UNIT 1. Becoming a Person: Foundations 1. Carl Rogers’ Life and Work: An Assessment on the 100th Anniversary of His Birth, Howard Kirschenbaum, Journal of Counseling & Development , Winter 2004 Carl Rogers’ was a quintessential humanistic psychologist. Kirschenbaum reviews Rogers’ life and work as well as his now famous theory. 2. Mysteries of the Mind, Marianne Szegedy-Maszak, U.S. News & World Report , February 28, 2005 According to this article, our inner lives are rich and interesting but often inaccessible. As Freud suggested, much of our everyday behavior is not conscious or volitionally controlled. Brain imaging and other forms of innovative research are leading the… way toward understanding what may occur in the unconscious. 3. Skepticism of Caricatures: B.F. Skinner Turns 100, Scott Gaynor, Skeptical Inquirer , January/February 2004 Noted American behaviorist B. F. Skinner would turn 100 this year were he still alive. His theory of human behavior dominated psychology for decades. Today, there are many myths about what Skinner said and what his work really demonstrated. The author of this article deftly examines each myth and shatters it using Skinner’s own words. 4. The “Big Five” and You: How Personality Traits Affect Behavior, Scott Geller, Industrial Safety & Hygiene News , July 2004 Psychological scientitsts have identified five personality traits that appear to be universal in humans. Geller explains the five clusters of traits and describes the effect of each on everyday behavior. UNIT 2. Determinants of Behavior: Motivation, Environment, and Physiology 5. What Makes You Who You Are, Matt Ridley, Time , June 2, 2003 The debate about what shapes us most, environment or genes , is very old. After combing through the data, some scientists are certain that it is a combination of nature and nurture , not one or the other, that determines who we are and how we behave. 6. The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, Discover , October 2002 A few scientists come down heavily on the genetic explanation for human nature . That is, scientists such as Steven Pinker discredit the notion that parents mold their children. Instead, our inherited background plays a far greater role. 7. Genetic Influence on Human Psychological Traits, Thomas J. Bouchard, Current Directions in Psychological Science , August 2004 Bouchard offers an important review about exactly which psychological traits are influenced by heredity . He provides information about the magnitude of genetic influence for each characteristic, but first he offers important commentary about why it is important to study the influence of genes on behaviors. 8. Nature vs. Nurture: Two Brothers With Schizophrenia, Norman L. Keltner, et al., Perspectives in Psychiatric Care , July/September 2001 The case of two brothers with schizophrenia is presented. Each brother was affected by multiple but sometimes different causal factors, leading the author to discuss various implications for the nature/nurture controversy. 9. The Amazing Brain: Is Neuroscience the Key to What Makes Us Human?, Richard Restak, The World & I , November 2004 Neuroscience is helping psychologists and other scientists understand the brain and its functions. Important discoveries are helping researchers and practitioners make sense out of seemingly incomprehensible neurological syndromes now that we know more about neural pathways in the brain. 10. His Brain, Her Brain, Larry Cahill, Scientific American , May 2005 Psychologists have long argued about whether men and women are more similar than they are different. Larry Cahill offers insight into the architecture and activity of the male and female brains. Research on sex variations in the brain might lead to sex-specific treatments for baffling brain disorders , such as schizophrenia. 11. Cultural Psychology: Studying the Exotic Other, Alana Conner Snibbe, APS Observer , December 2003 Some psychologists busy themselves trying to find human universals , for example a behavior or emotion common to all human beings. Cultural psychologists , on the other hand, assume that their findings and theories are culturally variable , that is, not universal. 12. Just Do It, Laurel Naversen, Real Simple , December 1, 2004 What is motivation ? Why do some people fail at goal-setting ? Laurel Naversen reviews new information on why it is hard to “stay the course” and what we can all do to fulfill our goals once we set them. 13. Stand and Deliver, Maia Szalavitz, Psychology Today , July/August 2003 Maintaining motivation takes work. Procrastination , which essentially is a gap between incentive and action, is a problem common to many people. Why procrastination is an everyday issue and how to overcome it is the focus of this article. UNIT 3. Problems Influencing Personal Growth 14. The Biology of Aging, Geoffrey Cowley, Newsweek , Special Issue, Fall/Winter 2001 As people mature, they progress through a variety of age-related changes, some biological and some psychological. Geoffrey Cowley examines these changes and makes predictions about just how long we can live. 15. And Now, the Hard Part: That Sweet Little Thing Is About to Commandeer Your Life, Lauren Picker, Newsweek , April 25, 2005 Most couples look foward to the birth of their first child . But wait! Research strongly indicates that new parents face a steep decline in marital satisfaction after “that sweet little thing” arrives. The causes and consequences of this major swing in feelings are explored. 16. Childhood Is for Children, Johann Christoph Arnold, USA Today Magazine , July 2001 The pressure for children to achieve appears to be undermining childhood. Parents and schools are pressuring children to grow up too fast. Johann Arnold suggests that we ought to let children be children . 17. Kaleidoscope of Parenting Cultures, Vidya Thirumurthy, Childhood Education , Winter 2004 Parenting styles differ from culture to culture. For example, some cultures value individualism while others value cooperation . Thirumurthy shares with the reader what some of the various styles are and what the impact is on children and schools. 18. What American Schools Can Learn from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Margaret Zoller Booth and Grace Marie Booth, Phi Delta Kappan ,