Steve,
I guess you're gonna have to publish your own "top-down" Intro to Psychology textbook!
~ Jason Bessey
On Tuesday, March 13, 2018, 5:30:25 PM EDT, Steven Quackenbush <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hello ToK Community,
I'd like to briefly elaborate on the slide that Gregg shared a few days ago (in the first message of this thread).
For many years, I have puzzled over the pedagogical problem of how to effectively narrate the field of psychology in an introductory course.
Consider the typical General Psychology textbook. Virtually every such text begins with an introductory chapter or two outlining the history of psychology and basic research methods. The first truly topical chapter is likely focused on the brain and nervous system, as if to bludgeon students at the start with the proposition that psychology is a true science. ["Look! A diagram of a neuron! And what were you expecting? Freud?"]. The textbook then proceeds through various topics in a more-or-less predictable order: sensation & perception, learning theory, cognitive psychology, personality, social psychology, and abnormal psychology. In spirit, we move from (a) psychology as a hard science, to (b) psychological as a social science. If the students are good and eat all their vegetables, they are eventually treated to a delicious desert: (c) psychology on the threshold of the humanities (abnormal psych, counseling theories, Freud, etc.).
I can't teach this way.
I begin my General Psychology class in the same cognitive space where I believe most of my students can be found: They are interested in learning about people. They are fascinated by the stories that people tell about themselves, and most have even more interest in their own story. "Good news!", I say, "Freud shares your interests!"
So, the first week of my class is devoted entirely to psychoanalysis and a consideration of the person as a text that needs to be interpreted. Without apologies, we begin the meal with the desert! No formal discussion of research methods. No cell diagrams. Just "psychology" as the students have always understood it.
Then I assign Chapter 1 of Keith Stanovich's text "How To Think Straight About Psychology". This chapter begins with an account of "The Freud Problem" (i.e., the tendency on the part of the general public to consider Freud as the paradigmatic psychologist) and proceeds with a straightforward account of the basic features of science (systematic empiricism, publicly verifiable knowledge, and a focus on empirically-solvable problems). Psychoanalysis, it seems, is riddled with ambiguities and gratuitous assumptions. It does not hold up well in the face of Stanovich's conception of science.
But even as my students' initial faith in Freud (and psychoanalysis) is shaken, the time is not yet ripe to dive headfirst into the waters of hard science. I proceed (more-or-less chronologically) through the history of 20th century psychology, exploring methodological issues as they naturally arise. But even the most thorough review of recent developments in social, personality, and cognitive psychology leaves many questions unanswered. e.g., Why do so many of us have such a profound need to feel "secure"? As we approach the end of the semester, students find themselves longing to examine the evolutionary and biological roots of human behavior. ["Look! A diagram of a neuron! Isn't it amazing?"]
To put all this in a slightly different way: Most introductory psychology texts tend to adopt a bottom-up approach to pedagogy. They begin with the so-called foundations and proceed with analyses of increasingly complex phenomena until they finally arrive at the truly human (if indeed they ever get there). My approach is top-down. I want to start where my students are (and where I am!) and stay there awhile. When we finally decide to leave our cognitive home (the "natural attitude" noted by phenomenologists), it is because we need to! [Simply put, our increasingly pressing questions cannot be answered if we simply "stay home"]
I notice that discussions of the ToK System often proceed in a "bottom-up" direction [Matter --> Life --> Mind --> Culture]. This works fine for those already committed to a scientific worldview. But it is deeply problematic if our audience is comprised of the general laity (e.g., the typical undergraduate psychology student) or scholars with humanistic commitments. It is not that this audience will deny the truth of the ToK framework. It just won't appear any more relevant to their lives than the fact that the earth revolves around the sun.
So, the purpose of the slide that Gregg shared is to elicit interest in the ToK by adopting a top-down approach. I begin where the typical psychology major "lives" -- in a state of profound confusion. Our challenge is to find a way to sort through this confusion and tell the story of psychology. When characters are introduced (e.g., J.H.) it should be clear to the students precisely why the characters are relevant to the unfolding plot.
In closing, I'm longing for an introductory psychology textbook that I can actually use! Perhaps a top-down (and sideways!) ToK narrative might someday inspire such a text.
~ Steve Q
On Sat, Mar 10, 2018 at 4:04 PM, Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I received a great slide show from Steve Q, who recently gave an overview of my approach to undergrads. Steve can say more if he wants, but attached is a slide that summarized nicely what I am trying to do and it completely overlaps with how I am grappling with the science practice guidelines.
Best,
Gregg
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