TBB 199Y

2011-2012


Section L0361
and
Section L0362
The Nature of Psychology Enquiry

Course Syllabus

 

Read This First

TBB199Y is unlike other courses you will take this year. The seminar operates as a small community in which you do both individual and group work.

  • This syllabus contains everything you need to know about the course
  • You are responsible for everything inside including deadlines
  • Syllabus is also on course web site for your convenient access at any time
  • Access to the current web site: http://psych.utoronto.ca/~courses/sci199/

Do understand:

  • All course assignments are due on the dates and times indicated.
  • POSTS and COMMENTARY submitted after deadline receive no credit
  • All other late assignments lose 10% per day. No exceptions.
  • I will meet with you by appointment. Send me e-mail anytime

Within the first week, provide the following information in order to complete registration and enter the “Student Papers” portion of the course web site by sending email to: walters@psych.utoronto.ca

This must take the form of:

<full name> <course section> <student number> <college> <UT email address> <alternate email address><Name used on your seminar card>


The Nature of Psychological Enquiry
L0361/L0362
2011-2012

 

Prof. G. C. Walters                                         
email: walters@psych.utoronto.ca

Course Web Address:  http://psych.utoronto.ca/~courses/sci199/

Check Your Course Site Regularly For:

  1. Announcements and course updates
  2. Additional required readings (see “Related Sites”)
  3. Posting of your public papers and commentary
  4. Maintaining your weekly Blog in “My Journal”

Course Overview

Our focus is on critical analysis of behavior causes. You will be thinking rather than memorizing. Successful undergraduates excel at evaluating arguments and clear expression. You must shift your focus from acquiring information for tests to using content to form clear arguments. This involves critical thinking and personal expression, a learnable skill that you will use the rest of your life.

You will be writing in your own voice using a narrative-persuasive style, meeting in the Student Papers Forum web site to exchange ideas with fellow students on a regular basis. There, ideas are preserved and expanded over the course of 24 weeks.

To prosper in this course you will need to get involved and stay involved; falling behind in 1st Year Seminar is a grade killer. You can`t catch up.

Course Content

The course has four sections:

           Section 1: General Systems of Psychological Thought
           Section 2: Psychology as an Experimental Science
           Section 3: Examples of Psychological Research
           Section 4: Research on a Social Issue: Parenting and Child Abuse

Section I

Systems of Psychological Thought

What do we actually know about behavioral causes?  We begin with the fundamental issue of whether behavior is formed by nature (genetics) or nurture (experience). We then explore the strengths and weaknesses of two major systems of behavioral causality: Psychoanalysis (Freud) and Behaviorism (Skinner).  These are two very different approaches to understanding who we are. Freud’s psychoanalytic theory changed the way we thought about ourselves, our sexuality and causality. Why were his ideas so influential and why did they so color our culture?

Unlike psychoanalysis, behaviorism emphasized the need for empirical research and testing of ideas. Behavioral causes resided in our social environment rather than in our minds. You’ll compare and contrast these very different systems of what causes us to do what we do.

Section 2

Psychology as an Experimental Science

  • Is psychology a science? If so, are those psychologists on Oprah scientists or celebrities? Is Dr. Phil a scientist? What characterizes an objective psychology?
  • How do you know if “recovered memories” of trauma are real or the product of ideas planted by a therapist’s vivid imagination?

 
One way of understanding such questions is to examine supporting evidence. Are  anecdotes and personal observations evidence for general truths? Are these “explanations” as good as scientific evidence? Can you tell “junk science” from the real thing? Is behavior a window to the mind?

Section 3

Learned Helplessness, Attachment and Multiple Causation

Psychological science often involves the operation of inductive processes, moving from the observation of specific instances, events, or experimental findings to general conclusions or theories. The theory of "learned helplessness" is an example of inductive science that has been influential in explaining a range of psychological phenomena.

We look at evidence from experimental studies of helplessness, see how the theory was developed and consider its application to events such as depression and speculation about ‘voodoo deaths’. You’ll discover your own helplessness score.

