Postgraduate Psychology Research Articles

What Makes Children Want to Learn? Working with Street Children at a University

In the face of overwhelming feelings children erect defensive structures to protect themselves. Although these defensive strategies often protect them from anxiety impede their learning. As a result, many of them academically do quite poorly. SOYAC (Maltepe University Research and Application Centre for Street Children) is the only centre at a university to study issues facing street children in Turkey. A more fluid and client directed program has been created for street children. Since 2010, a range of strategies are used to engage boys ages 11-17 in different phases of state care, including peer-based interventions, art, radio, theatre etc. to create a ‘safe learning environment’. Undergraduate as well as post-graduate psychology students are involved in the project along with the boys. Besides students’ actual physical presence their mental presence has been ensured as they act as a ‘container’ for boys’ anxieties by giving them substantial help in thinking about and making sense of their experiences of the world. In this way boys have the experiences of being thought about that is what primarily needed for learning in the psychoanalytic perspective.

From deconstructive misalignment to constructive alignment: Exploring student uses of mobile technologies in university classrooms

Becoming increasingly ubiquitous for students are the various uses of information and communication technologies (ICTs) within their wireless and networked learning environments. Many students use ICTs during lectures or tutorials for tasks unrelated to class learning activities, thus providing a potential misalignment with the intended learning outcomes. A sample of undergraduate and postgraduate psychology and business students were surveyed to determine their frequency of mobile ICT use in the classroom and the students' motivations and rationale for undertaking those activities unrelated to classroom learning. The survey contained quantitative items (categorical and Likert scale response items) and qualitative items requiring responses to open ended questions. Students indicated that using ICTs in ways misaligned with lesson learning outcomes, was related to the course content delivery mode, the promotion of passive or active learning, being domestic or international students, learner maturity, and the need for supporting course information. Understanding how and why students use mobile ICTs in classes can inform the redesign of classroom activities, to actively involve those technologies to assist in constructive alignment with the learning outcomes and enhance the student learning experience.

Anti-Vilification Programs in Adolescent Sport

Four post-graduate sport psychology students created and conducted an anti-vilification program for adolescents in sport. The program specifically addressed homophobic bullying in a volleyball organization. In the current article we review homophobic bullying in sport and make recommendations for addressing bullying in sport. We provide an in-depth description of the anti-vilification in sport workshops that were developed for state-level volleyball players. A summary of the participant evaluations of the program is provided and modifications to the workshops are suggested. The context and compliance/recruitment of the participants and the reinforcing role of family and school are discussed.

Experiences of Countertransference: Reports of Clinical Psychology Students

While historically linked with psychoanalysis, countertransference is recognised as an important component of the experience of therapists, regardless of the therapeutic modality. This study considers the implications of this for the training of psychologists. Fifty‐five clinical psychology trainees from four university training programmes completed an anonymous questionnaire that collected written reports of countertransference experiences, ratings of confidence in managing these responses, and supervision in this regard. The reports were analysed using a process of thematic analysis. Several themes emerged including a desire to protect or rescue clients, feeling criticised or controlled by clients, feeling helpless, and feeling disengaged. Trainees varied in their reports of awareness of countertransference and the regularity of supervision in this regard. The majority reported a lack of confidence in managing their responses, and all reported interest in learning about countertransference. The implications for reflective practice in postgraduate psychology training are discussed.

How can iPad apps enrich postgraduate psychology research?

In this short Opinion piece, I outline how iPad apps can facilitate theory development, data collection, data representation and dissemination of postgraduate psychology research. I reflect on how apps supported my own postgraduate research practice and how one particular app – Our Story – enriched the individual stages of my research enquiry. I argue that iPad apps are part of an emerging metaphor according to which postgraduate psychology is a dynamic and iterative research process, rather than a linear static model

Enhancing sense of recovery and self‐reflectivity in people with schizophrenia: A pilot study of Metacognitive Narrative Psychotherapy

