AP Psychology

Module 2 - Psychology's Big Issues and Approaches

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The young science of psychology developed from the more established fields of philosophy and biology. Wundt was both a philosopher and a physiologist. James was an American philosopher. Freud was an Austrian physician. Ivan Pavlov, who pioneered the study of learning (Module 26), was a Russian physiologist. Jean Piaget, the last century's most influential observer of children (Module 47), was a Swiss biologist. These "Magellans of the mind," as Morton Hunt (1993) has called them, illustrate psychology's origins in many disciplines and many countries.

Like those early pioneers, today's psychologists are citizens of many lands. The International Union of Psychological Science has 71 member nations, from Albania to Zimbabwe. In China, the first university psychology department began in 1978; by 2008 there were nearly 200 (Han, 2008; Tversky, 2008). Moreover, thanks to international publications, joint meetings, and the Internet, collaboration and communication now cross borders. Psychology is growing and it is globalizing. The story of psychology – the subject of this book – continues to develop in many places, at many levels, with interests ranging from the study of nerve cell activity to the study of international conflicts.

Across the world, psychologists are debating enduring issues, viewing behavior from the differing perspectives offered by the subfields in which they teach, work, and do research.

Psychology's Biggest Question

FOCUS QUESTION: What is psychology's historic big issue?

Are our human traits present at birth, or do they develop through experience? This has been psychology's biggest and most persistent issue. As we have seen, the debate over the naturenurture issue is ancient. The ancient Greeks debated this, with Plato assuming that we inherit character and intelligence and that certain ideas are also inborn, and Aristotle countering that there is nothing in the mind that does not first come in from the external world through the senses.

In the 1600s, philosophers rekindled the debate. Locke rejected the notion of inborn ideas, suggesting that the mind is a blank slate on which experience writes. Descartes disagreed, believing that some ideas are innate. Descartes' views gained support from a curious naturalist two centuries later. In 1831, an indifferent student but ardent collector of beetles, mollusks, and shells set sail on a historic round-the-world journey. The 22-year-old voyager, Charles Darwin, pondered the incredible species variation he encountered, including tortoises on one island that differed from those on nearby islands. Darwin's 1859 On the Origin of Species explained this diversity by proposing the evolutionary process of natural selection: From among chance variations, nature selects traits that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment. Darwin's principle of natural selection-what philosopher Daniel Dennett (1996) has called "the single best idea anyone has ever had"-is still with us 150+ years later as biology's organizing principle. Evolution also has become an important principle for twenty-first-century psychology. This would surely have pleased Darwin, for he believed his theory explained not only animal structures (such as a polar bear's white coat) but also animal behaviors (such as the emotional expressions associated with human lust and rage).

The nature-nurture issue recurs throughout this text as today’s psychologists explore the relative contributions of biology and experience, asking, for example, how we humans are alike (because of our common biology and evolutionary history) and diverse (because of our differing environments). Are gender differences biologically predisposed or socially constructed? Is children's grammar mostly innate or formed by experience? How are intelligence and personality differences influenced by heredity and by environment? Are sexual behaviors more "pushed" by inner biology or "pulled" by external incentives? Should we treat psychological disorders-depression, for example-as disorders of the brain, disorders of thought, or both?

Such debates continue. Yet over and over again we will see that in contemporary science the nature-nurture tension dissolves: Nurture works on what nature endows. Our species is biologically endowed with an enormous capacity to learn and adapt. Moreover, every psychological event (every thought, every emotion) is simultaneously a biological event. Thus, depression can be both a brain disorder and a thought disorder.

Psychology's Three Main Levels of Analysis

FOCUS QUESTION: What are some important milestones in psychology's early development?

Each of us is a complex system that is part of a larger social system. But each of us is also composed of smaller systems, such as our nervous system and body organs, which are composed of still smaller systems-cells, molecules, and atoms.

These tiered systems suggest different levels of analysis, which offer complementary outlooks. It's like explaining why horrific school shootings have occurred. Is it because the shooters have brain disorders or genetic tendencies that cause them to be violent? Because they have been rewarded for violent behavior? Because we, in the United States, live in a gun-promoting society that accepts violence? Such perspectives are complementary because "everything is related to everything else" (Brewer, 1996). Together, different levels of analysis form an integrated biopsychosocial approach, which considers the influences of biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors (FIGURE 2.1).

Each level provides a valuable vantage point for looking at a behavior or mental process, yet each by itself is incomplete. Like different academic disciplines, psychology's varied approaches, or perspectives, ask different questions and have their own limits. One perspective may stress the biological, psychological, or socialcultural level more than another, but the different perspectives described in TABLE 2.1 complement one another. Consider, for example, how they shed light on anger.

The point to remember : Like two-dimensional views of a three-dimensional object, each of psychology’s perspectives is helpful. But each by itself fails to reveal the whole picture.

Psychology's Subfields

FOCUS QUESTION: What are psychology's main subfields?

