done: employ a highly advanced, realistic driving simulator in a laboratory environment, rather than have people drive in actual traffic (Figure 2.12).

Sample of participants

Random assignment Experimental group drive + phone condition

Measure braking reaction time

Control group drive condition

Measure braking reaction time

Statistically compare performance of the two groups to determine whether there is a significant di°erence between the groups’ mean reaction time

Figure 2.13   The logic of designing an experiment The experimenter manipulates whether people talk on a mobile phone while driving, measures their driving performance and attempts to treat them equally in every other way. This creates an experimental group and a control group.

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2. The researcher measures whether this manipulation influences other variables (i.e. variables that represent the participants’ responses). For simplicity,  let’s focus on just one measure of driving performance, called ‘braking reaction time’: how quickly a driver depresses the car’s brake pedal when another vehicle in front of the car slows down.

The logic behind this approach is straightforward: Start out with equivalent groups of participants. • • Treat them equally in all respects except for the variable that is of particular interest (in this case, mobile phone use). • Measure how the groups respond (braking reaction time). If the groups respond differently, then the most plausible explanation is that these differences were caused by the manipulated variable (Figure 2.13).

Independent and dependent variables The term independent variable refers to the factor that is manipulated or controlled by the experimenter. In our example, mobile phone use is the independent variable. The dependent variable is the factor that is measured by the experimenter and that may be influenced by the independent variable. In this experiment, braking reaction time is the dependent variable. An easy way to keep this distinction clear is to remember that the dependent variable depends on the independent variable. Presumably, braking reaction time will depend on whether the driver is talking on a mobile phone. The independent variable is the cause and the dependent variable is the effect. Our experiment thus far has only one dependent variable, but we could have many. In addition to braking reaction time, we could measure driving speed, how frequently drivers fail to detect lights or road signs and so on. In this way, we could gain more knowledge about how mobile phone use affects driving performance.

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Experimental and control groups The terms experimental group and control group are often used when discussing experiments. An experimental group is the group that receives a treatment or an active level of the independent variable. A control group is not exposed to the treatment or receives a zero-level of the independent variable. The purpose of the control group is to provide a standard of behaviour to which the experimental group can be compared. As such, control groups serve an important purpose, in that we can be more confident any differences observed in the experimental group are due to the manipulations made by the researchers versus some other extraneous variable. In our experiment, participants in the drive + phone group represent the experimental group (or experimental condition) and participants in the drive condition represent the control group (or control condition). Experiments with one independent variable often include more than two experimental groups. In our drivingperformance study, we could add a third condition in which other participants talk on a hand-held mobile phone (rather than a hands-free phone) while driving, and even add other conditions in which participants don’t converse on a phone but instead listen to the radio or talk with a passenger. The drive-only participants would still represent the control group, and we could now compare how various types of potential distractions affect driver performance.

Two basic ways to design an experiment One common way to design an experiment is to have different participants in each condition (this is known as a betweengroups design, as we measure differences on a given variable between groups). To draw meaningful conclusions, the various groups of participants must be equivalent at the start of the study. For example, suppose that in our experiment, the drive + phone group displayed poorer driving performance than the drive group. If the participants in the drive + phone group, on average, happened to have less driving experience or poorer vision than the drive participants, then these factors—not talking on a mobile phone—might have been why they performed more poorly. To address this issue, researchers typically use random assignment, a procedure in which each participant has an equal likelihood of being assigned to any one group within an experiment. Thus, a participant would have a 50 per cent chance of being in the drive + phone group and a 50 per cent chance of being in the drive group; that determination would be made randomly. This procedure does not eliminate the fact that participants differ from one another in driving experience, visual acuity or other personal factors. Instead, random assignment is used to balance these differences  across the various conditions of the experiment. It increases our confidence that, at the start of an experiment, participants in the various conditions are equivalent overall. A second way to design experiments is to expose each participant to all of the conditions of an independent variable (this is known as a within-groups design, as every participant is exposed to each variation of a given variable). For example, we could measure how skilfully the same people drive when talking on a mobile phone versus when not talking on a phone. By doing so, factors such as the participants’ driving experience and visual acuity are held constant across the different conditions of the experiment, and therefore we can rule them out as alternative explanations for any results we obtain. This approach, however, can create problems if not used properly. Suppose that every participant drove the simulation the first time without conversing on the phone and then drove it the second time while having phone conversations. If participants drove more poorly while talking on the phone, what would be the cause? Distraction created by the phone conversation? Perhaps. But perhaps the participants became bored, fatigued or overconfident by the time they drove the route for the second time. To avoid this problem, researchers use counterbalancing, a procedure in which the order of conditions is varied so that no condition has an overall advantage relative to the others. Half of the participants would drive the simulation first while having phone conversations and then drive it again without phone conversations. For the remaining participants, this order would be reversed.

