PSYCH 110 — Principles of Psychology
Course Projects — Fall Term 2001
Capital University Dayton Center
Roberta Hartmann, Instructor
See PSY 110 syllabus for a detailed description of the purpose, scope
and grade value of individual projects. All project assignments require
a 2-3 page double-spaced, typed reaction paper that should be guided by
the questions listed below. Some virtual labs require a browser
that can view frames and applet programs.
Link to Project #s 1 2 3
4 5 6
Back
to PSY 110 Home Page
First Project — Choose ONE project from
those listed below.
Personality
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http://www.keirsey.com/cgi-bin/keirsey/newkts.cgi
Take an on-line version of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, a personality
inventory based on Jungian theory of personality. When you've finished
the test and received your results, read the description of all four temperaments
as well as an excerpt
from Keirsey's book on the nature of temperament and its relation to
personality. In your paper, share your results and describe what
it was like to take a personality inventory. Do you agree with the
assessment of your temperament? What might be some advantages and
disadvantages to considering personality by "type?"
Development over the Life Span
Second Project — Choose ONE project from
those listed below.
Neurons, Hormones,
and the Brain
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http://coglab.psych.purdue.edu/old-coglab/BrainAsymmetry/BA.html
links to the Purdue University Cognitive Psychology Department's Brain
Localization experiment. Read through the introduction and directions
and complete the experiment at least twice and compare your results.
Describe this activity and summarize what you've read about the connected
research. Provide your assumptions about the methodology behind the
design of this experiment. What is it like to participate in such
a study? What were your findings and how did your reaction match
the results found in previous right brain/left brain research? Does
this experiment reveal anything about the way your brain operates?
-
Psyk.trek CD-ROM simulation called Hemispheric Specialization. In
this simulation, you will judge whether a picture of a hand, flashed quickly
on the screen, is a right hand or left hand. You should complete
the experiment at least twice and compare your results. Describe
this activity and your assumptions about the methodology behind its design.
What is it like to participate in such a study? What were your findings
and how did your reaction match the results found in previous right brain/left
brain research? Does this experiment reveal anything about the way
your brain operates?
-
http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/dreamman.html
-- Dream Manual, readings and exercises by Dr. John Suler, Rider University.
Read the selection and do at least two of the Dream Assignments.
In your paper, summarize what you read about dreams and report on your
chosen dream assignments. Note: You don't need to complete the full
journal, etc. that he mentions, just select two of the dream assignments.
Sensation and Perception
-
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/blindspot1.html
is a link on the Bryn Mawr College page name Serendip to an interesting
lab on blind spots. The home Serendip page includes "...interactive
exhibits, articles, links to other websites, and places to read the thoughts
of other visitors and to leave your own. Browse around. If it fits, you
are welcome to think of Serendip as home and to join us in contributing
to its further (serendipitous) development." In your paper, describe
this activity and your assumptions about the methodology behind its design.
What is it like to participate in such a study? What were your findings?
What does this experiment reveal about the way your brain operates and
how it may affect your behavior? What have you learned now that you
didn't know before about the "blind spot?"
-
http://psych.hanover.edu/Krantz/art/
links to an excellent tutorial site by John H. Krantz "to demonstrate how
visual information is used in art. Some of the factors [he hopes]
to illustrate are aspects of depth perception, color perception, and form
perception." In your paper, summarize what you've learned about the
perceptual cues used in art. Attach copies of advertisements or pictures
which also illustrate how information on human perception is used in popular
media and describe what you've found.
Third Project — Choose ONE project from those
listed below.
Thinking and Intelligence
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http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1641/iqown.html
-- Take an IQ test on the web. Compare your answers to those
provided at the end of the test. In your paper, reflect on what you've
read about intelligence tests from your text and on your own answers to
questions like the following: How did you do? How does it feel
to have your intelligence "tested" in this way? How valid do you
think this test is?
-
Psyk.trek CD-ROM -- Work through Module 6d on Problem Solving,
then do the computer simulation called Problem Solving. In this
simulation you will have an opportunity to work on a problem that psychologists
have studied extensively in their research on problem-solving. You
will test your problem-solving skills and gain some insight into how psychologists
study problem solving. In your paper, summarize what you learned
about strategies for problem solving and describe what you experienced
in the hobbits and orcs demonstration. What exactly do you think
this experiment was designed to measure and what conclusions do you think
can be drawn from your own results?
-
Psyk.trek CD-ROM simulation called Psychological Testing: Measuring
your Creativity. In this simulation you have an opportunity to
take a psychological test that was designed to measure creativity.