This study investigated the effectiveness of an innovative, manualized psychotherapy aimed at enhancing recovery and self-experience in people with schizophrenia, Metacognitive Narrative Psychotherapy. Treatment effects were assessed using a mixed methodology. Data were quantitatively assessed using a single-sample, pre- and post-therapy design and qualitatively assessed using a case-study methodology. Eleven patients diagnosed with schizophrenia received Metacognitive Narrative Psychotherapy over the course of 11-26 months. Therapists were seven supervised postgraduate psychology students. On average patients attended 49 sessions over the course of therapy. Patients completed interview-based and self-report measures for general and treatment-specific outcomes at pre-, mid-, and post-treatment. Quantitative analyses showed that patients significantly improved on the general outcome of subjective recovery, as well as the treatment-specific outcome of self-reflectivity, with medium to large effect sizes. Case-study evidence also showed improvements for some patients in symptom severity, and narrative coherence and complexity. These results are consistent with previous case-study evidence and suggest that this manualized version of Metacognitive Narrative Psychotherapy produces general and approach-specific improvements for people with schizophrenia. Replication is needed to ascertain its effectiveness with a larger sample size and within a controlled design. People with psychotic symptoms experience disruptions in self-disturbance that are amenable to psychological interventions. A focus on enhancing metacognitive capacity in people with psychotic symptoms may contribute to enhancing sense of recovery. The current findings support the use of interventions that target capacity for meaningful storytelling in people with psychotic symptoms.

Development and delivery of an Outreach training event for postgraduate psychology students

University Outreach programmes are important for providing opportunities for talented individuals from less privileged backgrounds to participate in higher education as well as communicating science to the public more broadly. In addition to this, it is an enjoyable and worthwhile way for postgraduates to boost their CVs while gaining valuable experience in communicating their topic to different audiences. The School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Manchester has a thriving programme of Outreach activities but sometimes struggles to find postgraduate students to be involved in the development and delivery of these activities. As such, we decided to develop a training session to introduce postgraduate students to Outreach, with a view to increase knowledge of the kinds of activities they can get involved in and boost their confidence in developing and delivering new activities. Here we report on the format of the workshop and the feedback received from delegates as well as suggesting improvements and providing tips for people wishing to set up a similar project.

Specific Attitudes Which Predict Psychology Students’ Intentions to Seek Help for Psychological Distress

Although many postgraduate psychology programs address students' mental health, there are compelling indications that earlier, undergraduate, interventions may be optimal. We investigated specific attitudes that predict students' intentions to seek treatment for psychological distress to inform targeted interventions. Psychology students (N = 289; mean age = 19.75 years) were surveyed about attitudes and intentions to seek treatment for stress, anxiety, or depression. Less than one quarter of students reported that they would be likely to seek treatment should they develop psychological distress. Attitudes that predicted help-seeking intentions related to recognition of symptoms and the benefits of professional help, and openness to treatment for emotional problems. The current study identified specific attitudes which predict help-seeking intentions in psychology students. These attitudes could be strengthened in undergraduate educational interventions promoting well-being and appropriate treatment uptake among psychology students.

Teacher and Student-Focused Approaches: Influence of Learning Approach and Self-Efficacy in a Psychology Postgraduate Sample

The current study examined approaches to teaching in a postgraduate psychology sample. This included considering teaching-focused (information transfer) and student-focused (conceptual changes in understanding) approaches to teaching. Postgraduate teachers of psychology ( N = 113) completed a questionnaire measuring their use of a teacher- or student-focused approach, deep and surface approaches to learning and teaching, and research self-efficacy. Standard multiple regressions revealed that the manner in which postgraduate students approached their own studies (i.e., deep or surface learning approach) predicted the use of a teacher- or student-focused approach in their teaching practice. Specifically, postgraduates adopting a deep approach to their own learning were more likely to adopt a teaching-focused approach to their teaching practice. Those adopting a surface approach to their own studies were most likely to adopt a student-focused approach. Furthermore, postgraduates with a high level of teaching self-efficacy were more likely to adopt a student-focused approach to teaching practice. Additionally, postgraduates who had received formal teaching training scored higher on teacher self-efficacy than those who had not received such training. Taken together, the findings suggest the key role of formal training in enhancing self-efficacy in teaching, and demonstrate an association between the learning styles adopted by postgraduate teachers and their approach to teaching.

