General Psychology. MODULE 2

2.2: NOT JUST AN EXPRESSION DISCUSSION (4 paragraphs, 1.5 page)
In the 1970s, Paul Ekman conducted one of the first scientific studies to address the debate between the universalists and social constructivists. Ekman proposed that there are five universal facial expressions that contain meaning not only about the person’s psychological state but also about that person’s intent and subsequent behavior. In addition, he proposed that there are unwritten codes, or display rules, that humans follow when expressing emotions. Culture can shape our emotional life, such as how people respond emotionally to situations or when to engage in display rules.  
Upon completion of this assignment, you should be able to:
  • Outline how facial expressions reflect cultural ideas and practices.
Resources
  • Chapter 3, A General Theory of Love.
  • Chapter 8, General Psychology: An Introduction.
Supplemental Resources (Optional):
  • Why Faces Don’t Always Tell the Truth About Feelings
Assignment Instructions
After reading the resources, select 2 to 5 memes that depict the 5 universal facial expressions (happiness, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust) proposed by Ekman that may have been used to settle the universalist and social constructivist debate. Next, respond to the following questions in order to outline the cultural relationship to how humans express emotions:
  1 What cultural ideas and practices related to emotion were you exposed to when you were a child? What cultural ideas and practices related to emotion are you currently exposed to as an adult? How do you think they shape your emotional experiences and expressions? This response should be a minimum of 3 paragraphs.
  2 After choosing 2 of your facial expression memes, share the ways that this facial expression may be culturally bound. This response should be a minimum of 1 paragraph.



2.4: Opioid Diaries Reflection Paper (1 page)
Introduction and Alignment
People seek to alter their consciousness through meditation, sleep, daydreaming, or hypnosis while others use psychoactive drugs. Psychoactive drugs are chemical substances that alter thinking, perception, memory, or some combination of those. The opioid crisis is the worst epidemic in U.S. history. The Opioid Diaries by TIME uses photography to illustrate the complex issue of drug use on a human level.
Upon completion of this assignment, you should be able to:
  • Explain the impacts of drug use in America.
Resources
  ◦ Chapter 6, General Psychology: An Introduction.
  ◦ The Opioid Diaries
Supplemental Resources (Optional):
  ◦ APA Paper Format
  ◦ You Draw It: Just How Bad is the Drug Overdose Epidemic
  ◦ Understanding the Opioid Epidemic
Assignment Instructions
Read The Opioid Diaries from TIME and write a 1-page (not including title page and reference page) reflection paper containing your thoughts on the article’s content. The paper can include something you learned from the article, your reaction to what the author(s) said or their research findings, any issues you have with their study or conclusions, how learning about the impacts of the opioid crisis may be related to your future career or educational pursuits, or ways the article relates to current and/or prior chapters.  

2.5: Motivational Tools (Just an exercise to do on the template, nothing in too much writing, will take half a page space)

Introduction and Alignment
Motivation is the process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or psychological needs are met.
Upon completion of this assignment, you should be able to:
  • Apply the basic terminology of goals and motivations to create a personal motivational toolbox.
Resources
  • Chapter 8, General Psychology: An Introduction.
  • Motivational Toolbox Template
Assignment Instructions
This week you will begin working on your Psychological Toolbox that will be completed in the final week of this course, Week 5. For this assignment, please use the Motivational Toolbox Template to create your motivational tools by articulating 5 personal or professional goals. Please identify the type of motivation for each goal (intrinsic or extrinsic), identify what phase the goal is in for you (implementation or deliberate), and identify the type of goal (ought or ideal).

2.6: Nature and Nurture Reflection Paper (1 page)

Introduction and Alignment
We all have a deep intuition about how to answer the nature-nurture debate. Some aspects of our behavior feel as though they originate in our genetic makeup, while others feel like the result of our upbringing or our own hard work. Behavior genetics is the field that seeks to discover the influence of heredity and environment on individuals’ differences in human traits and developments. Although the nature-nurture debate is pitted as mutually exclusive, it is rather the intersection of our nature and nurture that produces complex beings capable of thinking and feeling.
Upon completion of this assignment, you should be able to:
  • Explain the nature-nurture debate.
Resources
  • Chapter 4,  A General Theory of Love.
  • Chapter 11, specifically Attachment Through the Life Course, General Psychology: An Introduction.
Supplemental Resources (Optional)
  • The Nature-Nurture Question
  • So It Isn’t Nature-Nurture After All?
  • Epigenetics (9:28) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp1bZEUgqVI
Assignment Instructions
After reading the resources, write a 1-page (not including title page and reference page) reflection paper over the nature-nurture debate. You will only need to read the required resources to complete this assignment.
Select one of the following questions to answer:
  1 Is your personality more like one of your parents than the other? If you have a sibling, is his or her personality like yours? In your family, how did these similarities and differences develop? What do you think caused them?
  2 Can you think of a human characteristic for which genetic differences would play almost no role? Defend your choice.
  3 Do you think the time will come when we will be able to predict almost everything about someone by examining their DNA on the day they are born?
  4 Identical twins are more similar than fraternal twins for the trait of aggressiveness, as well as for criminal behavior. Do these facts have implications for the courtroom? If it can be shown that a violent criminal had violent parents, should it make a difference in culpability or sentencing?