AP Psychology Final Research Project and Presentation
Introductory Questions:
1. What aspects of psychology do you find interesting? Please explain.
2. What parts of yourself do you want to know more about? Please explain.
3. What do you want to know more about in regards to social groups, relationships, etc? Please explain.
Group Contacts:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Part 1:
A. Big Idea: What is the Big Idea that you are researching? For example: Dream Analysis, self-esteem and relationships, negative self-talk, procrastination
B. Essential Question: What is the main question that will focus your research? For example, How does low self-esteem impact relationships?
C. Supporting Questions: What supporting questions do you have that will support researching your essential question? For example, What are some of the psychological theories on self-esteem? How does a person’s concept of “self” develop in childhood?
D. Explanation of why you chose the subject and what your group is hoping to learn from doing the research.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Part 2 - Research: In order to better understand the subject your group has chosen to focus on, you will need to explore various psychological theories, studies, and concepts. The more thorough your understanding of the concepts the better you will be able to apply the ideas to your own life and present them to the class.
A. Psychological Theories: Research 3-5 Psychological theories on your subject and explain how each theory applies to your subject.
In psychology, theories are used to provide a model for understanding human thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. A psychological theory has two key components:
1. It must describe a behavior
2. It must make predictions about future behaviors
Psychological Theories include: Behavioral Theories, Cognitive Theories, Developmental Theories, Humanistic Theories, Personality Theories, Social Psychology Theories, etc.
Psychological Theory Example
Big Idea: Self-Esteem and Relationships
Essential Question: How does low self-esteem impact relationships?
Psychological Theory: Social Cognitive Theory (Albert Bandura)
Explanation of Social Cognitive Theory: In society, children are surrounded by many influential models, such as parents within the family, characters on children’s TV, friends within their peer group and teachers at school. These models provide examples of behavior to observe and imitate, e.g., masculine and feminine, pro and anti-social, etc. Children pay attention to some of these people (models) and encode their behavior. At a later time they may imitate (i.e., copy) the behavior they have observed.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
B. Psychological Research Studies: Research 2-4 Psychological Research Studies on your subject and explain how the research studies apply to your subject.
Psychological research refers to research that psychologists conduct for systematic study and for analysis of the experiences and behaviors of individuals or groups. Their research can have educational, occupational and clinical applications.
Psychological Research Study Example: Low Self-Esteem Predicts Indirect Support Seeking and Its Relationship Consequences in Intimate Relationships (Brian P. Don of Clackamas Community College 2018) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167218802837
People with low self-esteem are more likely to seek support from an intimate partner in a manner that tends to backfire, according to new research in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
“We were interested in studying social support seeking because a large body of research demonstrates that social support has important consequences for mental, physical, and relational well-being, but only a few studies had previously examined the determinants of how people seek social support,”
The researchers were particularly interested in a phenomenon known as indirect support seeking — meaning sulking, whining, fidgeting, and/or displaying sadness to elicit support. People are believed to engage in this type of indirect communication because they fear being rejected.
In two studies, with 176 couples in total, the researchers found that those with lower self-esteem were more likely to engage in indirect support seeking. This type of support seeking was, in turn, associated with a greater chance of a partner responding with criticism, blame, or disapproval.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
C. Case Study: Research 1-3 Psychological Case Studies on your subject and explain how the case studies apply to your subject.
Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community. Typically, data are gathered from a variety of sources and by using several different methods (e.g. observations & interviews). The research may also continue for an extended period of time, so processes and developments can be studied as they happen.
Case Study Example: Avinish is a 16 years old boy, studying in class X. He failed in class IX and had been suspended from school multiple times. He had no career goals either and wanted to quit studies.
Avinish’s family consist of his mother, father, younger brother and himself. He had frequent anger outbursts at his father. He had broken television set, crockery, mobile etc at home. He had also thrown bricks on a stranger’s car, beaten up a kids badly and ran his ‘own’ gang.
Avinish’s father, Sandy is a very aggressive man. He wanted his kids to accept his commands without questioning him which was unacceptable to Avinish. This led to arguments and verbal assaults, a frequent occurrence between father-son duo. Sandy felt offended and defeated whenever Avinish retaliated. Avinish was mostly seen alone. Avinish didn’t have much communication with his mother and brother either as they were very submissive to his father and didn’t care much about Avinish’s emotional needs. His rebellious behavior was not taken well at home and worried parents took their son to a psychiatrist. He was put on medications for anger management, which proved futile.
Father came up with so many complaints about Avinish. He himself was helpless and had only complaints left with him. He couldn’t comprehend what was missing in his approach to manage the child. Neighbors and relatives also didn’t have any solutions. So they resorted to a professional and that’s how I met him a year ago.. A psychotherapist/counselor can analyze problems and comprehend the areas around which the problem revolves. Avi didn’t say anything initially but on prompting him more, he opened up and talked about his inability to control anger.
