Chapter Introduction
1
Psychology’s Roots, Big Ideas, and Critical Thinking Tools
SURVEY THE
CHAPTER
Psychological Science’s Birth and Development
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: The Scientific Attitude
Contemporary Psychology
Big Idea 1: Critical Thinking Is Smart Thinking
Big Idea 2: Behavior Is a Biopsychosocial Event
Big Idea 3: We Operate With a Two-
Big Idea 4: Psychology Explores Human Strengths as Well as Challenges
The Limits of Intuition and Common Sense
The Scientific Method
Description
Correlation
Experimentation
How Would You Know Which Research Design to Use?
Predicting Everyday Behavior
Studying and Protecting Animals
Studying and Protecting Humans
Values in Psychology
Hoping to understand themselves and others, millions turn to psychology, as you now do. What do psychologists really know? “What do you think of me?” asked one barber, hoping for an instant personality analysis after learning that I [DM] am a psychologist. “What’s it like being married to a psychologist? Does he use his psychology on you?” people have occasionally asked my wife. “So, does your dad, like, analyze you?” my children were asked many times by friends.
Perhaps you’ve seen psychologists portrayed on television, in movies, or on popular websites. They seem to spend their time analyzing personality, examining crime scenes, testifying in court, and offering advice about parenting, love, happiness, and overcoming personal problems. Do psychologists do all these things? Yes, and much more. Consider some of the questions psychologists study that you may also wonder about:
Have you ever found yourself reacting to something as one of your biological parents would—
perhaps in a way you vowed you never would— and then wondered how much of your personality you inherited? How much are we shaped by our genes, and how much by our home and community environments? Have you ever worried about how to act among people of a different culture, race, gender, or sexual orientation? In what ways are we alike as members of the human family? How do we differ?
Have you ever awakened from a nightmare and, with a wave of relief,wondered why you had such a crazy dream? How often, and why, do we dream?
Have you ever played peekaboo with a 6-
month- old and wondered why the baby finds your “disappearing act” so delightful? What do babies actually perceive and think? Have you ever wondered what leads to success in life? Are some people just born smarter? Can we make it on intelligence alone? What about creativity and emotional intelligence? How about self-
control? Have you ever become depressed or anxious and wondered whether you’ll ever feel “normal”? What triggers our bad moods—
and our good ones? What’s the line between a normal mood swing and a psychological disorder?
As you will see, psychological science has produced some fascinating and sometimes surprising answers to these questions. Psychology’s roots are broad, reaching back into philosophy and biology, and its branches now spread out across the world.