Attachment theory argues that our early experience with caregivers predicts the success of later intimate adult relationships. This is a testable theory supported by empirical evidence. You’ll see how it applies to you after you take the attachment status test. 

We close this section confronting the reality that complex behavioral events have many causes. What do you think caused the Columbine High School, Taber, Alberta and all those other school shootings? Can you support your view with evidence?

Section 4

Child Abuse, Class Presentations, Narrative Analysis

Research isn’t all fun and games in the lab. There’s a real world out there.  How easy is it to apply science to societal problems? You’ll see how psychologists have attempted to inform practice and policy to the problem of child abuse and join with colleagues to make, analyze and present the results of public observations on parent-child interactions. The course ends with learning how to perform narrative behavior analysis of your own first year university experience. 


Required Course Readings 

Text:    Stanovich, K. E. How To Think Straight About Psychology, 2009. 9th Ed., Longman, New York.

Readings: A collection of readings available from the UT Bookstore.

Additional readings: Noted as “HR” in the course syllabus.

Links:  Most topics have readings posted as links in the “Relevant Sites” section of the site. Additional links are also listed under readings in the syllabus.

Evaluation

  • Six 800 word POSTS (graded 0-10) plus POST COMMENTARY: 40%
  • Quality of Class Participation: Includes Weekly Participation and various Reports: 30%
  • “My Journal” entries: (22 weekly Journal entries, -1 point for each missed entry). Narrative Analysis of My Journal entries and Mostly Martha movie.  Handed in April 3: 30%

How to Do Things

(A) Student Paper Forum (POSTS)

POSTS are 800 word critical analyses written on the course site.

ALWAYS write in your word processor, then copy and paste to site. Save a hard copy of all writing for use in emergencies. In the event the course site goes down, bring your hard copy to the next class.

POSTING PAPERS IN THE FORUM

1. Go to course site, click on “Student Papers.” Register as a POSTER with your UofT email address using your First Name and the Initial of your last name (if the name you use on your seminar card is different from your official registered name, use this format:

    Example: Penelope (Penny) W.

    Papers not identified in this way are not forwarded for grading and receive an automatic grade of "0".

2. Write down your password. You will always need it to enter paper site.

3. Click on “Student Papers”

4. Go to current Discussion topic and click on "PRACTICE PAPERS" or other title.

5. Click on "POST A NOTE". From the pull-down menu select - Problem icon.

    Use CAPS to write your information as in: POST 1 YOUR PAPER TITLE

    Example: POST 2: LOOK, YOUR FREUDIAN SLIP IS SHOWING

6. Sign your name at the bottom of your POST.

7. Do not exceed 800 words (not counting references), then click "Submit Note"

8. You may edit your POST until deadline by clicking on "EDIT THIS NOTE" on the right hand side of the POST page. Click on UPDATE to repost. Do not edit by resubmitting the entire essay. Only 1st essay is graded.

9. Instructor commentary and grading are found under your posted essay. You will receive an email notification at your UofT email address. POSTS are graded X/10 and only you see the grades and comments.

10. POST deadline is 6 PM the Sunday prior to the Tuesday seminar. Late papers are not forwarded for grading. There are no makeup papers.

FORMATTING RULES FOR POST

Posting on Site requires that you use formatting rules for basic functions such as paragraphing, bolding, etc. These formatting tags must be placed in your text before posting (see Message Board Help at bottom of Home Page for instruction). As you write in your word processor, insert tags as you go along, the copy and paste on site. Quick Tags may be inserted on site directly in text but this can be cumbersome. Unformatted papers are not forwarded for grading.

Now go to “Student Papers,” click on “PRACTICE PAPERS” and learn how to POST. Your first POST is due 27 SEPTEMBER

SOME TIPS ON WRITING POSTS

  • Start with the assigned readings, then go to “Relevant Sites” on Website
  • Never summarize what you have read. Get right into your argument
  • Don’t look for the right answer or what everyone else may think
  • Make the reader care about what you think; find your own strong voice.
  • Make the paper personal.  Avoid being abstract and distant.
  • Learn the difference between unsupported opinion and evidential arguments
  • Incorporate information from previous topics. Integrate ideas in the course
  • Grow by taking some intellectual risks. Don’t be afraid to be wrong.

