Undergraduate Psychology Programs Research Articles

Understanding of Psychological Literacy: Comparative Insights From Undergraduates in China and the United Kingdom

Background Psychological literacy has attracted considerable attention globally. However, no study has focused on this concept in China, where interest in psychology is growing. Objective The present study aimed to investigate perceptions of psychological literacy in a sample of undergraduate psychology majors from Chinese public universities, and compare findings with previously reported data from the United Kingdom. Method Participants completed a survey in which they rated eight core attributes of psychological literacy across the dimensions of awareness, development, confidence in explaining, and importance in their future career. Results Students gave the highest ratings to the importance of psychological core attributes in their future careers and understanding the application of theory, but the lowest to the development of attributes and understanding the role of theory in research. Comparisons with the United Kingdom sample revealed culturally specific differences of potential interest. Conclusions Findings from this work can inform the refinement of undergraduate psychology programs in China, and help calibrate standards in support of international mobility of Chinese students for postgraduate study outside of the home country. Teaching implications Psychology educators in China should consider providing more opportunities for students to gain awareness of their own development and engage in research firsthand.

A Delphi Study to Strengthen Research-Methods Training in Undergraduate Psychology Programs

Psychology programs often emphasize inferential statistical tests over a solid understanding of data and research design. This imbalance may leave graduates underequipped to effectively interpret research and employ data to answer questions. We conducted a two-round modified Delphi to identify the research-methods skills that the UK psychology community deems essential for undergraduates to learn. Participants included 103 research-methods instructors, academics, students, and nonacademic psychologists. Of 78 items included in the consensus process, 34 reached consensus. We coupled these results with a qualitative analysis of 707 open-ended text responses to develop nine recommendations for organizations that accredit undergraduate psychology programs—such as the British Psychological Society. We recommend that accreditation standards emphasize (1) data skills, (2) research design, (3) descriptive statistics, (4) critical analysis, (5) qualitative methods, and (6) both parameter estimation and significance testing; as well as (7) give precedence to foundational skills, (8) promote transferable skills, and (9) create space in curricula to enable these recommendations. Our data and findings can inform modernized accreditation standards to include clearly defined, assessable, and widely encouraged skills that foster a competent graduate body for the contemporary world.

Developing an Undergraduate Career Conference: Leveraging Mentorship to Promote Career Discovery

Are students ready for jobs when it comes time to graduation? This is a common question, and one that is often addressed in the media (e.g., Collie, 2019). Despite psychology being one of the most popular degree plans for undergraduate students (e.g., Higher Education Research Institute, 2008), many students in undergraduate psychology programs fail to see the relevance and value of their degree (Borden and Rajecki, 2000). In this work, we designed, delivered, and assessed a career conference for students in psychology. Intentionally different from a career fair where students seek jobs, this event applied a mentorship-based conference model. In this conference model, in addition to professional development training, industry mentors who work in professional fields related to psychology were invited to provide personal insight on their careers in a small-group format. Critical to this model, students were encouraged and able to ask questions that may not be appropriate for a job fair where hiring is happening. Further, this career model involved intentional connections with our Career Services office, allowing for programmatic delivery of career-based content within the domain-specific event. We provide early empirical evidence that this method of career development supports students in learning about career paths that psychology can lead to, identifying skills that will assist them in finding a career, feeling confident in their ability to network effectively, and feeling more connected with professionals in careers related to psychology. We suggest that this model may be beneficial across disciplines.

Academic Predictors of Performance in the Board Licensure Examination for Psychometricians

In relation to the adherence of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) offering undergraduate psychology programs to excellent standards of education as translated in the Board Licensure Examination for Psychometricians (BLEP), this study aimed to analyze the predictors of BLEP performance as inputs to curriculum and instruction quality assurance. This study employed a descriptive-quantitative design and collected data using an online survey and data mining. Results from one private-sectarian HEI show that general academic performance – specifically in Theories of Personality, Abnormal Psychology, Industrial Psychology, and Dynamic Psychology courses – were significant predictors of BLEP performance, suggesting that better undergraduate academic performance leads to better BLEP performance. These results highlight the need for enhancing the curriculum and instruction in response to the demands of various regulatory and quality assurance bodies in ensuring that the mandate of HEIs to produce high-quality professionals is achieved through a curriculum-based course audit for review classes and intensified instruction.