I also explained to the father about the hormonal changes that the child is going through. It is natural for the teenage boy to be angry as he is having lot of energy inside him. At an age of 15-16, teenagers should be focusing their energy positively on setting career goals and Avinish was focusing it on destructive activities. Avinish was not at all concerned about his future. He had always been an average student but for last 3 consecutive years his performance deteriorated considerably . He was fully occupied with his gang, consisting of kids like him and his daily goal was to find someone naive, tease and bully him. Such behavior was unacceptable to his family, primarily father and he always scolded him for the same . Father, however failed in every attempt. This was causing so much tension at home and relationships were getting sour. The primary problem was that no one understood other’s point of view. Father thought it is his right to use force to stop his son from doing anything wrong, and the son could never see anything wrong in anything he did.
My focus in every session was to prepare Avinish to set up constructive goals and work towards them. I asked him about his aspirations and tried to shift family’s focus from his destructive behavior to his career.
As Avinish was not been doing well in studies, didn’t have any positive goals or family expectations, I saw a doomed future for him. Everyone ‘just’ wanted him to be less destructive and ”do something”. I asked both of them about what could Avinish do. Avinish thought about it and said he wants to set up a sport’s shop. His uncle runs a similar business and he has always admired that. I discussed with Avinish on how he could reach his goal. Avinish initially said that he wants to run his own shop and not work with someone. I explained him why acquiring skills required to run the shop are important to reduce the odds of wrong business decisions and he agreed to work with his uncle. Father was also happy and immediately agreed to put Avinish under his uncle’s guidance.
I met him after a month. He is now working with his uncle and learning the necessary skills. He is quite confident now and has completely stopped his gang activities. He was telling me about his daily schedule and how he felt he is learning a lot. However he also mentioned that still sometimes he feels ambition-less. I told him things will take time to settle and soon he will see a clear path. His anger was largely in control but still some or the other argument kept popping with his father.
At this point I told Sandy to avoid using anger to control Avinish. I emphasized on child’s genetic inheritance of aggressive personality from his father. I tried to show him how he is giving out wrong message that anger is acceptable and normal.
Kids learn a lot from their parents both consciously and subconsciously. It is important for adults to set the right example. They need to support their teenage kids to evaluate options, choose their own path, develop confidence and believe in themselves.
Note: This story is based on one of the cases handled by Tarun Verma, clinical psychologist.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
D. TEDTalk, YouTube, Blog: Research 1-3 Videos and/or Blogs that address your subject and explain how the videos/blogs apply to your subject. Self Esteem - Understanding & Fixing Low Self Esteem
Why Thinking You’re Ugly Is Bad For You
7 Best Blogs on Self-Worth
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
E. Creative Expression: Research 1-3 forms of creative expression that address your subject and explain how the creative expression applies to your subject.
Introductory Questions:
1. What aspects of psychology do you find interesting? Please explain.
2. What parts of yourself do you want to know more about? Please explain.
3. What do you want to know more about in regards to social groups, relationships, etc? Please explain.
Group Contacts:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Part 1:
A. Big Idea: What is the Big Idea that you are researching? For example: Dream Analysis, self-esteem and relationships, negative self-talk, procrastination
B. Essential Question: What is the main question that will focus your research? For example, How does low self-esteem impact relationships?
C. Supporting Questions: What supporting questions do you have that will support researching your essential question? For example, What are some of the psychological theories on self-esteem? How does a person’s concept of “self” develop in childhood?
D. Explanation of why you chose the subject and what your group is hoping to learn from doing the research.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Part 2 - Research: In order to better understand the subject your group has chosen to focus on, you will need to explore various psychological theories, studies, and concepts. The more thorough your understanding of the concepts the better you will be able to apply the ideas to your own life and present them to the class.
A. Psychological Theories: Research 3-5 Psychological theories on your subject and explain how each theory applies to your subject.
In psychology, theories are used to provide a model for understanding human thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. A psychological theory has two key components:
1. It must describe a behavior
2. It must make predictions about future behaviors
Psychological Theories include: Behavioral Theories, Cognitive Theories, Developmental Theories, Humanistic Theories, Personality Theories, Social Psychology Theories, etc.
Psychological Theory Example
Big Idea: Self-Esteem and Relationships
Essential Question: How does low self-esteem impact relationships?
Psychological Theory: Social Cognitive Theory (Albert Bandura)
Explanation of Social Cognitive Theory: In society, children are surrounded by many influential models, such as parents within the family, characters on children’s TV, friends within their peer group and teachers at school. These models provide examples of behavior to observe and imitate, e.g., masculine and feminine, pro and anti-social, etc. Children pay attention to some of these people (models) and encode their behavior. At a later time they may imitate (i.e., copy) the behavior they have observed.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
B. Psychological Research Studies: Research 2-4 Psychological Research Studies on your subject and explain how the research studies apply to your subject.
Psychological research refers to research that psychologists conduct for systematic study and for analysis of the experiences and behaviors of individuals or groups. Their research can have educational, occupational and clinical applications.
