Preliminary Contents UNIT 1. Research Issues 1.How to Be a Wise Consumer of Psychological Research, American Psychological Association , Research in psychology can sometimes be challenging to understand. This article offers insight into the nature of research and methodological issues as well as helps the reader to evaluate researchers’ claims and be a more informed consumer of such data. 2.Ethnic and Racial Health Disparities Research: Issues and Problems, Stanley Sue and Meenu K. Dhindsa, Health Education, and Behavior , vol. 33, no. 4, 2006 Sometimes ethnic and cultural backgrounds affect the research methods utilized. How does race affect the research ? This article offers… insight into the inherent challenges posed by different ways of defining disparities and heterogeneity within racial or ethnic groups . UNIT 2. The Self 3.Self-Esteem Development Across the Lifespan, Richard W. Robins and Kali H. Trzesniewski, Current Directions in Psychological Science , vol. 14, no. 3, 2005 A lifespan view of self-esteem indicates remarkable continuity in light of varying life experiences through childhood, into adolescence, and finally into adulthood. Interestingly, systematic changes to self-esteem reflect the individuality of life experience . One’s self-concept may be seen as a mental construct that helps organize the life lived. 4.Self-Concordance and Subjective Well-Being in Four Cultures, Kennon M. Sheldon et. al., Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology , March 2003 Self-concordance occurs when people pursue goals that best fit their own values and interests rather than goals others tell them they should pursue. In the study presented here, while there existed some differences based on culture , self-concordance or “owning one’s actions” correlated with subjective well-being , signaling that this may be a universal human value . 5.Mirror, Mirror: Seeing Yourself As Others See You, Carlin Flora, Psychology Today , May/June 2005 This essay explores self-concept and how significant others influence how we see ourselves. Self-Awareness and shyness are also discussed to add further insight. This article brings to mind the Johari Window often applied to personal adjustment . UNIT 3. Social Cognition and Social Perception Part A. Social Cognition 6.How Social Perception Can Automatically Influence Behavior, Melissa J. Ferguson and John A. Bargh, Trends in Cognitive Sciences , January 2004 Knowledge that is incidentally activated in memories can inadvertently influence our behaviors. This is especially likely to happen during social perception and social cognition . 7.Flashbulb Memories: How Psychological Research Shows That Our Most Powerful Memories May Be Untrustworthy, Daniel Greenberg, Skeptic , Winter 2005 Classic and contemporary studies on false memories are reviewed. Such memories distort our assessments and recollections about other people, situations, and objects. 8.Culture Affects Reasoning, Categorization, Zak Stambor, Monitor on Psychology , November 2005 Culture affects how we see the world and therefore how we interpret others’ behaviors .