PSYCO104 Lecture 1: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCO104
• Professor: Scavuzzo, Claire

Document Summary

. is the scientific study of the mind, brain and behaviour. Is the scientific study of behaviour and the mind. How psychology cuts across borders: biology, anthropology, economics, sociology, medicine, computer science, engineering. Sub-fields of psychology: biopsychology, neuroscience, developmental, experimental, personality, social. Psychology has the answer but many different answers. Contemporary psychology: conclusions drawn about human behaviour from rigorous data. "what is the evidence, and how good is it?" Beware of : na ve realism, common statements regarding behaviour may not generalize. There can be multiple interpretations of the same information: pareidolia, the experience of patterns in random behaviour or in a random stimulus, not just faces but other patterns as well, logical fallacies, human rationality is classically bounded. Lack of review: research may not have been peer-reviewed and/or researchers have vested interest, exaggerated claims, extraordinary claims often require extraordinary evidence.