GE203-General Psychology
General Education
Have you ever wondered why you did something? Why do people do "random acts of kindness", or something more sinister like violent acts of crime? These are the questions that psychologists want to get answers to. The more you know about why people, or you, do the things they do, the better able they are to "control" behavior and understand themselves.
Psychologists want to be able to explain why we act the way we do. They usually do experiments to discover causes of behavior. Experiments bring cause - and - effect relationships into focus.
Psychological experiment is the most powerful scientific research tool. To perform an experiment you psychologists do the following:
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Directly vary a condition they think might affect behavior
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Create two or more groups of subjects - participants. These groups should be alike in all the ways except the condition you are varying.
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Record whether varying the condition has any effect on behavior
The simplest psychological experiment is based on two groups of experimental subjects (animals or people whose behavior is being investigated). One group is called the experimental group and the other becomes the control group. The control group and the experimental group are treated exactly alike except for the condition you intentionally vary. This condition is called the independent variable.
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The Learning Objectives Addressed Today Were:
1. Outline the charesteristics of Psychology that make it science.
a. Experimentation
b. Ethical Concerns
2. Label neuroanatomical structures responsible for commonly observed behaviors.
a. Neurons & Neurotransmitters
b. Nervous system; Central, Peripheral, Somatic, Autonomic
c. Two Divisions of the Autonomic Nervous System
d. Spinal Cord and Behavior
e. Biopsychology and Imaging Techniques
f. Lower Animals and Human Brains
g. Brain Hemispheres, Cerebral Cortex Lobes, Broca's Area, Parietal Lobe, Temporal Lobe, Occipital Lobe
h. Sub-Cortex; Forebrain and Hindbrain
i. Endocrine System; glands.
j. Brain Dominance
Assignment:
Activity, Unit 1, Due Day 3, Worth 25 Points
Moral Reasoning
The challenge of moral delemmas is that there is often no correct answer. Choose one of the three delemmas below.
The following criterial must be met:
1. 1 page, typed, single space, 1" margins
2. Correct spelling
3. Proper grammar
4. Logical flow of thoughts
5. Well thought out; incorporate concepts from learned material
For each of the following, indicate the decision you would make and why.
A. In 1842, the ship William Brown struck an iceberg and sank. There were more than 30 survivors crowded into a seven - person lifeboat. The accident occurred in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic and , to make matters worse, a storm was movin in. The captain had to choose whether to allow everyone to remain in the boat (and likely die) or whether to sacrifice some but save others. In order to have any chance to be rescued the boat whould have to be rowed a substantial distance. After 24 hours adrift in a leaking, listing boat, the captain gave the order to "lighten the load" and sacrificed the weakest survivors. 24 hours later, he gave the order again and more people were thrown overboard. Miraculously, the boat was rescued on the third day. The captain was put on trial for manslaughter. Assume you were a member of the jury. Would you have convicted him? Why or why not? What action would you have taken in the same position and why?
B. During the Second World War, the Allies were losing and Britain was in danger of being invaded. The British intercepted intelligence whtat would allow them to break the German code and potentiall win the war. One of the first coded messages broken referred to a Nazi plan to bomb a British city. Churchill could stop the attack, buth then the Germans would realize that the code had been broken and would simply change the code. Alternately, Churchill could protect the secret that the code had been broken and could continue to use German intelligence withoout being detected. To do so, however, he would have to allow the bombing to proceed without advance action. In other words, only when German bombers were actually spotted, and it was too late to stop the raid, would British planes be launched for defense, not before. if you had been Churchill what would you have done, and why?
C. In the book Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, the lead character Jean Val Jean went to prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family. At the historical time of the story, even minor transgressions resulted in severe prison sentences. Val Jean escaped from prison and avoided recapture. He disguised his identity, changed his name, and became Mayor and chief benefactor of a small town by inventing a new product. in an obsessive quest to recapture Val Jean, inspector Javert was constantly on the lookout for the escaped convice. Eventually, Javert arrived in the same town and saw a man whom he believed was Val Jean. The innocent man, a victim of mistaken identity, would be sent back to prison as the escaped convict, probably for the rest of his life. Val Jean was a very good and moral man and did not want an innocient man to go to jail for his crime. At the same time, if Val Jean saved the innocent man by divulging his true identity, and went back to prison, the factory would close and hundreds of workers would lose their jobs. Some would probably even starve. Putting aside your own self interest (not wanting to go to jail), which choice would you make -- save an innocent man from a terrible fate caused by your deception, or abandon the workers of the town? On what basis would you make your choice?