Effects of Textbook and Teacher Definitions on Student Definitions of Psychology.

Abstract

Two teachers gathered psychology definitions from 1000 college students enrolled in introductory psychology classes on the first and last days of class during two successive fall terms at the University of Tennessee. A word analysis of first-day definitions suggested three major themes: behavior, mind/brain, and environment. These themes showed that the conventional wisdom of these students about how psychology is defined remained consistent, in most ways, with actual textbook definitions. Last-day definitions revealed very close agreement with definitions contained in the text and used by the teacher in the introductory psychology class. Introductory textbook authors and teachers of introductory classes should understand prevailing, conventional definitions of psychology and be aware of the influence a textbook definition and the definition teachers use in class have on the students' view of psychology. Defining Psychology 3 EFFECTS OF TEXTBOOK AND TEACHER DEFINITIONS ON STUDENT DEFINITIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY Defining psychology for students presents no easy task. A moment of reflection suggests that a multiplicity of definitions have existed and exist today. This fact becomes evident in the etatheoretical articles of journals like American Psychologist (cf. Hebb, 1974; Kimble, 1984; Lapointe, 1970; Peterson, 1976; Piaget & Kaaii, 1978; Rogers, 1973; Russell, 1970; Skinner, 1975, 1987), or American Scientist (Kessen & Cahan, 1986). Another source that attests to the change and variance in definitions cones from a look at introductory textbooks. An exploration of these texts reveals changing trends in the way they define psychology. Henley, Johnson, Jones, and Herzog (1989), reported that a finite set of definitional categories emerged from an analysis of such texts, but, over time, textbook definitions showed Kuhnian-paradigmatic trends and shifts. These shifts included the return of mentalism and the stabilizing of behavior in current definitions of psychology. Beyond that, specific terms involved in the field of psychology during any certain period of time frequently ended up in textbook definitions after a paradigm shift. According to Kuhn, Textbooks, however, being the pedagogic vehicles for the perpetuation of normal science, have to be rewritten in whole or in part whenever the language, problem-structure, or standards of normal science change. In short they have to be rewritten in the aftermath of each scientific revolution (p. 137). Against this general backdrop of how psychologists define psychology, we were curious to see how college students, with little or no previous exposure to psychology, would define the field. Further, we wanted to compare these

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