Manipulating two independent variables: effects of mobile phone use and traffic density on driving performance To better capture the complexity of real life, researchers often study several causal factors within a single experiment by manipulating two or more independent variables simultaneously. Suppose we want to know how mobile phone use and traffic density influence drivers’ performance. We could design separate experiments—one to examine mobile phone use and the other traffic density—but it is typically better to manipulate both independent variables within the

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same experiment. This approach allows us to examine not only (a) how mobile phone use and traffic density each independently influence drivers’ performance, but also (b) whether mobile phone use has different effects depending on whether traffic is heavier or lighter. In scientific terms, we are asking whether there is an interaction between mobile phone use and traffic density. The concept of interaction means that the way in which one independent variable (X1, e.g. mobile phone use) influences the dependent variable (Y, e.g. driving performance) differs depending on the various conditions of another independent variable (X2, e.g. traffic density). As before, our first independent variable would be mobile phone use (drive only versus drive + phone). But now we would add a second independent variable, traffic density, by creating two or more conditions that differ in the amount of traffic that the driver encounters. For example, let’s create ‘low-density’ and ‘high-density’ conditions by programming our driving simulator to display only one other car on the travel route or many other cars Mobile phone use (independent variable #1) on the route. Traf f ic density We now have two independent variables, each (independent variable #2) Drive Drive + phone of which has two conditions: mobile phone use (drive, drive + phone) and traffic density (low, high). As Figure 2.14a shows, combining these two + independent variables within the same experiment Low tra˜c density creates four unique conditions: (1) driving in lowdensity traffic; (2) driving in high-density traffic; (3) driving while talking on the phone in low-density Drive in low Drive + phone in low tra˜c density tra˜c density traffic; and (4) driving while talking on the phone in high-density traffic. David Strayer and his colleagues (2003) conducted + such an experiment. University undergraduates drove a simulated 64 km route that had multiple lanes in High tra˜c density each direction. Every student had mobile phone conversations in some sections of the route and Drive in high Drive + phone in high no phone conversations in the remaining sections. traf f ic density traf f ic density All phone conversations took place with a research (a) assistant. Each student’s task was to follow a ‘pace car’ ˜°˛˛ Drive travelling in the right lane. The low and high traffic-density conditions were Drive + phone created by randomly assigning each student to drive the entire route either ˜˜˛˛ with no other cars on the freeway (other than the pace car) or with a steady flow of cars appearing in the other lane (high-density condition). ˜˛˛˛ For every student, the pace car braked and slowed down 32 times over the course of the route. If the student failed to brake in response, he or she ˝˛˛ would eventually collide with the pace car. The researchers measured several aspects of driving performance, including students’ braking reaction time and ˙˛˛ whether they had any collisions. Figure 2.14b shows the results for one of the dependent variables, braking ˆ˛˛ reaction time. When traffic density was high, on average it took participants 179 milliseconds longer to depress their brake pedal when talking on the ˛ hands-free phone than when not talking on the phone. When traffic density Low traf f ic High traf f ic (b) density density was low, braking reaction times were only 29 milliseconds slower when talking on the phone. Strayer and his colleagues concluded that, overall, talking on Figure 2.14   Mobile phone use, traffic density and a mobile phone while driving caused drivers’ responses to be more sluggish, driving performance (a) Simultaneously manipulating especially when traffic density was high. In fact, three accidents occurred two independent variables—mobile phone use and in the high-density, drive + phone condition, all involving participants’ cars traffic density—creates four conditions in this design. (b) A verage braking reaction time in response to rear-ending the pace car. No accidents occurred in the other conditions. multiple decelerations by a simulated pace car. Table 2.1 summarises key features of the research methods we have D ata from Strayer et al., 2003. discussed, as well as some limitations of experiments, which we will discuss next.

Braking reaction time (milliseconds)

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Table 2.1   An overview of research methods Method

Primary features

Main advantages

Main disadvantages

Case study

A n individual, group or event is examined in detail, often using several techniques (e.g. observations, interviews, psychological tests).

Provides rich descriptive information, often suggesting hypotheses for further study. Can study rare phenomena in depth.

Poor method for establishing cause–effect. The case may not be representative. Often relies on the researcher’s subjective interpretations.