Statistics Education in Undergraduate Psychology: A Survey of UK Curricula

Graduates from psychology programmes are likely to use data skills throughout their career, regardless of whether they continue into research. Statistical education in psychology programmes, however, emphasizes inferential statistical tests over a deep understanding of data and data skills, which can lead to the problematic use and interpretation of statistics. Indeed, widely-used statistical practices appear to undermine the quality of scientific research and mislead end-users of data. Several proposals have been made for how to improve these practices—with effective statistical education being one. With this in mind, we sought to document the statistical content currently taught to undergraduate psychology students in the UK. Contrary to our expectations, we found that only 19% of universities had publicly available curricula describing the statistical content taught in their undergraduate psychology programme. Of the curricula we obtained, most of them mentioned specific tests (ANOVAs, regression, correlation, t-tests, frequency tests, and rank tests) and about half mentioned probability and randomness, effect size, and statistical power, but few mentioned concepts such as confidence intervals, multiple comparisons, meta-analysis, replication, Bayesian statistics, frequentist statistics, and practical significance. These findings suggest that undergraduate psychology programmes may not emphasize statistical concepts (e.g., uncertainty) that are important for both everyday thinking and for effectively reporting and interpreting scientific research.

The prevalence of perfectionism and positive mental health in undergraduate students

The purpose of this cross-sectional survey was to assess the relationship between mental health and perfectionist personality styles within Dalhousie University’s undergraduate psychology program (N = 191). Positive mental health is characterized by high social, emotional, and psychological functioning in everyday life. Perfectionism has traditionally been studied as a correlate of poor mental health, although relatively recent research has offered a reconceptualization wherein the adaptiveness of perfectionism can support positive mental health. In particular, the perfectionist personality style may be categorized as three types: non-perfectionist, maladaptive perfectionist, and adaptive perfectionist. We classified participants based on their perfectionist personality style and assessed the distribution of mental health level and variation of mental health scores across the different perfectionist personality styles. Overall, we found a pattern of high mental health scores in adaptive perfectionists, moderate mental health scores in non-perfectionists, and low mental health scores in maladaptive perfectionists, suggesting that mental health varies systematically with type of perfectionism. Our findings demonstrate that perfectionism can be an adaptive personality style and positively relate to mental health. Our study supports the reconceptualized definition of perfectionism as a potentially adaptive personality style.

Psychological Literacy and Undergraduate Psychology Education: An International Provocation

For over 50 years, psychology leaders have called for fundamental changes in how we undertake research, education, and community interaction. This paper provocatively argues the case for “why now, and how.” The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that psychology must contribute more to the wellbeing of local and global communities. We propose that a primary mechanism for doing so is by reinventing the undergraduate psychology program. This paper provides a stimulus to initiate international discussion of interconnected graduate capabilities, which we propose to be: Knowledge, Research Methods, Application of Knowledge to Personal, Professional and Community (Local, National, Global) Domains, Values and Ethics, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Cultural Responsiveness. Focusing on core aspects of psychology (Knowledge, Research Methods, Application) and more generic but evidence-informed capabilities is a unique formulation and should well serve graduates, employers, society, and the psychology discipline and profession in the uncertain “post-pandemic” era. We also propose psychological literacy as a promising unifying approach for psychology. Finally, we provide a “road-map” for curriculum renewal at international, national, and institutional levels, involving a consensus-seeking process (an extensive scholarly overview of the proposed capabilities is provided).

Using personal statements in college admissions: An investigation of gender bias and the effects of increased structure

Personal statements are among the most commonly used instruments in college admissions procedures. Yet, little research on their reliability, validity, and fairness exists. The first aim of this paper was to investigate hypotheses about adverse impact and underprediction for female applicants, which could result from lower tendencies to use agentic language compared to male applicants. Second, we examined if rating personal statements in a more structured manner would increase reliability and validity. Using personal statements (250 words) from a large cohort of applicants to an undergraduate psychology program at a Dutch University, we found no evidence for adverse impact for female applicants or more agentic language use by male applicants, and no relationship between agentic language use and personal statement ratings. In contrast, we found that personal statements of female applicants were rated slightly more positively than those of males. Exploratory analyses suggest that female applicants’ better writing skills might explain this difference. A more structured approach to rating personal statements yielded higher, but still only ‘moderate’ inter-rater reliability, and virtually identical, negligible predictive validity for first year GPA and dropout.

