Due Date: End of Week 6, Sunday 11.59pm Weighting: 40% each
This assessment maps on to the following learning objectives:
- Explain a variety of theories and methods used in social psychology research.
- Critically evaluate knowledge claims in contemporary social psychology topics.
- Apply social psychology theory and methods to address real-world problems.
- Communicate applications of social psychology to varied audiences.
Questions can be posted to the Assessment 3 Discussion Board and you should consult the assessment rubric when preparing your submission.
Purpose
The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate content knowledge; to develop critical engagement with social psychological theories; to apply theory to real-world examples; and to encourage you to reflect upon your own beliefs, assumptions, and prior knowledge when evaluating social psychological theories.
Your tasks
Prepare a 1400-word reflective journal for the topics from Modules 3, 4, 5 and 6 (350-words each, + or – 10%). Your responses must include a description of relevant theory, critical reflection on the theory as it pertains to real life examples, and personal reflections on the topic.
Your reflective journal submission must include:
- a description of the issue and your stance:
- For Module 3: are social psychologists responsible for sharing their research to the wider public to inform and educate people about social behaviour?
- For Module 4: what role do you think the researchers might have played in encouraging the children to make the link between themselves and the negative qualities they attributed to the brown dolls?
- For Module 5: does SRT have the capacity to help solve global problems that arise out of the rejection of expert knowledge, or can it only explain this phenomenon?
- For Module 6: how does the DP approach to the topic differ from traditional Social Psychology, and what practical applications do you think the DP approach can offer for making society more just and equal?
- critical engagement with the relevant psychological literature
- your own personal experiences, observations, values or beliefs
- a clear link between your experiences and the topic, and
- first-person informal language.
The reflective journal weekly topics are detailed below.
Week 3: Social influence in the real world
Watch the video presentation on conformity, obedience, and the real world.
Are social psychologists responsible for sharing their research to the wider public to inform and educate people about social behaviour?
To help you reflect on this question, consider some of the following issues:
- How might Milgram’s obedience studies, the Asch conformity studies, and the Stanford Prison experiment, be applied to the above question?
- Are there clear links between psychological research and real-world events (such as the Stanford Prison experiment and the events at Abu Ghraib), or were there too many other factors (variables) that contributed to the real-world events? And what are the implications of this?
- Have your views changed since learning more about this topic? If so, how?
Note: you do not need to answer these questions in your response. They are simply included to help you contemplate and reflect upon the question.
Week 4: The Clarke and Clarke doll studies
One of the key topics that serves as a thread throughout this course is an understanding of the key ethical issues that arise in social psychological research. There are ethical considerations of the Clarke and Clarke studies that are rarely discussed, despite the fact that the experiment appears to have been designed to elicit a negative (and perhaps distressing) response from the children.
For example, the list of commands was constructed expecting the children to attribute negative qualities to the dolls, but then asking them to identify themselves in the dolls.
As it was clear that the children would most likely identify with the doll that they identified as ‘bad’, it could not have been surprising that some children were visibly upset. Indeed, the study reported consistently negative reactions from the young participants when they were asked to identify which doll looked like them, with several children even running from the room in tears.
This reflective task requires that you have listened to the audio presentation on the Clarke and Clarke doll studies.
You may also wish to watch examples of this study with these YouTube videos and read the original paper:
- Clark Doll experiments
- Landmark Cases: Brown v Board Doll Test (C-SPAN)
Once you have listened to the presentation and done any other background research related to the topic, respond to the following question:
What role do you think the researchers might have played in encouraging the children to make the link between themselves and the negative qualities they attributed to the brown dolls?
To help you reflect on this question, consider some of the following issues:
- To what extent did the study elicit the children’s perceptions of racial stereotypes?
- Are there any other ways that researchers could have explored the children’s racial perceptions?
- Do you think this method impacted on the findings, or would the findings have been the same using other methods?
- Should the findings be dismissed based on ethical criticisms of the methods?
- Do the methods justify the results and new knowledge gained through these studies?
- Have your views changed since learning more about this topic? If so, how?
Note: you do not need to answer these questions in your response. They are simply included to help you contemplate and reflect upon the question.
Week 5: Can SRT change society or just describe it?
In this assessment, you are required to write a 350-word reflective piece on how psychology can change society.
Consider the practical applications of SRT and reflect on how the theory could be used to create positive social change. Consider your reflection in relation to any of the scientific topics you have learnt about in the course so far, or a topic of your choice (Note: the topic must be
based on science/technology that has been challenged by a significant portion of the population).
Does SRT have the capacity to help solve global problems that arise out of the rejection of expert knowledge, or can it only explain this phenomenon?
To help you reflect on this question, consider some of the following issues:
- What can theories of communication and social thinking tell us about how to instigate social change?
- How can social psychologists facilitate science communication to avoid the rejection of scientific knowledge?
- Does understanding how societies communicate provide us with strategies harness and deliver communicative practices that promote positive social change? And what are the implications of this?
- Have your views changed since learning more about this topic? If so, how?
Note: you do not need to answer these questions in your response. They are simply included to help you contemplate and reflect upon the question.
Week 6: Discursive Psychology and traditional social psychology
This reflective task requires that you have read one of the journal articles outlined on the topic ‘Discursive Psychology and traditional social psychology’. Recall that you were provided with a list of articles that cover a range of different social psychological topics on:
- Attitudes and attributions
- Categorisation and identity
- Racism.
After reading your chosen article, respond to the following questions:
· How does the DP approach to the topic differ from traditional Social Psychology?
- What practical applications do you think the DP approach can offer for making society more just and equal?
To help you reflect on this question, consider some of the following issues:
- Is the social constructionist approach of DP too removed from traditional social psychology to provide any useful insights into traditional social psychological topics?
- Can understanding how societies communicate provide us with strategies to harness and deliver communicative practices that promote positive social change? And what are the implications of this?
- Have your views changed since learning more about this topic? If so, how?
Note: you do not need to answer these questions in your response. They are simply included to help you contemplate and reflect upon the question.
Directions
Check each weekly Reflective Journal topic and use the social psychological theories to respond to each question(s). Each response must include:
- demonstrated knowledge of relevant social psychological theory/theories
- critical engagement with social psychological theory/theories
- application of theory/theories to real-world examples
- self-reflection of your own experiences, beliefs, and prior knowledge that clarifies your stance on the question.
Requirements:
Format your assignment using either Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman, size 11 or 12 font, double spaced.
Responses to each module topic should be 350 words (1400 words in total, + or – 10%).
Citations are not necessary but when used, must adhere to APA style. In text citations will be included in the word count, but the reference list will not.
The journal entries are to be submitted at the end of Week 6 online via the Canvas assignment portal. Include your student ID number but do not include your name on your submission.
| Assessment 3: Module Reflective Journal Rubric | |||||
| Criteria | Ratings | Points | |||
| Part 1: Clarifying issue | Points: 1.0 Name: Full points | Points: 0.0 Name: No points | 1.0 pts | ||
| Part 2: Critical engagement with theory | Points: 3.0 Name: Full points | Points: 2.0 Name: Partial points | Points: 1.0 Name: Partial points | Points: 0.0 Name: No points | 3.0 pts |
| Part 3: Application to real world examples | Points: 3.0 Name: Full points | Points: 2.0 Name: Partial points | Points: 1.0 Name: Partial points | Points: 0.0 Name: No points | 3.0 pts |
| Part 4: Personal reflection | Points: 3.0 Name: Full points | Points: 2.0 Name: Partial points | Points: 1.0 Name: Partial points | Points: 0.0 Name: No points | 3.0 pts |
| Total: | 10 pts |
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