Naturalistic observation

Behaviour is observed in the setting in which it naturally occurs.

Can provide detailed information about the nature, frequency and context of naturally occurring behaviours.

Poor method for establishing cause–effect relations. Observer’s presence, if known, may influence participants’ behaviour.

Survey

Questions or tests are administered to a sample drawn from a larger population.

A properly selected, representative sample typically yields accurate information about the broader population.

U nrepresentative samples may yield misleading results. Interviewer bias and social desirability bias can distort the findings.

Correlational study

Variables are measured and the strength of their association is determined. (Naturalistic observation and surveys are often used to examine associations between variables.)

Correlation allows prediction. May help establish how well findings from experiments generalise to more natural settings. Can examine issues that cannot be studied ethically or practically in experiments.

Correlation does not imply causation, due to the bidirectionality problem and the third-variable problem (which can create a confounding of variables).

Experiment

Independent variables are manipulated and their effects on dependent variables are measured.

Optimal method for examining cause–effect relations. A bility to control extraneous factors helps rule out alternative explanations.

Confounding of variables, placebo effects and experimenter expectancies can threaten the validity of causal conclusions.

CONCEPT CHECK • D escriptive research describes how organisms behave. • Correlational research measures the relation between naturally occurring variables. • A well-designed experiment is the best way to examine cause–effect relations.

LO 2.4 THREATS TO THE VA LID ITY OF RESEA RCH Although the experimental approach is a powerful tool for examining causality, researchers must avoid errors that can lead to faulty conclusions. Internal validity represents the degree to which an experiment supports clear causal conclusions.  If an experiment is designed and conducted properly, we can be confident that it was the independent variable that caused the differences in the dependent variable. In this case, the experiment has high internal validity. However, if an experiment contains important flaws, it will have low internal validity because we can no longer be sure what caused the differences in the dependent variable.

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Confounding of variables Consider a fictitious experiment in which Dr Starr examines how listening to different types of music influences people’s feelings of relaxation. The independent variable is the type of music: new age, country or rock (Table 2.2). Sixty university students are randomly assigned to listen to one of the three types of music for 20 minutes. Afterwards, they rate how relaxed they feel on a questionnaire. Dr Starr believes that the experiment will be more realistic if the new age music is played at a low volume, the Table 2.2  Dr Starr’s variables country music at a moderate volume and the rock music at a Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 loud volume. The results show that students who listened to the new age music felt most relaxed, while those who listened Independent variable New age Country Rock to the rock music felt least relaxed. Dr Starr concludes that of (type of music) the three types of music, new age music is the most relaxing. What is wrong with Dr Starr’s conclusion that the type Confounding variable Low Moderate High (volume level) of music caused the differences in how relaxed the students felt? Stated differently, can you identify another major factor that could have produced these results? Perhaps the students who listened to new age music felt most relaxed because their music was played at the lowest, most soothing volume. Had they listened to it at a high volume, maybe they would have felt no more relaxed than the students who listened to the rock music. We now have two variables that, like the strands of a rope, are intertwined: the independent variable (the type of music) that Dr Starr really was interested in and a second variable (the volume level) that Dr Starr was not interested in but foolishly did not keep constant. Confounding of variables means that two variables are intertwined in such a way that we cannot determine which one has influenced a dependent variable. In this experiment, the music’s volume level is called a confound or a confounding variable and it presents an alternative explanation for what caused Dr Starr’s results. The key point to remember is that this confounding of variables prevents Dr Starr from drawing clear causal conclusions, thereby ruining the internal validity of the experiment. Dr Starr can eliminate this problem by keeping the volume level constant across the three music conditions. Confounding, by the way, is a key reason why causal conclusions cannot be drawn from correlational research. Recall the third-variable problem. If variables X (e.g. level of happiness) and Y (e.g. quality of social relationships) are correlated, a third variable Z (e.g. personality style) may be mixed up with X and Y, so we cannot tell what has caused what. Thus Z is just another type of confounding variable.

