Famous Psychologist Profile Research Outline
This Unit 1 homework assignment (the Famous Psychologist Profile Research outline) is designed to prepare you to complete the Famous Psychologist Profile Paper due in Unit 3 of this course. Please keep that in mind as you complete this assignment.
- Choose one famous psychologist from the following list:
• Carl Rogers
• Abraham Maslow
• Sigmund Freud
• B.F. Skinner
• John B. Watson
• Karen Horney
• Carl Jung
• Albert Bandura
• Erik Erikson
• Jean Piaget
- Next, research the psychologist’s contributions to the field of psychology using the criteria below. Your goal is to create a one-page outline of the profile of the psychologist. Use this template to complete your assignment. Include the following background information:
• Life span
• Place of birth
• Cultural information (what was going on in society during your psychologist’s early life? Was this a time of political upheaval? Were there any significant movements going on during this time?)
• Information about upbringing (family life)
• Education
• What was this person like? Include any interesting characteristics, quirks, etc. about this person. Try to capture their personality.
- Answer the following questions regarding the psychologist’s philosophy of and approach to psychology:
• What are their major theories?
• What is this person’s most famous research?
• Who were their contemporaries?
• Stereotypes, myths and misunderstandings about the person
• How did this psychologist’s contributions to the field of psychology benefit psychology?
The outline of your profile should be one page in length, include a minimum of three references, in-text citations, and a reference page formatted correctly in APA style. Use the CARS checklist to make sure the sources you use are Credible, Accurate, Reasonable, and Supported. (You do not have to turn in the checklists along with your outline.) You only need to turn in an outline at this point – you will complete your essay in Unit 3 after receiving feedback from your instructor.
How to create your Unit 1 Homework Outline
I. Introduction
A. Thesis: Who are you going to research? Give a very brief overview of this person
and his/her work.
II. Body Paragraph 1: Background Information
A. Biography: Be sure to use in-text citations for material you found in academic
sources or online. An APA formatted in-text citation will look something like
this: (Rathus, 2015).
- Life span
- Place of birth
- Cultural information (what was going on in society during your
psychologist’s early life? Was this a time of political upheaval? Were
there any significant movements going on during this time?) - Information about upbringing (family life)
- Education
- What was this person like? Include any interesting characteristics, quirks,
etc. about this person. Try to appeal to his/her personality.
III. Body Paragraph 2: Major Theories and Famous Research
A. Theory 1 - Brief explanation
B. Theory 2 - Brief explanation
IV. Body Paragraph 3: Contemporaries (psychologists who worked in the field around the
same time period)
A. Contemporary/Psychologist 1 - Briefly compare theoretical approaches
B. Contemporary/Psychologist 2 - Briefly compare theoretical approaches
V. Body Paragraph 4: Stereotypes and misunderstandings
A. Stereotype 1
B. Stereotype 2
VI. Body Paragraph 5: Contributions to the field
A. Contribution 1
B. Contribution 2
REFERENCES:
You should also include a separate reference page, with at least three credible references
formatted according to APA formatting guidelines.
As an example, an appropriate reference on the reference page for our text would look like this: Rathus, Spencer (2015). PSYCH. 4th Ed. Wadsworth Publishing.
Resources that may help:
APA formatting in general:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
APA outline formatting:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/03/