Theories of psychology are, in many ways, a product of thecontext that they come from. We have discussed the role of culture,cohort, and environment in identifying factors that createdifferences in behavior and thought. A robust theory of psychologycan address universal (culture free) and individual (culturespecific) differences in explaining the HOW and WHY of behavior.For this assignment, you will be addressing the following culturalscenarios and will need to evaluate psychological theories fromthis new point of view:  

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Television images, movies and glamour magazines promote the elderlyas role models. Your sense of self- esteem is tied to how “old” youare perceived as, with success in work and relationships based onage related criteria. Younger members of a group are marginalizedand clear messages about the value of age are communicated witheven very young members of society (children). There are industriesin your society dedicated to helping provide society with valuedmarkers of age (think hair dye and plastic surgery to ageindividuals). Imagine what your experiences would have been growingup and how your sense of identity would be like as a collegestudent.

For this assignment, please reflect on what ways such a situationmight affect their personal experiences. (What would be different,specifically?) Next, speculate how the theories in the field ofpsychology might be changed as a result. Describe this in terms ofat least three approaches or theories in psychology (Freud, Piaget,Social Learning, Milgram, Zimbardo, etc.) You will need to discusswhy these changes would impact their experiences and the world atlarge (ex., would Freud be more widely accepted without the changesin access to education for women in the 30s and 40s that gave womenmore status and would current theories of personality be differentdue to this change. Think about if these changes in the world wouldhave altered the theories of psychology and what a specificalternate theory would look like.

Students will need to discuss this hypothetical change usingthe
WHAT, HOW, AND WHY
format.
o
WHAT is different based on the change (in terms of your personalexperiences and
culture).
o
HOW is psychology different? (What in the research that we havediscussed holds
true and what does not? Would we still find the same results? Wouldresearch or
theories look different? Would a different cultural norm produce adifferent
explanation of thought and behavior and what does that say aboutthe role of culture
in how we explain behavior or thought?)