Psychology Essay
This assignment will be submitted to Turnitin®.Instructions
Psychology in the News Assignment
Purpose:
This assignment is designed to get you critically thinking and writing about how psychological issues are presented in the popular media. Magazine, newspaper, radio and television accounts of psychological phenomena often are presented more to attract an audience than to provide fully accurate information.
Task:
For this assignment you will compile a portfolio of media objects and reflection papers.
Step 1:
To complete this assignment, you will need to select five recent (within the past six months) media items. These can be magazine articles, newspaper articles, advertisements, commercials, radio broadcasts, or television news stories. For audio or visual items describe the item as closely as possible (e.g., by transcribing the script of a radio ad) or include a link to the item.
Step 2:
For each item, include a brief essay–one to two pages, double-spaced typing–on the connections between the media item and material from the course text or class. It’s essential to focus on the connections between the media item and psychological theories or research evidence.
Step 3:
For each item, search the
library database
using relevant keywords for your topic for at least one
peer-reviewed
article to support your ideas. Psychology cuts across many disciplines so feel free to explore journals in other areas such as business, education, health, and criminal justice.
Tip: When conducting your search in the library include a theory or principle plus a topic (i.e. Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Adolescents). Use alternative key words to improve your chances of finding relevant articles and create a specific search statement to help narrow your results.” The example might be something like “(“Body Dysmorphic Disorder” OR BDD) AND (adolescen* OR teen*)”
Step 4:
Submit final draft to your assignment folder.
Criteria:
Checklist of expectations
In order to be successful on this paper, be sure that you address all of the following:
__ Include an APA style cover page
__ Include summaries of five media objects with links or transcripts as appropriate. Make the media item the focus of each section.
__ Address both the media object and the psychological principles involved in full detail. Use course materials (with appropriate citations) to explain psychological principles for each media item.
__ Include one scholarly research article summary per media object (5 total)
__ Support summaries of media items, course materials, and scholarly articles with in-text citations
__ Include a conclusion in each section that shows your analysis of how well (or not) the media item portrayed the psychological principle
__ Be sure that your ideas are put together in a coherent and logical way
__ Proofread carefully to ensure that your paper is free of misspellings and typos
__ Proofread carefully to ensure that your paper has proper sentence structure
__ Include references and citations in
APA Style
. This means both in-text citations and an APA-style reference list.
*** Please attached sample. ***
PSYCHOLOGY
IN THE NEWS
1
Psychology in the News
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS 2
Father is to Son
A young boy has blue eyes, brown hair, and sculpted cheek bones, look at him compared
to his parents and notice that he has blue eyes just like his mother and his hair and cheek bones
resemble that of his father; certain traits have always been inherited. The genetics of the parents
affect a child’s IQ. “…multivariate genetic research reviewed above indicates that intelligence is
the level at which genes affect cognitive abilities,” (Plomin & Spinath, 2004, p. 120). IQ is no
exception to genetics.
Nature’s influence
In the article, Older Dads Have Geeky Sons from the CNN website, we learn that a study
was recently conducted on the matter of older fathers having geeky sons. This is a matter of
genetics playing a part in IQ. The article mentions something about older dads having more
geeky sons because they tend to stay in education longer– George Clooney, 55 years old, is
about to have a set of twins (Emanuel, 2017). Will his children be bestowed with high
intelligence? “…overall genetics plays a bigger role than does environment in creating IQ. . . the
correlations between the IQs of parents and their biological children is significantly greater than
the correlation between parents and adopted children,” (Saylor, 2017, p. 9.1). Of course, there
are other factors that have a role with intelligence, genetics is simply more predominant.
Conclusion
While genetics isn’t the only factor in a person’s IQ, it obviously plays a major role.
Think of yourself compared to your parents, or even your grandparents and see if you can find
similarities aside from your physical traits.
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS 3
Self-understanding in Childhood
If I were to ask you to describe yourself, you would most likely begin telling me how you
see yourself, describing your personality and behaviors. If you ask a child that same question, he
will often begin to describe the more obvious traits about himself, “I’m a boy. I am 7 years old
and I have brown hair,” he might say. What causes that change of self-perception from childhood
to adulthood? It is the influences of the media, people, and things around us that change our
perception, not to mention just general maturing.
Development During Childhood
The CNN article, What Media Teach Kids About Gender Can Have Lasting Effects, gives
a perfect example of how the media influences us—specifically as children. Preschoolers will see
characters on TV and in movies: manly, muscular superheroes and beautiful, but frail princesses
(Knorr, 2017). Suddenly, a child associates her gender with that specific stereotype; she wants to
be a beautiful princess and begins to act weak and incapable of doing things on her own based on
this character. “By the end of toddlerhood, children begin to construct cognitive representations
of the self…” (Jacobs, 2003, p. 38). Childhood is the most critical stage of developing self-
perception.
