QUESTION
‘Psychological theory and research into how people understand themselves and others has important real-world applications.' Evaluate this claim (above), drawing upon examples of research from across the module to support your answer.
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‘Psychological theory and research into how people understand themselves and others has important real-world applications.'
Evaluate this claim (above), drawing upon examples of research from across the module to support your answer.
Student notes for part 1
Focus
This part of the EMA is intended to assess your skills of evaluating a claim (that 'psychological theory and research into how people understand themselves and others has important real-world applications'), and using your judgement to select appropriate material to evidence and support your arguments.
You will need to give careful consideration to what is meant by ‘psychological theory and research into how people understand themselves and others’, and then present some carefully selected material that allows you to back up your evaluation of the claim that this research ‘has important real-world applications’.
You are explicitly asked to draw upon examples of research from across the module to support your answer. A particular challenge of this essay is to select appropriate examples from a potentially very broad range of relevant material, from across the module topics.
Command words
The command word in the essay question is evaluate. This means that you will need to make an appraisal of the worth, validity and/or effectiveness of the claim that is stated within the question (that ‘psychological theory and research into how people understand themselves and others has important real-world applications’).
To evaluate the claim itself, you will need to discuss the extent to which relevant theory and research in psychology (i.e. looking at how people understand themselves and others) has real-world applications, selecting relevant examples to illustrate your points (or, if you feel it appropriate, noting the absence of real-world applications). Note that the question also asks you to evaluate the 'importance' of these real-world applications, so this should be a key aspect of your answer.
Tips for writing
The essay question specifically asks you to draw on research examples from across the module, so when selecting which material to include make sure you demonstrate a breadth of knowledge (e.g. don’t draw exclusively or very heavily on just one book chapter or module week, no matter how interesting you find it).
Given the claim you have been asked to evaluate, you need to give a good range of research examples that illustrate any real-world applications of relevant psychological theory and research, as directed by the question as set. Don't, for example, focus exclusively on one real-world application or problem, or two very similar applications. Also, make sure your answer focuses directly on theory and research about 'how people understand themselves and others'.
A good range of relevant psychological real-world applications have been covered within the module, and it is your job to pick out some relevant examples of these, and present them in order to support the arguments you wish to make in answering the set question.
You may find it useful to think of the claim you have been asked to evaluate as having two key parts:
a.psychological research into how people understand themselves and others has real-world applications;
b.these real-world applications are important.
Remember to focus on evaluating both parts (a and b) of this claim when constructing your answer.
It would be appropriate for you to draw on additional material that you have found in your independent study time to help illustrate your points, such as recent research papers that you might have found through the Open University Library. However, you should make sure that you use these to support points that are based on examples from within the module, rather than introducing entirely new topics or areas.
Relevant material for Part 1
It is up to you to use your judgement to decide which parts of the module you want to draw upon to develop your answer, and which material will best serve to illustrate your points and support your arguments. Many topics in the module contain relevant examples and illustrations that you could include in your essay, but there will not be space within the word limit for you to cover everything that might be relevant. You will therefore need to be selective, choosing examples that build a coherent argument, supported by well-selected evidence.
You should think carefully about what is meant by ‘psychological research into how people understand themselves and others’, and be clear about this both in your answer, and when deciding which material to include.
You should also think carefully about an appropriate selection of research examples to discuss in your answer. You may find it useful to select a smaller number of examples/research areas to discuss in more detail, while mentioning other examples/topics more briefly.
The list below gives some suggestions for module topic weeks that you should consider revisiting when deciding what to include. The list is written in the order in which they appear in the module. However, they are not intended to be a ‘menu’ of what you should cover, and you may well find other useful examples in other parts of the module.
You may also find it useful to review the module consolidation Week 28, and perhaps also to refer back to the module introduction (Week 1), as this may help you to consolidate your understanding of the connections between different module topics.
Week 2: Mindreading
Week 4: Mindreading difficulties − examples from clinical psychology
Week 8: Conflict in close relationships
Week 10: Nations and immigration
Week 18: Making sense of the world
Week 24: Sex and sexuality
Week 25: Living online
Week 26: Self-help − changing people’s understandings to change their experience
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| Subject | Psychology | Pages | 8 | Style | APA |
|---|
Answer
Claim Evaluation: Psychological theory and research into how people understand themselves and others has important real-world applications
The psychological theory is focused on the understanding of human thoughts and behaviours via the description of such behaviors and the making or predictions about future behaviour (Gross, 2015). Extensive research has been done on the realm of psychology, especially on how people understand themselves as well as others. For instance, the study by Heider and Simmel revealed that the interpretations that people make about behaviours are based on their needs, goals, fears, benefits, and mental states among others (Hewson, 2018). The claim “psychological theory and research into how people understand themselves and others have important real-world applications” is valid to the extent that the research can be used by people to make sense of the world and understand aspects such as sex and sexuality as well as nations and national identities.
