27 Jan f) Clarissa was only four

PSY2012 General Psychology 1

Module 1Discussion

Chapter One: Introduction to the Science of Psychology

1) What are the four goals of psychology? How do you feel about the word “control”? Is it right for researchers to want to control human behavior? Why or why not?

2) Pages 8 – 14 discuss the roots, schools, and perspectives of Psychology. Name one thing that you read in this section that either surprised you, intrigued you, or stood out to you in some way. Please explain your answer thoroughly.

3) Please give me a GOOD example of critical thinking and tell me why it is important.

4) I want to do an experiment that will prove to the world that students learn better when there is a smaller teacher/child ratio. Explain how I may do this using information in section on research in the text.

5) If I study the the correlation between listening to music while studying and test scores, and get a .80 correlation coefficient, what does that mean?

PSY2012 General Psychology 1

Module 2Discussion

Chapter Ten – Sexuality and Gender

1) Do you believe parents should try to encourage their children to behave in the gender roles that our society has developed? Why or why not?

2) Your text touches on the story of David Reimer. Please watch the videos provided in this module and answer the following questions:

What does this story say about Nature vs Nurture?

What do you think about Dr. Money?

Do you think these boys died because of what happened to David?

Is there anything that could have been done to prevent this tragedy?

3) How have ideas on sexual orientation changed over the years? What do you attribute this change to?

4) If you were asked to develop a program that helped raise awareness of STD’s and the dangers of unprotected sex, what would you do?? Why is the point not getting across? I think many people think that STD’s are a thing of the past. Not so.

PSY2012 General Psychology 1

Module 3 Discussion

Chapter Eight – Human Development

Check out this article about Jean Piaget Biography of Jean Piaget (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. why do you think his work is so important? In what ways can we utilize the information that he has provide us in our families and as a society?

I would like you to do some research on teratogens. Please search your internet for teratogens and pick one to discuss. Tell the class what the substance is, what are it’s effects and the statistics concerning the likelihood of damage and amount of people that are effected. Please give the class your reference/website as well.

Could you please find two people from different levels of moral development as described by Kohlberg and give them the following scenario. Ask them if they think the man was right or wrong in doing what he did. Tell us the age of the person that you asked and which level of development they fit into. A young man had a wife who was dying and desparately needed a certain medication that would save her. He did not have the money for medication and the pharmacist refused to fill his prescription. Late one night, he broke into the pharmacy and took the medication for his wife. Was what he did wrong?

Please watch the video entitled “conception to birth”. What are your thoughts n the video, what was the most surprising/intriguing thing that you learned?

Look at the different parenting styles discussed in the text. What style of parenting were you raised with? Tell me one thing that impacted your life because of it (either positively or negatively).

PSY2012 General Psychology 1

Module 4 Discussion

CONSCIOUSNESS

1) If brain surgeons could safely install an electrode in your pleasure center so that you could push a button anytime you want to flood your brain with pleasure, would you elect to have such an operation? How would it affect your life if you could control your pleasure centers directly? Would you connect with more people or less people than you are right now in your life? Would you produce more work or less? Would you relate to your family more or less? Why/\

2) There are several psychoactive drugs listed in the textbook. Please take the following drugs and list them (according to your opinion and the information that you find in research) from the MOST HAZARDOUS to the least hazardous. Please explain the rationale for your answer.

marijuana, opiates, cocaine, alcohol, nicotine

3) Look at the dream theories on page 165-168 and explain how followers of EACH of the three dream theories listed would explain the following dream: “I had a dream that I was on a subway train and Johnny Depp walked on. I felt instantly attracted to him and I wanted to run to him. He was motioning for me to come to him with those sultry eyes! I tried to run into his arms but my legs would not move.”

4) Have you or someone you know ever experienced one of the seep disturbances found on pages 158-161. Share a website (reputable meaning .gov, .edu, or .org) that discusses the cause and symptoms of the sleep disturbance that you or someone you know had difficulties with. (No one I know ever had any difficulties is not an acceptable answer:)

PSY2012 General Psychology 1

Module 5 Discussion

LEARNING

1) Give a real life example of classical conditioning that is not used in the textbook. What is the UR, US, CR, CS in your example??