(B) Writing POST Commentaries

Comment on at least two papers each week. Feel free to comment on any paper by Monday 6 PM to receive credit. Address both strengths and limitations of the paper.

How To:

1. Click on POST title you wish to comment on, then scroll down to writing area

2. Insert Title USING CAPS ("COMMENTARY FOR XXXX")

3. Choose the -New Information icon

4. Write your Commentary, include your name at bottom, then click "Reply"

Examples of Commentary:

An example of a useless COMMENTARY from a paper on Freud and Psychoanalysis:

“This was a really interesting paper. You’re soooo clever. You’re right about Freud and his really weird ideas about sex and women. What’s up with the penis envy thing and women wanting to sleep with their father? I don’t even want to go to the movies with mine. Maybe it was just Freud’s old time Victorian hang-ups or all the coke he did(lol). Also, I really don’t think dreams mean anything, at least mine never do. And where does his idea that there are no accidents in behavior come from? I think people sometimes do things just for the fun of it without really thinking about them...I know I do. I can’t wait to read your next POST. Have a nice day.”


Here are better examples from past student  papers:

Although I enjoyed your POST, my opinion is quite different from yours. You made your writing accessible and pointed. I especially liked your arguments concerning the issue of the influence of parental style on child development. Unfortunately, many caregivers consciously or unconsciously contribute to emergence of later insecurities in their children.

What I disagree with is your opinion about what science is or will be able to explain. Taking into consideration the continuous progress in scientific fields, I do believe that in future we will be able to predict many things, explain a lot, and deduce even more; this is, after all the mission of the enterprise. However, there are things/occurrences which, I think, are not accessible through science. Love (as in the postulates of “attachment theory”) is one of them. Again, maybe it is my "sentimental bias" or something like that, but I simply believe that love is one of these things that can unpredictably change us and may not be subject to deterministic understanding. Perhaps I just want to save some subjective experiences from analysis.

So, I agree that we can study attachment styles. I agree we can study emotions. We can study what happens to us when we experience a significant relationship. But to study love itself? No. We might know how it affects our behavior, how it makes us feel, but not enough to state what it really is. In this respect, for better or worse, I am what Stanovich calls an “essentialist”.

Thanks for making me rethink some issues, and definitely thank you for your great POST

I really enjoyed reading your POST because it made me consider the validity and relevance of the Oedipus Complex to our everyday lives. Never would I have considered this theory to be applicable in any way to myself.  After reading your POST though, I see the meaning in it. I am drawn to your idea that we can relate psychoanalytic theory to our lives. The personal example of your relationship with your father compared to your mother made this abstract concept work. 

I liked that the support you mustered from other theorists; that helped me think outside the box. I find myself conversing with my dad a LOT more than I do with my mom because when I talk with my dad, we can joke around and make fun of each other and there’s no harm done because neither of us takes it personally and we both know we’re just teasing each other. But with my Mom even the littlest joke will offend her, although I mean no harm at all; this colors my relationship with her and makes me defensive. I always thought it was just a difference in their personalities, but maybe this is Freud’s Oedipal Complex at work. So yes, I completely see how this idea is at play at its most basic, everyday level.

Starting your POST with a story from our class was very effective.  It integrated previous class topics and was a very nice segue into your main point. You raised a very interesting notion too – that because of Freud, we feel freer to express what we think; we aren’t afraid to go with weird and wacky explanations, even if it might not be ‘the norm’.  I agree with you about how Freud be allotted some credit regardless of the integrity of his “evidence” or who he was… he was, after all, the first person to spur everyone else to think about psychoanalysis. There’s no denying that he got people talking, and he still is making people talk about it (us for instance!).

If I could offer any advice to improve your next POST, it would be to keep seeking that balance between how much personal experience and factual evidence that you use to support your point. Perhaps try infusing your work with an explanation of how you see your ‘unconscious’ mind working while sleeping; that would have made your argument even stronger.