Psychological theory and research on people’s understanding of themselves and others can be applied to make sense of various real-world issues. One of those in in the theory of mind (ToM), especially for children through mindreading. In specific, developmental psychologists have used research in psychology to explore how different abilities emerge in children (Hewson, 2018). For instance, through laboratory-based experimental methods, it has become easier to assess the mindreading abilities of children such as those to do with moral judgements about behaviours. Via the use of classical false belief tasks and visual perspective taking tasks, phycological research has become instrumental in gauging the development trajectories of children. Additionally, according to Barker (2015), the study is helpful in aiding in the resolution of conflicts in close relationships. For instance, through understanding the impact that anger has on people’s thought and behaviour, then the conflict can be understood as escalating dynamic between people and factors which cause such conflict can be avoided or controlled. Research; whether a basic quantitative or qualitative observational study can be used in real world to determine the most common features of arguments in relationships (Barker, 2015). Relying on this research can save relationships through an in-depth understanding of how conflicts play out and ways in which they can be avoided.
Research on different ways in which people understand themselves and others can be vital in enabling people to understand real-world aspects based on various bodily senses. For instance, people can differentiate when they are dealing with true or false information prone to errors (Turner, 2015). Even when people possess incomplete and distorted information, their brain’s ability to adapt, coupled with neural plasticity can ensure that they understand worldly aspects. For instance, the research on different psychological theories allows people to understand various aspects of sex and sexuality (Bowes-Catton, 2017). For example, the different researches on the categorization of sex and sexuality have led to changing forms of what is considered to be sexually normal or abnormal and even functional and dysfunctional. Psychological research has enabled people to make sense of the different types of sexualities, especially in minorities such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) people. Sexual experiences with different people might lead to an in-depth appreciation of sexuality as a continuum as opposed to only categorizing people as gay or straight (Bowes-Catton, 2017). As such, the claim that psychological theory and research on people’s understanding of themselves and others have essential real-world applications is valid and justified.
The real-world application of psychological research into how people understand themselves and others is important in a variety of ways. One of those is ensuring that the children develop capabilities which can enable them to differentiate between good and bad behaviours (Hewson and Turner, 2018). For example, the experimental study on the developmental trajectories of children can ensure that any measures are taken to rectify children whose developments are not considered normal. Additionally, the research on multiple identities and acculturation enables people to stay in peace and harmony (Andreouli, 2018). Through acculturation, people gain the identities of other nationalities, which then translates to assimilation and oneness. As such, people can know how to relate with one another and ways in which they can use their identities for their mutual benefits. Moreover, according to Dicks (2014), the application of psychological research on the resolution of conflicts in relationships ensures that people in marriages and other kinds of social arrangements can have productive relationships. Through research on anger management, couples can be helped to deal with marital problems (Barker, 2015). Moreover, understanding sex and sexuality are vital in ensuring that those with minority rights are not discriminated. For instance, by understanding why some people are straight while others are gay can ensure that people are willing to respect the rights and choices of others (Bowes-Catton, 2017).
Despite the importance of real-world applications, there are various ways in which importance is negated. For instance, the study of behaviours by the online communities can be inaccurate as people tend to hide behind pseudonyms and engage in behaviors which are destructive to others (Fullwood and Fox-Hamilton, 2018). For instance, some of the people engage in cyberbullying online but cannot do so in the real world. Even when the psychologists engage in research intending to understand why people construct their online messages in the manner in which they do, then the research will demonstrate that the internet has both positive and negative impacts on relationships. For instance, the internet has the importance of enabling people to share information and romantic messages irrespective of their physical locations (Fullwood and Fox-Hamilton, 2018). However, the same internet is used to expose people in the wrong way, which has led to relationships being broken in the real world. Although online forums enable people to access others within their communities, it also allows for the spread of propaganda and hate, which is not suitable for the community. The anonymity and invisibility of the internet are detrimental when it leads to cyberbullying, which has been found to lead to death through suicides.
In sum, the claim “psychological theory and research into how people understand themselves and others have important real-world applications” holds to the extent that it allows for the study of behaviours and makes people make sense of the real-world aspects. The abilities of children have been studied through research through mindreading. Additionally, issues of sex and sexuality when researched enables people to understand the different types of sexualities. Moreover, psychological research allows people to appreciate national identities and acculturation as ways of assimilating into other cultures. Also, psychological studies enable people to understand issues to do with causes of anger and anger management. The importance of such aspects is to ensure harmonious relationships among individuals and groups. Additionally, people can make constructive relationships irrespective of their nationalities and sexualities. However, research on online users’ behaviours has shown that cyberbullying has negative effects on the society.
References
Aslam, S (2019). Instagram by the Numbers: Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts. Omnicore. Retrieved from https://www.omnicoreagency
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Andreouli, E. (2018). Nations and immigration. The Open University.
Barker, M., J. (2015). Week 8: Conflict in close relationships. The Open University.
Bowes-Catton, H. (2017). Sex and Sexuality. The Open University.
Dicks, H. V. (2014). Marital Tensions (Psychology Revivals): Clinical Studies Towards a Psychological Theory of Interaction. Routledge.
Fullwood, C, and Fox-Hamilton, N. (2018). Week 25: Living online. The Open University.
Gross, R. (2015). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour 7th edition. Hodder Education.
Hewson, C. (2018). Week 2: Mindreading. The Open University.
Hewson, C., and Turner, J. (2018). Week 4: Mindreading difficulties – examples from clinical psychology. The Open University.
Turner, J. (2015). Making Sense of the world. The Open University.