Part of the appeal of psychology is that the theories and ideas tested by psychologists have direct applications to your life. The purpose of the portfolio assignment is to make you examine the media and your own experience in an attempt to connect these sources to the material covered in the textbook. To complete the assignment, you will be required to find 5 media examples of psychological phenomena and 5 personal examples of psychological phenomena. Each of the 10 entries should explain how the example is relevant to a psychological principle covered in the book. Media sources include: t.v. shows, movies, newspaper articles, magazine articles, comic strips, novels, song lyrics, commercials, print ads, etc.). Note that you may only use a specific type of source for one entry at the most (e.g., you can only use one example from t.v., one from song lyrics). In addition, the general concepts covered in your 10 entries should not be repetitive. In other words, if you have one item that demonstrates the principle of âvariable ratio reinforcementâ, then you should not use another example that demonstrates that principle.
View these sample portfolio entries to get an idea of how to structure your portfolio. Note that there are 3 components to a good portfolio entry: 1) a brief description or definition of the psychological principle being addressed by the example (include the section from the text as a source of this definition); 2) a description of the personal or media example in enough detail that I will be able to understand what it means; and 3) an integration of the first two components, so that it becomes clear how your example ties into the appropriate theory.
It is best to simply collect these examples as you move through your daily routine. Keep your mind open to the possibility that something that happens to you today may be relevant for your psychology portfolio. If you wait until the end of the semester and then seek out examples to complete this assignment, these examples are less likely to fit well with the relevant psychological concept.