Essay 1 – Due 9/17

Animal research is very common is psychology. Do you think animal research is acceptable, or do you disagree with its use? In which types of studies do you think it is okay to use animal subjects? Are certain animals better to perform experiments on than others? What kinds of benefits would you like to see come out of animal research for it to be reasonable?

Essay 2 – Due 9/24

Imagine that the entire human genome is completely understood, and that scientists know the effects of every single gene on human development and behavior. If you were having a baby, would you choose to change your child's genetic code to take away any negative traits or add any positive ones? Which negative traits do you think are okay to alter genetically? Which positive traits do you think it is safe to add? Do any of your personal or moral beliefs influence how you made this decision?

Essay 3 – Due 10/1

In class, we discussed Judith Harris' theory that parents provide little influence besides giving children their genes, and that other factors in the environment are primarily responsible for the development of personality (see lecture slides if you've missed class). Given your personal experience, who do you believe were the major influences in your personal development? Does Harris' theory hold true in your experience, or would you argue against her theory? If possible, try to evaluate the idea of parenting styles with respect to this theory. Do you think that parenting styles influence the degree to which parents impact their child's development?

Week 4 – Due 10/15

If you had to lose any of your five senses, which would you prefer to go without? Which are the most valuable in your daily life? If you'd like, you can also tell me about one sensory ability that you would like to have that humans don't already (think about animal abilities [echolocation, finely-tuned vibration sense]) or ESP [clairvoyance, telekinesis, telepathy, or precognition]).

Week 5 – Due 10/22

Two options this week -

•  In class, we talked briefly about how classical conditioning can explain superstitious behavior. Tell me about a time in your life when you developed a superstition, or how you came to have something that was “lucky.” Try to apply the terms in class (US, UR , CS, CR) to your example.

•  Tell me about a time in your life when you learned through operant conditioning, and apply the terms we used in class (the ABC's, negative/positive reinforcement/punishment) to the outcome of your actions. If you feel comfortable, tell me about something embarrassing in which you quickly learned that a certain behavior wasn't acceptable.

Please read through your notes before you write to make sure you are using the concepts appropriately.

Week 6 – Due 10/29

Tell me about your first memory. Keeping in mind our discussion of false memories, do you think that this memory reflects real events, or is it a reconstruction based upon stories that you have been told by family and friends? If the memory is real, what aspects of the memory made it so strong (keeping in mind the lecture material on the amygdala, for instance).

Optional philosophical challenge: How can you be sure that a memory is real?

Essay 7 – Due 11/5/07

Midterm survey essay: In about a page, tell me one (or more) things that you think are going well with the course. What is helping you learn best, and what would you like to see more of? Additionally, tell me one (or more) things that you would like to see done differently. If there are any topics or group activities that you think went really well or not-so-well, let me know.

Please put your name on a cover sheet and attach it to the essay, but do NOT put your name on the essay itself. You will be turning in both the cover sheet and the essay, and this will allow you to both get credit for the assignment, and to remain anonymous.

Essay 8 – Due 11/12

Two options this week:

Thinking back to the in-class activity concerning intelligence, which theory of intelligence best fits the smartest person that you know? Try and use specific examples of their behaviors and how they would fit into one of the models of intelligent behavior. Given the different views on intelligence, which theory appeals to you most, and why?

-or-

Using the criteria we generated from our intelligence lecture (or any that you think are particularly relevant), what are your criteria for classifying an animal as more or less intelligent than a human? Are there some aspects of intelligence that animals will never possess? Are there some ways in which humans and other animals show that they are similarly intelligent?

Essay 9 – Due 11/19

In our in-class activity on dreams, we analyzed our dreams and determined which theory of dreaming best applies to your particular dream. For this essay, tell me about a dream that you had (it can be the one you wrote about in class), and explain how this dream fits with one of the theories of dreaming. If you don't often have dreams or don't recall them, tell me about which theory of dreaming you support and why you feel it fits.

Essay 10 – Due 12/3

In the personality lecture, we briefly discussed the person-situation controversy. What does this term mean to you, and what are some examples of this concept from your own life? Can you find examples of this issue using each of the factors from the five factor model? Do you think that this issue is a major problem for researchers, and if so, what would you do to solve the problem?

Essay 11 - Due 12/12 - check your university e-mail for details

You can write on either or both of the following topics, but make sure you have at least a page of work.

The theories of emotion that we discussed in class each describe two main components: cognitive appraisal and physiological arousal. For this week, I'd like you to consider a time in your life when you were very frighetened of something, but attempted to change your cognitive appraisal of the event in order to change your mood.

Secondly, what is the effect of music on emotion? When you listen to music, is the music itself affecting your mood, or do you select music that fits your current emotional state? In other words, which comes first - the emotional state causing you to select certain kinds of music, or the music causing your emotional state to change?