Psych Forum Wk 5, 6, 7 (300 - 400 words each)

Each week assignment most be between 300 and 400 words.

Week 5 MemoryA great deal of controversy has surrounded the phenomenon of “false memory syndrome” and the implications that it has had in our society, particularly in the legal realm. One of the most influential psychologists in the area of memory and eye witness testimony is Dr. Elizabeth Loftus, who has spent three decades as a research psychologist and memory expert in legal cases. To learn more about the controversy surrounding “false memory syndrome,” visit the online LA Weekly website athttp://www.laweekly.com/2004-08-19/news/memory-and-manipulation/ to read the article, “Memory and Manipulation.”

Based on the points that the Loftus article brings up and our textbook readings this week respond to the following:What kind of implications do particular limitations of human memory have on the use of eye-witness testimony in criminal and civil court cases?

Week 6 The Stanford Prison Experiment ( 5 messages - 5 unread ) New messages Hide Full Description

Below are the Week 6 Forum Topic instructions.  General posting requirements can be viewed by clicking the Week 6 Forum "View Full Description" link on the Forums screen under the heading "Forum General Posting Requirements".Our textbook discusses one of the most famous psychological experiments of all time, conducted by Dr. Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues at Stanford University. To read more of the details of this experiment, visit http://www.prisonexp.org. Take some time to watch the video on the Zimbardo Prison Experiment by clicking here. After reading about the experiment, exploring the website and watching the video, answer the following:

1. Was it ethical to do the prison study in the way that Zimbardo conducted it?  Why or why not?  Explain your position substantively.

   In responding to the above, keep in mind that morals and ethics aren't the same thing.  Morals are right vs. wrong behavior internal compasses that guide personal life decisions and are grounded in family beliefs, faith traditions, etc.  Ethics are standards of behavior established by a professional organization, such as the American Psychological Association.  You may have very strong feelings about whether the Zimbardo study was moral, but here we are discussing ethics.

2. How do the social psychology concepts of conformity and the power of the social situation that we are studying this week relate to what happened during the brief period of time that the prison study ran.  Where in the description of how the study unfolded did we see evidence of these concepts?

  Ground your answer to the questions in #2 in our assigned readings for this week and think social psychology.  For example, the guards were given power over the prisoners and having power  may affect others' obedience to one's rules, but one can affect obedience one-on-one as we see in the Milgram study.  What we mean when we say "the power of the social situation" is the impact that being with others in a group setting, whether public or private, has on people's behavior, such as the degree to which they conform to perceived norms.  Be sure to check before posting that you have answered all of the questions, that you are basing your statements on concepts from textbook readings where required and that your post meets the general posting requirements located under the “View Full Description” link below the main Forum heading.

Week 7 Psychological Disorders

This week we studied psychological disorders.  Which of the disorders covered in our textbook do you think would be the most challenging to have and why?  Which of its symptoms would prove the most difficult for you.  What what you most need from society if you had the disorder you selected?

  Although any psychological disorder has challenges, here you must choose only one.  You don't have to be a trained professional to answer this question; just think about what you believe would be challenging in general and particularly difficult about a particular disorder.

  Because one never knows who might have a disorder (people with psychological disorders are in society, around us all the time), we always want to use respectful language and avoid words like "crazy" or "insane" or statements like, "That would be horrific to have" or "I would want society to put me away if I had that...".  These are all words that have been used in past posts used with no intent to hurt others but which still can sting.

In preparation for this portion of the Week 8 Forum topic, you are encouraged to visit the site, Lost Among Us at http://lang.sbsun.com/projects/lostamongus/displayarticle.asp?part=6&article=art02_saida03and learn about the case of Saida Dugally, a real-life woman who suffered from bipolar disorder until her tragic death in 2003. On this web resource you will find videos of her story and the time-line of her decline into mental illness, as well as journal excerpts and photos from her life.

Saida’s story is but one among many. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), an estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.