Tuesday, May 30, 2017

2017 Policies and Standards for Undergraduate Programs in Psychology




Interesting subjects await new Psych Majors!

With CMO No. 34, Series of 2017 - Policies and Standards for Undergraduate Programs in Psychology was adopted and promulgated through CHED Commission Resolution No. 231-2017 dated March 28, 2017. Consequently, CHED's Memorandum Order No. 34 series of 2017 was signed on May 11, 2017.  This new policies and standards is for implementation in the Academic Year 2018-2019.


Basic Courses (2)
1) Introduction to Psychology
2) Psychological Statistics (5 Units)

Required Courses (13)
1) Developmental Psychology
2) Theories of Personality  (BLEPP Subject)
3) Experimental Psychology (5 Units)
4) Social Psychology
5) Field Methods in Psychology
6) Psychological Assessment (5 Units) (BLEPP Subject)
7) Abnormal Psychology (BLEPP Subject)
8) Industrial Psychology (BLEPP Subject)
9) Physiological/Biological Psychology
10) Cognitive Psychology
11) Research in Psychology 1
12) Research in Psychology 2
13) Sikolohiyang Pilipino/Filipino Psychology
14) Culture and Psychology

Psychology Electives (2)
1) Introduction to Counseling
2) Disaster and Mental Health
3) Introduction to Clinical Psychology
4) Positive Psychology
5) Educational Psychology
6) Group Dynamics
7) Practicum in Psychology (150 hours)
8) Psychology of Learning
9) Psychology of Exceptional Children
10) Strategic Human Resource Management
11) Seminar in Psychology: Recruitment and Selection


AB Psychology students should accomplish a total of 109 units while those in the BS Psychology program should obtain 129 units additional units/subjects from natural sciences. Of the listed subjects mandatory subjects are:  2 subjects for the basic courses, 13 required courses and 2 electives should be taken by both AB and BS Psychology students including the required General Education subjects.





Source - http://api.ched.ph/api/v1/download/4286

CHED Policies and Standards for Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in Psychology



Below are separate CMOs or Commission on Higher Education Memorandum Orders No. 38 and No. 39 made in 2010 for the Policies and Standards for Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in Psychology.

Some schools are not following the said Memo up to know and even after the issuance of RA 10029 or the Philippine Psychology Act of 2009 that governs the Board Licensure Examination for Psychometricians and Psychologists (BLEPP). So their graduates would have to re-enroll to other schools just to fulfill the board required subjects. Some schools that offers AB or BA in Psychology are not offering some subjects like Abnormal Psychology and Theories of Personality since their school officials believe that those subjects were meant for BS Psychology majors.

So for those students whose schools are not following and implementing this CHED Policies and Standards, inform your school and better inform also or complain to CHED about your school practice so it will be corrected. You deserve to take up those required subjects as stated in the CHED Memo whether you are taking up AB/BA or BS Psychology course to guarantee you  the opportunity to take the licensure exam.

With regards to those who have taken up their MA or graduate course in Psychology those who specialized in Industrial Psychology mostly have to take up additional subjects (Counseling and Psychotherapy and Advance Abnormal Psychology) just to take up the licensure exam for Psychologists. Given their specialization most of them were not able to do clinical practice/internship given their field of exposure which is an industrial setting.

With this licensure exam for psychologists some undergraduates are pursuing graduate studies and specializing in Clinical Psychology. Graduate schools that offers Psychology Programs are now experiencing an increase in their enrollment since the introduction of the BLEPP.

However there's a clamor for CHED and PRC to also look into other forms of licensure given the wide application and specialization in the field of Psychology (e.g. Forensic Psychology, School Psychology, Social Psychology, Sports Psychology, Developmental Psychology, etc.)    



CMO-No.38-s2010 Policies and Standards for Undergraduate Programs in Psychology





CMO-No.39-s2010 Policies and Standards for Graduate Programs in Psychology




Sources:

http://www.ched.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CMO-No.38-s2010.pdf

http://www.ched.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CMO-No.39-s2010.pdf 

Monday, May 15, 2017

Cognitive Biases





Anchoring or focalism is a term used in psychology to describe the common human tendency to rely too heavily, or "anchor," on one trait or piece of information when making decisions.

