Introduction to Psychology Worksheet
Samantha Kimball
Psy/211
July 8, 2014
Harmony Kwiker
Introduction to Psychology Worksheet
Part I: Origins of Psychology

The Positive Psychology Perspective is an approach in psychology that focuses on the growth and potential of humans. One of the main theorists in Positive psychology is Martin E. P. Seligman. He began by the study of dogs and then progressed onto humans. He focused on what he called “learned optimism” and by doing so he was able to develop “positive psychology”; which would call attention to research on human strengths, instead of only focusing on problems. The Behavioral Perspective is the study of behavior and how it is modified or acquired by things such as environmental causes. Scientists can study a specific behavior or topic. A Russian by the name of Ivan Pavlov confirmed that dogs could learn to associate a neutral stimulus, with automatic behavior. Later on James Waston, an America helped make behaviorism as a new school of psychology. The Humanistic Pers41pective was based on the work of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. The humanistic perspective focuses on motivation of people and how they grow psychologically based upon their self-concept and self-direction. The idea is to strive to reach one's potential, and this is a beneficial perspective used by many in the mental health fields today.

Hockenbury, D., & Hockenbury, S. (2014). Discovering Psychology (sixth edition ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

Part II: Research Methods

Provide a brief overview of some research methods used by psychologists. Include strengths and weaknesses of each method.

There are many research methods used by psychologists, including naturalistic observation. Naturalistic observation is when something is observed, but it is not usually know. The strength of this method would be that psychologists are able to view animals and people in their natural environment. However, the downside to this method is finding the specific situation that will have the desired situation needed for the study being looked at. Another method is surveys. An advantage offered by surveys is that information can be gathered from a much larger group of people. Surveys can provide larger numbers than other research. A big problem that can occur with surveys is the lack of honesty given by people. When people asked of, illegal actions can lie causing an inaccurate survey.

Hockenbury, D., & Hockenbury, S. (2014). Discovering Psychology (sixth edition ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

Part III: Ethics in Research

Describe two ethical issues related to research. Why is informed consent necessary for ethical research?

False feedback is a form of deception that can be harmful. “Some have suggested that participants may feel demeaned or have decreased self-esteem if they believe this feedback (Boynton, Portnoy, Johnson).” False feedback has been considered to have negative effects on people, thus making it an ethical issue. Another is ex-perimeter professionalism or researcher-participant relationship. "Consequently, the professional demeanor of the research staff is likely to be crucial to participants' perceptions of their research experiences, especially in combination with the use of deception (Boynton, Portnoy, Johnson).” It is noted in the article, “that the problem in social and behavioral research is that not all investigators respect their participants as people (Boynton, Portnoy, Johnson).” Informed consent means the knowing consent of a human being without unnecessary stimulus or any force, deception or any other form of limitation or