PSY402 Highlighted Handouts Set 2

Table of Contents

Serial number Lecture tile Topics included Page number

Introduction 1-5 1-6 Theories in scientific Psychology 6-8 7-9 The Experimental Method in science of Psychology (I) 9-12 10-19

The Experimental Method in science of Psychology (II) 13-16 20-23

Experimental Design (Variables) 17-21 24-30 Independent group/ between subject designs 22-28 31-40

Control in independent groups design 29-31 41-45 Dependent group/within subjects design 32-38 46-55

Experiments in social psychology 39-44 56-70 Ethics in Experiments (I) 45-50 71-75 Ethics in Experiments (II) 51-54 76-81 Report Writing 55-58 82-86 Psychophysics (I) 59-63 87-96 Psychophysics (II) 64-67 97-110 The Five Senses: Visual System 68-71 111-118 Visual System 72-73 119-131 Perception (I) 74-76 132-149 Perception (II) 77-81 150-167 color vision 82-83 168-176 Perceiving Depth and size 84-87 177-189 Face recognition and time perception 88-91 190-201 Sound perception 92-96 202-218 Sense of Touch 97-99 219-228 Pain and temperature perception 100-101 229-234 Sense of smell 102-105 235-241 System of Taste; Functions and qualities 106-111 242-250

Nature of perception 112-115 251-256 Learning, Classical conditioning 116-125 257-270 Learning, Operant conditioning 126-129 271-275 Reinforcement 130-134 276-282 Shaping 135-139 283-288 Cognitive Approaches to Learning 140-141 289-291

Memory 142-147 292-304

Concept of Working Memory 148-154 305-316

Long Term Memory (I) 155-160 317-328 Long Term Memory (II) 161-164 329-339 Reconstruction of Memory 165-166 340-349 Applying Evidence; Memory techniques based on research 167-170 350-360

Cognitive processes 171-174 361-366 The Prototype and the Exemplar Approach 175-178 367-374

Semantic Networks 179-181 375-382 Problem solving 182-183 383-397 Reasoning 184-185 398-413 Decision making 186-187 414-419 Language and Comprehension 188-190 420-425

Lecture 01 · INTRODUCTION TO EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY · Topic: 1-5 · Topic No. 1 · Introduction to the Course · The course has the following objectives;

• To familiarize course participants with the field of Experimental Psychology, Experimental Research, and various types of Experimental designs
• To initiate an understanding of cognitive processes
• To develop an investigative and experimental approach among students

At the end of course you will be able to:

• Understand and describe important findings of experimental research
• Plan and design experiments
• Develop an interest in experiments and an experimental approach to investigation
• Learn about mental processes such as Perception, Learning, Memory, Reasoning, Problem Solving and Language

The course content

• Definition and history of Experimental Psychology
• Research designs and their procedures
• Cognitive processes; Sensory and Perceptual Processes, Learning and Memory, Reasoning, Decision Making, Problem Solving, Language and Motivation
• Classical as well as contemporary experiments will be discussed such as the famous experiment of little Albert who learned to fear furry animals through classical conditioning (Watson, 1920) and the attachment of infants experiment (Harlow, 1950)

Topic No. 2

Functions, Aims and Characteristics of Science

The goal of scientific psychology is to understand why people think and act as they do. In contrast to nonscientists, who rely on informal and secondary sources of knowledge, psychologists use a variety of well-developed techniques to gather information and develop theoretical explanations? The curiosity is at the bases of this exercise. Nonscientific people also have curiosity like children to know about the reasons for certain happenings but the difference is that scientists use objective and empirical methods and obtain information through these methods.

The scientific method is a valid way to acquire knowledge about the world around us. What characteristics of the scientific approach make it a desirable way to learn about and arrive at beliefs about the nature of things? Perhaps the best way to answer this question is to contrast science with other modes of fixing belief, since science is only one way in which beliefs are formed. More than one hundred years ago, the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1877) compared the