During normal decision making, individuals anchor, or overly rely, on specific information or a specific value and then adjust to that value to account for other elements of the circumstance.

Usually once the anchor is set, there is a bias toward that value.

Take, for example, a person looking to buy a used car - they may focus excessively on the odometer reading and the year of the car, and use those criteria as a basis for evaluating the value of the car, rather than considering how well the engine or the transmission is maintained.



Availability heuristic

Availability is a cognitive heuristic in which a decision maker relies upon knowledge that is readily available rather than examine other alternatives or procedures.
"There are situations in which people assess the frequency of a class or the probability of an event by the ease with which instances or occurrences can be brought to mind. For example, one may assess the risk of heart attack among middle-aged people by recalling such occurrences among one's acquaintances. Similarly, one may evaluate the probability that a given business venture will fail by imagining various difficulties it could encounter. This judgmental heuristic is called availability. Availability ia a useful clue for assessing frequency or probability, because instances of large classes are usually reached better and faster than instances of less frequent classes. However, availability is affected by factors other than frequency and probability. Consequently, the reliance on availability leads predictable biases,[...]"  Tversky and Kahneman (1974)

It is easier for us to recall information which has recently arrived. Stocks with very high levels of press coverage underperformed in the subsequent two years

"We find that overestimation of the subjective probabilities can cause overreaction and underreaction of expectations and, subsequently, asset prices."Chiodo et al. (2002)



Bandwagon effect

When people see some new idea or product and wonder if they should adopt it, evidence of others enjoying and having fun is highly influential.

Numbers are important for the bandwagon effect to take hold. If we see three people on the bandwagon and know that hundreds have not joined, then the reverse effect will take place and we will be loathe to join. If, on the other hand, we see the wagon nearly full with lots of people we know or admire, then we will desperately try to grab the 'final' places.

Once bandwagons have enough participants they are often self-sustaining and people get on board for social rather than ideological reasons.

Bandwagons often have limited lifetimes and eventually run out of steam. People will quickly abandon the 'sinking ship' if they see others leaving.

Source - http://changingminds.org/disciplines/communication/diffusion/bandwagon_effect.htm


Blind spot bias

The bias blind spot is the cognitive bias of recognizing the impact of biases on the judgement of others, while failing to see the impact of biases on one's own judgment. The term was created by Emily Pronin, a social psychologist from Princeton University's Department of Psychology, with colleagues Daniel Lin and Lee Ross.  The bias blind spot is named after the visual blind spot. Most people appear to exhibit the bias blind spot. In a sample of more than 600 residents of the United States, more than 85% believed they were less biased than the average American. Only one participant believed that he or she was more biased than the average American. People do vary with regard to the extent to which they exhibit the bias blind spot. It appears to be a stable individual difference that is measurable (for a scale, see Scopelliti et al. 2015).

The bias blind spot appears to be a true blind spot in that it is unrelated to actual decision making ability. Performance on indices of decision making competence are not related to individual differences in bias blind spot. In other words, everyone seems to think they are less biased than other people, regardless of their actual decision making ability.

Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias_blind_spot


Thursday, May 11, 2017

PAP Calls on Members for Revision of By-Laws


AN opportune time for all PAP members particularly those licensed RPm and RPsy to engage and provide input in the revision of the PAP By-laws.


Dear Members,

Needless to say, the Psychological Association of the Philippines continues to evolve as an organization.

For this reason, the Board of Directors sees the need to amend the By-Laws. Please see the attached letter (from Dr. Glenn Glarino) and copy of the By-Laws for your review and remarks regarding this matter. Please indicate the specific provisions that you deem to be changed and provide the reasons for these suggestions. Send your comments directly to glennguanzonglarino@gmail.com or thru teachpsych.pap.sig@gmail.com