Training Postgraduate Psychology Students to Deliver Psychological Services Online

Information and communication technologies are increasingly being used to remotely deliver psychological services. This delivery method confers clear advantages to both client and therapist, including the accessibility of services by otherwise unserved populations and cost‐effective treatment. Remote services can be delivered in a real‐time or delayed manner, providing clients with a wealth of therapy options not previously available. The proliferation of these services has outstripped the development and implementation of all but the most rudimentary of regulatory frameworks, potentially exposing clients to substandard psychological services. Integrating mandatory training on the delivery of online psychological services into accredited postgraduate psychology courses would aid in addressing this issue. The purpose of this article is to outline issues of consideration in the development and implementation of such a training programme. An online etherapy training programme developed by Swinburne University's National eTherapy Centre will be used as an example throughout.

Integrating Family Therapy Training in a Clinical Psychology Course

Teaching family therapy to clinical psychology trainees is not common practice in Australian clinical psychology training programs. There is sparse discussion in the literature. Family therapy is an evidence based intervention that complements a diversity of established theories and psychotherapies and would complement the intervention skills of trainee clinical psychologists. The aim of this paper is to illustrate how family therapy training may be integrated into a postgraduate clinical psychology course. The literature on core family therapy knowledge, skills and training methods will form the backdrop to a review of specific family therapy training courses for clinical psychology trainees. This will then be mapped against a consideration of accreditation requirements of clinical psychology courses in Australia and suggestions made for integrating family therapy into their training curriculum. Anecdotal feedback from students provides an initial step toward evaluation.

Judgments of Widely Held Beliefs about Psychological Phenomena among South African and Australian Postgraduate Psychology Students

Lay understandings of human cognition, affect, and behaviour often diverge from the findings of scientific investigations. The present study compared South African and Australian fourth year psychology students' judgments about the factual correctness of statements of psychological phenomena that have been demonstrated to be incorrect by empirical research. Students enrolled in the psychology Honours programmes at two large residential universities in South Africa and one university in Australia were asked to respond to a questionnaire that required them to decide on the validity of a list of empirically untrue statements. The results show that a large proportion of all universities believed many incorrect statements to be true. Significant differences between the samples emerged that may have been due to curricular differences between the academic programmes in the two countries. These results are discussed with reference to the teaching of critical thinking skills in psychology courses and the influence of popular culture on beliefs about human behaviour. Recommendations are also made about the teaching of scientific and critical reasoning skills in academic psychology programmes.

Brain, Mind and Behaviour: A New Perspective on Human Nature

2nd edition Authored by David L. Robinson Pontoon Publications, 2009 Brain, Mind and Behaviour describes new discoveries concerning the relationship between brain-function and individual differences in human personality and intelligence. These new findings along with related theoretical developments provide new insights concerning the greatest mystery of all: human nature and the human mind.The book will be of great interest to those who wish to know more about human nature, especially psychologists and those concerned with the psychological significance of neuroscience. It is an essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate psychology students with a main interest in personality and individual differences and for those psychologists who are professionally concerned with mental health, education, human resource management and areas where knowledge of personality and individual differences is of primary and fundamental importance.

Six Years Up: Applied Sport Psychologists Surviving (and Thriving) after Graduation

Our purpose was to explore ways in which practitioners developed professionally after graduate school. We re-interviewed 4 female and 3 male consultants 4 years since their postgraduate sport psychology studies; they had been interviewed 3 times during their training. Since leaving university, participants' professional practices had evolved, such as increased coherence between their behaviors and beliefs, born from having negotiated service delivery challenges. Also, participants had experienced reduced anxiety and increased perceived competence. Participants' accounts were congruent with counselor development theory. Knowledge about students' possible developmental changes after graduation may assist educators and supervisors in preparing future practitioners for their careers.

Experiences of supervising postgraduate community psychology students at Wits university, South Africa

AbstractIn this article, the authors discuss problems and challenges of supervising postgraduate community psychology students at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. As part of their community work, students developed community projects in schools in Alexandra Township, aimed at dealing with social ills such as HIV/AIDS, gangs, violence, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy. Students found community work to be extremely exhausting, stressful and demanding. Therefore, community psychology supervision became an important space in helping students to reflect on the experiences, anxieties and frustrations. This article discusses key themes that have emerged in community supervision, including gender, race and class issues. In conclusion, recommendations are provided on how to improve community psychology supervision based our experiences. Supervisors need to be proactive in helping students to reflect on their experiences and actively engage with some of the theoretical and practical issues that emerge in community work. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Facilitating Collaborative Learning Using Online Wikis: Evaluation of Their Application Within Postgraduate Psychology Teaching

