Advanced Psychology Lab: Research Methods in Personality Psychology

R. Chris Fraleyhttp://www.yourpersonality.net/psych350/fall2015/

Why is Psychology One of the Most Popular Majors?

Why is Psychology One of the Most Popular Majors?

• Of all the disciplines that exist, psychology is one of the few that is explicitly concerned with understanding the way people behave, feel, and think.

Why is Psychology One of the Most Popular Majors?

• Many of the themes that have characterized intellectual inquiry over the years are studied by psychologists

– free will and determinism– mind and matter– nature and nurture– love and loss– personality growth and disorder

What Makes Psychology Different?

• So, what is special about psychology, as opposed to the study of philosophy, literature, or history?

• The critical difference is that modern psychology is based on the scientific method.

Psychology

Philosophy & Humanities

Natural Sciencethe themes of

psychology

the methods of psychology

Psychology, like the humanities, is concerned with fundamental issues concerning human experience. However, psychologists use the methods of the natural sciences to learn about psychological phenomena.

Why Does this Matter?

• Why is the scientific method potentially useful for studying human experience?

• The methods we tend to use are subject to severe limitations—some of which we will review in our next lecture.

Personality

• Although the study of psychology focuses on big issues, such as development, mental functioning, and social behavior, the discipline of psychology is rather dissociated.

• Students tend to receive training in specific areas of psychology.

• Students focusing on some areas (e.g., psychobiology) may receive little if any training in other areas (e.g., social).

Personality

• Personality psychology is the one subdiscipline within psychology that is motivated by issues that cut across the various subdisciplines.

• The science of personality is concerned with – The way in which people differ from one another

(individual differences)– The development of such differences (developmental)– The way the mind works (cognitive)– The way in which people influence, and are influenced, by

their cultural and social contexts (social)– The biological bases of thought, feeling, and behavior

(biological)

Class Objectives

• The objectives of this course are – to illustrate some of the limitations of non-scientific

approaches to understanding personality– to teach you how to use the scientific method as it applies

to the psychology of personality– to foster your ability to think critically about psychological

theories and research (as well as other information)– to help you better understand your personality through

the use of existing research paradigms in personality psychology

Overview of Syllabus• Class web site

– http://www.yourpersonality.net/psych350/fall2015/– Future updates and changes will be reflected in the online

version of the syllabus.• Grading

• 20% Attendance and participation in lab activities• 20% Quizzes• 20% Major Project 1 (due Sept 22)• 20% Major Project 2 (due Oct 27)• 20% Major Project 3 (due Dec 8)

Important Notes

• The lab sections will be meeting in rooms 289 and 453D of the Psychology Department.

• Labs will begin this week! Please be sure to attend

Friday’s lab. (We will NOT have the Wed lab this week.)

Computers in the Lab Rooms

• You will need to know your Active Directory account information to log in to the computers in the lab rooms.

– Everyone (instructors, students, staff, etc.) will need an Active Directory (AD) password to login to any psychology computer.  

– Students should already have AD passwords.  Please go to the CITES website to create your AD password if you do not already haveone: http://www.cites.illinois.edu/accounts/index.html