Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychology
Activities
Exercises: Read & Learn
- Psychology Today: For an overview of the current state of psychology (http://www.apa.org/action/science/)
- The Power of Framing: It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it is a look at how the way in which information is presented can influence people’s decisions
(https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/jul/20/the-power-of-framing-its-not-what-you-say-its-how-you-say-it) - For examples of the limitations of intuition read:
- When Intution Misfires (http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar05/misfires.aspx)
- Hindsight Bias in Psychology (https://www.verywell.com/what-is-a-hindsight-bias-2795236)
- Fake news and neurobabble: how do we critically assess what we read? (https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/feb/20/fake-news-and-neurobabble-how-do-we-critically-assess-what-we-read)
- The 10 Most Controversial Studies Ever Published: As you begin your exploration of the science of psychology here’s an introduction to some of the most infamous studies:
(https://digest.bps.org.uk/2014/09/19/the-10-most-controversial-psychology-studies-ever-published/)
Exercises: Watch & Learn
Myths about Psychology, Debunked explores some of the enduring myths in psychology
https://www.ted.com/talks/ben_ambridge_10_myths_about_psychology_debunked?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
Video 1.1: 10 Myths about Psychology, Debunked. (https://www.ted.com/talks/ben_ambridge_10_myths_about_psychology_debunked?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare) Uploaded by Ben Ambridge for TedxYouth@Manchester
Exercises: Watch & Learn
Nature vs. Nurture: For a clear introduction to the debate
Video 1.2: Nature vs. Nurture (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOK9kbUfoiuh3HE9pdxo-Cg) uploaded by PsychU
Exercises: Do & Think
- Interview some friends and/or family members to see what they think a “psychologist” does. How accurate are their views?
- Think of a behaviour of your own that you might like to change (e.g. you might want to smoke less or exercise more). Does trying to understand the behaviour at the different levels of explanation (p. 7) help you think of different things you could do to change the behaviour?
- Today in the History of Psychology: This website allows you to choose any date in the calendar and see what happened on that date in the field of Psychology. For example, on the 1st of April (1906) the Journal of Abnormal Psychology was published for the first time. See if anything remarkable happened on your birthday! (https://www.cwu.edu/~warren/calendar/datepick.html)
- Read the section on how to effectively learn and remember and come up with a list of four or five strategies you can use to improve your study habits.
References
American Psychological Association. (2018). Science of Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/action/science/
Cherry, K. (2018). Hindsight Bias in Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.verywell.com/what-is-a-hindsight-bias-2795236
Etchells, P. (2017, February 20). Fake news and neurobabble: how do we critically assess what we read. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/feb/20/fake-news-and-neurobabble-how-do-we-critically-assess-what-we-read
Gallego-Romero, I. (2017, April 11). The battle between nature and nuture. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/chzDR3feSHY
Greer, M. (2005). When intuition misfires. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar05/misfires.aspx
Jarrett, C. (2014, September 19). The 10 most controversial psychology studies ever published. Retrieved from https://digest.bps.org.uk/2014/09/19/the-10-most-controversial-psychology-studies-ever-published/
Rathie, S. (2017, July, 20). The power of framing: It’s not what you say, but how you say it. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/jul/20/the-power-of-framing-its-not-what-you-say-its-how-you-say-it
Street, W. R. (2018). A daily history of events in the history of psychology. Retrieved from https://www.cwu.edu/ ~warren/calendar/datepick.html
