Teacher notes-Chapter 1
Major idea
To develop an understanding of the broad nature of psychology, including how to
become a psychologist and the importance of the scientific method.
 The nature of psychology: what is psychology, how to become a
psychologist, the difference between psychology and psychiatry, and
types of psychologists

The scientific method: psychology versus pseudoscience

Experiments, including independent and dependent variables, control
and experimental groups, extraneous variables, and ethical
considerations.
Sample lesson plans (3 lessons)
Lesson 1: What do you know about psychology?
Time
Name and type of
Details
activity
Comments
10 mins
Survey: What do you
know about psychology?
(True/false questions)
Followed by class
discussion
Text p. 3
5 mins
Question: Who knows
how to spell psychology?
Class activity
10 mins
Flowchart: Psychologists
versus psychiatrists
25 mins
Internet investigation:
Psychology careers
10 mins
and
complete
for
homework
Mix and match: Types of
psychologists
Followed by class
discussion
Complete the true/false questions on text p. 3. Pick
the most likely answer or the answer that first comes
to mind (no maybes!).
Discuss the answers and any other general questions
they may have about the nature of psychology.
(What is psychology?).
Give five volunteer students a whiteboard marker.
They stand at the whiteboard and, without looking
at the others, spell ‘psychology’.
Why do many people find it difficult to spell this
word? What are the roots of its name? Define
‘psychology’. (Investigate 1.1)
Mention the Ψ symbol.
Design a flowchart to show the differences in the
roles and training of psychologists and psychiatrists.
What overlap is there between the two professions?
When are they likely to work together?
Work in pairs and complete Investigate 1.2.
Discuss: Why is psychology relevant to you and
your future career?
Oxford Psychology Year 10 ISBN 978 0 19 556879 0 © Oxford University Press Australia
Investigate
1.1 (text p. 4)
Investigate
1.2 (text p. 5)
Internet
access
Lesson 2: What makes psychology a science?
Time
Name and type of
Details
activity
10 mins
Survey: Yesterday
10 mins
Table: Science versus
pseudoscience
Research activity: Zener
cards and ESP
30 mins
10 mins
and
complete
for
homework
Design an experiment:
Test a common saying
Follow the website guidelines. (Website activity 1.3)
Discuss the results in reference to science and
pseudoscience.
Discuss horoscopes and whether it is possible to test
them scientifically.
Create a table that compares science to
pseudoscience.
In pairs, test ESP with Zener cards (Website activity
1.2).
In pairs, carry out Investigate 1.4.
Compare your design with those of other groups in
the class. Can you see any issues arising if you
carried out this research? (provides a link to ethical
considerations)
Lesson 3: Research techniques—mnemonic techniques
Time
Name and type of
Details
activity
15 mins
Research activity:
Narrative chaining
40 mins
Flowchart: Features of an
experiment
5 mins
Review previous work:
Test a common saying.
Complete a modified version of Investigate 1.5:
Randomly divide the members of the class into two
groups.
Send one group out of the class and explain
narrative chaining to them. (Alternatively, explain
narrative chaining to the first 10 students to your
class—provide a reward for getting there on time.)
Follow the instructions on text p. 9. Expect in this
case that the teacher is the experimenter, you only
test one list of words and you test both the control
and experiment group at once.
Collect the class results (only do so if class members
are willing to contribute their data—this relates to
the issue of research ethics).
Compare the two conditions.
Discuss key features of an experiment in relation to
this activity.
Research hypothesis, population, sample,
independent and dependent variables, extraneous
variables (possible sources of error) and ethics.
Complete the flowchart (Website activity 1.3): ask
them to put definitions in the flowchart.
Could complete the flowchart again—this time in
relation to Investigate 1.5, text p. 9. (Put the answers
in the flowchart not the definition.)
Complete the same flowchart for the self-design
experiment. (Investigate 1.4)
Oxford Psychology Year 10 ISBN 978 0 19 556879 0 © Oxford University Press Australia
Comments
Website
activity 1.1
Website
activity 1.2
Zener cards
Investigate
1.4 (text p. 7)
Comments
Investigate
1.5 (text p. 9)
Website
activity 1.3
Investigate
1.5 (text p. 9)
Investigate
1.4 (text p. 7)
Investigate
1.5 (text p. 9)
Sample ideas for assessment
Research investigation: Investigate 1.5—Can mnemonic techniques improve
memory? (text p. 9) Note: Careful selection of a suitable class to test is required. It
suits a VCE psychology class (even if the class members already know about
narrative chaining—a possible extraneous error).
