CHAPTER 1
NOTES
If you are interested in the different types of psychologists and what is needed to get into the field, pay, etc., check out either my advising site or career site.
Critical Thinking
Learning to think critically is one of the keys to success. In short, critical thinking means solving problems and making decisions through a careful evaluation of evidence. Don't just take something at face value, evaluate the problem or situation and draw your own conclusions. By doing this, you will maximize your cognitive powers and see things in a new and interesting light.
argumentà remind yourself to be criticalà identify and evaluate assumptionsà consider alternative argumentsà make a decision
B. Websites:
This is a detailed description and some exercises from San Jose State
University.
Chapter 1a exercises - History and Critical Thinking NOTE: Make sure that you reword this information in YOUR words. If you just copy word for word from the book or links, the assignment will not count. In addition, if you can't find the material on the web site, try using your book.
EXERCISE 1 - Common
sense quiz.
Often, people view finding in psychology as common sense. However, as this
exercise will show you, common sense isn't quite as true as we would hope.
Answer the questions that are provided. You don't need to submit the answers
since this is for another class and I won't get the answers. Just write them
down (you don’t need to write down the questions, just the responses).
Which ones did you get wrong? In addition, summarize in your words two of the
six types of errors that people make (You will need to move through a few
different pages on the site to find what you need). If you have difficulty
getting through here, look up some of the fallacies and non-rational persuasion
in this site.
EXERCISE 2 - How does the general population view psychology?
1. Before you started the class or read the book, what did you think (or still
think) psychology is about? What do you think that psychologists do?
2. Spend a few days observing how psychology is portrayed in the media
(television, movies, ads, magazines) OR go to a local bookstore and go to the
psychology section. How is psychology portrayed? If you were to depend on these
resources, how do they define psychology? What do they think that psychology is
about?
EXERCISE 3 - APA and APS
APA - Look under the section Association Info
1. What does APA stand for? What is it (About APA)?
2. How many members does APA have (About APA)?
3. List 3 major divisions of APA and briefly summarize the goals of each
(Divisions).
APS - go to about APS and when
there, check FAQs
1. What does APS stand for? What is it?
2. What are its goals or mission?
3. How many members does APS have?
EXERCISE 4 - History of Psychology
Go to Warren Street's Today in
the History of Psychology page. Tell me what happened in the history of
psychology on your birthday. Then go to the History of
Psychology: Areas of psychology web site (or at the bottom is a link to
people) and see if you can find one of the individuals or areas relating to
something that happened on your birthday. Give 2-3 lines of information. If you
can’t find anything there, do a search on-line. In both instances, tell
me where you found this information.