Figure 2.15   Throughout history, placebo effects have fostered the commercial success of many products with no proven physiological benefit. Herbal medicines are one of today’s ‘health crazes’. D o they really work? If so, is it because of placebo effects or the herbs’ chemical properties? The best way to answer this question is through experiments that include placebo control groups. © Cultura Creative (RF)/A lamy Stock Photo

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Placebo effects In medical research, the term placebo refers to a substance that has no pharmacological effect.  In experiments testing the effectiveness of new drugs for treating diseases, one group of patients—the treatment group—receives the actual drug (e.g. through pills or injections). A second group—the placebo control group—receives a placebo (e.g. pills composed of inactive ingredients or injections of saline). Typically, participants are told that they will be given either a drug or a placebo, but they are not told which one. In another control group, patients receive neither the drug nor a placebo. The rationale for using placebos is that patients’ symptoms may improve solely because they expect that a drug will help them. If 40 per cent of the drug patients, 38 per cent of the placebo control patients and only 5 per cent of the other control patients improve, then we have evidence of a placebo effect: people receiving a treatment show a positive change in behaviour because of their expectations, not because the treatment itself had any specific benefit (Figure 2.15). Placebo effects decrease internal validity by providing an alternative explanation for why responses change after exposure to a treatment. This problem applies to evaluating all types of treatments, not just those that test the effectiveness of drugs. For example, suppose that depressed patients improve (i.e. become less depressed) while receiving psychotherapy. Is this due to the

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specific procedures and content of the psychotherapy itself, or might it merely be a placebo effect resulting from their positive expectations that the therapy would help them? Experiments that include the proper control groups can examine this question. In contrast, the nocebo effect has occurred when people receiving a treatment show a negative change in behaviour because of their expectations, not because the treatment itself had any specific detrimental impacts. So, to return to the previous example, imagine that prior to participating in the study, people were told that a possible side effect of the drug was severe headaches. If 40 per cent of the drug patients, 38 per cent of the placebo control patients and only 5 per cent of the other control patients report experiencing severe headaches, then we have evidence of the nocebo effect. Just like placebo effects, nocebo effects decrease internal validity by providing an alternative explanation for why responses change after exposure to a treatment.

Experimenter expectancy effects Researchers typically have a strong commitment to the hypothesis they are testing. In psychology, the term experimenter expectancy effects refers to the subtle and unintentional ways in which a researcher influences participants to respond in a manner that is consistent with the researcher’s hypothesis. Scientists can take several steps to avoid experimenter expectancy effects. For example, researchers who interact with participants in a study or who record participants’ responses are often kept blind to (i.e. not told about) the hypothesis or the specific condition to which a participant has been assigned. This makes it less likely that these researchers will develop expectations about how participants ‘should’ behave. The double-blind procedure, in which both the participant and experimenter are kept blind as to which experimental condition the participant is in, simultaneously minimises participant placebo effects and experimenter expectancy effects. In research testing drug effects, each participant receives either a real drug or a placebo but does not know which. People who interact with the participants (e.g. those who dispense the drugs or measure participants’ symptoms) are also kept unaware of which participants receive the drug or placebo. This procedure minimises the likelihood that the researchers will behave differently toward the two groups of participants, and it reduces the chance that participants’ own expectations will influence the outcome of the experiment.

Replicating and generalising the findings Returning to our hypothetical experiment on mobile phone use, let’s suppose that participants’ driving performance was impaired while they talked on a mobile phone. If our experiment was conducted properly, it will have high internal validity and thus we can be confident that talking on the phone, and not some other factor, caused the driving impairment. There remain, however, other questions that we must ask. Would the results be similar with other types of participants or when driving under different road or traffic conditions? These questions focus on external validity, which is the degree to which the results of a study can be generalised to other populations, settings and conditions. Typically, judgements about external validity are most concerned about the generalisability of underlying principles. If talking on a mobile phone impairs braking reaction time by 140 milliseconds in our experiment but only by 120 milliseconds in a subsequent experiment with younger drivers, then the 20-millisecond difference is not the key issue. Rather, it’s that the principle—‘talking on a mobile phone impairs driving’—has successfully generalised to younger drivers. To determine external validity, either we or other scientists need to replicate our experiment. Replication  is the process of repeating a study to determine whether the original findings can be duplicated. If our findings are successfully replicated, especially when studying other types of participants and driving conditions, we become more confident in concluding that mobile phone use impairs driving performance. Indeed, in simulation experiments, talking on a mobile phone while driving has been found to interfere with driving performance in rural and urban environments of varying complexity, among younger and older drivers, and when using hand-held and hands-free phones (Strayer & Drews, 2004; Törnros & Bolling, 2006). Increasingly, psychologists are paying more attention to cross-cultural replication—examining whether findings generalise across different cultures.

