Basic Psychology Concepts – Let’s Talk About Them and Think About Them
One of the course “Think About It” options
We all have habits. How do normal habits differ from obsessive-compulsive behaviors?
Most of you probably engage in the same personal hygiene routine (showering or
bathing/tooth maintenance/etc.), both in terms of the actual activities and also in terms of
the sequence of those activities, every day. What is the difference between a routine like
this and a ritual? How would you react if your normal morning (or evening) personal
hygiene routine were disrupted? How would a person with OCD react? Are these responses
different? If so, how are they different? If the responses are different, why are they
different? (These last two questions deal with the difference between form and function).
Students could earn 1 through 10 points for posting a paper related to this “Think About It” box. A
successful reflection paper (10 points) was at least three full five-sentence paragraphs that stayed on
topic and answered the key questions.
Because students were only considered to be “successful” if they earned 7, 8, 9, or 10 of the possible
points; this means that only students who submitted a paper of sufficient length, which touched on all
the key concepts were considered to be “successful.”
This paper is part of the section of the course that covers obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and
the exam question related to OCD is :
Max repeatedly worries that there will be an electrical fire, so he checks each light switch and
electrical outlet and appliance several times a day. The checking is repetitive and ritualistic. Max
rarely goes out because of his need to check the house. Max's problem is:
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panic disorder
obsessive-compulsive disorder
dissociative disorder
specific phobic disorder
In the end, out of 52 students in the course, 10 students successfully completed this particular “Think
About It” paper. The correlation (r 2) between reflection paper success and successful completion of
the related exam question was +0.22.
Shirley-Anne Hensch – UW Barron County
One of the course “Talk About It” options
Course Design
Imagine that you are trying to teach someone (who has never tied a shoelace
before) how to tie a shoelace, but you can only tell them in writing. (In other words,
you can't show them.) Describe, in as much detail as possible, how to tie a shoelace.
For fun, try following the directions posted by others. (Don't assume anything--just
follow the directions.) See how successful you are at “doing” without “being shown.”
Introductory Psychology is the prerequisite for all subsequent psychology courses offered through
the UW Colleges. Mastering and understanding core concepts from this class helps to ensure
success in upper-division psychology classes.
Practical Application of Core Concepts
To me, one of the most interesting aspects of an introductory psychology class is drawing
connections between abstract constructs and real-life situations or personal experiences. To
facilitate the process of creating these connections, the course notes for the class have a large
number of embedded reflection and discussion questions.
There aren’t any “right” or “wrong” answers for these questions. Instead, they are designed to
get students thinking about a topic in more depth and applying core concepts to actual
situations. The reflection questions cover topics that students work on individually; the
discussion questions get students to actively discuss various options with other members of the
class.
Design and Goals
My study was designed to extend my earlier in-class research into misconceptions students have
about specific core psychological concepts. The overall goal was to help students master those
specific concepts by giving them the opportunity to think about a particular topic in more depth,
or to discuss a particular topic in more depth with other students from the course. To assess the
impact of these in-class online interactions the research study investigated differences in student
exam performance when students actively participated, or chose not to participate, in applying
specific course concepts to everyday or hypothetical situations.
Results
For the most part, the results indicate that successful completion of a class paper (scoring
between 7-10 points on the paper) or successful participation in a group discussion (submitting
both an initial posting and at least one response worth at least 7-10 overall points) has a positive
correlation with providing correct answers to specific exam questions on the term exams that are
related to that material. Overall, none of the correlations was statistically significant but, for the
most part, positive correlational values were returned.
Students could earn 1 through 5 points for starting a discussion thread related to this “Talk About It”
topic. A successful discussion “start” (5 points) was at least two full five-sentence paragraphs that
stayed on topic, answered the key questions, and explained the reasons for any difficulties
encountered in trying to answer the question.
In addition, students could earn between 1 and 5 points for extending a discussion thread started by a
different student. A successful discussion “response” (5 points) was at least one full five-sentence
paragraph that covered their overall success in successfully following the directions and also brought
up any errors or issues that may have arisen when they worked through the steps provided.
Because students were only considered to be “successful” if they earned 7, 8, 9, or 10 of the possible
discussion points, this means that only students who fully participated in both components of the
discussion (initiating and responding) could be considered to be “successful.”
This discussion is part of the section of the course that covers procedural memory. The exam question
related to the concept of procedural memory is:
When you complete your driving test, you usually have to successfully execute a parallel park. To
complete this portion of the driving exam effectively, you need to access the long-term memory
system known as:
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episodic memory
transitory memory
procedural memory
semantic memory
In the end, out of 52 students in the course, 9 students successfully completed this particular “Talk
About It” discussion. The correlation (r 2) between discussion success and successful completion of
the related exam question was +0.26.