Psychology and Coon

Interview Interpretation Sheet Your Name: Mickey Beaty Directions: Please provide substantive answers to the following questions regarding the information you gathered from your interviewees. Plan on at least 150–300 words per question written in complete sentences and full paragraphs. You may use a separate Word document instead of this worksheet if you prefer to complete your answers in a paper format (including a title page to identify your work). Please submit either this completed sheet or your Word document paper as your assignment. 1.

Describe any common elements among the statements made by your subjects. I interviewed three different subjects on the definition of psychology and the role of psychologists. During the interviews I conducted all of the subjects shared the same belief of psychology being the study of behavior. Two of the subjects were of the same belief that psychologist record data accurately or inaccurately and waste resources. 2. How do the notions about psychology shared by your subjects differ from the definition of psychology described by Coon and Mitterer?

Although all the subjects I interviewed said psychology is the study of behavior that differs from the definition of psychology according to Coon and Mitterer in the introduction to Psychology textbook. The textbook defines psychology as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes (Coon & Mitterer 2010). The subjects I interviewed were partially correct in there description of psychology but they did not describe it as a scientific study just a study of behavior. 3.

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Describe any major misconceptions your subjects may have about psychology based on what they shared during their interviews. The subjects I interviewed had very different beliefs on what the role of psychologists was or the functions of their position. Some of the subjects were very skeptical of the work that psychologists do and their effectiveness at their position. Another subject had a misconception of a psychologist being just a psychiatrist who sits and listens to problems and talks people through their issues.

There are many different forms of psychology that the subjects didn’t mention. They had notion of psychologists just siting and taking notes on people’s behavior instead of recognizing the scientific studies and experiments that lead to factual findings. I think the biggest misconception of psychologists among my subjects was the inability to look past just the study of behavior and inject the scientific method to the study. 4. Describe how your subjects’ perceptions of psychology related to the four goals of psychology as described in the Coon and Mitterer text.

The four goals stated in psychology gateways to the mind by Coon and Mitterer are description, understanding, prediction, and control. The subjects that I interviewed all had the description portion of the four goals correct. Answering psychological questions often begins with a careful description of behavior ( Coon & Mitterer). The way you get a description of behavior is by studying the behavior in which all the subjects agreed upon.

I think the some of the subjects related to the control aspect of the goals because they had been in teaching profession in which it is a controlled environment to get results. Although I was not able to gage the perceptions on understanding and prediction I predict that they had knowledge of these elements do to their educational backgrounds. 5. How do your subjects’ views relate to the main ideas of the theories and contemporary views (such as the biological perspective, cognitive view, sociocultural perspective, et cetera) introduced in Chapter 1 of the Coon and Mitterer text?

The subjects I interviewed were I believe the subjects I interviewed relate to the biological perspective. Two of the subjects I interviewed were teachers and they indicated genetics playing a role in behavior. They had seen a variety of different students from different backgrounds and concluded that the genetic make-up of students have an effect on behavior. That also speaks to the psychological perspective behavioristic view. The key idea in this view as stated by (Coon & Mitterer) Behavior is shaped and controlled by ones environment.

These subjects taught kids in different environments and seen behaviors change with the use of control. 6. Describe your subjects’ demographics, such as gender, age, and education level. Identify any differences and similarities in their responses that may be based on these demographic factors. Out of the subjects I interviewed two were women and one was a male. All three subjects were in the age range between 45-65. All of these subjects have attended college and two of them obtained master’s degrees in different fields outside of psychology.

All of these subjects that I interviewed stated that they believed psychology was the study of behavior. The differences that these subjects had were on the role of the psychologist. Two of these subjects had very cynical ideas on how effective and important a psychologist is. Some of the statements by these two subjects were along the lines of psychologist’s being a waste of resources or interpreting data incorrectly. The third subject was from the belief of a psychologist role as being able to assist a client by building relationships and trust to resolve issues.

Although these subjects had similar educational backgrounds as well as being relatively in the same age group I believe there could be different elements that give them different prospective. The two cynical subjects are racially different from the third party which may have an effect on the different prospective. They also come from a different class which may give them a different prospective or preconceived notion on psychologists. References Coon, D. , & Mitterer, J, (2010). Introduction to Psychology: Gateways To Mind And Behavior (12 ed. ) Belmont, CA :wadsworth

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