Jeff asked about discussions of causality in Intro Psych. Outside of talking about correlations and experiments, I don't talk much about causality early on. As we progress through the course causality does come up again and again, and I refer back to our coverage of research methods.
When students get frustrated because I say things like "X seems to have an influence on Y" instead of "X makes Y happen," I break out a chemistry analogy that seems to work. I tell my students: "Let's say we have two chemicals. We mix them together, and something happens. We mix them together again, and something ~different~ happens. We mix them together yet again, and, yet again, something ~different~ happens. Why?" Students reach into their chemistry knowledge and suggest that in one mixing the chemicals were brought together in the presence of heat, or in the presence of water, or in the presence of increased pressure, or the chemicals were mixed in differing amounts, or in different purities, and so on. I go on to say: "In psychology, we bring two or more factors together, and most of the time one thing happens, but many times something different happens. Why? We probably don't know. Psychology is a young science. By analogy, we're still learning about the effects of heat, water, pressure, amounts, and purities." I've found that this helps many of my students grasp the complexity and see that there are ~many~ things that influence our thoughts and behaviors... and hopefully help them see, too, that it's not ~so~ complex that they need to throw up their hands and say, "We're all just individuals, why bother?!" -- Sue Frantz Highline Community College Psychology Des Moines, WA 206.878.3710 x3404 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://flightline.highline.ctc.edu/sfrantz/ > -----Original Message----- > From: Jeff Ricker [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 8:44 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences > Subject: Teaching causality > > > Not being a sports fan or a person who has much of a portfolio, I > thought I would ask a few questions about teaching psychology--simple > questions that probably have no simple answers. > > Do you attempt to discuss notions of causality in introductory > psychology? If you do, how do you go about it? What problems have you > run into? > > I ask these questions because it has become very clear to me that > students don't understand or are frustrated with the probabilistic > statements we usually make in psychology regarding the causes of the > phenomena we discuss. Thus, I have begun to incorporate an explicit > discussion of causality right at the beginning of the course > in order to > reduce the confusion and frustration. But I have found that > it is not a > simple matter to discuss causality simply. > > Any insights? > > Jeff > > -- > Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213 > 9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (480) 423-6298 > Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Scottsdale Community College > Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626 > > Listowner: Psychologists Educating Students to Think > Skeptically (PESTS) > > http://www.sc.maricopa.edu/sbscience/pests/index.html > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
