After a brief introduction to cognitive psychology, this paper provides a set of principles from cognitive psychology, information processing theory, and constructivist psychology; outlines examples of the existence and often longtime, conscious use of contemporary cognitive psychology assumptions and conceptions in the social and behavioral…

Data collected from three separate surveys indicate that, in practice, there is no real difference between humanistic and behavioristic pyschology teachers. (Author/MLF)

In 1971 a survey was conducted of 409 Florida secondary schools to determine if they offer psychology courses and to obtain data about the courses offered. Data analysis showed that three decisions must be made: definition of psychology, identification of clientele, and teacher qualifications. (ND)

Discusses growth of psychology within secondary social studies curricula since 1960. Information is presented on the general failure of social studies professional organizations and journals to deal with the growth of high school level psychology courses, a review of literature on the nature of precollege psychology course offerings, and a survey…

Procedures and findings of a survey conducted in 1970-71, relative to the teaching of psychology in Florida secondary schools, are reported here. The objectives of the study were to obtain a broad range of information and relevant data pertaining to the status of psychology and to determine the needs of teachers for materials and audiovisual…

A research project evaluated teaching approaches of precollege humanistic and behavioristic psychology teachers in 266 public and 71 private schools in Florida. Findings indicate that there exists no real difference between humanistic and behavioristic psychology teachers and their respective courses. (Author/DB)

Describes a research project for high school students in which they write to an important figure in psychology to ascertain their contributions to the field. Students sent letters to 113 psychologists and received replies from 72 of them. Reports students were enthusiastic about the project. (NL)

This publication contains a status study of psychology in secondary schools in Illinois. One of the major objectives of the study was to examine the status of the psychology course from the perspectives of three major groups of certified teachers--social studies teachers, guidance counselors, and a group of teachers representing all the other…

This document contains (1) a bibliography of precollege psychology textbooks; (2) a newsletter and historical correspondence of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Special Interest Group (SIG) of Psychology Educators; and (3) the tabular results of a comparative study of high school psychology teachers certified in social studies,…

This paper reports on a study which compared the background and teaching methodology of high school psychology teachers who label their courses either "humanistic" or "behavioristic." A sample of 154 humanistic and 119 behavioristic psychology teachers in Illinois provided data about variables including extent and kinds of professional and…

Data taken from four studies of behavioristic and humanistic precollege psychology teachers in Florida and Mississippi are examined with respect to the objectives for offering and reasons for taking the psychology course, the topics and content that are and should be included in the course, and the audiovisual and instructional aids that are…

This study surveys secondary teachers and students in the state of Mississippi about the status of, and their attitudes toward, psychology courses. The results are compared with those of a similar survey conducted in Florida. In 1975, a four-page questionnaire was mailed to 375 schools in Mississippi. Of these, 198, or 52.8 percent, were filled…

This report explores the status of the teaching of psychology as a separate course on the pre-college level and examines the nature of the differences between urban-suburban and rural teachers, their courses, and their classes. One hundred sixty-two urban-suburban and 166 rural school teachers in Illinois were surveyed via questionnaires. Students…

This report discusses secondary level psychology instruction in Florida public schools. The typical high school psychology student is described. The composite picture is of a student who is white, most often female, attends a large urban high school, and receives instruction with a behavioral emphasis from a social studies teacher with a Masters…

This paper identifies and defines skills associated with the commentary-discussion method of teaching in an effort to improve student learning in precollege psychology courses. First, the author examines the range of teaching methods from formal lecture to open discussion and identifies commentary-discussion as the most widely used technique. In…