PSY 240/Critical thinking and writing in Psychology

Jeanne M. Slattery, Ph.D.

Life's scoring system works like this: one point each time you learn something, two points each time you learn something no one else knows, three points when you learn something you thought you knew is wrong.
--George Schwelle

A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension.
--Oliver Wendell Holmes

Ask and be a fool for five minutes, fail to ask and remain a fool forever.
-- Chinese proverb

You might be saying, "Why am I here? I just want to be a therapist when I grow up..." (As though being a therapist is "just" anything, and you don't have to be as bright, thoughtful, incisive, hard-working, etc., as people in any other discipline that operates in large part through the operations of the mind.) Whether you want to be a researcher or a practitioner, critical thinking skills are seen as essential to our discipline and our ability to function effectively within the field. Cynthia Belar (2000) says this well,

[A]ccording to current standards for professional schools [in psychology], research training is considered essential for the development of critical thinking and for the practitioner as local clinical scientist. (p. 250, italics my own)

I agree with Belar (2000), not as a researcher (although I do and enjoy doing research), but as a therapist. I love what I do and believe that being able to think critically even under stress is part of what makes me good at it. Each time I do therapy I am performing a mini-experiment about what causes people, especially that one particular person, to change.

Course objectives

This sophomore level course was designed to make you a much stronger student in Psychology and will significantly contribute to your later success in our department and the field. We have received a Writing flag (W) for this course to reflect this. Course objectives include beginning to:

• observe the world accurately and objectively;
• think critically about the world -- both the psychological literature and everyday experience;
• read research articles accurately, being able to abstract their essential ideas and understand their implications;
• write clearly, concisely, and objectively using APA format, the standard of our field;
• look towards and prepare for graduate school.

Obviously, these are big goals. I hope to get the ball rolling to help you become life-long learners who are excited by the world around you, yet skeptical about the explanations you have been given.

Steps to these goals

This course, relative to many courses at this level, focuses more on learning and practicing skills than information. As a result, relative to other courses, there will be less emphasis on tests and more on written assignments. Notice that these assignments are often broken up so that earlier assignments or quizzes prepare you for later ones. I want you to succeed in this class and later ones. The following describes the specific steps we will take to get there.

Grades and assignments will be posted on Blackboard . You may be able to get by without going to Blackboard, but your life will probably be easier because of Blackboard.

Linked courses. For many of you, although not all, this course is linked with Dr. Haynes' Psy 260, Developmental Psychology. The link between our courses will help form a learning community that we hope will help you in and out of class. We also hope to use the connections between our courses to help you learn better. If you are not also in Developmental Psychology, don't worry! You'll gain from their connection and they will gain from your experience.

Texts. We will be using two texts: Kuther's (2003) The psychology major's handbookand Mitchell, Jolley & O'Shea (2004) Writing for Psychology. Both are important resources that you should keep and use throughout your Psychology career. APA style is required in several other courses within our department. Mastering its style will probably help you earn a consistently higher grade in your later papers both here and in graduate school.

In addition, you will read a series of articles throughout the semester to help you develop your thinking within the field and your ability to read professional articles in the field. These articles are admittedly initially difficult, but reading them is an important skill within the major. These can be found either on the web, in PsycArticles or on the e-reserve for this course: http://library.clarion.edu/courseindex.asp Entry is password-protected. The password can be found on your paper syllabus. If you cannot access these from home, please use the department's Mac lab.

Critical thinking problems. I will be giving you critical thinking problems weekly throughout the semester. These will be posted on Blackboard. Some will be relatively easy, others will be fairly difficult. (I won't give you any that I couldn't get first!) You must turn in at least five within a week of when they were passed out, with both an answer and a description of how you got the answer. If you turn in more, I will give you up to two points extra credit per question correctly answered. In each case you will earn one point for the answer, another for your explanation. Your work should be your own. Your first opportunity:

My cousin has had four children, all girls. She is pregnant again. Assuming that there is nothing biasing her reproductive abilities, what do you think her next child will be? Justify your conclusion.

What is critical thinking? Lewandowski (2004) said that critical thinking is the process of thinking independently, not just memorizing or stating what someone else has written or said. It requires going deeper rather than just "reporting." Critical thinking means evaluating and critiquing information and figuring out how different ideas fit together. Our department and many others believe that learning how to think critically will strengthen your work in other classes and the rest of your life.