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AUSTRALIAN FOCUS The use and misuse of research Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterised by difficulties in communication, social interactions, and a restricted range of interests and activities demonstrated since early childhood (APA, 2013). It is a complex disorder with no single cause. The research interests of Jon Brock and colleagues, from Macquarie University in Sydney, focus on the cognitive and neural aspects of developmental disorders including ASD. In 2002 Brock and colleagues published a review article entitled ‘The temporal binding deficit hypothesis of autism’. This article did not detail results from a specific study they had undertaken. Instead, it presented a summary of existing research about ASD culminating in a suggestion (or hypothesis) that ASD may be partially caused by reduced communication between different regions of the brain. In other words, it was an idea that needed to be tested through research. You can imagine their surprise, then, when a colleague alerted them to a chiropractic doctor who claimed to have used this paper to inform his ‘evidence-based’ treatment of ASD! Brock was intrigued—at no point had the paper being referred to mentioned chiropractic treatment for ASD, let alone endorsed it. Motivated by scientific curiosity he further investigated the claims being made by this doctor and found that: 1. The doctor did not explain how the paper had informed his practice, just that ‘it had’.

2. The doctor did not explain how he treated ASD through chiropractic means. 3. The doctor failed to recognise, or at least mention, that the paper being referred to provided no empirical evidence to support the idea that there was decreased communication between brain regions in people with ASD. 4. The doctor did not explain how chiropractic techniques could address this supposed deficit in neural communication. 5. The doctor grossly oversimplified the nature of ASD, and over-exaggerated current understandings of the mechanisms that lead to its expression. Brock tried to contact the doctor to clarify the perceived misunderstanding, without success. He has, however, written a witty blog about this event (available at http:// crackingtheenigma.blogspot.com.au/?q=chiropractor), using it as a platform to remind us all about the importance of (a) accurate use of research and (b) critical thinking skills when evaluating claims that purportedly rely on scientific facts. The moral of this story? Careful attention, and use of critical thinking skills, to evaluate claims supposedly based on scientific research enabled readers to identify the misinterpretation (and subsequent misuse) of the work of Brock and colleagues, and thereby warn others, including naïve consumers.

When research findings fail to replicate, it may lead to better research and new discoveries as scientists search for clues to explain why the results turned out differently in one study versus another. For example, although many experiments suggest that mobile phone use interferes with optimal driving performance, not all experiments do. Further research will be needed to sort out the factors, such as different driving conditions, that might account for such results. Studies that consistently fail to replicate the results of earlier research may suggest that the original research was flawed or that the finding was a fluke. Even so, the scientific process has done its job and prevented us from getting caught in a blind alley.

CONCEPT CHECK • A n experiment has high internal validity when it is designed well and permits clear causal conclusions. External validity is the degree to which the findings of a study generalise to other populations.

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GLOBAL FOCUS Sensational statistics There is a long history of statistics being used and abused to sensationalise issues across many mediums including the media, blogs and politics. A recent example of this was reported by journalist Amanda Taub, who found herself questioning a news article which cited a report detailing that United Nations aid workers had raped 60 000 humanitarian victims over a 10-year period. This was a horrifying statistic, and one with far-reaching implications for the safety of humanitarian victims, as well as the United Nations organisation. Using good critical thinking skills, and employing key principles of the scientific method, Taub asked, ‘where’s the evidence this is true?’. By contacting the author (Andrew McLeod) of the original report on which the news story was based, Taub found that:

who perpetrated sexual offences against humanitarian victims each year. There was no statistical evidence to support his estimate, it was simply an estimate he decided on. So, with 311 peacek eeper and an assumed 289 non-peacekeeper perpetrators, he came to the conclusion that there were 600 victims in 2017. There was no population-specific data to support his estimate of the number of civilian offenders in this regard and, as such, the number is nothing more than a guess. 4. From here, McLeod estimated that only 10 per cent of incidents were actually recorded. Therefore, he multiplied his initial estimate by 10 to reach a figure of 6000 victims per year. In order to estimate the number of victims over a decade, he then multiplied this figure by 10 to reach 60 000.

1. Although McLeod had once worked for the United Nations, he released this information well after his departure from the organisation. The information released coincided with the launch of a not-for-profit organisation by McLeod and colleagues (so he had a vested interest in receiving high levels of publicity). 2. The information on which McLeod based his report was derived from a publicly accessible 2017 United Nations report detailing 311 cases of sexual exploitation (not restricted to rape, as suggested by McLeod) being perpetrated by peacekeepers toward humanitarian victims in the previous year. This was the only piece of data with hard evidence to support it and this data was misrepresented by McLeod, who claimed it pertained only to rape, but in fact it represented many forms of sexual violence. 3. To reach his estimate of 60 000 victims, McLeod assumed that there were at least 289 civilian (i.e. non-peacekeeper) United Nations personnel

