Welcome to Applied Psychology. This course will enable you to explore psychological concepts in the context of ‘every day life’ and how we are all constantly surrounded by, and experiencing different psychological processes.
From the psychology of aggressive behaviour, to how psychology is used in advertisement, to the psychology of gender identity and the psychology behind our health behaviours and decisions; it’s all covered here! We also explore how psychological research is conducted and its importance in supporting all the ideas on why humans behave as they do.
Have a look at the following tasks to help you get prepared for studying this course. Any questions you may wish to ask in advance of starting in September, please contact Rhys Parker (Course Lead) at rhys.parker@hsdc.ac.uk
Have a read of the article below, which discusses the topic of aggression. You then need to produce a 100 word, short essay which summarises what has been discussed here.
Aggressive Behavior: Understanding Aggression and How to Treat It
Have a read of the article below, which discusses the topic of consumerism/marketing. You then need to produce a 100 word, short essay which summarises what has been discussed here.
Have a read of the article below, which discusses what the differences between sex and gender are. You then need to produce a 100 word, short essay which summarises what has been discussed here.
Have a read of the article below, which will give you information on a type of therapy known as ‘aversion therapy’ and produce a mind-map on how it works/what it involves.
Aversion Therapy Uses and Effectiveness
Once you’ve had a read and produced your mind-map, watch this short clip to add to your mind-map (perhaps in a different colour), the criticisms of aversion therapy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SpmD8417dg
Finally, have a watch of this final clip where you can see how aversion therapy has been used in real life but where there are major ethical problems with it. Add to your mind-map (in a different colour again), why the use of aversion therapy has been problematic and the impact it’s had on people who have experienced it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFRGARTeLng
Watch the video and/or read the information from these links about the case of ‘Little Hans’. Once you have done so, address the following (this will be good practice for responding to exam questions):
Explain what happened in this case. To explain is to give an account of something; break this down and imagine you are trying to explain this to somebody who has no knowledge.
Evaluate what happened. To evaluate is to give pros and cons, positive and negatives of something. Did anything good happen here? Did we learn anything valuable? What were the problems?
Compare what happened in this case. To compare is to provide similarities and or differences, between two or more things. For this part of the task, conduct some independent research into the ‘Little Albert’ study, conducted by Watson and Rayner (1920) and then compare this against the case of ‘Little Hans’ – what did the two scenarios have in common, and what made them different?
