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Experimental Psychology summary Tilburg University
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this is a summary based on the lectures of experimental psychology at Tilburg University, it mostly covers all info from chapter 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10
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Experimental psychologylecture 1
CH1
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior.
- mind →private inner experience of perception
- behavior → any observative action
Experiment = any technique by which we can establish a relationship between variables.
Experimental psychology = the scientific study of mind and behavior, by means of experiment.
How to study? focus on cognitive functions
- Cognition mental processes that lead to thoughts and awareness
- Cognitive processes mechanisms that underly cognition (govern cognitive functions like
attention memory and motor skills etc.)
- Cognitive functions are the building blocks of all complex behavior like eating peas (requires
perception, decision making, motor skills)
Experimental psychology is closely linked to neuropsychology
- Patients with (local) brain damage allow for more specific and reliable inferences about brain
functioning.
- Patients with:
neglect (mostly after a stroke) ignores one side of space
aphasia (understanding speech)
dyslexia
prosopagnosia (not able to recognize faces)
visual agnosia (not able to recognize objects)
Cognitive neuroscience attempts to understand biological side of cognition (brain activity that can be
tracked)
Brief history
- Greek philosophers 400 bc
- Enlightenment period 17th and 18th
Nativism knowledge is inborn
Dualismbody and mind are separate entities (bodily reflexes do not involve the
mind) Descartes
Empiricists knowledge is acquired
- 19th century psychology started to evolve into a science
Herman von Helmholtz first to conduct experiments
Gustav Fechner (inspired by Ernst Weber) introduced the just noticeable
difference (JND)
Franciscus Donders introduced mental Chronometry (how much time do you need
to decide whether you heard a certain syllable for example)
1. simple reaction time
2. choice reaction time
3. go/no reaction time
Stimulus discrimination 3-1
Decision making 2-3
BvH
, Decision with discrimination 2-1
- 19th and 20th century competing schools emerged.
Wilhem Wuld structuralism consciousness should e the focus of study via
analyses of the basic elements that constitute the mind achieved by breaking
down consciousness into sensations and feelings
further developed by Edward Titchener, proposed 3 elementary states of
consciousness
1. Sensations (sound, taste)
2. Images (components of thought)
3. Affections (components of emotions)
. John Watson behaviorism introspective processes cannot be studied (too
vague) and overt behavior should be studied (what people do)
1. can be observed by anyone
2. goal of scientific psychology is to predict and control behavior to benefit society
Behaviorism part of logical positivism movement that introduced the operational definition
a description of an abstract property in terms or a concrete condition that can be
measured. Ex: hunger (abstract property) = number of hours deprived from food (condition)
Allow for precise measurements and direct comparisons but are not always good (can be
quite unuseful.
Ivan pavlov: classical conditioning: dog and bell experiment
- US = unconditioned stimulus (learning) UR = unconditioned response
- When the US is repeatedly paired with another stimulus, the other stimulus becomes a:
- CS = conditioned stimulus CR = conditioned response (which is the same as the UR but
now occurs without the original US)
Skiner: operant co0nditioning
- Learning occurs through reinforcement and punishment, that can bo9th be positive
(something is added) of negative (something is removed)
- Reinforcement (increase behavior)
Positive reinforcement add stimulus (money, food)
Negative reinforcement remove stimulus (pain, stress)
- Punishment (decrease behavior)
Positive punishment add stimulus (pain, stress)
Negative punishment remove stimulus (money, food)
Gestalt psychology: Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kolher and Kurt Koffka
- Key principle: the whole that we see is more than the sum of its parts.
- Rejected: Wundt’s structuralism (experience is more than a function of sensation)
Behaviorism, because complex behavior is more than the individual parts that make up this
behavior
- Use apparent motion to prove their point (illusion perception)
- Perception is a construction, not a reflection of sensation.
Since the 70’s : cognitive revolution
- Computer is used as a metaphor for human thinking.
Since the 80’s: modern imaging techniques available
- MRI (structural or functional)
BvH
, CH2
Empiricism: acquiring kn9wledge requires observation.
- Scientific method: observations can lead to mistakes false conclusions set rules and
techniques to help avoid mistakes:
1. Theorize / generate idea
2. Formulate falsifiable hypothesis
3. Collect and analyze data
4. Draw conclusions regarding hypothesis
- Deduction: drawing inference based on assumptions (general specific)
All organisms die john is an organism john will die
Problem: we cannot observe all, so we must use induction (specific general)
Problem induction: unencountered exceptions may arise
- Humans are hard to study (complex, variability, reactivity)
Observation: before understanding why, we must know what.
- Define property
- Detect measure
- Observing entire population is impossible
- Central tendency:
. mode most occurring
. median value that splits data
. mean arithmetic average
- Bias (tendency to display certain behavior)
Demand characteristics people behave in a way that meets expectations or beliefs about
desired outcome
Causal relationship (desired outcome) = a change in some property is causing a change on another
property
Correlation = variation in one variable synchronized with variations in another
- Positive variables change in the same direction
- Negative variables change in opposite directions
- Uncorrelated no systematic pattern in variable changes
- Correlation is no evidence for causation
Lecture 2
Experimentation. = techniques that allow for establishing whether a causal relationship exists.
Manipulation = creating a pattern of variation in an independent variable (x) to establish changes in
(y) number of words (x) in a memory recall test (y)
- Can be made within subjects (measurements) or between (different/manipulation)
- Example: does watching tv cause aggressive behavior in children?
Within subjects’ measurement Between subjects’ manipulation
Watch non-violent tv for 2 hours a day
Aggressive behavior Watch violent tv for two hours a day
Read non- violent books for two hours a day
Randomization = assigning participants to a sample is not determined by a third variable|: all
member of the population of interest have an equal chance to be selected in the sample (barely
happens in life)
- WEIRD people western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic societies.
BvH
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