In the course of the simulation, you will learn about a variety of basic
concepts in psychological testing, including test norms, standardization
groups, reliability, and validity. The test you will be taking is
called the Remote Associates Test (RAT). In your paper, provide your
test results and describe how you felt taking this test. How valid
are the test results? Is there any bias in the test? What might
be strengths and weaknesses in administering such a test to children and/or
adults?
Human Memory
-
http://coglab.psych.purdue.edu/old-coglab/SerialPosition/SP.html
--Serial Position: a memory exercise from Purdue University Cognitive
Psychology On-Line Lab. This is an applet program and may require
a browser that can read such a program. In your paper, describe
this activity and your assumptions about the methodology behind its design.
What is it like to participate in such a study? What did you discover
about your own memory? Do you agree with the conclusions you might
draw from your findings? Why or why not? What does this experiment
reveal about the way your brain operates? What practical applications
might you draw from your personal experience with this experiment?
-
Psyk.trek CD-ROM simulation called Memory Process. In this
simulation you will serve as the subject in a brief experiement that will
acquaint you with a number of memory processes and phenomena by using words
as stimulus. In your paper, describe this activity and your assumptions
about the methodology behind its design. What is it like to participate
in such a study? What did you discover about your own memory?
Do you agree with the conclusions you might draw from your findings?
Why or why not? What does this experiment reveal about the way your
brain operates? What practical applications might you draw from your
personal experience with this experiment?
Fourth Project — Choose ONE project from those
listed below.
Learning
-
http://server.bmod.athabascau.ca/html/prtut/reinpair.htm
---Positive Reinforcement: A Self-Instructional Exercise by Canada's Open
University. You will need a browser that can read frames in order
to run this experiment. Your paper should include two sections.
In section one, write what you thought about this exercise and if it helped
you learn about positive reinforcement. In section two, write
two examples (from your own experience) -- one of positive and one of negative
reinforcement. Briefly discuss the difference between these forms
of reinforcement and when each might be more appropriate or not appropriate.
Behavior in Social and Cultural
Contexts
-
http://www.zimbardo.com/prison.htm
-- This is a great on-line slide show on the Stanford Prison Experiment
compiled and published on the web by Philip Zimbardo, who designed the
experiment as a young psychologist in the early '70s. You should
work through the slide show, then write a paper that gives your reaction
and answers at least three of the discussion questions available by link
from the page.
Fifth Project — Choose ONE project from those
listed below.
Psychological Disorders
-
http://www.mentalhealth.com/fr20.html
Visit the Internet Mental Health site designed by Canadian psychiatrist,
Dr. Phillip Long. Find out how this site came about, and determine
how credible a source it might be. Pick a mental health disorder
to investigate. Take one of the on-line diagnostic tests. You
may answer for yourself or make up your answers. In your paper, review
what you learned about your chosen disorder, and discuss how it felt to
take an on-line diagnosis. What do you think are the advantages and
disadvantages of having access to this kind of assessment on-line? You
will need a browser that can read frames to visit this site.
Approaches to Treatment and Therapy
-
You be the therapist. Link to a site to read The
Case of Jennie. Explore your own assumptions about mental health
and therapy as you work with Jennie.
Sixth Project — Choose ONE project from those
listed below.
Emotion, Stress, and Health
-
http://www.teachhealth.com/
Read the on-line brochure: The Medical Basis of Stress, Depression,
Anxiety, Sleep Problems and Drug Use. Be sure to take the Stress
Scale assessment and review the checklist for handling overstress.
Write a brief review that highlights three new things you learned through
your reading.
-
http://www.mentalhealth.com/fr20.html
Visit the Internet Mental Health site designed by Canadian psychiatrist,
Dr. Phillip Long. Find out more about this site. Why was it
developed? How credible is it? Explore the section on Posttramatic
Stress Disorder or Accute Stress Disorder. Take the on-line diagnosis.
You can answer for yourself or make up your answers. In your paper,
review what you learned about stress and mental health and discuss how
it felt to take an on-line diagnosis. What do you think are the advantages
and disadvantages of having access to this kind of assessment on-line?
You
will need a browser that can read frames to visit this site.
The Major Motives of Life: Love,
Sex, Food, and Work
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Motivational Principles in Advertising -- Assume that people
who work in advertising know what they're doing and base their campaigns
on psychological principles (e.g. principles of motivation and development).
If this assumption is correct, it should be possible to scrutinize advertisements
and find various principles of motivation at work. Gather a collection
of print advertisements and/or a summary of radio/TV ads that demonstrate
some of the theories of motivation explained in your text. Review
a recent article printed in the APA
Monitor that questions the ethics of using knowledge of psychological
principles in the development of advertising aimed at children. What
is your position on this issue?
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Page maintained by Roberta Hartmann, M.S.Ed.
Last updated 9/11/01