Following are three examples of COMMENTARY asking questions the Poster must answer by placing a reply below the writers COMMENTARY: You are obligated to reply to such comments before the deadline of 6 PM Monday.


Although I do understand the important role nature plays in determining our behavior, I do not feel that it is the sole determinant and that nurture can be completely disregarded. Our environment, like nature, is something that surrounds us every day, and whose influence is just as inescapable. Your argument that the David Reimer case proves the power of nature over nurture is cryptic since later in your POST you assert that "Not only did he feel it inside of him he also saw it through society." Does this last statement not imply that nurture indeed plays a role in gender development?  Isn't it possible that Reimer had the potential to feel more secure in his new female gender had society been more willing to accept his tomboy tendencies?

With that in mind, however, I found your distinction between "being" and "becoming" an interesting take on Bouchard's "is" and "ought". Yet, I do not feel there is evidence suggesting that our "being" is preset at birth. Better supported is the view that society has nurtured or fostered our natural tendencies as it shapes us through experience. Yes, it is true that we will always maintain a certain part of ourselves regardless of society's impact, but to say that we remain the same throughout the course of our lives based solely on gender is too narrow a view. I feel that "becoming" is an ongoing process based on the fact that none of us, as humans, are a closed book; we remain malleable as time goes on.

Overall, I did enjoy reading your post, since it gave me a chance to see a pure nature argument that I would not have considered.

I found your comparison of Walden Two and the film, "The Island" to be a useful way of thinking about behavioral determinism. It is clear from your references to science fiction, scientific methodology and experiments, that you see Skinner's views and his "utopian" society as clinical and cold. Although I understand your point, I would argue differently and it was because of our contrast in opinion that I found your post so intriguing.

Firstly, you discuss emotions as though they were solely the products of our biological make-up. As you stated: "[...] it is in our chemical DNA to respond to situations in a way that expresses how we feel." Maybe, but tell us where in our DNA  this response located? Is it some kind of "trigger" for specific emotions? More importantly, is it not possible that how we respond and how we come to understand which emotions apply to different situations, stems from our observation and interaction with our surroundings…that we learn to be emotional? Indeed, I find your definition of emotions as strictly biological makes us seem more robotic or mechanical then those children within Walden Two. Based on your argument, we seem pre-programmed to know what emotion(s) to feel at a given time, which emotion(s) apply to what situations, and when we should feel them. Ultimately, I do not see your support for emotions as instinctive or primal, like hunger, thirst or sex.

Also, I would like to know your definition of personality, as you claim that Skinner's conditioning-based Walden Two would destroy the concept of individuality, both emotionally and intellectually. Doesn’t social conditioning take place on a lesser scale within present day society - we are punished and rewarded throughout the course of our lives, and yet, because it remains covert, we barely recognize it as being a key influence on our behavior. Could you clarify some of these concerns raised within your interesting and very readable POST?

I must admit, I am very fond of philosophy, thus the appeal of your POST. I like the way you linked the two fields. Nevertheless, I sense a little confusion regarding your own view about paradigms, and some excessive use of philosophical metaphors. They are nice, but do they address the topic sufficiently?

I see your question - whether science truly advances in an orderly way or if ideas change because people become disenchanted with the old ones? Could you elaborate your view that old ideas must be tested in modern contexts in order to become laws? I find your statement appealing, but how would you defend it?

Also, what about Skinner and  Ewald? They introduced some ideas that are provable by the outcome of their application. Is their validity questionable or just hard to accept in the light of other ideas? Can their theories simply become invalid (just plain wrong) one day, or will they just be replaced by more effective ones? Does science progress in a continuous way or by insightful leaps?

Your POST made me ask a lot of questions... It's a good thing. Thanks for writing an interesting POST that made me think. We disagree on some details but I’m willing to be convinced.

(C) Grading of Posted Papers

Papers are graded on coherency and clarity of argument, evidence of critical thinking and effective use of information obtained from all sources including Relevant Sites.

