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HomeworkGeneralCritical Thinking--submitted by Tasha Howe PhD. Humboldt State University tashahowe@humboldt.edu Critical Thinking Article Summary Form for Pioneering Studies in Psychology (P.S) For each P.S., be sure you can answer the following questions. Understand the study in light of what you know about research methods (independent and dependent variables, control groups, significant differences, replication, representative samples, etc.). It's always best to integrate new material with all the things you've learned before. Keep it in context! Be sure to fill this form out WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE ARTICLE. NEVER COPY OUT OF AN ARTICLE! READ THE P.S. CAREFULLY AND USE YOUR OWN WORDS AT ALL TIMES! Do not turn in this form with your paper. This is just to help you organize your thoughts. See syllabus for how to write the paper. (Paper is just a narrative, flowing version of these questions) 1. Why was the study conducted? About what issues were the authors hoping to find out? 2. What exactly did they do in the study? Why did they do it that way? 3. What were their specific findings? 4. Why is this a pioneering study? What did this study tell us about psychology? Why is this study still being read decades later? 5. What are some implications of this study for applied problems or other areas of research? In other words, what is the impact of this study for the real world? History of PsychologyResearch MethodsEthics in Research [--submitted by Linda Jordan lgjordan@hughes.net] In Chapter One, you are introduced to the Scientific Method. To help you focus more closely on the section of the chapter entitled Ethical Considerations (page 31), I would like you to take a look at a famous experiment that was conducted at Stanford University in the early 1970’s. To learn all about this experiment, go to www.zimbardo.com . This takes you to the home page for Dr. Philip Zimbardo. On the menu, click on Prison Experiment and prepare to be amazed at how research was once conducted. Go through the entire slide presentation, then use the considerations discussed in your text to write about which ethical considerations were violated in Dr. Zimbardo’s research. Would Dr. Zimbardo be able to conduct this research today? What did we learn from this study that is of importance to us? Do the potential end results of research sometimes justify the way in which research is conducted? How would you decide? Cautionary note: I know that your thoughts are fascinating, but this essay is to include not only your thoughts but also concepts from the text that indicate that you have read the ethical considerations and thought about how they apply here. Please type your essay, double space, and make it no longer than three pages. One paragraph is too short. Got it? I do care about proofreading, so make sure you treat this as an important assignment. Proofread your work and make sure you use spellcheck and grammarcheck. That is all the help I can give you. ( 30 points possible) Correlations – Do you understand them? [submitted by - Linda Jordan lgjordan@hughes.net] For the following correlation findings, state 1) whether the correlation is positive or negative, and 2) what possible intervening variables might explain the results. (Some examples are imaginary.)
Any relationship can be described in terms of how strong the relationship actually is. Does one variable actually cause another? We can say that when it rains, the ground gets wet. I feel very certain that rain has a strong relationship to the ground being wet. Relationships in psychology are not so certain. Human behavior is complex and the result of many factors. We describe the strength of relationships in terms of numbers. +1.0 is the strongest a relationship can be – like rain and wet sidewalks. This describes a positive correlation. 0 means no relationship at all – like the relationship between a satellite flying overhead and the color of clothes you chose to wear today. -1.0 is also the strongest a relationship can be. It describes a negative correlation. After doing the above exercise, you should know the difference between positive and negative correlations. Answer the following:
Experiment Analysis --submitted by Linda Jordan lgjordan@hughes.net? Dr. U. P. Straight is a developmental psychologist who loves his work. It is a great profession except he can never get away from work – people are developing everywhere all the time. One area of interest for him is toilet training because parents always ask how to do it faster and neater. He was out at a restaurant sitting next to a table of boy toddlers. It wasn’t the best eating event for him; however, he did become fascinated as the boys made targets out of everything. The boys even threw wads of napkins at his water glass – fortunately, their aim wasn’t that good. It got him to thinking, though, about boys and targets and whether he could use this for toilet training. He decided to set up an experiment. He enlisted 10 daycare centers that agreed to participate. He wrote letters to parents asking if they would allow their children to be subjects in his study. He only used boys because girls are perfect and really easy to train. Plus, they don’t have lousy aim. A number of parents agreed to participate, so he put their names in a hat and assigned them to different groups – one group received instructions to throw Cheerios in the toilet for the boys to aim at. The other group did not use targets and just did normal toilet training with the boys. Dr. Straight charted the time it took to become accident free, i.e. toilet trained. He was delighted to find that the Cheerio boys trained in half the time. As you might imagine, the makers of Cheerios were delighted. Perhaps you have seen Dr. Straight’s photo on certain Cheerios boxes. He is now a wealthy man and very famous. You must attend to the more boring aspects of his experiment. What was Dr. Straight’s theory? What was his hypothesis? Independent variable? Why? Dependent variable? Why? Did he get a random assignment of subjects? Why or why not? Did he show causation? Why or why not? Dr. U. P. Straight is a developmental psychologist who loves his work. It is a great profession except he can never get away from work – people are developing everywhere all the time. One area of interest for him is toilet training because parents always ask how to do it faster and neater. He was out at a restaurant sitting next to a table of boy toddlers. It wasn’t the best eating event for him; however, he did become fascinated as the boys made targets out of everything. The boys even threw wads of napkins at his water glass – fortunately, their aim wasn’t that good. It got him to thinking, though, about boys and targets and whether he could use this for toilet training. He decided to set up an experiment. He enlisted 10 daycare centers that agreed to participate. He wrote letters to parents asking if they would allow their children to be subjects in his study. He only used boys because girls are perfect and really easy to train. Plus, they don’t have lousy aim. A number of parents agreed to participate, so he put their names in a hat and assigned them to different groups – one group received instructions to throw Cheerios in the toilet for the boys to aim at. The other group did not use targets and just did normal toilet training with the boys. Dr. Straight charted the time it took to become accident free, i.e. toilet trained. He was delighted to find that the Cheerio boys trained in half the time. As you might imagine, the makers of Cheerios were delighted. Perhaps you have seen Dr. Straight’s photo on certain Cheerios boxes. He is now a wealthy man and very famous. You must attend to the more boring aspects of his experiment. What was Dr. Straight’s theory? What was his hypothesis? Independent variable? Why? Dependent variable? Why? Did he get a random assignment of subjects? Why or why not? Did he show causation? Why or why not? Biological PsychologyFiguring Out The Brain Worksheet Please caution students that descriptions are Very hypothetical- just to reinforce concepts Read the following scenarios and try to determine what behaviors each brain part is responsible for:
Sensation and PerceptionSensation and Perception Submitted by Linda Jordan lgjordan@hughes.net Taking the concepts listed below, document one example of each that you have noted in your daily life. We learn these concepts by making them personally relevant, right? Explain to me why this example fits the concept listed. So, if you tell me a sensation, tell me why that qualifies as a sensation. Do not use examples in the book (I know what they are). (30 points)-lots of points for this one, so do a good job!!
