PSMA016 Psychology Constructs: Theory and Methodology

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Taught in person.
Teacher(s)
prof. PhDr. Marek Blatný, DrSc. (lecturer)
prof. Mgr. Sylvie Graf, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Martin Jelínek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Vojtěch Juřík, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Helena Klimusová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. PhDr. Petr Květon, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Tomáš Urbánek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Martin Jelínek, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jarmila Valchářová
Supplier department: Department of Psychology – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course involves a discussion of a number of advanced contemporary theories and constructs and their methodological backgrounds. The main objective is to illustrate, from a critical perspective, how methodological approaches are associated with the nature and validity of psychological constructs and how new methodological developments shape scientific thinking. Psychological constructs and methodological approaches are introduced through the Institute's members own research projects. At the end of the course, apart from obtaining a general overview of new theories in psychology, the students should be able to perceive the inseparability of theory and research methodology, and the importance of considering methodological background when evaluating the relevance and applicability of psychological constructs.
Learning outcomes
Students will be able: to understand how methodological approaches are associated with the nature and validity of psychological constructs and how new methodological developments shape scientific thinking; to perceive the inseparability of theory and research methodology; to focus on methodological background when evaluating the relevance and applicability of psychological constructs; to write a summary of their bachelor thesis in the form of a scientific journal article an to read scientific studies critically.
Syllabus
  • Selected topics:
  • New concepts of analysis in modern psychological research: network analysis as an alternative to latent trait analysis.
  • Longitudinal research as a modern approach for studying human lifespan development.
  • Introduction to modern equipment in cognitive psychology: eye tracker, wearables and other promising technologies.
  • Emotional and behavioural priming – construct and controversy: Consideration of moderation effects in psychological research. Aggregate statistical effects v. well-grounded theory. The issue of reproducible science.
  • Kelly's constructive alternativism - constructivist approach of personal construct psychology as a unity of fundamental postulate: Theoretical corollaries and unique methods (Repertory grid technique and Self-characterization sketch).
  • Theory of cognitive orientation - Kreitlers' theory of cognitive orientation. Resolving discrepancy between attitudes and behaviour.
  • New approaches, directions and topics in applied research (psycho-oncology, sport psychology)
Literature
    required literature
  • HASLAM, S. Alexander and Craig MCGARTY. Research methods and statistics in psychology. 3rd edition. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2019, xviii, 558. ISBN 9781526423283. info
  • GOODWIN, C. James. Research in psychology : methods and design. 6th ed. Hoboken: Wiley & Sons, 2010, xxiii, 600. ISBN 9780470522783. info
  • GIRDEN, Ellen R. and Robert KABACOFF. Evaluating research articles : from start to finish. Third edition. Los Angeles: Sage, 2011, xvi, 399. ISBN 9781412974462. info
    recommended literature
  • Kerr, N. L. (1998). HARKing: Hypothesizing after the results are known. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2(3), 196-217.
  • Shepard, R., & Cooper, L. (1982): Mental images and their transformations. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  • Friese, M., Loschelder, D. D., Gieseler, K., Frankenbach, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2019). Is Ego Depletion Real? An Analysis of Arguments. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 23(2), 107–131.
  • Gendolla, G. H. E., Tops, M., & Koole, S. L. (eds.) (2015). Handbook of biobehavioral approaches to self-regulation. New York: Springer.
  • Vohs, K. D., & Baumeister, R. F. (eds.) (2017). HANDBOOK OF SELF-REGULATION: RESEARCH, THEORY, AND APPLICATIONS (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
  • Bamberger KT. The Application of Intensive Longitudinal Methods to Investigate Change: Stimulating the Field of Applied Family Research. Clinical child and family psychology review. 2016;19(1):21-38. doi:10.1007/s10567-015-0194-6.
  • Meltzoff, J. (1997). Critical thinking about research: Psychology and related fields. American Psychological Association.
