Psychology, 5/e   Camille B. Wortman
	Instructor's Manual

1.1 Misconceptions Held by Introductory Students

Instructors who teach an introductory psychology course quickly realize that many students enter their classrooms with serious misconceptions about the subject matter. Brown (1984) has suggested that the reason for this may be that many of the beliefs typically labeled "misconceptions" are not entirely false. For example, the statement "Biologists study the body and psychologists study the mind" is often thought to be a common misconception among students. However, as Brown points out, if "mind" is defined as the set of conscious and unconscious events and processes that occur within the individual's central nervous system, many psychologists do, in fact, study the mind. Another misconception that may not be entirely false is, "People can learn while they are asleep." Scientists in Russia have contended that this statement was true, while those in the West have disagreed. Again, the issue appears to be one of definition. If sleep is defined as the absence of alpha waves and the presence of other EEG patterns, then sleep learning does not seem to occur. However, if alpha EEG patterns are not excluded from the definition of sleep, then sleep learning does seem to occur. Other misconceptions that may not be entirely false are, "Hypnotized participants cannot be made to engage in acts that they might not otherwise perform," "Catharsis has been shown to be an effective method in reducing subsequent acts of aggression," and "Most older people are lonely and isolated." Since human behavior is complex and psychological research is so full of qualifications, you might wish to begin the course with a discussion of these misconceptions and the conditions under which they may or may not be true.

Brown, L. T. (1984). Misconceptions about psychology aren't always what they seem. Teaching of Psychology, 11, 75-78.

1.2 Psychology's "Prehistory"

A lecture topic to consider in the semester concerns some of scientific psychology's "prehistory." Students are often surprised that psychology is such a young science, and wonder why it is only in the last 100 years that scientific techniques have been applied in behavioral investigations. A good place to start is a discussion of some philosophical views of human nature from the past, and their relation to scientific principles. For example, throughout much of recorded history, humans were often viewed as being somewhat apart from the rest of the natural world, and were believed to demonstrate complete free will in behavior and thought. The assumption of free will has an important implication: If one assumes that behavior has no cause, then it is inherently unpredictable. Because science ultimately seeks regularity and predictability in nature, the belief in total free will precludes a scientific discipline of psychology. You might also describe one of the first important departures from this view, which appeared in the mid-1600s in the writings of René Descartes. Descartes described human-looking mechanical statues in the gardens around Paris, and noted that these statues could "behave" like humans in some simple respects. Because these mechanical behaviors could be analyzed according to physical laws, Descartes proposed that some aspects of human behavior could also be understood according to scientific, mechanistic principles. Descartes opened the door to a science of behavior.

Benjamin, L. T., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). A history of psychology: Original sources and contemporary research (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Jaynes, J. (1970). The problem of animate motion in the seventeenth century. Journal of the History of Ideas, 6, 219-234.

1.3 Characteristics of Scientific Psychology

Students often have difficulty conceiving of psychology as a science. They find it difficult to believe that the same scientific principles of analysis that guide research in physics and chemistry could possibly be applicable to the study of human behavior, thought, and emotions. After all, physics and chemistry deal with inanimate matter, while psychology deals with living beings who are very different from one another, and who behave in seemingly unpredictable ways at times. An article by Gregory Kimble has attempted to delineate the attributes of scientific psychology in the latter twentieth century. Kimble describes the features of psychology that are common to all scientific disciplines, as well as some of the unique characteristics of psychology. This article may serve as the basis for an interesting lecture and discussion during the early portion of your course. Like other sciences, scientific psychology studies observable phenomena (behaviors), and assumes that variation in these observable events can be predicted according to deterministic principles. Psychology also explores intervening variables that mediate cause and effect relationships. These intervening variables, such things as "plans," "motives," and "attitudes," are not observed directly, but are inferred from behavioral variation. This article also clearly describes the sorts of concepts that can be effectively studied with scientific psychology: concepts that can be operationally defined, and can be shown to influence behavior. An interesting discussion after a lecture on the nature of scientific psychology might include presenting the students with a list of "psychological questions," and asking whether or not they think that scientific methods can be used to answer them. Such questions might include: "Do animals think like humans?"; "Is gun control beneficial to a society?"; "Does pornography cause sex crimes?"; and "Does reincarnation occur?"

Kimble, G. A. (1989). Psychology from the standpoint of a generalist. American Psychologist, 44, 491-499.

McBurney, D. H. (1996). How to think like a psychologist: Critical thinking in psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

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