States of ConsciousnessLearningSubmitted by Gary Hughes Gary.Hughes@yorkvilleu.ca Most of the years in which I taught Intro, I gave the students an assignment to write an essay defending the thesis that Walden Two was either a good thing or not. It may have accomplished two things: they learned to write an essay and they had to compare their way of life with one that was quite different. Personal Analysis Learning Assignment -submitted by Linda Jordan lgjordan@hughes.net- PART 1: We are all slaves to the principles of learning. Our behaviors are shaped by consequences and by unpredictable events. For your assignment on this chapter, I would like you to describe two examples of classical conditioning from your own life. Diagram it out as we did in class using the US, UR, NS, CS, and CR to explain the various parts of the behavior. Do you still engage in this behavior or has it extinguished? TYPE THIS!!! Remember, classical conditioning involves involuntary responses to stimuli, not voluntary responses. (10 points) PART 2: Now, let us consider operant conditioning. Choose two behaviors in yourself or in someone close to you that you would like to change. Using the principles of operant conditioning, how would you change these behaviors? Assume that you cannot engage in techniques that cause bodily harm or physical pain. Explain how you will go about setting up a change in these behaviors. How successful do you think you will be? Why or why not? (10 points) Classical Conditioning Homeworksubmitted by Linda L. Walsh walsh@uni.edu Remember: The UCS (unconditioned stimulus) is the stimulus that automatically triggers a bodily response or emotional reaction. The UCR (unconditioned response) is the response that the UCS triggers. No learning is required for the UCS to trigger the UCR. If some neutral stimulus is present before or during the UCS, it may, through the process of learning, become "associated" with the UCS and come to trigger a response similar to that triggered by the UCS. If so, the previously neutral stimulus is now called a CS (conditioned stimulus). When a response is triggered by the CS (rather than the UCS), then the response is called a CR (conditioned response) - this response shows that learning (conditioning) has occurred. Identify the UCS, UCR, CS and CR in each of the following examples. Notice how many every day situations are commonly associated with classical conditioning. 1. While you were taking your first shower in the dorms, someone flushed a nearby toilet. Your comfy shower turned so scalding hot that you had to jump out of the stream of water. Now whenever you hear a flush while you are showering, you jump out of the way. UCS __________________________________ UCR _______________________ CS ___________________________________ CR ________________________ 2. People receiving chemotherapy often vomit during or shortly after the procedure. After several chemotherapy sessions, they begin feeling sick as soon as they enter the treatment room. UCS __________________________________ UCR _______________________ CS ___________________________________ CR ________________________ 3. Eating Mom's wonderful cookies always makes your mouth water (IF you get any, that is, before your roommate gobbles them up!!). To guarantee you do get to eat the cookies, you hide them in your zippered duffle bag in your closet and periodically unzip the duffle when you want to eat a cookie. Now just the sound of unzipping the duffle makes your mouth water. UCS __________________________________ UCR _______________________ CS ___________________________________ CR ________________________ 4. Ben developed food poisoning after eating at his favorite taco place. Although he has recovered, just the smell of tacos now makes him feel sick to his stomach. UCS __________________________________ UCR _______________________ CS ___________________________________ CR ________________________ 5. Anne is in love and every kiss or hug from her sweetheart Joe makes her heart beat faster and fills her with positive emotion. Joe has shipped out to Iraq. Anne misses him terribly but inhaling his scent from the jacket he left behind makes her heart beat faster and she feels better. UCS __________________________________ UCR _______________________ CS ___________________________________ CR ________________________ 6. Mikey cried after receiving a painful vaccination from a nurse in a white jacket. The next week his mother couldn't understand why Mikey burst out in tears when the barber (in a white jacket)welcomed them to his shop. UCS __________________________________ UCR _______________________ CS ___________________________________ CR ________________________ Extra credit: Describe some conditioned (learned) fear or anxiety response or conditioned(learned) bodily reaction YOU experience to some stimulus, which only developed (or was learned) after some life experience. My experience: UCS __________________________________ UCR _______________________ CS ___________________________________ CR ________________________ Reinforcement vs Punishmentsubmitted by Linda L. Walsh walsh@uni.edu Notice how many ways operant conditioning occurs in our everyday lives. For each example below