Picturing a chemist at work, you probably envision a white-coated scientist surrounded by glassware and high-tech equipment. Picture a psychologist at work and you would be right to envision

Some psychologists conduct basic research that builds psychology's knowledge base. In the pages that follow we will meet a wide variety of such researchers, including

(Read on to the next module for a more complete list of what psychologists in various professions do and where they work.)

These and other psychologists also may conduct applied research, tackling practical problems. Industrial-organizational (I/O) psychologists, for example, use psychology's concepts and methods in the workplace to help organizations and companies select and train employees, boost morale and productivity, design products, and implement systems. Within that domain, human factors psychologists focus on the interaction of people, machines, and physical environments. (More on this subject in Enrichment Module 82.)

Although most psychology textbooks focus on psychological science, psychology is also a helping profession devoted to such practical issues as how to have a happy marriage, how to overcome anxiety or depression, and how to raise thriving children. As a science, psychology at its best bases such interventions on evidence of effectiveness. Counseling psychologists help people to cope with challenges and crises (including academic, vocational, and marital issues) and to improve their personal and social functioning. Clinical psychologists assess and treat mental, emotional, and behavior disorders. Both counseling and clinical psychologists administer and interpret tests, provide counseling and therapy, and sometimes conduct basic and applied research. By contrast, psychiatrists, who also may provide psychotherapy, are medical doctors licensed to prescribe drugs and otherwise treat physical causes of psychological disorders.

We will study the history of therapy, including the role of pioneering Dorothea Dix, in the Therapy unit. Reformers such as Dix and Philippe Pinel led the way to humane treatment of those with psychological disorders.

To balance historic psychology's focus on human problems, Martin Seligman and others (2002, 2005, 2011) have called for more research on human strengths and human flourishing.

Their positive psychology scientifically explores "positive emotions, positive character traits, and enabling institutions." What, they ask, can psychology contribute to a "good life" that engages one's skills, and a "meaningful life" that points beyond oneself?

Rather than seeking to change people to fit their environment, community psychologists work to create social and physical environments that are healthy for all (Bradshaw et a1., 2009; Trickett, 2009). For example, if school bullying is a problem, some psychologists will seek to change the bullies. Knowing that many students struggle with the transition from elementary to middle school, they might train individual kids how to cope. Community psychologists instead seek ways to adapt the school experience to early adolescent needs.

To prevent bullying, they might study how the school and neighborhood foster bullying.

With perspectives ranging from the biological to the social, and with settings from the laboratory to the clinic, psychology relates to many fields. As we will see in Module 3, psychologists teach in medical schools, law schools, and high schools, and they work in hospitals, factories, and corporate offices. They engage in interdisciplinary studies, such as psychohistory (the psychological analysis of historical characters), psycholinguistics (the study of language and thinking), and psychoceramics (the study of crackpots).l

Psychology also influences modern culture. Knowledge transforms us. Learning about the solar system and the germ theory of disease alters the way people think and act. Learning about psychology's findings also changes people: They less often judge psychological disorders as moral failings, treatable by punishment and ostracism. They less often regard and treat women as men's mental inferiors. They less often view and rear children as ignorant, willful beasts in need of taming. "In each case," noted Morton Hunt (1990, p. 206), "knowledge has modified attitudes, and, through them, behavior." Once aware of psychology's well-researched ideas-about how body and mind connect, how a child's mind grows, how we construct our perceptions, how we remember (and misremember) our experiences, how people across the world differ (and are alike)-your mind may never again be quite the same.

But bear in mind psychology’s limits. Don't expect it to answer the ultimate questions, such as those posed by Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1904): "Why should I live? Why should I do anything? Is there in life any purpose which the inevitable death that awaits me does not undo and destroy?"

Although many of life's significant questions are beyond psychology, some very important ones are illuminated by even a first psychology course. Through painstaking research, psychologists have gained insights into brain and mind, dreams and memories, depression and joy. Even the unanswered questions can renew our sense of mystery about "things too wonderful" for us yet to understand. And, as you will see in Modules 4-8, your study of psychology can help teach you how to ask and answer important questions-how to think critically as you evaluate competing ideas and claims.

Psychology deepens our appreciation for how we humans perceive, think, feel, and act. By so doing, it can indeed enrich our lives and enlarge our vision. Throughout this book I hope to help guide you toward that end. As educator Charles Eliot said a century ago: "Books are the quietest and most constant of friends, and the most patient of teachers."

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Improve Your Retention - and Your Grades!

How can psychological principles help you learn and remember, and do better on the AP exam?

Do you, like most students, assume that the way to cement your new learning is to reread? What helps even more-and what this book therefore encourages-is repeated self-testing and rehearsal of previously studied material. Memory researchers Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke (2006) call this phenomenon the testing effect. They note that "testing is a powerful means of improving learning, not just assessing it." In one of their studies, students recalled the meaning of 40 previously learned Swahili words much better if tested repeatedly than if they spent the same time restudying the words (Karpicke & Roediger, 2008).

As you will see in Modules 31-33, to master information you must actively process it. Your mind is not like your stomach, something to be filled passively; it is more like a muscle that grows stronger with exercise. Countless experiments reveal that people learn and remember best when they put material in their own words, rehearse it, and then retrieve and review it again.