Critical thinking applications. Apply your understanding of good (or poor) critical thinking to psychology. One must be in an article on a psychology-related topic, another must use a figure or table. You might find editorials or articles that illustrate fallacies or cognitive biases we've discussed. The articles may contain questionable uses of statistics, analogies, etc. Some of your examples may contain good reasoning as well. You might include advertisements for products that illustrate violations of various principles of "thinking straight about psychology." You might include cartoons that humorously depict various course concepts. Include a brief description of the principle illustrated and an explanation of precisely why/how it is an illustration of the chosen concept. If it is an example of strong reasoning, describe how. You must find at least three examples. With your permission, I'll post my favorites on the back bulletin board!

Quizzes. We will have three short quizzes during the semester: on (a) APA format for references and citations, (b) using the library, and (3) interpreting data. Each will be worth 50 pts and will be completed at home.

Article critiques. Complete three critiques on the assigned articles. These assignments will serve two purposes: first, to give you a first-hand view of original research and writing in Psychology; and second, to support your critical understanding of the research on eating disorders. Each article summary should include (a) the complete reference in APA format, (b) a one to two sentence description of the "problem" being addressed by the research or review, (c) the article's methodology, (d) the author's findings, (e) the author's conclusions, and (f) your critique of the methodology and conclusions. In this last and very important section, think about its strengths and shortcomings and the implications of the research. Please use headers to clearly identify each section.

Literature review.This short paper (about five pages, not including cover page and references) should explore psychological ideas, and include at least five references (texts not included). I have broken the assignment into small pieces. Take advantage of this and work on it throughout the semester. Show yourself what you can do!

Your paper must be peer reviewed before it is turned in. Your classmate will earn up to 5 points for this feedback. (This should help you write a stronger paper and help your classmate learn to recognize the relative strengths and weaknesses of papers.) Sample excellent papers from previous semesters are on file in my office. Check them out!

I will not read papers that do not meet professional writing standards of spellchecking, grammar checking, organization, and presentation of references. If these are not met, I will return your paper with a 10% penalty and ask you to rewrite it.

Graduate school portfolio.Throughout the semester we will be talking about developing as a psychologist, a person who carefully observes and critically thinks about the world. At this point in the semester we will be pulling together packets of information on you and your relative strengths and weaknesses, possible schools you might apply to, and what you can do to work towards your goals. This is a collection of ideas rather than a traditional "paper." Like your literature review, this portfolio will be peer reviewed before it is turned in.

Class participation.Your ability to be actively involved in class will determine the degree to which you and your classmates learn. I expect that you will come to class regularly, read the material carefully before class, and actively assist in your classmates' learning. As class participation is an essential part of this class, you will lose 3 pts. per class (about 1% of your final grade) after your third missed class for any reason. In other words, you have three free absences; use these wisely.

Plagiarism

Students in the Psychology Department and at Clarion University are expected to maintain a high standard of honesty in their academic work. Academic dishonesty includes plagiarism or cheating on assignments, examinations, or other academic work, or without prior approval of the instructor, submitting work already done for another course. Students shall avoid all forms of academic dishonesty, including, but not limited to:

1. Plagiarism-the use of another's words without attribution or without enclosing the words in quotation marks. Plagiarism may also be defined as the act of taking the ideas or expression of ideas of another person and representing them as one's own - even if the original paper has been paraphrased or otherwise modified. A close or extended paraphrase may also be considered plagiarism even if the source is named.

2. Collusion-collaborating with another person in preparation of notes, themes, reports, or other written work offered for credit unless specifically permitted by the instructor.

3. Cheating on an examination or quiz-giving or receiving information or using prepared material on an examination or quiz.

4. Falsification of data -manufacturing, falsification of information, including providing false or misleading information, or selective use of data to support a particular conclusion or to avoid conducting actual research.

Clarion University has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps prevent plagiarism by comparing student papers with Turnitin's database and Internet sources. Students who take this course agree that papers may be submitted to Turnitin.com. While student privacy is protected, papers submitted to Turnitin do become source documents in Turnitin's reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. Use of the Turnitin service is subject to the Terms and Conditions of Use posted on Turnitin's website. Clarion University is committed to preserving academic integrity as defined by the Academic Honesty Policy. http://www.clarion.edu/judicial/ahonesty.htm

Lateness policy

Assignments turned in after the due date will be assessed a 10% penalty. Make-ups can be taken at a mutually convenient time up until the quiz, although the format of and penalty for missed quizzes will be my discretion.

Grades

The total earned can be compared with the following scale:

I do not expect that a certain number students fail and I would be happy if the class received only As and Bs. To meet this goal I will be happy to help you when you need it. If you want more help, make an appointment with the Academic Support Center (2249). If you have test anxiety or if this course raises issues which you want to work on, call the Counseling Center (2255).

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Last updated January 16, 2006