Conclusion
“The self-concept is a knowledge representation or schema that contains knowledge
about us, including our beliefs about our personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities,
values, goals, and roles, as well as the knowledge that we exist as individuals (Kagan, 1991),”
(Saylor, 2017, p. 6.2). While this article is a negative example of the self-development process
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS 4
during childhood, it still demonstrates that the media has a great influence on our development,
most especially as children.
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS 5
Entertainment Arts
“When you feel my heat, look into my eyes, it’s where my demons hide, it’s where my
demons hide. Don’t get too close, it’s dark inside, it’s where my demons hide,” Dan Reynolds—
the front man of Imagine Dragons—sings. Many of us have heard this catchy song and many
others from this popular, alternative band, but one member is battling with the psychological
disorder of depression. Depression isn’t always easy to notice, but knowing the signs can assist
you in helping the suffers of this disorder cope—or even recognizing the disorder in yourself.
Depressive Disorder
“Major depressive disorder (clinical depression) is a mental disorder characterized by an
all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem and by loss of interest or pleasure
in normally enjoyable activities,” (Saylor, 2017, p. 12.3). The article, Imagine Dragons star on
depression: ‘It was lose my life or seek help’ on the BBC website, brings to light the issue of
depression in the band’s leading man, Dan Reynolds. He continued the tour that the group was
currently on, making his way through each of the concerts as if everything was normal, but at the
end of it all, he felt nothing and chose to take a break to deal with the disorder that has afflicted
him since he was a child (Savage, 2017).
Adolescent depression
Dan has suffered from depression since he was a child. From a conversation in the article,
“’When I was younger, in school, I would just let it pass, and ride out the valleys and the peaks
and the ups and downs,’ he says. ‘Then I tried medication and it was too scary for me, because I
felt like it was going to change the music.’” (Savage, 2017). Was Dan subjected to extreme
stressors when he was growing up? Perhaps bullying in school, poverty, or even genetics could
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS 6
play a role. “…genetically susceptible adolescents who experience chronic peer stress were the
most likely to become depressed over time,” (Hankin, 2015, p. 803).
Conclusion
Depression is one of the more common psychological disorders. Once you know the
signs, you can recognize it and seek help, or assist others who may need help. Anyone can be
suffering.
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS 7
Teen Crime
An action occurs, such as an object falling off the table. You watch it fall and stare at it
for a good five seconds, examining the people around you to see if they will pick it up—
assuming someone closer to it will. Turns out, you’re all staring at each other before someone
finally picks it up. “Diffusion of responsibility occurs when we assume that others will take
action and therefore we do not take action ourselves,” (Saylor, 2017, p. 14.2). That is the
bystander effect at its finest.
Conformity
There is a bit of the desire to conform inside of everyone, others are simple better at
holding that desire off. Perhaps it is because they have a desire to stand out, or even the opposite.
“…conformity, a change in beliefs or behavior that occurs as the result of the presence of the
other people around us,” (Saylor, 2017, p. 14.2). Due to our inner desire to conform, an effect
takes place when an abnormal situation occurs: the bystander effect. In, Teenager Faces Life in
Prison After Pupil’s Murder Outside School, an article on the Guardian website, we learn of the
horrific crime of a fifteen-year-old boy, Quamari Serunkuma-Barnes, being chased and stabbed
three times by another fifteen-year-old. Nobody around him thought to help until it was too late.
“Schoolmates assumed he was joking as he fled through the street, shouting: ‘I’m sorry, I’m
sorry,’ ‘Help’ and ‘I’m getting stabbed’,” (Younge, 2017). This is an extremely unfortunate
situation, but given people’s desire to conform, everyone thought since no one else was doing
anything, it was a harmless situation of some teens joking around. “Research on traditional
bullying and cyberbullying has shown that bystanders often remain passive,” (Van Cleemput,
2014, p. 384).
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS 8
Conclusion
“At times conformity occurs in a relatively spontaneous and unconscious way, without
any obvious intent of one person to change the other, or an awareness that the conformity is
occurring,” (Saylor, 2017, p. 14.2). The bystander effect is a result of conformity and is a part of
us as human beings—even if unfortunate at times.
