Reflective Paper
To partially fulfill the University’s General Education (GE) Social Science and Social Diversity requirements, Psychology 1100 requires that you complete a brief 1-page paper to reflect upon and integrate the information you learned in Psychology 1100 that reflects GE goals.]
AU18 S1b Reflection Question: A group of researchers wants to explore the relationship between mood and helping behavior. To examine this relationship, the researchers conduct a correlational study with a sample of 100 students. Initially, researchers asked each student to fill out a mood survey on paper. While the student was turning in the survey, the experimenter dropped the entire stack of surveys. The experimenter was interested in whether or not the participant would assist them in picking up the dropped papers. Results showed that the students who reported being in a more positive mood, on average, were more likely to help. This indicates a positive correlation between mood and helping pick up papers. With this particular study in mind, answer BOTH of the following questions:
(1) A journalist decides to write a news story on this finding. The title of her story is “Happy Helpers: Being in a Happy Mood Causes People to be More Helpful”. Is this an accurate portrayal of the results? Why or why not?
(2) Describe how you would change the study design to make this research project an experiment. What would be the advantages of conducting this study with an experimental design?
Because the purpose of this paper is to give you the opportunity to reflect upon the knowledge you have gained as a result of taking Psychology 1100, please use specific course material to answer this question. Importantly, refrain from incorporating your own opinions when writing this reflection paper. Instead, we encourage you to be objective (i.e., free of bias and opinions) and adopt a “critical thinker” mentality when incorporating the material you have learned from this class. When discussing specific concepts or examples from the course, please remember to cite the source (using either the page numbers of the textbook or a lecture topic).
The goal of the AU18 S1b Prompt is to encourage understanding of the theories and research methods for social science. For this reflection paper prompt, students should demonstrate knowledge of concepts for scientific inquiry and be able to apply these skills to reflect about psychological studies.
GUIDELINES: • You must answer the reflection question on this handout or you will receive 0 points. There are several different questions assigned to other sections, so be sure to answer this prompt (AU18 S1b). • You must incorporate examples or concepts from Psychology 1100 into your response. • You must cite unoriginal information (see the back of this sheet for examples). • You must follow the formatting guidelines listed on the back of this assignment sheet.
FORMATTING & CITATION GUIDELINES: ▪ Typed, single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font ▪ All margins 1” ▪ Approximately ½ page in length (no more than 1 page) ▪ You must cite unoriginal information; otherwise, you are committing plagiarism, a serious academic offense. Information that should be cited includes, but is not limited to, definitions, explanations of theories, or references to ideas. You should try to express these in your own words, and then cite where the idea came from. If you take a phrase directly from the book, you must put the words in quotation marks to show that they are not your own. Here are examples of these citation methods: (a) In the U.S.A., women are more often diagnosed with anxiety disorders than are men (Psychological Disorders Lecture, 7/01/10). (b) Observational learning takes place when we watch someone engage in a certain task. We simply “learn by watching models.” (Textbook, p. 257).
▪ The top right of the page should show: Your Name Your Instructor’s Full Name Your Psych 1100 Class time Question Code (AU18 S1b)
