Interest in psychology at the high school level.

Comments on the apparent low interest in psychology among bright high school students as being attributed to the absence of contact with psychologists or psychology as a science in the usual high school curriculum. The author reports that during the past three years at the annual Southern Appalachian Science Fair sponsored by the local Scripps-Howard newspaper and the University of Tennessee, exhibits and studies dealing with psychology have received their due share, if not more, of the awards. This interest in psychology is noteworthy on several accounts. These are expounded upon. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

High school psychology: A history and some observations.

Psychology has been in the secondary curriculum by title since at least 1895. 390 questionnaires were sent to superintendents and principals in 46 states. "Returns were received from 39 states which represented 64% of the original mailing." A table indicating dates for the introduction of psychology into the curriculum ranged from 1895 to 1959 discloses "a gradual increase in the number of schools introducing the course up to the modal year 1948." Once in the curriculum it tends to remain. Schools indicate 3 major reasons why psychology is not being offered and why others drop it: (a) an already crowded curriculum; (b) lack of trained teachers; (c) since "the trend of today is toward a more intense development of science, psychology cannot be offered." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Popular literature in the undergraduate social psychology course.

In the social psychology course at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, in addition to using a standard text plus a book of readings, and requiring a technical term report and a class research project, students are required to read three novels (George Orwell's 1984, Thomas Heggen's Mr. Roberts, and Philip Wylie's The Disappearance). Four criteria for the selection of these are specified. These books provided much opportunity for discussing a wide range of social phenomena and "… helped tie together many aspects of the course material." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Objectives of the general psychology course.

A discussion of the manner in which objectives for the instructor of general psychology may be arrived at: the objectives of the college and the place of this course in the curriculum, job analysis of the role of college students as citizens, the student's needs and expectations, the function of the course in the eyes of the profession as a whole, etc. An outline of the general objectives for the elementary psychology course at the University of Michigan is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A terminal course for psychology majors.

A special course for senior psychology majors "… in which one step has been taken in the direction away from the conservative tradition of lecturing and examining" is described. The students' first assignment is to list "… the ten most persistent and pressing problems of personal and social living… " and the second is to "… select the ten concepts, laws, or principles which you believe to be the most significant… ." From these the "… subject matter of the rest of the term is established." There is "… frequent and favorable reaction from students… ." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of psychology in the traveling science teacher program for high schools.

The program at Michigan State University involved training 20 secondary school science teachers during a 3-month period, and included 14 hours of lectures in psychology. It "yielded 16 lecture-demonstrations suitable for presentation at the secondary school level" by the science teachers, each of whom developed a "psychobiology" lecture-demonstration. "The demonstrations, which were used to accompany the lecture, were originally selected for a variety of reasons" including simplicity of material, portability of material, and opportunity for student participation. 2 demonstrations were described. The lecture developed by the science teachers on psychobiology was "presented to a total of 565 groups of students and other interested audiences." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A basic psychology course for engineering students.

Describes a course in Psychology of Human Relations required of all junior engineering students. The course is problem-centered with attention to the kind of problems apt to be met by professional engineers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in nineteenth century high schools.

"Psychology as a teaching subject in high schools has been a topic of active discussion by groups and individuals for the past decade." In the writer's collection of textbooks by American authors published prior to 1890, "there are seven which the authors claim are intended for use in high schools, although in two cases it is made clear that the texts are intended for teachers and not pupils." "While we have no data on the amount of use made of these textbooks in secondary schools, the fact that they were issued for such use suggests that the teaching of psychology in high schools has been considered possible for over a century." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in Michigan's high schools.

This is a comment regarding psychology courses in Michigan High Schools. A survey of 57 secondary schools in Michigan reporting psychology as one of their course offerings was conducted in the spring of 1963. Thirty-seven schools (65%) responded to the request for information about the nature of the course, the characteristics of the pupils involved, and the qualifications of the teacher. The results from the survey are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The graduate course in experimental psychology.

The course at the University of Buffalo is described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparation for teaching psychology in high school.

Of 150 randomly selected Division 2 psychologists, 100 responded to a questionnaire. They "think of high school psychology as belonging somewhere between biological science and social science… . They favor more training in psychology and less in related areas than is the practice at present" for high school teachers of psychology. "The amount of preparation recommended, especially that indicated as desirable, is so high that it is not likely many high school teachers of psychology can be induced to secure this amount of training." Major sections are: Science or Social Study? General Suggestions, Training in Psychology, Related Training, Conclusions. (3 tables) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An integrated course in biology and psychology.