Psychological Research Study Example: Low Self-Esteem Predicts Indirect Support Seeking and Its Relationship Consequences in Intimate Relationships (Brian P. Don of Clackamas Community College 2018) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167218802837
People with low self-esteem are more likely to seek support from an intimate partner in a manner that tends to backfire, according to new research in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
“We were interested in studying social support seeking because a large body of research demonstrates that social support has important consequences for mental, physical, and relational well-being, but only a few studies had previously examined the determinants of how people seek social support,”
The researchers were particularly interested in a phenomenon known as indirect support seeking — meaning sulking, whining, fidgeting, and/or displaying sadness to elicit support. People are believed to engage in this type of indirect communication because they fear being rejected.
In two studies, with 176 couples in total, the researchers found that those with lower self-esteem were more likely to engage in indirect support seeking. This type of support seeking was, in turn, associated with a greater chance of a partner responding with criticism, blame, or disapproval.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
C. Case Study: Research 1-3 Psychological Case Studies on your subject and explain how the case studies apply to your subject.
Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community. Typically, data are gathered from a variety of sources and by using several different methods (e.g. observations & interviews). The research may also continue for an extended period of time, so processes and developments can be studied as they happen.
Case Study Example: Avinish is a 16 years old boy, studying in class X. He failed in class IX and had been suspended from school multiple times. He had no career goals either and wanted to quit studies.
Avinish’s family consist of his mother, father, younger brother and himself. He had frequent anger outbursts at his father. He had broken television set, crockery, mobile etc at home. He had also thrown bricks on a stranger’s car, beaten up a kids badly and ran his ‘own’ gang.
Avinish’s father, Sandy is a very aggressive man. He wanted his kids to accept his commands without questioning him which was unacceptable to Avinish. This led to arguments and verbal assaults, a frequent occurrence between father-son duo. Sandy felt offended and defeated whenever Avinish retaliated. Avinish was mostly seen alone. Avinish didn’t have much communication with his mother and brother either as they were very submissive to his father and didn’t care much about Avinish’s emotional needs. His rebellious behavior was not taken well at home and worried parents took their son to a psychiatrist. He was put on medications for anger management, which proved futile.
Father came up with so many complaints about Avinish. He himself was helpless and had only complaints left with him. He couldn’t comprehend what was missing in his approach to manage the child. Neighbors and relatives also didn’t have any solutions. So they resorted to a professional and that’s how I met him a year ago.. A psychotherapist/counselor can analyze problems and comprehend the areas around which the problem revolves. Avi didn’t say anything initially but on prompting him more, he opened up and talked about his inability to control anger.
I also explained to the father about the hormonal changes that the child is going through. It is natural for the teenage boy to be angry as he is having lot of energy inside him. At an age of 15-16, teenagers should be focusing their energy positively on setting career goals and Avinish was focusing it on destructive activities. Avinish was not at all concerned about his future. He had always been an average student but for last 3 consecutive years his performance deteriorated considerably . He was fully occupied with his gang, consisting of kids like him and his daily goal was to find someone naive, tease and bully him. Such behavior was unacceptable to his family, primarily father and he always scolded him for the same . Father, however failed in every attempt. This was causing so much tension at home and relationships were getting sour. The primary problem was that no one understood other’s point of view. Father thought it is his right to use force to stop his son from doing anything wrong, and the son could never see anything wrong in anything he did.
My focus in every session was to prepare Avinish to set up constructive goals and work towards them. I asked him about his aspirations and tried to shift family’s focus from his destructive behavior to his career.
As Avinish was not been doing well in studies, didn’t have any positive goals or family expectations, I saw a doomed future for him. Everyone ‘just’ wanted him to be less destructive and ”do something”. I asked both of them about what could Avinish do. Avinish thought about it and said he wants to set up a sport’s shop. His uncle runs a similar business and he has always admired that. I discussed with Avinish on how he could reach his goal. Avinish initially said that he wants to run his own shop and not work with someone. I explained him why acquiring skills required to run the shop are important to reduce the odds of wrong business decisions and he agreed to work with his uncle. Father was also happy and immediately agreed to put Avinish under his uncle’s guidance.
I met him after a month. He is now working with his uncle and learning the necessary skills. He is quite confident now and has completely stopped his gang activities. He was telling me about his daily schedule and how he felt he is learning a lot. However he also mentioned that still sometimes he feels ambition-less. I told him things will take time to settle and soon he will see a clear path. His anger was largely in control but still some or the other argument kept popping with his father.
At this point I told Sandy to avoid using anger to control Avinish. I emphasized on child’s genetic inheritance of aggressive personality from his father. I tried to show him how he is giving out wrong message that anger is acceptable and normal.
Kids learn a lot from their parents both consciously and subconsciously. It is important for adults to set the right example. They need to support their teenage kids to evaluate options, choose their own path, develop confidence and believe in themselves.
Note: This story is based on one of the cases handled by Tarun Verma, clinical psychologist.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
D. TEDTalk, YouTube, Blog: Research 1-3 Videos and/or Blogs that address your subject and explain how the videos/blogs apply to your subject. Self Esteem - Understanding & Fixing Low Self Esteem
Why Thinking You’re Ugly Is Bad For You
7 Best Blogs on Self-Worth
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
E. Creative Expression: Research 1-3 forms of creative expression that address your subject and explain how the creative expression applies to your subject.