PSYC105 Lecture 1: PSYC105 STATISTICS Lecture 1: Introduction to Statistics I
18 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
PSYC105 STATISTICS
Week One: Introduction to Statistics I
Lecture Overview
- Psychology as a science
- Important statistical concepts
Psychology as a Science
- Psychology: the scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes
o How people think
o Why people behave the way they do
o How people process and interact with the world
o How people develop
o Why mental health disorders develop and how to treat them
- Science: a framework to study phenomena
- Formal research methods vs simple observation
- We need science and formal research methods to answer psychological questions
o What is the most effective therapy for clinical depression: psychological or
pharmacological therapy?
o Does exposure to childhood trauma increase your chance of developing
psychopathology?
o Are anti-speeding ad campaigns effective in decreasing speeding?
o Does using gestures when speaking increase children’s understanding?
o Are people with chronic pain more prone to develop depression?
Scientific Method
- Develop theory (based off observations, reading literature, prior research)
- Construct a hypothesis
- Design a study
- Analyse data
- Draw conclusion
Why Statistics?
- Statistical methods are an essential part of psychological science and research:
quantitative research methods
- Psychology is (usually) interested in people on a big scale
o Adolescents
o Chronic pain sufferers
o Individuals with PSD
o Novice drivers
o Etc
- But people tend to vary and we can’t measure everyone so statistics = process of
aggregation and inference
Example: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
- Research question: is CBT effective in treating generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)?