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS 9
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
An elderly man wakes from his sleep, crying, and yelling for help. Those are the images
we think of when we think of PTSD—veterans. While quite a few veterans do suffer from some
form of PTSD due to combat or horrific incidents, they are not alone. Others suffer as well, even
children. “People who have survived a terrible ordeal, such as combat, torture, sexual assault,
imprisonment, abuse, natural disasters, or the death of someone close to them may develop
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). . .experience high levels of anxiety along with
reexperiencing the trauma (flashbacks), and a strong desire to avoid any reminders of the event,”
(Saylor, 2017, p. 12.2). PTSD is an anxiety disorder unlike others, it’s victims become trapped in
time after a traumatic event.
Terror Attacks Could Lead to PTSD
In, Children Who Watched Terror Attacks on Social Media Could Suffer PTSD, a recent
article from the Telegraph website, we learn of the possible effect of simply watching a traumatic
event in the form of a video on social media (Donnelly, 2017). While most of us wouldn’t think
of that something of the sort would affect us, children are another story. Recall my mentioning in
a previous essay how easily influenced children are, this includes their memories. Simply
watching a traumatizing video such as the Manchester Bombing, could very easily lead to PTSD
in children, just as watching a horror movie at such a young age could lead to nightmares.
“…four PTSD symptom clusters were examined: Reexperiencing. . .effortful avoidance. .
.emotional numbing. . .hyperarousal (e.g., Being ‘super-alert’),” (Fredman, 2017, p.121). While
these are obvious symptoms, the article warns parents to look for less obvious symptoms in
children. Children’s symptoms manifest themselves differently, perhaps in the form of viewing
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS 10
others or themselves quite differently: lowered self-esteem, thinking that they are a bad person or
deserve bad things to happen to them, or showing less trust in other people (Donnelly, 2017). It
is important to recognize the signs of PTSD in all ages. If PTSD is caught early enough in
children, perhaps it can be better treated.
Conclusion
No matter who the person is, PTSD is among the worst disorders to have. It traps its
victims in a time loop, causing great anxiety in the patient and causing them not to function well
in certain situations.
PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS 11
References
The Saylor Foundation. (2017). Introduction to psychology. Retrieved
from http://www.saylor.org/books
Emanuel, D. (2017). Older dads have geeky sons. CNN.com.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/26/health/older-dads-geeky-sons-study/index.html
Knorr, C. (2017). What media teach kids about gender can have lasting effects. CNN.com.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/29/health/gender-stereotypes-media-children-
partner/index.html
Savage, M. (2017). Imagine Dragons star on depression: ‘It was lose my life or seek help’.
BBC.co.uk. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40277696
Younge, G. (2017). Teenager faces life in prison after pupil’s murder outside school. The
Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2017/jun/30/teenager-faces-life-in-
prison-after-pupils-outside-school
Donnelly, L. (2017). Children who watched terror attacks on social media could suffer ptsd. The
Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/06/children-watched-terror-attacks-
social-media-could-suffer-ptsd/
Van Cleemput, K., Vandebosch, H., & Pabian, S. (2014). Personal characteristics and contextual
factors that determine ‘helping,’ ‘joining in,’ and ‘doing nothing’ when witnessing
cyberbullying. Aggressive Behavior, 40(5), 383-396.
Plomin, R., & Spinath, F. M. (2004). Intelligence: Genetics, genes, and genomics. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 86(1), 112–129.
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/26/health/older-dads-geeky-sons-study/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/29/health/gender-stereotypes-media-children-partner/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/29/health/gender-stereotypes-media-children-partner/index.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40277696
https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2017/jun/30/teenager-faces-life-in-prison-after-pupils-outside-school
https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2017/jun/30/teenager-faces-life-in-prison-after-pupils-outside-school
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/06/children-watched-terror-attacks-social-media-could-suffer-ptsd/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/06/children-watched-terror-attacks-social-media-could-suffer-ptsd/
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Jacobs, J. (2003). The self-system during childhood and adolescence: Development, influences,
and implications. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 13(1), 33-65.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1037/1053-0479.13.1.33
Hankin, B. (2015). Depression from childhood into late adolescence: Influence of gender,
development, genetic susceptibility, and peer stress. Journal of Abnormal Psychology,
124(4), 803-816. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1037/abn0000089
Fredman, S. (2017). A dyadic perspective on PTSD symptoms’ associations with couple
functioning and parenting stress in first-time parents. Couple and Family Psychology:
Research and Practice, 6(2), 117-132.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1037/cfp0000079
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1037/1053-0479.13.1.33
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1037/abn0000089
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.umuc.edu/10.1037/cfp0000079