(Chapter 1)

This assignment gives you a chance to demonstrate what you have learned about psychology in the first few weeks of this course. By completing this assignment, you will be meeting the following course goal: Showing that you understand what it means to say that psychology is a science, and how it is different from pseudo-psychology or –science.

 

Instructions: Choose ONE of the options below, & write a short paper addressing all parts of that option. Use what you learned about the field of psychology in Chapter 1.

Due date: Thursday, September 4^th

 

1. Reflecting on what you have learned about psychology. This option asks you to reflect on your preconceived notions about psychology or psychologists – those ideas you had about the topic before taking this class. You will need to compare these ideas to the information you have learned so far & evaluate their accuracy.
   1. Identify & describe 3 – 5 notions you had about psychology/psychologists before you started in this class. Be as specific as possible. How did these ideas affect your overall perception or judgment of psychology/psychologists? Reflect on the source of these ideas. From where might they have come? How reliable is that source?
   2. For at least 3 of your preconceived notions, evaluate how accurate each was using what you have learned about psychology. In what way was it a correct representation of the field? Or what partial truths did it contain? Or show how it was completely inaccurate. How has your overall perception or judgment of psychology/psychologists been affected by your learning in this class thus far?

OR

1. Using psychology to test ideas. This option asks you to think about how psychology helps us answer interesting questions or test the accuracy of ideas we have. You will use what you have learned about psychology as a science to develop a way to test a question or idea you have. [The book provides a great example for this option in how it addresses the claim that sugar makes kids hyperactive. See the beginning of Chapter 1 & section 1.3. Of course, your idea should be different from the one given by your textbook authors.]
   1. Identify a question or idea you have about human behavior or mental processes. You could even use a pseudo-scientific claim or myth (see examples in Do It Yourself box on page 36) for this option. Explain why you are interested in this idea. Why would it be important or valuable to know more about this topic? Summarize what you already know about it & from where your knowledge comes.
   2. Describe how a psychologist might use science to deal with the issue. Specifically, use the first 2 steps in the scientific method (see Figure 1.5) to design a scientific study to address your topic. Develop a falsifiable hypothesis, operationally define the important variables in your study, and describe how you would collect your data using one of the 5 research methods.