Visual presentation: Investigate 1.3—Create a webpage or interview a
psychologist (text p. 7)
Evaluation of research: Sleep and dreaming (Website activity 7.1)
Key terms and concepts
Australian Psychological Society
Confidentiality
Control group
Debriefing
Deception must be minimal and only used when absolutely necessary
Dependent variable
Ethical considerations
Experimental group
Hypothesis
Independent variable
Informed consent
No lasting harm
Pseudoscience
Psychiatrist
Psychologist
Psychology
Right to withdraw
Scientific method
Victorian Psychologists’ Registration Board
Volunteers
Supporting website activities
1.1 Survey: Yesterday
1.2 Research activity: Zener cards and ESP
1.3 Flowchart: Features of an experiment
Oxford Psychology Year 10 ISBN 978 0 19 556879 0 © Oxford University Press Australia
1.1 Survey: Yesterday
What happened to you and your family and friends yesterday?
1
Write some notes about yesterday. What happened in terms of your:
a
health
b
wealth
c
travel
d
job
e
study
f
mood
g
hobbies/areas of interest (such as sport and music)?
2
Now search for yesterday’s newspapers. Look up your horoscope for
yesterday.
3
What was predicted in yesterday’s horoscope?
4
Compare the horoscope prediction with what happened to you yesterday.
Was the prediction accurate?
5
In pairs, discuss your findings. Assuming that you found that the prediction
did not match what happened to you, an astrologer would probably argue against
your findings. One argument would be that you did not read a specific chart that
was created personally for you.
6
How was the prediction worded? Did the prediction use specific statements
OR general and vague statements that could be open to interpretation? Did the
prediction sound personal?
7
The Barnum Effect is the tendency for a people to believe that a so-called
‘personal’ statement is about themselves even though it includes broad and vague
descriptions. These descriptions are cleverly written to make the statement sound
personal. Pseudosciences, such as astrology and fortune telling, are accused of
using such statements. The Barnum Effect was named after P.T. Barnum, a man
who coined the phrase, ‘There is a sucker born every minute’. Is the horoscope
prediction you located worded in a way that encourages the Barnum Effect?
8
Why isn’t astrology classified as a science?
9
Think of another way to scientifically test a pseudoscience such as
astrology.
Oxford Psychology Year 10 ISBN 978 0 19 556879 0 © Oxford University Press Australia
1.2 Research activity: Zener cards and ESP
In the 1930s, J.B. Rhine started investigating ESP (extra sensory perception).
Rhine used Zener cards to test this phenomenon and his studies included people
who claimed to have ESP powers.
The following activity is designed to study ESP in the classroom and
consider the difficulties in testing such a phenomenon.
Create a pack of 25 Zener cards using the following template. (Each card
should be repeated five times.)
Procedure
1
In pairs, collect one set of Zener cards. Assign one person to be the
experimenter and the other the participant.
2
The experimenter selects, at random, one Zener card. The experimenter
makes a note of the shape but does not reveal it to the participant.
3
The participant then guesses the shape. Is this guess correct?
4
Put the results in the table on the next page.
5
Place the card back into the pack. Repeat another 24 times (25 trials in
total).
6
Calculate the percentage of correct responses. Note this in the table.
7
Swap roles and repeat this activity.
Oxford Psychology Year 10 ISBN 978 0 19 556879 0 © Oxford University Press Australia
Participant:
Experimenter:
Trial
Correct
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Percentage
correct
Participant:
Experimenter:
Trial
Correct
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Percentage
correct
Discussion
1
a
What was your percentage of correct responses?
b
What was the percentage for your partner?
2
There is a one in five (20 per cent) chance that a person will guess the right
card. How do your results (and those of your partner) compare with this
percentage?
3
Initially, Rhine found a small number of participants claiming to have ESP
ended up with more than 30 per cent correct. He was quite excited about the
findings but his procedure drew criticism from other scientists. This included the
ability for the participants to read the experimenter’s body language. Receiving
such cues from the experimenter can influence the results. This is known as the
experimenter effect. Do you think the experimenter effect played a role in
confounding (confusing) the results in your study? Explain your answer.
4
Rhine adjusted his procedure to overcome these criticisms. However, he
was never able to repeat his findings. He found no more evidence for ESP. How
could you adjust your procedure to overcome possible experimenter effects?
Oxford Psychology Year 10 ISBN 978 0 19 556879 0 © Oxford University Press Australia
5
People with ESP criticised Rhine’s study for a number of reasons. This
included the fact that determining the shape on a Zener card is very superficial; it
is not important or life-changing information and so is unlikely to be detected by
ESP. Why do you think ESP is difficult to test scientifically?
Oxford Psychology Year 10 ISBN 978 0 19 556879 0 © Oxford University Press Australia
1.3 Flowchart: Features of an experiment
Research activity/ Evaluation of a study design/ Selfdesigned study
Title:
Names of researchers:
Date published:
Name:
Due date:
Aim:
Research hypothesis:
Independent variable:
Dependent variable:
Participant details (Include important details. For example, give the number, age and gender of the participants and state whether they
were volunteers and how they were selected.):
Experimental group:
Control group (or another experimental group):
Results:
Conclusions:
Possible extraneous variables (variables that could have influenced the results):
Related ideas for further research:
Oxford Psychology Year 10 ISBN 978 0 19 556879 0 © Oxford University Press Australia