identify the type of consequence. Remember, in each case a consequence is something which follows a behavior. Consequences may increase or decrease the likelihood (in the future) of the behavior that they follow. For example: PR (positive reinforcement) - something good is presented, which encourages the behavior in the future NR (negative reinforcement) - something bad is removed or avoided, which encourages the occurrance of the behavior. PP (positive punishment) - something bad is presented, which discourages the behavior in the future. NP (negative punishment) - something good is removed, which discourages the behavior in the future. ____ Police stop drivers and give them a prize if their seatbelts are buckled; seat belt use increases in town. ____ A basketball player who commits a flagrant foul is removed from the game; his fouls decrease in later games. ____ A soccer player rolls her eyes at a teammate who delivered a bad pass; the teammate makes fewer errors after that. ____ The annoying child jumps up and down, hand raised, yelling "Me, me, me!" until the teacher calls on her. The child jumps and yells even more in the future. ____ After a good workout in physical therapy, hospital patients are given ice cream sundaes. They work harder in later sessions. ____ Homeowners who re-cycle get to deduct 5% from their utility bill. Recycling increases after this program begins. ____ After completing an Alcohol Education Program, the suspension of your driver's license is lifted. More DWI drivers now complete the program. ____ After Jodi flirted with someone else at the party, her boyfriend stopped talking to her. Jodi didn't flirt at the next party. ____ The employee of the month gets a reserved parking space. Employees now work harder. ____ A dog is banished to his doghouse after soiling the living room carpet. The dog has fewer accidents after that. ____ A professor allows those students with A averages in the class to skip the final exam. Students work harder for As. ____ You clean up your stuff more regularly now to avoid your roommate's (or mother's) nagging. ____ You've learned a particular response in your videogame gets rid of one of the "bad guys".You now always respond that way at the appropriate time. ____ Making just the right facial expression softens up your sweetie when he/she is mad at you.You make that facial expression more often now. Schedules of Reinforcement Homeworksubmitted by Linda L. Walsh walsh@uni.edu For each example below identify the schedule of reinforcement. Remember: Consequences don't always follow every occurrence of a behavior. Some commom contingencies or ways of "scheduling" when the reinforcement will be delivered are: FR (fixed ratio) - reinforcement is delivered only after a certain fixed number of correct responses have occurred VR (variable ratio) - reinforcement is delivered only after a variable (unpredictable) number of responses have occurred FI (fixed interval) - reinforcement is delivered following the first response that occurs after a specific interval of time has passed VI (variable interval) - reinforcement is delivered following the first response occurring after a variable interval of time has passed ____ You get paid once every two weeks. ____ A worker is paid $12 for every 100 envelopes stuffed. ____ Slot machines at casinos payoff after a variable number of plays. ____ Students are released from class when the end-of-period bell rings. ____ A fly fisherman casts and reels back his line several times before catching a fish. ____ You get a nickel for every pop can that you return. ____ Every time you buy a sandwich you get your card punched; after 10 punches you get a free sandwich. ____ Sometimes the mail is delivered at 1:00, sometimes closer to 2:00. ____ A car salesman who gets a commission on each sale. ____ Getting a small increase in your hourly wage every 6 months. ____ Every so often you like to surprise your special other with something nice. ____ Matt gets a hit about once every 3 times he is at bat (sometimes a little more often, sometimes less). MemoryIntelligence and CognitionLife Span Development-Submitted by Stephanie L. Brooke, Ph.D., NCC stephanielbrooke@aol.com- I did an exercise in my child development class which I called ethnography. I asked the students to pick a child development theory and then pose some hypotheses of what they would see, according to the theory. Then they would visit the center, recording all of their observations. The paper they would write up would cover the introduction, hypotheses, setting, and analysis. They also did a oral presentation on what they found. It seemed to be a fun activity for them. Submitted by Amy Sweetman amysweetman@earthlink.net Construct a Timeline for Life span development. You must include prenatal development, language development, moral development, psychosocial development and cognitive development stages, and an aging time line. Becreative, you may use pictures. -Submitted by M. Liz Wright melissa.wright@victoriacollege.edu- Topic: Emotional Development Background to read: You have been asked to teach a class for soon-to-be parents. The topic of your class is emotions. What five topics would you want to discuss – what do you