In essence, although the logic of McLeod’s calculations is apparent, his estimate of 60 000 victims is based on nothing more than his own beliefs—and as we know, beliefs are not a form of objective evidence. The reality is, there is insufficient data to know exactly how many victims there are; it could be that 60 000 is somewhat accurate, or it could be that there are many more, or many less. McLeod emphasised to Taub that he never intended for people to interpret his report as containing peerreviewed statistical data and analyses. Instead, he claimed to be attempting to convey information about an important topic and wanted to use numbers to support this. However, by misusing statistics he may have inadvertently detracted from the very real and important issue of sexual exploitation of vulnerable populations. You can read Amanda Taub’s full article here: www. nytimes.com/2018/02/28/world/americas/un-sexualassaults.html.

LO 2.5 A NA LYSING A ND INTERPRETING DATA Around election time, do you feel like you’re swimming in a sea of statistics from endless voter polls and political advertisements? As a student, you live in a world of academic performance—that is, marks, average results and percentiles. And on the internet you’ll find loads of statistics about athletes, teams, the economy and stock prices. Statistics are woven into the fabric of modern life, and they are integral to psychological research. We’ll explain why statistics are important by focusing on a few basic concepts. The appendix, Statistics in psychology (online), provides more information about these and other concepts.

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Percentage of people in taste test who prefer each cola

100

30

80

24 Percentage

Percentage

62

60

40

12

20

6

0

(a)

18

0 Cola A

Cola B

Cola C

(b)

Cola A

Cola B

Cola C

Figure 2.16   Manipulating visual impressions of data Suppose that 30 per cent of 1000 taste testers preferred Cola A , 20 per cent preferred Cola B and 17 per cent preferred Cola C. (Note that 33 per cent had no preference and thus their results are not graphed.) Look at the Y-axis (the vertical axis) of each graph. The left-hand graph (a), where the Y-axis scale goes from 0 to 100 per cent, mak es this difference seem small. The right-hand graph (b), with a Y-axis scale of 0 to 30 per cent, makes this difference seem large. A s marketing director for Cola A , which graph would you put in your advertisements?

Being a smart consumer of statistics Suppose that a neighbourhood group wants your support for a new crime-watch program. To convince you, the group quotes statistics from a nearby suburb, showing that this program will reduce your chance of being robbed by a whopping 50 per cent. Sounds impressive, but would you be impressed if you learned that in 2009 this suburb had two robberies and that after adopting the crime-watch program in 2010 they had only one? Because the number of Table 2.3  Salaries of 10 consultants at Honest Al’ s Consulting Firm robberies was so low to begin with, this percentage Consultant Annual salary change doesn’t mean much. In everyday life, it helps to ask about the number of cases or observations that 1. A l’s brother $263 000 stand behind percentages. Mode most frequent Now consider a fictitious consumer study that 2. A l’s sister 263 000 score asked 1000 people to taste three cola drinks from 3. Johnson 30 500 competing companies and choose the one they liked best. The two bar graphs in Figure 2.16 show the same 4. Rodriguez 29 500 results but make a different visual impression. It’s 5. Jones 29 000 always wise to look at the fine print, including the scale Median, middle score of measurement, that accompanies graphs and charts. 6. Chen 28 000 $28 500 Lastly, imagine that you apply for a consulting job at Honest Al’s Consulting Firm. You ask Al how much 7. Brown 27 500 money his consultants make. Al replies, ‘Our consultants’ 8. Carter 27 000 average salary is $75 000’. ‘Wow,’ you think to yourself. Now look at the list of 10 salaries in Table 2.3. Is the job 9. Mullins 26 500 still as attractive to you? This is another example of why it is important to think critically about statistics. Honest 10. W atson 26 000 Al was indeed being honest, but as you will now see, by $750 000 Mean (average salary) asking questions about a few other statistics, you come  = $75 000 = ​​ _________ ​​  10  scores away with a more accurate understanding of the situation.

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Using statistics to describe data In contrast to the information in Table 2.3, psychological research often involves a large number of measurements. Typically it is difficult to make much sense out of the data (i.e. the information collected) by examining the individual scores of each participant. Descriptive statistics allow us to summarise and describe the characteristics of a set (or distribution) of data. You are already familiar with one descriptive statistic—the correlation coefficient, which we discussed earlier. Now we’ll introduce two other types of descriptive statistics.

