List the ten major goals that college psychology programs try to meet in teaching their students, according to the APA's Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major, and discuss how these goals are met through the five sets of skills emphasized throughout Psychology: A Journey, 5th Edition

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include the ten goals of the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major include Goal 1: Knowledge Base of Psychology, Goal 2: Research Methods in Psychology, Goal 3: Critical Thinking Skills in Psychology, Goal 4: Application of Psychology, Goal 5: Values in Psychology, Goal 6: Information and Technological Literacy, Goal 7: Communication Skills, Goal 8: Sociocultural and International Awareness, Goal 9: Personal Development, and Goal 10: Career Planning and Development. Psychology: A Journey touches on all the learning guidelines mentioned in the APA's list. Each chapter provides a detailed knowledge base of psychology (Goal 1) as well as providing numerous applications of this information (Goal 4). For example, in Chapter 6, the student is provided with a description and explanation of operant conditioning as well as many examples of how it applies to everyday situations, such as the use of time-out and token economies. Psychology: A Journey introduces students to science and psychological research (Goal 2) in the research methods in Chapter 1 and in the Statistics Appendix. This information will help students be more literate consumers of primary literature in their chosen careers, especially if it involves applying psychological research in any way. Ethics in research are also discussed in Chapter 1, which is an important aspect of values in psychology (Goal 5). Regarding critical thinking skills (Goal 3), there is a discussion of critical thinking in Chapter 1 as well as Think Critically questions sprinkled throughout the textbook. The Human Diversity highlights found in most chapters invite the student to reflect on the differences between people of different ethnicities, sexual orientations, ages, and genders. These cultural awareness skills are important in meeting Goal 8: Sociocultural and International Awareness. In the chapter-ending Psychology in Action sections, students are introduced to a set of helpful personal skills, from how to use the tension-reduction method to how to thrive in a multicultural society, from how to be less shy to how to perceive the world more clearly, which helps meet Goal 9 . Also important to Goal 9 are study skills. The Psychology of Studying—Reflective Learning at the beginning of this book includes a full set of study skills, from how to read and listen for understanding to how to take tests and overcome procrastination. The authors also introduce the idea of reflective processing and carry it throughout the textbook. Also in the Psychology of Studying section, is a discussion of Using Digital Media that helps the students in locating information they will use to write reports and make oral presentations (Goals 6 and 7). Lastly, Appendix 2 is devoted to Goal 10: Career Planning and Development and relates these goals and skills to becoming successful in one's career.