think are the five most important areas that parents should know about? Why do you feel that way? After your lecture over those five things, you are supposed to give at least 10 suggestions for rearing an emotionally competent child. What are your 10 suggestions? What to do: 1. Create an essay that includes your five topic areas, explains these five areas, and describes why you think they are important. Be sure to spell and grammar check your essay. After you have done that, post it on WebCT in the Emotion Lecture folder. While you are in that folder, be sure to read others’ essays and comment on them. 2. Create a list of the 10 suggestions you would give. Type up your list, spell check it, and grammar check it as well. Post it on WebCT in the Emotional Competence folder. View others’ lists and see what is the same and what is different. -Submitted by M. Liz Wright melissa.wright@victoriacollege.edu- Topic: Positive marital relationships Ahhhh love…Love is an important topic in this chapter. Once you’ve read the information on love in the chapter, answer the following questions. - All of us have what we call an “ideal mate schema.” Knowing what you know about schemas, write a short essay describing what is in your ideal mate schema. What does your ideal mate do, say, behave like, appreciate, etc? - How does love work do you think? How do we fall in love with someone? Why do you think we fall out of love sometimes? - Once you have met someone that you wish to remain with, what can you do to keep your relationship/marriage going well? What to do: 1. Create a list of at least 10 things that spouses should do (or not do) in order to build and maintain a positive marriage. In a short essay (2-3 paragraphs) discuss why these things should be done or not done. Post the list and the short essay on WebCT in the Marriage Rules folder. 2. Investigate Dr. Gary Chapman’s website (http://www.garychapman.org ). You want to pay special attention to the information on Love Languages. Take the Love Languages questionnaire (http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/30sec.html ), and read about the five different Love Languages that Dr. Chapman hypothesizes. Do you agree or disagree with his ideas? Why do you agree/disagree? How useful is the information presented on his website? Answer these questions in a short essay (2-3 paragraphs) and post it on WebCT in the Dr. Chapman folder. PersonalityDefense Mechanisms Identify the defense mechanism being used in the following statements.
Gender and SexualityMotivation and EmotionAbnormal PsychologyDetermining Abnormality [--sumbitted by Linda Jordan lgjordan@hughes.net] Up till now, you have been very tolerant of the many issues that are not yet resolved in the field of psychology. In the next two chapters, your patience may be tested. We want important decisions in our lives to be very black and white. That way we don’t encounter anxiety around the indecisiveness. As you already know from class, it just isn’t that simple with a decision about whether a given behavior or set of behaviors meets the standard of abnormality. What is the standard, after all? You are about to join the ranks of those who think about what is abnormal. So, DO NOT jump into diagnosing people in the case scenarios. It will be tempting because you will say, oh, I know what that disorder is. RESIST!!! I just want you to work with the many factors that we discussed in class that guide our thinking as we look at the question of abnormality. Please don’t write pages. This is supposed to be easier than writing an essay; however, don’t just write down one thing either. Think about the factors that weigh most heavily in your thoughts in discussing the following examples. (25 points possible) Matt As a six year old, Matt was a very active child. His parents had a hard time keeping track of him as he ran from house to house in the neighborhood. He played ball, wrestled with friends, sometimes argued with friends and had a hard time staying inside and reading a book or having any quiet time. Is Matt’s behavior abnormal? As a first grader, Matt presented many problems for his teacher. She finally called a conference to suggest that an expert evaluate Matt. He had trouble sitting in his seat during class time and often was instigating other children to get into trouble. Abnormal? As an adolescent, Matt was quite rebellious. He defied his teachers and his parents, shoplifted from the local store and was often in minor trouble with the law (being where he shouldn’t be, talking back to officers who asked him questions, asserting his and his friends’ legal rights). Efforts to reason with him were unsuccessful. He also drank alcohol and used marijuana. Abnormal? Lindsay Lindsay recently got her tongue pierced. Her parents are completely irrational about this. They believe she is on the road to trouble. Despite Lindsay’s protestations that she is no different than any of her friends, she has had no success getting her parents off her back Instead of tongue piercing, consider that Lindsay has been cutting on her arms with a knife and doing “self tattoos”. Now, consider that Lindsay is making suicidal comments and cutting on her arms with a knife. The wounds