ERIC Number: ED226270
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1982-Aug
Pages: 6
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Student Essays about TV Characters: A Tool for Understanding Personality Theories.
Polyson, James A.
One means of making undergraduate instruction more relevant to students' needs and interests has been to use popular media to illustrate concepts in psychology courses. College students (N=54) in a theories of personality course wrote brief essays explaining the behavior of television characters in terms of theories taught in the course. The character most often selected for the essays were from the television shows "MASH" and "The Guiding Light." Results of student evalutions of the assignment were very favorable. Most found the assignment quite worthwhile and none judged it to be worthless. Nearly all the students indicated that the assignment was consistent with their personal goals for the course; all students felt the task should be repeated in future semesters. Over half the students believed the assignment enhanced their enjoyment of the television program. The findings suggest that the basic reason for the success of the project is the fun involved in writing, reading, and discussing essays which apply some of the classic psychological theories to popular television characters. (JAC)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (90th, Washington, DC, August 23-27, 1982).