2) Okay, true story: I had a cat once that was a biter. Every time I walk through a room he would come around the corner and attack my ankles. I got a spray bottle, filled it with water and every time he bit, I sprayed his face. Worked wonders! It got to the point where all I had to do was pick up the bottle and he would run off or stand there and blink profusely. But I got lazy and didn’t know where I put the bottle so I stopped doing it. Eventually he went right back to his stalking ways and was lurking around the doorways. What are the technical terms for what happened when the cat stopped biting and then began again? Explain in detail. How can I get the cat to permanently stop biting my ankles ?

3) The concept of operant conditioning depends on the notion that the environment provides rewards and punishments for behaviors. Based on your own life, what are the chief rewards and punishments provided by your human environment? What rewards really make you feel good? How has your behavior been changed by these rewards?

4) Can you give me a real life example in the media or in history where observational learning has caused a tragedy? Please share your source.

5) Please watch the video provided (Positive vs Negative Reinforcement). What is the difference in positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment. Why do so many of the researchers say that reinforcement works better then punishment? What is the difference? More importantly why does one work better then another?

PSY2012 General Psychology 1

Module 6 Discussion

Chapter Seven: Cognition, Language, and Intelligence

1) There is a section in the textbook on making decisions. Please look at the following terms and give me a real-life example of how you or someone you have observed has used these judgements:

representativeness heuristic, availability heuristic, confirmation bias

2) There is also a section on problem solving in your textbook. Please take a problem that you or someone you know has had and explain what approach was used in solving the problem OR what barriers to problem solving were experienced using terms from the text.

3) Do you agree with the theory of Multiple Intelligence? What is this theory and why do you agree or disagree. Is there evidence for your thoughts?

4) How do you feel about Gifted Programs in the elementary schools? What are the benefits and/or disadvantages of these kinds of programs?

5) Please watch the video “Emotional Intelligence” and list the 5 skill sets of Emotional Intelligence. Some think that Emotional Intelligence is decreasing in today’s society as IQ is increasing. Please tell me your thoughts on this. Do you agree? Why or why not? If so, what has caused this? Please explain your answer.

PSY2012 General Psychology 1

Module 7 Discussion

Chapter Nine – Motivation and Emotion

1) Take a look at the theories of motivation on page 384 of your text. Then take a look at the following scenarios and pick a theory to describe what is going on to motivate the person.

Kellie has a history of test anxiety. Her final is coming up and instead of studying for the exam she goes out and gets wasted. She missed her exam and failed the class.

Jordan had a kidney stone and was put on pretty strong narcotics for pain. He enjoyed the way the narcotics made him feel so when his prescription ran out he started “borrowing” his father’s prescription, when that ran out he had to turn to getting the drugs off the street. Every day Jordan would say this was the last day but then by noon time he was looking for more pills.

Denise is a senior in high school, is going to college as an early admission student, is on the dance competition team, a member of the chorus, a star in the school plays, and on the brain bowl team. She comes from a stable home and feels as if she accepted by her peers. Her friends sometimes tease her because she is such an over-achiever.

2) What do you see as the causes behind eating disorders? The media has been blamed for years and yes, could be part of the reason why a person may struggle with these disorders, but what are the other causes?

3) Why do you think some people are energized by fear while other people avoid it? What makes one person a daredevil while another person is very cautious? What happens to each one physiologically when faced with fear?

4) Which theory of emotion do you support and why?

5) Please give me your definition of happiness?

PSY2012 General Psychology 1

Module 7 Discussion

Chapter Eleven – Personality

Please read about the personality theories in Chapter Eleven. Using the following case scenario tell me how each one of the personality theories would explain the reason for Meg’s behavior. (Psychoanalysis, Behavioral, Humanistic, Social-Cognitive, and Biological. This is not a short answer, be thorough and make sure you list all five theories.

