Blog Assignment 4 | Sorting Savvy Sources

One of the goals of this course is to build your research skills. Everyone needs to pick a blog topic / popular myth by this Wednesday (so exciting!), and you’ll soon begin researching your blog, if you haven’t already. This week’s blog assignment relates to the sources you’ll be using.

Blog Assignment 4 | Due Wednesday April 21 | 12:00 noon

GOALS 1) Develop criteria for the popular sources we use in this course 2) Practice applying those criteria

In order to investigate your myth, you need to be able to distinguish reputable and useful sources from questionable ones. Later in the course, we’ll talk about how to judge the quality of a published scientific journal article. But first, let’s look at popular sources, the kinds of things the average person would find when they do a quick internet search on a topic. After all, when someone has a question about something they've heard, these are probably the kinds of sites they will read first.

Your task this week is two-fold:

1) What makes a website, blog, or Wikipedia entry one that’s credible and reliable? Describe one or two standards that you would use to determine if a site a) is scientifically based or b) rises above the reasoning errors we’ve been discussing in class.

You can also elaborate upon a standard that someone else has posted. It’s perfectly fine to disagree with someone else’s post, but please do so courteously. Recall we’ve agreed that we won't make assumptions, we'll critique the idea, not the person, and because tone is very hard to convey online, we won't use sarcasm.

2) Post a website that’s related to the course and evaluate it based on the standard(s) you’ve proposed. The site could be one of the best sites you’ve seen or it could be abysmal – the point is to practice applying your criteria.

The topic of the site you choose should address something we will be discussing in class in the future. It could address
- popular myths about psychology in general
- the autism epidemic, which we’ll discuss on Monday
- the notion that memory works like a video camera (Wednesday’s topic)
- the complex issue of repressed memories (topic for Monday, April 26)

Blog Assignment 3 | Duking it Out

Blog Assignment 3 | Duking it Out

This coming Wednesday, April 14, we're going to have a semi-structured debate in class about gender differences in aggression. Here's the basic question we'll be debating: Are boys more aggressive than girls?

It’s a hotly debated topic, trust me, and there is plenty of evidence for either side. I say "boys" and "girls" rather than "men" and "women" because we're going to be focused on kids. Let's limit the discussion to children under the age of 10.

Blog Assignment 3 | Due Wednesday April 14 | 12:00 noon
GOALS: 1) Share knowledge and resources for the course 2) Prepare to take a position in class

Your task is two-fold:

1) Take a position.

POSITION 1: Under the age of 10, boys are more aggressive than girls.
POSITION 2: Little boys aren’t really more aggressive than little girls.

I would like a balanced debate, so I’m asking that half the class take position 1 and the other half take position 2. To make your position obvious, start your post with these capital letters (POSITION 1 or POSITION 2). Folks who post early will get to pick their position, but folks who post later – please review what your classmates have argued and pick the position that’s under-represented. The discussion and debate will be so much more interesting if both sides have a voice.


2) Find a resource to support your position.

- Do some web research and find a resource that supports your position. It can be a full article on the topic or it could be an abstract to a journal article. It shouldn't, however, just be a mom's blog about her over-aggressive son or daughter.

- Read the article or abstract.

- Describe one of the arguments the article or abstract makes in support of your position. (See my example below). You don't have to make an elaborate, four paragraph argument here - you can save the big guns for the in-class debate.

- Post the link to the article so others can find it.


Look, Ma! No clunky url. For the last assignment, I had folks post long urls to webpages, but I should have shown you the very cool "LINK" feature. You can see this feature when you're writing your comment to be posted. Once you've found the website you want to use, look at the toolbar on the top and click on the 5th icon from the left (on my monitor, it looks like a sickly, green globe with a chain link on it). This embeds the link within the post.

POSITION 2: For example, I found a great article by Hyde (1984). This article reviews 143 studies that looked at gender differences in aggression. According to this study, gender differences in aggression were going down in more recent studies, especially when the researchers looked at the parents’ or teachers’ reports of kids’ behavior. Of course, this study was published in 1984, 26 years ago, but let's look past that fact for the moment.

Blog Assignment 2 | The Wonder Years

This Wednesday, we’re going to begin talking about child development and popular parenting beliefs.

Blog Assignment 2 | Due Wednesday April 7 | 12:00 noon
GOALS: 1) Create a feeling of community and familiarity 2) Practice finding and linking images

Since we’re going to be thinking about a child’s environment, tell us where you grew up and post a link to an interesting online picture taken in your home city or region. It doesn’t have to be a picture you took yourself - just an interesting photo. In addition to that link, describe one belief that your parents / grandparents / guardians had about how children develop (or how you should be raised) that you found a little questionable at times. It could be something that you agree with now, or something that you still find sketchy.