"The problem of providing a broad and sound education in science for liberal arts students has led many colleges and universities to establish integrated science courses… . Within the last few years, an Integrated Course in Biology and Psychology has been developed at Wayne State University through the cooperation of the Departments of Biology and Psychology." Objectives of this course include providing: (a) an overview of basic biology and psychology, (b) knowledge of the scientific method, (c) an appreciation of these disciplines in our practical culture. Titles of some laboratory demonstrations are indicated, and 3 of these are briefly described. Themes developed are specified. The principal strength of the course is "integration" and its principal weakness, "lack of depth." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A course in human engineering.

"In 1955 we offered an undergraduate course, 'Experimental Industrial Psychology: Human Engineering.' " "As a text we selected Applied Experimental Psychology by Chapanis, Morgan, and Garner… ." A number of collateral reading sources were also utilized. "The course consisted of formal lectures on experimental methodology and the analysis of the relevant data of perceptual, learning, and physiological psychology." In the lectures "… emphasis was given in the lectures to various methodological techniques and controls as they might arise in applied research." An individual research project was required of each student. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Essentials.

The author presents historic justification for the inclusion of psychology in the high school curriculum. The author suggests that many of the "old" problems of high school education regarding psychology continue to exist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The teaching of psychology in high school.

Psychology is taught as a separate subject of instruction in some high schools in at least 40 states, probably in all of them. According to the 1948-50 Biennial Survey of Education, roughly fewer than 10% of the high schools offer a course under the title "psychology," and the enrollments in psychology courses is about 1% of the high school population. Purposes for which instruction in psychology is offered, educational preparation and experience of teachers, licensing or certification requirements, textbook and other teaching materials, methods of presentation, and attitudes toward the teaching of psychology in high schools are discussed. 63 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflections on the main schools of the world psychology in the Czech interwar psychology.

The author deals with the reasons for the different level of acceptance of the three important psychological perspectives (Gestalt psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis) in the Czech interwar psychology. Gestalt psychology was probably the most accepted approach, which was at least partly caused by its founding in the neighboring Germany. It was an academic perspective that was convenient for the professional ambitions of its representatives as well as for their endeavor to establish psychology as a serious scientific discipline. On the contrary, the acceptance of behaviorism was rather negative or indifferent. Czech psychologists perceived it as a predominantly foreign, extraneous school of thinking. They preferred the studies on consciousness and the method of introspection over empirical research. Psychoanalysis also has never taken deeper roots in Czechoslovakia. Some Czech intellectuals accepted the existence of unconsciousness but they criticized Freudian sexual symbolism (Peroutka, ?apek). Negative attitudes of the politicians Masaryk and Bene? also contributed to the cool reception of this school. With sporadic exceptions, the psychoanalytic thinking was developed only in a small Jewish-German-Czech circle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mainstreaming psychology of women with school psychology.

With the resurgence of the women's movement in the late 1960s, a new scholarly field, the psychology of women, developed within psychology. Scholarship on women continues today both as a separate area of investigation and study and as an area integrated into mainstream American psychology. Although this effort has been ongoing within psychology, school psychology has focused relatively little on women's issues and on issues of sex and gender. This is surprising given the many women in the field of school psychology and in the schools. Thus, the purpose of this special issue is to begin a process of enrichment, much as other psychology fields have already been enriched, by mainstreaming the psychology of women with school psychology. Three articles and a discussion are presented in the miniseries. Each of the authors explores a different topic relevant to women and school psychology and includes a literature review as well as discussion of the salience of the literature to professional school psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of a course in psychology on the attitudes of research and development supervisors.

In comparing lecture and nondirective approaches to changing group attitudes, 72 corporation supervisors taking a psychology course were subjected to pre and posttest comparisons of attitudes toward the supervisory role using a sentence completion test with both experimental and control groups. Negative findings involving a worsening of attitudes in the control group was attributed to group solidarity stimulated by threat of competition being forced upon them from without. The lecture method and emphasis on research findings produced improved attitudes toward supervisory work. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The teaching of psychology and the psychology we teach.

"Does the psychology we teach deserve its present place in the liberal arts curriculum? Have we the moral right to ask our students to spend their time learning the stuff we teach as psychology?" Each subject in the curriculum should be evaluated against criteria such as its contribution to: (1) transmission of significant components of our culture, (2) elicitation of and challange to thought and action, (3) growth of the individual as a person, and (4) preparation for a career. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The course in the history of psychology: Present status and future concerns.

The present study provides a turn-of-the-century status report on the teaching of the history of psychology in colleges and universities in the US. The data indicate that the course is offered regularly-in most departments of psychology and is frequently required of majors; these findings are consistent with earlier research. Most instructors teach the course largely out of personal interest and self-taught expertise with their primary teaching and research commitments to other areas of psychology. Few instructors engage in publication of research and scholarship in the history of psychology, although there are 2 journals in the field that provide an outlet for scholarship. The few positions that allow for primary commitment to teaching and research in the history of psychology is a possible cause of concern for the future of the course and for its place in the education of psychologists in the 21st century. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)