Measures of central tendency Given a set of data, measures of central tendency address the question ‘What’s the typical score?’ One measure, the mode, is the most frequently occurring score in a distribution. At Honest Al’s, the modal salary is $263 000. While the mode is easy to identify, it may not be the most representative score. Clearly, $263 000 is not the typical salary of the 10 consultants. A second measure of central tendency is the median, the point that divides a distribution of scores in half when those scores are arranged in order from lowest to highest. Half of the scores lie above the median, half below it. In Table 2.3, because there is an even number of scores, the median is $28 500—the point halfway between employee 5 ($29 000) and employee 6 ($28 000). Finally, the mean is the arithmetic average of a set of scores. To determine the mean, you simply add up all the scores in a distribution and divide by the number of scores. The $75 000 average that Honest Al quoted was the mean salary. Be aware that the mean has a disadvantage: it is affected by extreme scores. The $263 000 salaries of Al’s brother and sister inflate the mean, making it less representative of the typical salary. The median, in contrast, is not affected by extreme scores. Changing the top salary to $1 million does not change the median but further inflates the mean. Still, the mean has a key advantage over the median and mode: it captures information from every score. In Table 2.3,  if Johnson and Rodriguez each received a $50 000 salary increase, the median and mode would not change. However, the mean would increase and reflect the fact that Honest Al was now paying some of his employees better salaries. Because the mean takes all of the information in a set of scores into account, it is the most commonly used measure of central tendency in research, and perhaps in everyday life as well. But keep in mind that extreme scores will distort the mean. When you go for that job interview, also ask about Table 2.4  Annual salaries of 10 consultants at two the median and modal salaries. consulting firms

Measures of variability

To describe a set of data, we want to know not only the typical score but also whether the scores cluster together or vary widely. Measures of variability capture the degree of variation, or spread, in a distribution of scores. Look at Table 2.4, which lists Honest Al’s salaries alongside those of 10 consultants from Claire’s Consulting Firm. The mean salary is the same at both firms, but notice how Claire’s salaries are closer to one another—less variable—than Al’s. The simplest but least informative measure of variability is the range, which is the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. At Honest Al’s, the salary range is $237 000; at Claire’s the range is only $11 000. A more important statistic, the standard deviation, takes into account how much each score in a distribution differs from the mean. As you can see in Figure 2.17, the majority of scores (approximately 68 per cent) in any given sample will be within one standard deviation (whatever that figure may be) either side of the mean. At Honest Al’s, the standard deviation is $94 009; at Claire’s, it’s only $3000. Although most calculators and computer programs can calculate the mean and standard deviation of a set of scores for you, learning how to calculate the standard deviation is a

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Honest Al’s firm ($)

Claire’s firm ($)

263 000

81 000

263 000

78 000

30 500

76 000

29 500

76 000

29 000

76 000

28 000

75 000

27 500

73 000

27 000

73 000

26 500

72 000

26 000

70 000

$75 000

Mean

$75 000

$237 000

Range

$11 000

$94 009

Standard deviation

$3 000

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useful skill in its own right. It can also help us better understand a key point in that it uses information from every score, whereas the range takes into account only the highest and lowest scores. There are two different equations for calculating the standard deviation, depending on whether you have been able to collect data from every member of a population, or just a select few. Let’s say there are 450 students studying psychology at the University of Psychological Science. In statistical terms, this means we have a population of 450. If we record the exam score for each person in this population, we can calculate the standard deviation using the following formula:

99.7% between±3 s.d. 95.4% between±2 s.d. 68.3% between ±1 s.d. 2.1% -3 s.d.

13.6%

-2 s.d.

34.1% -1 s.d.

34.1% Mean

13.6% +1 s.d.

2.1% +2 s.d.

+3 s.d.

Figure 2.17   Percentages in normal distribution between standard deviations (s.d.). Only 0.3%, or 3 scores in 1000, will fall outside 3 standard deviations either side of the centre line.

________

¯​)  ​ 2​ Σ​​(​X − ​ x ​ σ = ​  ​________     ​     ​ n

√

It’s important to become familiar with the symbols used in mathematical equations relevant to psychology. In the example above, relating to calculating the standard deviation of a population, the symbols are as follows: σ = s tandard deviation of a population, the number we are trying to calculate (sometimes the standard deviation is also reported as SD or s.d.) Σ = the Greek symbol sigma, which means ‘sum of’ or to ‘add together’ X = score (e.g. score on the psychology exam) ¯​ = mean (average of all scores in a population) ​ x ​ 2 = squared (the mathematical term for multiplying a number by itself)  √ = square root (the opposite of squaring a number—finding out what number multiplied by itself gives the score you are starting with) n = number of data points (or scores) in the population But what happens if we can access the scores for only five students, instead of all 450, and want to be able to generalise our findings to the entire population? In statistical terms we have a sample size of five, rather than the full population. When this happens, we use a slightly different equation to calculate the standard deviation, as below: _________

