Magical Thinking

• Substantive and thoughtful; that is, discussion posts must refer to a topic from the week's readings.  All discussion posts must be supported by current journal article(s) found in SFC Online Library Database system.  Discussion posts should draw from the information found in this week’s course materials, from personal experience, and from credible sources (peer-reviewed journal articles and sites provided by your professor).  


• All information gained, read, or acquired from any source that is not your personal information must be cited throughout the document otherwise it is plagiarism.  All information must be cited in the body of the document AND full-reference text at the end of the document using APA style & format criteria.  


• APA style & format criteria:  


• Peer-reviewed journal articles from SFC Online Library Database System  


• Current: January 2015 – Current month 2020  


• PDF available  


• Times New Roman font  


• 12-point font  


• Black ink  


• Single spaced work for DISC and RESP assignments only (to save space)  


• In-text citations appear throughout work  


• Full-text references appear at bottom of work  


• The discussion post should be three (3) well-developed paragraphs in length (about 7-9 fully developed sentences each; adhere to APA style & format including in-text and full-text reference citations).    


• If your professor and/or fellow classmate(s) asked you a question, to follow up, or further explain a point, you are required to do so in addition to your two main responses.  Failure to timely respond by Sunday of each week (to follow up questions) will result in reduction of points; 1 point for each entry not addressed.    

The main discussion post is due by Day 3 (Wednesday of each week).  Please click on “REPLY” from the main discussion post instructions to submit your assignment.  

Credible sources relevant to this course are (this is only a PARTIAL list): 

Santa Fe College Library Database system (https://sfcollege.libguides.com/az.php (Links to an external site.)) 

American Psychological Association (www.apa.org (Links to an external site.)) 

Society for Personality and Social Psychology (https://www.apa.org/about/division/div8 (Links to an external site.)) 

American Psychiatric Association (www.psychiatry.org (Links to an external site.) or www.psychiatryonline.org (Links to an external site.)) 

National Institutes of Health (www.nih.org (Links to an external site.)) 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.org (Links to an external site.)) 

World Health Organization: WHO (www.who.int (Links to an external site.)) 

REMEMBER: YouTube, Social Media, Wikipedia, etc. are NOT credible sources. 

Examples of topics to write about

(Choose only one topic from the examples below OR choose a topic of your interest that pertains to this week's material): 

Magical Thinking 

Why do you think people are likely to engage in magical thinking and believe that they can control the events around them? In what sense could this be an evolutionary adaptation that may have been selected for our survival? Is there anything wrong with people believing that something they do may influence the world around them when it has no effect? 

Theory of Mind 

How may a theory of mind help us adapt to the environment around us? Some say that one of our greatest advantages is navigating our social environment. What advantage does a theory of mind give that helps us navigate the world around us? What are the implications for lacking theory of mind? 

Cause and Effect 

Cause-and-effect typically is seen in science through scientific experiments using the scientific method.  What evidence is there to support the idea that people organize their perceptions of action in the social world in terms of causes and effects. How does this tendency to infer (factual) cause and effect help people to make sense of the world?  How does using this principle suppress chaos in our social interactions with others? 

Personal Experience 

How does age, experience, and our cultural background influence the ways in which we think about ourselves and about others?  What are some examples of changes in perception of ourselves and others at various ages?  How do experiences and culture influence how and when we interact with others?  (You can choose to write about any culture, it does not have to be the one in which you identify.)