Lab Assignment #1: Topic Selection

(Worth 20 points)

Much of the work you do in labs will be designed to guide you through the research process in a step-wise manner. All research begins with the generation of interesting questions. What you are asked to do before you arrive at your lab section next week is to think about what broad psychological questions you find interesting, as well as thinking about why you are interested in those issues and what you already think about those issues.

The first thing we ask you to do is to pick one psychological issue that you find particularly interesting. This should be an issue that you would like to read more about and with which you would like to think about all term. It doesn’t matter what topic you choose and there are many to choose from. In thinking about your interests it may help to keep the various sub-areas of psychology in mind: clinical and counseling psychology, personality psychology, social psychology, cognitive psychology, psychobiology or psychophysiology, industrial/organizational psychology, developmental psychology and sports psychology. It will also help to think about your own interests and your own background. What sorts of activities consume most your free-time? What sorts of social and/or personal issues make you angry, happy, or sad? What sorts of things about your friends and/or family influence you? There are many questions that psychologists address. Psychologists ask questions about mental health, normal cognitive and emotional processes, political decision making, the influences of social groups, work environment, social structures, stereotyping and prejudice . . . And psychologists study people at all stages of human development (from kids to the elderly).

For next week you are asked to do the following:

1. Choose a broad issue that you find interesting and with which you would like to work this semester. Both papers you write will be related to this topic. At this point your topic can be broad (e.g., adolescent suicide, eating disorders, aggression, attention deficit disorder, affirmative action hiring procedures, stereotyping and prejudice, the effects of divorce on children).

2. Explain why you are interested in the topic you chose and why you think this issue is important. This may be a personal statement about your own interests or how something has influenced you or those close to you. Or you may want to answer the broader, less personal question of “Why is this topic important?”

3. List some (4 to 6) questions you have about the issue or some observations you have made. These may be your own ideas. For example, if you are interested in athletic performance you may list ideas about how factors influence performance and choking under pressure. Or if you are interested in eating disorders you may ask several questions about how different social and personal factors may increase susceptibility to eating disorders. This part of the assignment is intended to get you thinking about what sorts of more specific interests you have in your broad topic.

Note: Assignment #1, should be typed in Times New roman 12-point font and should have 1-inch margins and be double-spaced. There is no length requirement. You may write a page or several pages. However, you should take this assignment seriously (i.e., give it serious thought), as this assignment will provide an excellent foundation and a starting point for literature review (Paper #1) and your research proposal (Paper #2).