A Guide to Grading:

1. Personal Statement:

These are good papers that present your strong personal argument on the topic. You engage the topic and offer a clearly expressed view of your considered opinion but offer little in supporting evidence.  Value = Up to 6 Points

2. Personal Statement Plus Evidence From Sources Consulted:

These high quality papers build on the above by supporting your argument with evidence from sources you consulted. Value = Up to 8 Points

3. Personal Statement Supported by Evidence Plus Integration With Previous Topics:

Superior academic papers offering both evidence supporting your argument and connections to previous topics. These are more challenging to produce than Papers 1 and 2, but integrated arguments are always more powerful.  Value = Up to 10 Points


NOTE WELL

• Forum paper posting due by Sunday, 6 PM
• Paper commentaries due by Monday, 6 PM
• Late papers and commentaries receive no credit


(D) Referencing in POSTS

For material we read in common, place course reading notations in the text of your POST (e.g., “RI Staddon,”). Reference Relevant Sites articles by pasting the link in the body of your POST (such as: “http://home.psych.utoronto.ca/ if you referred to the first link in the Related Sites area of the Course Website.) List unique references at the end of POSTS in a form that allows readers to access the article.

(E) Personal Analysis Assessment

Behavior comes in many forms, including verbal and written. A psychological analysis of your first year as depicted in My Journal writing will objectively deconstruct your university experience. You will learn narrative analysis and psychological scaling for both this assignment and an analysis of the movie  Mostly Martha.

Your Personal Blog in My Journal  

This weekly blog of your academic year experience is the story of your university experience. You’re My Journal narrative is included as part of your Personal Analysis Paper. You must have a minimum of 22 entries for analysis. Weekly entries are due by Sunday midnight. Missed entries = -1. There are no makeup entries.

How to write in My Journal

1. Go to Papers section on site

2. Click on the My Journal icon ” ” at the top of the page

3. Click on Add Journal Entry -- you will see date and time stamp

4. Place your cursor under the stamp

5. Copy and paste entry from the one written and saved in your word processor. When writing in word processor, be sure to include date and time should you lose and have to replace entries. If entries are lost on site, immediately replace them from your backup. Undated entries are not counted.

6. Click on "Update Entry" -- see your new entry.

7. Close My Journal

8. Always write new entry above previous entries so that newest entry is first in line

9. Make sure you have a string of complete consecutive entries on site at all times. Scanners automatically count listed entries each week.

10. Read your colleagues journals by clicking on the icon next to their name in the POST section

Unlike My Notepad, which is viewable only by you, My Journal is viewable to everyone in the course so what you write is public information. Students often keep a private journal elsewhere to along with My Journal entries when writing final paper. Note that all My Journal entries must be included with your final paper.

NOTE WELL

IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU KEEP A DATED CUMULATIVE PERMANENT RECORD OF YOUR JOURNAL ENTRIES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR IN A PERMANENT AND RECOVERABLE PLACE. LOST JOURNAL ENTRIED ARE NOT RECOVERABLE. YOU MUST IMMEDIATELY REPLACE LOST ENTRIES.


Paper POSTING and Plagiarism

Plagiarism is representing the creative work of others as your own. It is a serious academic offense and is never acceptable or tolerated. You must acknowledge all sources used in your writing and not paraphrase the words of others.

POSTed papers are available to all class members. The Learning Forum is designed to enable you to learn from each other. The nature of paper posting in the course means that some will POST their papers earlier than others. It is good to be influenced by the ideas of others but you must acknowledge your colleagues contributions if you use them directly in your own writing. The thing about plagiarism is that it is obvious to others when it occurs. Be very careful with this as the penalties for plagiarism in academia are severe.

Paraphrasing the writing of others is considered plagiarism so take special care to express your work only in your own words.

You are responsible for knowing and acting on the University of Toronto plagiarism regulations. Consult these sites for information:

An Example of Plagiarism
http://www.ecf.toronto.edu/~writing/interactive-plagiarismtest.html

How Not to Plagiarize
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/plagsep.html