psychology and me

Students will write a paper reflecting on principles of psychology and relating them to their “life plan.” This paper will be a consolidation of the 5 reflections written over the semester. The final paper is worth 60 points.

Title: You will title your paper “Psychology & Me: How I plan to Use what I Have Learned in Psychology to Achieve My Goals in Life”

Here are some details:
There are 16 topics covered in this course. You can use the information from any of these topics to augment your reflections and final paper.

Reflections/Paper Sections (in order):
Motivation & You (Reflection 2) – use this as the main topic of your paper. Start with the sentence, “In 10 years I see myself …”. Write about your future social life, your network, and the connections you’d like to make. Then add the sentence “In order to achieve this vision, I know I have to achieve the following short-term goals:…”. Include some thoughts about why you are in college. What kind of career would you LIKE to have? Are the things you are currently doing leading to this career? How would you achieve your short- and long-term goals? What obstacles might you face as you pursue your goals, and how would you overcome these obstacles? What are some daily and/or weekly activities you would have to engage in to achieve these goals?
Stress, Health, Sleep & You (Reflection 3) – What emotions do you believe would help you achieve your goals? How would you try to maximize what you have learned about appraisal, positive emotions, and coping with negative emotions, to achieve your goals? How do you appraise and manage your stress, as you move towards your goals? What are some cultural and family practices that you have found to be helpful in managing your stress? How does lack of sleep impact your health and how might that impact the move towards your goals? How would you feel if you failed to achieve your goals, and how might you cope with failure?
In addition, what leisure activities can you engage in other than being on your cell phone, that would improve your mood and increase your energy as you move towards your goals?
Nature, Nurture, & You (Reflection 4) – First briefly compare and contrast the “nature” and “nurture” explanations for behavior. Then write about how what you have inherited from your parents impact your goals and plans? Do you believe you have what it takes (genes and environmental resources) to achieve your goals? With regard to what you’d like to do/be in the future, are they related to what any of your family members have done? In what ways might your genetic inheritance and the environment (including family, friends, culture, education, and finances) help or hurt you moving towards your goals?
Learning, Memory, Development & You (Reflection 5) – Reflect on your development and attachment style. How do these impact your personal goals? Write about the home and family life you plan to have. How might your attachment style help or hurt you in realizing this vision for family? Do you have a difficult relationship with your parents and/or siblings? If so, what can YOU do to change these relationships? How might what you have learned about reinforcement, punishment, and other learning principles, and memory enhancement, impact your goals, plans, and priorities? What habits would you like to see yourself develop, in order to achieve your goals? Write about what positive and negative reinforcers you can build in to your schedule to keep you motivated to do all the work required of you at college. Write about how you can improve your memory based on what you’ve learned about how to improve memory.
Personality, Mental Health, and You (Reflection 6) – What theory of personality most appeals to you with regard to what it explains about personality (describe it and state why it appeals)? What type of personality style do you have, and how might your personality impact the goals and plans you intend to pursue? What mental health issues, if any, does your family deal with, and do any of them impact you? If you experience any mental health issues that require treatment, which type of treatment appeals to you most? Are there cultural ways that your family deals with mental health issues? How would your personality and mental health issues impact your goals and plans?
At the end of your paper, come up with ONE SENTENCE, a motto or slogan that will inform the rest of your college life and your life in general. Begin the slogan with the phrase “I will”. The slogan should capture your goals and vision for your life, and should be related to a life you would regard as honorable, exciting, productive, creative and decent.