Virtual learning environments (VLEs) are helpful in achieving a blended learning approach to higher education. Online wikis are proposed as a potentially useful method to encourage collaborative learning through the VLE. The present study integrated wiki software into a module for Masters-level applied psychology students. Seventeen students participated in a week-long online group-based wiki task as a standard part of their course. The use of wiki technology to develop an innovative research idea was evaluated both by analysis of output (tracking of engagement with the intervention) and by self-report questionnaire (evaluation of the intervention) collected from a subsample of 14 students. Results indicate that the students enjoyed the task and perceived educational benefit from it. However, the content of the wikis created suggests that the instructions given to the students may not have been clear enough, and in particular that students were unsure of what the nature and purpose of a wiki is. Students clearly needed more preparatory training in using this technology, and clearer explanation of expected outputs, before beginning this task. This study provides further evidence that students benefit from, and enjoy, blended learning approaches and that wikis represent a useful way to integrate blended and collaborative learning principles.

Positive Adaptation in a Community of Postgraduate Students: Applying the Mmogo-method™

This study explored the experiences of postgraduate psychology students exposed to continuous challenges and described their positive adaptation as a community. Three males and 14 females (age range: 23–30 years; 1 black, 3 coloured, 2 Indian and 11 white) took part in the study. Data were obtained through the Mmogo-method™, group discussions on the visual presentations, written texts and an in-depth interview. The findings indicated that threats from outside as well as from within a community have implications for the community's positive adaptation. Positive adaptation develops through cyclical processes. It depends on the availability of tangible (financial, teaching) and personal (humour) resources. Among the outcomes of positive adaptation are that people who share challenging experiences report a sense of belonging and hope and also respect for diversity. Positive adaptation helps a community strengthen and protect its members.

Competence in Intelligence Testing: A Training Model for Postgraduate Psychology Students

AbstractThe assessment of intellectual ability is a core competency in psychology. The results of intelligence tests have many potential implications and are used frequently as the basis for decisions about educational placements, eligibility for various services, and admission to specific groups. Given the importance of intelligence test scores, accurate test administration and scoring are essential; yet there is evidence of unacceptably high rates of examiner error. This article discusses competency and postgraduate training in intelligence testing and presents a training model for postgraduate psychology students. The model aims to achieve high levels of competency in intelligence testing through a structured method of training, practice and feedback that incorporates peer support, self-reflection and multiple methods for evaluating competency.

‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’: LGB invisibility and heterosexism in clinical psychology textbooks

This paper reports a qualitative, hermeneutically informed, analysis of three clinical psychology textbooks published in North America and used in postgraduate psychology programmes in California universities. These texts are viewed as cultural products reflecting the intersection between homosexuality and psychology in Western culture. The impact on the reader/clinician of explicit, implicit, and excluded material about lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people is considered. We conclude that, mainly by excluding LGB content, but also by occasionally presenting problematic constructions of LGB people, these textbooks express a contradiction: professional psychology in the US espouses pro-LGB ethics and advocacy, yet it co-operates with anti-LGB cultural, economic, and political forces. Possible reasons for this are considered. Educators and students are urged to take a leading role in confronting the heterosexism of textbooks, through teaching and learning how to question cultural bias.

Judgments of widely held beliefs about psychological phenomena among South African postgraduate Psychology students

Lay understandings of human cognition, affect, and behaviour often diverge from the findings of scientific investigations. The present study examined South African fourth year psychology students' judgments about the factual correctness of statements of psychological phenomena that have been demonstrated to be incorrect by empirical research. Students enrolled in the psychology Honours programmes at two large residential universities in the Western Cape and Gauteng were asked to respond to a questionnaire that required them to decide on the validity of a list of empirically untrue statements. The results show that a large proportion of students at both universities believed many incorrect statements to be true. Significant differences between the samples emerged that may have been due to curricular differences between the two academic programmes. These results are discussed with reference to the teaching of critical thinking skills in psychology courses and the influence of popular culture on beliefs about human behaviour. Recommendations are also made about the teaching of scientific and critical reasoning skills in academic psychology programmes. South African Journal of Higher Education Vol. 22 (4) 2008: pp. 789-798