Bilinguals Show Proportionally Greater Benefit From Visual Speech Cues and Sentence Context in Their Second Compared to Their First Language.

Speech perception in noise is challenging, but evidence suggests that it may be facilitated by visual speech cues (e.g., lip movements) and supportive sentence context in native speakers. Comparatively few studies have investigated speech perception in noise in bilinguals, and little is known about the impact of visual speech cues and supportive sentence context in a first language compared to a second language within the same individual. The current study addresses this gap by directly investigating the extent to which bilinguals benefit from visual speech cues and supportive sentence context under similarly noisy conditions in their first and second language. Thirty young adult English-French/French-English bilinguals were recruited from the undergraduate psychology program at Concordia University and from the Montreal community. They completed a speech perception in noise task during which they were presented with video-recorded sentences and instructed to repeat the last word of each sentence out loud. Sentences were presented in three different modalities: visual-only, auditory-only, and audiovisual. Additionally, sentences had one of two levels of context: moderate (e.g., "In the woods, the hiker saw a bear.") and low (e.g., "I had not thought about that bear."). Each participant completed this task in both their first and second language; crucially, the level of background noise was calibrated individually for each participant and was the same throughout the first language and second language (L2) portions of the experimental task. Overall, speech perception in noise was more accurate in bilinguals' first language compared to the second. However, participants benefited from visual speech cues and supportive sentence context to a proportionally greater extent in their second language compared to their first. At the individual level, performance during the speech perception in noise task was related to aspects of bilinguals' experience in their second language (i.e., age of acquisition, relative balance between the first and the second language). Bilinguals benefit from visual speech cues and sentence context in their second language during speech in noise and do so to a greater extent than in their first language given the same level of background noise. Together, this indicates that L2 speech perception can be conceptualized within an inverse effectiveness hypothesis framework with a complex interplay of sensory factors (i.e., the quality of the auditory speech signal and visual speech cues) and linguistic factors (i.e., presence or absence of supportive context and L2 experience of the listener).

Attributions About Self-Harm: A Comparison Between Young People’s Self-Report and the Functions Ascribed by Preservice Teachers and School Counsellors

AbstractGlobally, adolescent self-harm rates remain high, while help-seeking behaviour remains low. School staff are in a position to facilitate access to appropriate care for young people who self-harm (YPS-H), but little is known about gatekeepers’ attributions of self-harm or whether these attributions influence the support they provide. This study investigates the perceived functions of self-harm reported by potential gatekeepers and examines how these compare to the self-reported functions of self-harm in young people; 386 students from postgraduate teaching (n = 111), school counselling (n = 37), and undergraduate psychology (n = 238) programs completed a survey regarding their beliefs about YPS-H, which included the Inventory of Statements about Self-Harm. Responses were compared to those of 281 young people attending treatment at a suicide prevention program who completed the same measure. Preservice teachers, school counsellors and psychology students endorsed all functions of self-harm at a higher rate than treatment-seeking young people themselves. In particular, they endorsed interpersonal functions to a greater extent than the clinical reference group. The potential effect of greater endorsement of interpersonal influence as a function of self-harm gatekeeper’s responding to YPS-H is discussed.

Comparative effectiveness of intergenerational service-learning programs on student outcomes of knowledge, attitude, and ageism

ABSTRACT Intergenerational service-learning for undergraduate students seeks to generate interest about the older adult population, while increasing knowledge and improving attitudes about aging and reducing ageism. It is difficult to make an impact on students’ views in a short time period, such as an academic quarter. This comparative effectiveness study evaluated the efficacy of a 10-week intergenerational service-learning program administered to Psychology of Aging undergraduates to determine if it increased knowledge about aging, improved attitudes about older adults, and reduced ageism more than a predominately didactic course with less service activity. A quasi-experimental design using a convenience sample compared pre- and posttest scores between the experimental intervention (n = 68) and comparison (n = 71) condition on The Facts on Aging Quiz Multiple Choice version, Aging Semantic Differential, and Fabroni Scale on Ageism. The experimental intervention, the Lives Well Lived program, matched students and older adults who met criteria for “successful aging,” in a mutual interviewing, life review project utilizing documentary film, photography, and creation of memoirs. Results determined that students in the experimental intervention showed less stereotypical beliefs and net bias about aging. Programs that are more relational, in-depth, more experiential and less didactic may be useful for consideration in undergraduate psychology or human service programs in reducing ageism and potential for increasing interest in careers in the field of aging.