The SQ3R study method incorporates these principles (McDaniel et al., 2009; Robinson, 1970). SQ3R is an acronym for its five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve,2 Review.

To study a module, first survey, taking a bird's-eye view. Scan the headings, and notice how the module is organized.

Before you read each main section, try to answer its numbered Learning Objective Question (for this box: "How can psychological principles help you learn and remember, and do better on the Ap® exam?"). Roediger and Bridgid Finn (2010) have found that "trying and failing to retrieve the answer is actually helpful to learning." Those who test their understanding before reading, and discover what they don't yet know, will learn and remember better.

Then read, actively searching for the answer to the question. At each sitting, read only as much of the module (usually a single main section) as you can absorb without tiring . Read actively and critically. Ask questions. Take notes. Make the ideas your own: How does what you've read relate to your own life? Does it support or challenge your assumptions? How convincing is the evidence?

Having read a section , retrieve its main ideas. Test yourself This will not only help you figure out what you know; the testing itself will help you learn and retain the information more effectively. Even better, test yourself repeatedly. To facilitate this, I offer self-testing opportunities in each module-for example, in the Before You Move On sections. After answering the Test Yourself questions there, you can check your answers in Appendix E at the end of this text and reread as needed.

Finally, review: Read over any notes you have taken, again with an eye on the module's organization, and quickly review the whole module. Write or say what a concept is before rereading to check your understanding.

Survey, question, read, retrieve, review. I have organized this book's modules to facilitate your use of the SQ3R study system. Each module begins with a list of objectives that aid your survey. Headings and the numbered Learning Objective Questions at the beginning of main sections suggest issues and concepts you should consider as you read. The material is organized into sections of readable length. At the end of main sections is a "Before You Move On" box with Ask Yourself and Test Yourself questions that help you retrieve what you know. The Module Review provides answers to the learning objective questions along with helpful review questions. The Unit Review offers a list of Key Terms and Key Contributors, along with Ap® Exam Practice Questions. Appendix C, Psychological Science's Key Contributors, at the end of the text will also be an important review tool-especially in preparing for the Ap® exam. In addition to learning psychology's key concepts and key people, you will also need to learn the style of writing that is required for success on the exam. The sample grading rubrics provided for some of the Free-Response Questions (essay-style questions) in the Module and Unit Reviews will help get you started.

Five additional study tips may further boost your learning:

Distribute your study time. One of psychology's oldest findings is that spaced practice promotes better retention than massed practice. You'll remember material better if you space your time over several study periods-perhaps one hour a day, six days a week -rather than cram it into one long study blitz. For example, rather than trying to read an entire module in a single sitting, read just one main section and then turn to something else. Interleaving your study of psychology with your study of other subjects boosts long-term retention and protects against overconfidence (Kornell & Bjork, 2008; Taylor & Rohrer, 2010).

Spacing your study sessions requires a disciplined approach to managing your time. (Richard O. Straub explains time management in a helpful preface at the beginning of this text.)

Learn to think critically. Whether you are reading or in class, note people's assumptions and values. What perspective or bias underlies an argument? Evaluate evidence. Is it anecdotal? Or is it based on informative experiments? (More on this in Module 6.) Assess conclusions. Are there alternative explanations? Process class information actively. Listen for the main ideas and sub-ideas of a lesson. Write them down. Ask questions during and after class. In class, as with your homework, process the information actively and you will understand and retain it better. As psychologist William James urged a century ago, "No reception without reaction, no impression without ... expression." Make the information your own. Take notes in your own words. Relate what you read to what you already know. Tell someone else about it. (As any teacher will confirm, to teach is to remember.)

Overlearn. Psychology tells us that overlearning improves retention. We are prone to overestimating how much we know. You may understand a module as you read it, but that feeling of familiarity can be deceptively comforting. By devoting extra study time to testing yourself, you may retain your new knowledge much more effectively.

Be a smart test-taker. If a test contains both multiple-choice questions and an essay question, turn first to the essay. Read the question carefully, noting exactly what the teacher is asking. On the back of a page, pencil in a list of points you'd like to make and then organize them. Before writing, put aside the essay and work through the multiple-choice questions. (As you do so, your mind may continue to mull over the essay question. Sometimes the multiple-choice questions will bring pertinent thoughts to mind.) Then reread the essay question, rethink your answer, and start writing. When you finish, proofread your answer to eliminate spelling and grammatical errors that make you look less competent than you are.

When reading multiple-choice questions, don't confuse yourself by trying to imagine how each choice might be the right one. Instead, try to answer each question as if it were a fill-in-the-blank question. First cover the answers and form a sentence in your mind, recalling what you know to complete the sentence. Then read the answers on the test and find the alternative that best matches your own answer.

Memory experts Elizabeth Bjork and Robert Bjork (2011, p. 63) offer the bottom line for how to improve your retention and your grades: Spend less time on the input side and more time on the output side, such as summarizing what you have read from memory or getting together with friends and asking each other questions. Any activities that involve testing yourself-that is, activities that require you to retrieve or generate information, rather than just representing information to yourself – will make your learning both more durable and flexible.