¯  )​​ 2​ Σ​(X − ​ X ​ ​s = ​  _________ ​   ​ ​​      n − 1

√

     s = standard deviation of a sample, the number we are trying to calculate if we don’t have data for the whole sample      Σ = the Greek symbol sigma, which means ‘sum of’ or to ‘add together’       X = score (e.g. score on the psychology exam)  ¯ ​ = mean (average of all scores in population)       ​ x ​     √ = square root       2 = squared  n − 1 = number of data points (or participants or scores) in the sample, minus 1 You’ll notice that the only difference between calculating the standard deviation for a population and the standard deviation of a sample is that when calculating for a sample, instead of dividing by n we divide by ​n − 1​. The reason we use the different equations is that when you have only a sample, there is a risk of bias in the calculation of standard deviations for the total population because you haven’t taken into account the variability of scores in the whole population, just these five people—you’re likely to get more variability when looking at 450 compared to five scores. This bias is corrected by using ​n − 1​.

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Now we’ll work through calculating the standard deviation for the sample of psychology exam scores. Imagine the five student exam scores reported were 75, 62, 33, 81 and 59. Step 1: Calculate the mean (​​ ¯x ​​)  score of the sample. To do this, add up all the scores (this step is represented in the equation by ΣX), and divide by 5 (i.e. the number of scores in the sample). ΣX ¯ = ​​  ​​ X ​​   ___ ​​  5

310 ¯ =  ​​  = ​​ X ​​   ____  ​​   5 ¯ = 62 = ​​ X ​​  

Step 2: Subtract the mean from each individual score, and then square the result (i.e. multiply it by itself). Once you have these five results, add them together. This is called the sum of squares. Step 3: Divide the sum of squares by ​n − 1​ (the total number of scores – 1). ¯)  2 Σ(X − ​ X ​ = ​​ _________  ​​    n − 1 = 1380/4 = 345 Step 4: The final step in calculating the standard deviation is to take the square root of the number calculated in step 3 (this is the part many students forget to do, resulting in incorrect answers).

(X − ​​ ¯ X ​​) 2

Participant

Score

1

 75

(75–62)2 = 169

2

 62

(62–62)2 = 0

3

 33

(33–62)2 = 841

4

 81

(81 –61 )2 = 361

5

 59

(59–62)2 = 9

Σ

310

1380

____

s = ​​√ 345 ​​  s = 18.57 (rounded to 2 decimal places; only round at the very end, not as you go, otherwise you can end up with a slightly different result) So, through this process we have identified that the mean psychology exam score for this population was 62, and the standard deviation is 18.57. This tells us that a person scoring one standard deviation below the mean would have achieved a score of 43.43 ​(​ 62 − 18.57)​, whereas a student scoring one standard deviation above the mean would have achieved a score of 80.57 ​​(62 + 18.57)​. It also tells us that 68.3 per cent of the population would have scored between 43.43 and 80.57 on this exam (because these are the scores that fall within one standard deviation either side of the mean—see Figure 2.17).

Using statistics to make inferences Descriptive statistics allow researchers to efficiently summarise data, but researchers typically want to go beyond mere description and draw inferences (conclusions) from their data. To illustrate, suppose we conduct an experiment to examine how noise affects adults’ ability to learn new factual information. Each of 80 participants is placed alone in the same room. Half of the participants are randomly assigned to perform a reading comprehension task while recorded traffic noise is played in the background. For the remaining participants, the room is kept quiet. We find that, on average, adults in the noisy room perform more poorly than adults in the quiet room. At this point we would like to make a general inference: ‘noise impairs people’s ability to learn new factual material’. However, we must first wrestle with a key issue: even if our experiment had all the proper controls and there were no confounding variables, perhaps the noise really had no effect on performance and our findings were merely a chance outcome. Perhaps, for example, just by random chance, we happened to end up with 40 adults in the noisy room who would have performed this poorly anyway, even if they had been in a quiet room. Inferential statistics tell us how confident we can be in making inferences about a population based on findings obtained from a sample. In our case, they help determine the probability that we would obtain similar results if our experiment were repeated over and over with other samples from the same population. Inferential statistics tell researchers whether their findings are statistically significant. Statistical significance means that it is very unlikely that a particular finding occurred by chance alone. Psychologists typically consider results to be statistically significant only if the results could

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have occurred by chance alone fewer than five times in 100, and express this as ​p