Exploring anti-asexual bias in a sample of Australian undergraduate psychology students

ABSTRACT Research on attitudes towards asexual people is a relatively new focus within the discipline of psychology, and to date has not been a topic of focus in the Australian context. This study focused on Australian undergraduate psychology students, and their attitudes towards asexual people. The study recruited 231 participants from undergraduate psychology programmes to complete an online survey assessing their attitudes towards asexual people, bias against single people, and gender ideologies. In addition, participants rated how comfortable and confident they felt about working with asexual people within mental health settings in the future. Participants who reported greater endorsement of traditional gender role ideology, and negative bias against singles, also reported greater levels of anti-asexual bias. Participants who hoped to pursue a career in psychology reported lower levels of anti-asexual bias and less negative attitudes towards single people, and reported moderate levels of both comfort in working with asexual people in the future, and capacity to provide safe care to asexual people in the future. Drawing on these findings, the paper concludes by discussing areas that require ongoing attention in the study of anti-asexual bias, and makes recommendations for the training of psychology students and clinicians.

A Transformational Approach to Developing Cultural Humility in the Classroom

Introduction: Undergraduate psychology programs offer opportunities for the development of knowledge and specialized skills in order to equip students to work with diverse populations. Statement of the Problem: It is crucial for psychology clinicians and other human service providers to understand and be responsive to the scope of cultural diversity. To be effective, they must demonstrate cultural humility through an anti-bias approach. Literature Review: We review research pertaining to cultural diversity, cultural humility, and the social and pedagogical implications associated with these constructs. Teaching Implications: We offer one approach for fostering the development of cultural humility through a 6-week Cultural Humility Learning Module that capitalizes on the principles of diversity, privilege and bias, cultural humility, fairness, and social justice. Conclusion: Through piloting and refining the learning module in our own classrooms, we believe that this approach shows promise of transformational learning. We offer the reader potential ways to assess the effectiveness of the module.

Career Assistance From Psychology Programs and Career Services: Who Is Preparing Psychology Students?

Background: Despite the popularity of the undergraduate psychology major, little is known about career support and preparation available to psychology students. Objective: This study examined the prevalence, types, and methods of career assistance available to undergraduate psychology students both through their psychology programs and through their institutional career services. Method: A total of 240 programs from a stratified random sample of institutions offering undergraduate psychology programs responded to an online survey, yielding a response rate of 42.5%. Results: Undergraduate psychology programs most often provided assistance in applying to graduate school, while career services provided a wider range of resources. Baccalaureate institutions offer career assistance, via the psychology program or the institutional career center, more frequently than associate institutions. Most common forms of assistance consisted of instruction on how to apply for a job, how to find information about career possibilities in psychology subfields, resumé or curriculum vitae preparation, and individual advising. Conclusion: Although career assistance was widely available, there are several ways in which the type and scope of assistance can be improved upon to better support students and increase access. Teaching implications: Undergraduate psychology students could benefit from more career assistance content throughout psychology curricula.

Doing Assessment Well: Advances for Undergraduate Psychology Programs and Psychology Educators

This article discusses how assessment tools can be used to improve student learning in undergraduate bachelors (BA/BS) in psychology programs. The article first reviews particular advantages associated with using curricular and cocurricular maps for performing systematic program assessment. After identifying various assessment tools created by the American Psychological Association, we discuss some essential arenas for program assessment in psychology, including curricular structure and related issues, introductory psychology, capstone courses, internships, research experiences and honors projects, graduate placement data, and routine academic program reviews. We close the article by offering assessment tips for program administrators.

“It’s Not Only about Clinical Tools but Also Our Role as Agents of Social Change”: Implementing a LGBT Competency Training for Future Mental Health Practitioners in Mexico

ABSTRACT Recent studies recommend implementing a curriculum that is inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) identities in health-related higher education programs. Inclusive health services are a means to address stigma-related adverse health outcomes in these populations. In Mexico, research has revealed that sexual and gender minority individuals experience discriminatory conditions that put them at risk for mental health problems. The present study tested the impact of a LGBT training protocol in Mexico; 17 psychology majors living in Mexico City received 12-plus hours of training on LGBT multicultural competencies. A quantitative retrospective assessment of participants’ attitudes toward LGBT individuals, knowledge of LGBT issues, and willingness to work with LGBT clients, alongside qualitative data collected from a focus group, provided evidence on the impact of this training strategy. Implications for LGBT multicultural competency training in undergraduate and graduate programs in psychology are discussed herein.