1) Case Scenario: Meg has a terrible fear of driving over the bridge. Whenever she tries to go into Melbourne from the beaches, she becomes extremely panicky to the point of hyperventilating and has to turn around and go back. She hates that she cannot drive herself over the bridge because it is making her become dependent on her parents to drive her. She is angry at herself and extremely frustrated at the situation.

2) Look over the Ego Defense Mechanisms on page 463 of your text. Please give an example of how you or someone you know, uses or has used TWO of the defense mechanisms.

3) The birth order section is interesting. Look at your own family and tell me if you feel that this theory is accurate, give examples.

4) What is the difference between objective and subjective personality testing? What do you see as the benefits to these tests.

5) What do you see in this picture???

PSY2012 General Psychology 1

Module 8 Discussion

Chapter Thirteen – Psychological Disorders

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

1) Please look at the following case scenarios and using the criteria in the textbook, are these people abnormal? Please explain your answers in detail. Look at the description of the disorders in the textbook. Tell me which category or categories you think these people may fit into. I do not expect you to get the answer perfect, I am asking for you opinions, getting the wrong answer will not make you lose points. There may be more than one possibility based on the limits of the information you have, just give it your best shot. Don’t forget to read the entire chapter because some disorders seem to overlap or have similar symptoms.

a) Harmony is 14 years old. She grew up in a commune in Calif. Her parents felt that she needed to be socialized and decided to put her in a public high school. She is very quiet and also reserved around her new peers. She does not shave her legs, or her armpits, or wear deodorant and this has led to some ridicule. She speaks very slowly and has a limited vocabulary that includes odd, ritualistic ways of speaking that she learned at the commune. She is happy at home, but cries when she is at school and begs her mom to let her stay home. She was happy and content with her life before this change.

b) Jason is in prison for stealing, drug trafficking, and assault & battery on a woman. He has not been able to keep a job because he keeps getting fired due to absences or altercations with other employees. He says he is fine with himself, that everyone else is the problem and does not seem to have any desire to change his ways. He says he will do his time and then get out and continue his life the way he wants to.

c) Nancy is hearing voices and seeing people that no one else can see. She is often seen carrying on conversations with people that are not there. She is content with her life, yet must be taken care of by her elderly mother because she forgets to eat or bathe or clean the house or feed the cat. She has medication but is not compliant with taking it.

d) Tommy had a bad car accident and broke both his legs. He was given Morphine in the hospital and Percocet to take home. Tommy found that when he was taking the medication, the problems that he had with his wife were not so huge. He had his prescription. refilled twice and then began to get pills off the street and from different doctors. In a matter of 6 months, he was taking 80 mg. of Oxycontin per day. He began to worry and tried to stop but was in so much pain that he couldn’t. He still works, has had no problems at work or at home as long as he has his medicine.

e) Whenever Jordan has to give a speech at work, she begins to sweat and her heart pounds and she feels dizzy to the point where she has to sit down. She often feels the same way when she is in Publix or driving in the car. There are times when she feels as if the person in the other car next to her is staring at her and thinking that she is ugly. Jordan has not told anyone about this and she has been able to carry on with her life without anyone knowing, but it is tearing her up inside. Sometimes on the way to work she imagines having a car wreck, just so she wouldn’t have to go. Last week she had to pull over because her hands were shaking, her heart was pounding, she felt nauseous and thought that she was going to go crazy.

f) Clarissa was only four years old when she witnessed her father kill her mother in a domestic violence dispute. There was also allegations that the father had physically abused Clarissa and she was finally taken away from him when she told a neighbor (in a very childish voice) that one of her dad’s friends “put something inside her”. She was in foster care for the next year until she turned 18 and then went away to college. She was very quiet, but stayed to herself, never causing problems, but seeming very happy either. When she was in the freshman year at college her roommate began to notice that she would often forget where she was or not know what day it was. She said she suffered from horrible nightmares and that Clarissa would often wake up and ask her for the date and the town they were in. The final straw came when Clarissa referred to herself as Donna and became angry and aggressive.

2) Now look at these cases again and tell me what you think may have caused this problem. (Look at the textbook on pages 543-544 and choose one of the three factors). Explain your answers in detail.

3) What is learned helplessness? Give me an example of how this may look.