  • Holahan, C. K., & Sears, R. R. (1995). The gifted group in later maturity: The fifth volume in Terman Study. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Belzung, C., de Villemeur, E. B., Lemoine, M., & Camus, V. (2010). Latent variables and the network perspective. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2-3), 150–151. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X10000580
  • Special section on behavioral priming and its replication. (2014). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9(1).
  • Eysenck, H. J. (ed.) (1973). The measurement of intelligence. Lancaster: Medical and Technical Publishing Co.
  • McGrew, K. S. (2005). The Cattell–Horn–Carroll theory of cognitive abilities. In D. P. Flanagan & P. L. Harrison (Eds.) Contemporary intellectual assessment: Theories, tests, and issues (2nd ed., pp. 136–181). New York: Guilford Press.
  • Kreitler, S. (2013). Cognition and motivation: Forging an interdisciplinary perspective. Cambridge University Press.
  • Understanding priming effects in social psychology. (2014). Supplement of Social Cognition, Vol. 32.
  • Schneider, W. J., & McGrew, K. S. (2012). The Cattell-Horn-Carroll model of intelligence. In D. P. Flanagan & P. L. Harrison (Eds.), Contemporary intellectual assessment: Theories, tests, and issues (pp. 99-144). New York, NY, US: Guilford Press.
  • Kreitler, H., & Kreitler, S. (1976). Cognitive orientation and behavior. Springer Publishing Company.
  • The Development of the Person: The Minnesota Study of Risk and Adaptation from Birth to Adulthood. A Sroufe, B Egeland, E Carlson, A Collins , The Guilford Press : New York. 2005.
  • Ferguson, C. J., & Heene, M. (2012). A vast graveyard of undead theories: Publication bias and psychological science’s aversion to the null. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(6), 555-561.
  • Rosenthal, R. (1979). The file drawer problem and tolerance for null results. Psychological Bulletin, 86(3), 638-641.
  • Nickerson, R. S. (2000). Null hypothesis significance testing: A review of an old and continuing controversy. Psychological Methods, 5(2), 241-301. doi: I0.1037//1082-989X.S.2.241
  • Poulton, R., Moffit, T. E., & Silva, P. A. (2015). The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study: Overview of the first 40 years, with an eye to the future. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 50, 679-693.
  • Kelly, G. A. (1955). Psychology of personal constructs. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc.
  • Simmons, J. P., Nelson, L. D., & Simonsohn, U. (2011). False-positive psychology: Undisclosed flexibility in data collection and analysis allows presenting anything as significant. Psychological Science, 22(11), 1359-1366.
  • Neuroskeptic. (2012). The nine circles of scientific hell. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(6), 643-644.
  • Goekoop, R., Goekoop, J. G., & Scholte, H. S. (2012). The network structure of human personality according to the NEO-PI-R: Matching network community structure to factor structure. PLoS ONE, 7(12), e51558. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051558
  • BOLGER, Niall and Jean-Philippe LAURENCEAU. Intensive longitudinal methods : an introduction to diary and experience sampling research. Edited by David A. Kenny. New York: The Guilford Press, 2013, xv, 256. ISBN 9781462506781. info
  • CARROLL, John Bissell. Human cognitive abilities : a survey of factor-analytic studies. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993, ix, 819. ISBN 0521387124. URL info
  • PAIVIO, Allan. Mental representations : a dual coding approach. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990, x, 322. ISBN 019503936X. info
  • ELDER, Glen H. Children of the Great depression : social change in life experience. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1974, xxiii, 400. ISBN 0226202658. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, homework, reading
Assessment methods
Students are required to prepare a critical evaluation of a research study of student's choice OR to write a summary of their bachelor thesis in the form of a scientific journal article. The evaluation of the articles will put emphasis on the structure of the paper (preferably in IMRAD format), reflecting the process of scientific thinking and the interconnection of the theory and utilized research design and methods.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022, Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2024, recent)
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