are superficial. Now, consider that this young girl lives in an African village and is now twelve years of age. The village has scheduled an initiation ceremony for this young girl. As part of that ceremony, the tip of her clitoris will be cut off by one of the village elders. She will be at risk for infection as a result of the procedure, which isn’t often done in a sterile fashion. Now, consider that this girl is in a different village where the custom is to sew the opening of the vagina closed with thorns that can only be removed by her husband after a marriage ceremony. This assures the groom that his bride is a virgin. Trevor Trevor is a dedicated student who prides himself on never missing class. In order to keep this record, he must be very careful about germs. He washes his hands after every class and always after using the bathroom. He carries some antibiotic wipes with him and uses them occasionally during the day. Consider that Trevor leaves class once a day to go wash his hands. This helps him feel that he is staying vigilant about germs. At what point would you consider this behavior abnormal? Margaret Margaret’s husband died two years ago. Since that time, she has not been very interested in going out in the world. She says that she has a very comfortable home where she has a dog to keep her company. She calls the local grocery store to deliver in food, so she doesn’t have to go out. She has one daughter who lives in Japan with her husband. Margaret will not consider traveling there, so she doesn’t see her family. She watches television for entertainment. Suppose Margaret talks with friends on the phone and sometimes has visitors? Suppose Margaret looks unkempt and seems to be very forgetful? What other factors would affect your decision? TherapySocial PsychologyAs an assignment for the unit on social and cultural psychology, I have students violate a social norm. I emphasis the unwritten aspect of social norm. Because many of my students share the same culture, I often have to help them recognize their social norms. After they violate the norm, they write a short essay describing what they did, why it was a social norm violation, and their experiences. It really seems to help them recognize their own culture, the power of the situation, and also seems to increase their compassion or understanding of the 'social outcasts.' Social Psychology [--submitted by Linda Jordan lgjordan@hughes.net] In Chapter 13, we discovered many new concepts that help explain much of our behavior in social situations. Just to make these concepts a little more meaningful for you, I would like you to think of examples from you own life that tell of a time when you either engaged in those behaviors or someone else used these behaviors on you. 1) Give an example of some time when you conformed. 2) Give an example of some time when you complied. (compliance) 3) Give an example of some time when you were obedient. 4) Give an example of a time when you used cognitive dissonance to change someone’s attitude or someone did that to you. 5) Give an example of an attitude that you have. 6) Give an example of a time when you formed an impression of someone. 7) Give an example of a time when you attributed someone’s behavior to them personally instead of thinking about the situation that caused the behavior. 8) Give an example of groupthink – either one that you participated in or saw take place. 9) Give an example of an aggressive behavior that you engaged in. 10) Give an example of a time when you acted out of altruism. Please don’t use examples that I gave in lecture or that are in the book. Think about these and apply them to you own life. (20 points) -Submitted by M. Liz Wright melissa.wright@victoriacollege.edu- Topic: Positive marital relationships Ahhhh love…Love is an important topic in this chapter. Once you’ve read the information on love in the chapter, answer the following questions. - All of us have what we call an “ideal mate schema.” Knowing what you know about schemas, write a short essay describing what is in your ideal mate schema. What does your ideal mate do, say, behave like, appreciate, etc? - How does love work do you think? How do we fall in love with someone? Why do you think we fall out of love sometimes? - Once you have met someone that you wish to remain with, what can you do to keep your relationship/marriage going well? What to do: 1. Create a list of at least 10 things that spouses should do (or not do) in order to build and maintain a positive marriage. In a short essay (2-3 paragraphs) discuss why these things should be done or not done. Post the list and the short essay on WebCT in the Marriage Rules folder. 2. Investigate Dr. Gary Chapman’s website (http://www.garychapman.org ). You want to pay special attention to the information on Love Languages. Take the Love Languages questionnaire (http://www.fivelovelanguages.com/30sec.html ), and read about the five different Love Languages that Dr. Chapman hypothesizes. Do you agree or disagree with his ideas? Why do you agree/disagree? How useful is the information presented on his website? Answer these questions in a short essay (2-3 paragraphs) and post it on WebCT in the Dr. Chapman folder. |