Psychology Students’ Understanding of Ethics and Application of Ethical Principles

Background: The American Psychological Association (APA) has called on undergraduate psychology programs to embed training in ethics throughout their curricula. Although guidelines and resources exist, research on students’ understanding of and ability to apply the discipline’s ethical principles is limited. Objective: The purpose of this study was to learn more about psychology students’ perceptions of their undergraduate training in ethics, understanding of what it means to behave ethically, and competence at applying ethical principles. Method: Forty-four psychology students rated their undergraduate coursework and fieldwork training in ethics, described what it means to be ethical, and proposed a department honor code. Responses were independently coded using a rubric based on APA’s five ethical principles. Results: Participants reported that their undergraduate training gave them an adequate understanding of ethics. The majority included at least three ethical principles in their descriptions of ethical behavior but fewer than three principles in their proposed honor codes. Upper-level students rated their fieldwork training in ethics significantly higher than lower-level students. Participants with higher ratings of fieldwork training in ethics included significantly more ethical principles in their honor codes. Conclusion: Findings support APA’s call to embed training on ethics throughout the undergraduate curriculum.

¿Qué es la biología humana?

En este micro-artículo se reflexiona sobre la biología humana. Para abordar a una definición de la disciplina, se proponen respuestas a diferentes preguntas-guía: ¿es una ciencia la biología humana? Si así fuera, ¿es una ciencia social o una ciencia natural? ¿Cuál es su objeto de estudio? ¿Cómo analiza su objeto de estudio? ¿Por qué se la incluye en el currículo de las carreras de grado, de Licenciatura y Profesorado en Psicología? Luego de tratar estos asuntos, se propone que la biología humana es un ámbito adecuado desde el que desarrollar investigaciones interdisciplinarias congruentes con el paradigma de la complejidad, actualmente vigente. Finalmente, se aboga por una formación del psicólogo que convoque a la interdisciplina y que integre en la situación de enseñanza y aprendizaje campos conceptuales de distintas disciplinas.

Increasing Undergraduate Psychology Major’s Workforce Readiness Through Courses in Applied Behavior Analysis

The American Psychological Association’s 2013 guidelines recommend that psychology undergraduate programs make workforce preparation a central feature in undergraduate psychology programs. The addition of courses in applied behavior analysis (ABA) is one method to provide students with the skills and credentials necessary to enter a psychology-related career immediately after graduation. The number of university programs offering coursework in ABA is increasing in tandem with the explosive growth in job opportunities for behavior analysts at both the master’s and bachelor’s level. We describe Troy University’s course sequence in ABA and present some possible challenges for adding coursework in ABA. It is our hope that this article will engender lively intradepartmental discussion about adding courses in ABA to a psychology undergraduate curriculum.

Asserting sexual (dis)interest: How do women’s capabilities differ?

Sexual autonomy implies consistency between one’s internal desires and sexual behaviours. Sexual assertiveness has been defined as the strategies used to accomplish such consistency, and to therefore be sexually autonomous. Sexual assertiveness encompasses skills in refusing unwanted sexual situations and bringing about wanted sexual situations. Measures of sexual assertiveness typically assess both refusal sexual assertiveness (RSA) and initiation sexual assertiveness (ISA), yet there is a dearth of research examining these skills in relation to one another. The present study examined the relationship between women’s RSA and ISA, exploring predictors of each. A total of 487 heterosexual and 129 lesbian, bisexual, questioning and other (LBQ +) women completed the online survey, including women recruited from an undergraduate psychology program at an Ontario university and from communities across Canada using social media. ISA and RSA were only moderately correlated. General assertiveness in non-sexual situations was only one of several variables predictive of ISA and RSA, indicating that there is something unique to assertiveness in the sexual context. Committed relationship context and erotophilic disposition specifically predicted initiation assertiveness. Less endorsement of the sexual double standard specifically predicted refusal assertiveness. No significant differences emerged in predictors of ISA and RSA when comparing sexual orientation groups. However, LBQ + women unexpectedly reported lower levels of RSA overall. Implications for supporting the development of sexual assertiveness and avenues for future research are discussed.