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Integrating Critical Thinking
Lectures. Instructors can use the prescriptions to organize lectures about major
figures and systems of psychology. For example, Keniston gives an introductory lecture
entitled “Wundt’s Prescription for Psychology” that uses the prescriptions to lay out
the main features of Wundt’s system of psychology. There are two goals: (a) focus on
the prescriptions and (b) compact treatment of Wundt’s work that sets students up for
further reading in their textbook and articles. Similar lectures about every major figure
or system can employ Watson’s (1967) prescriptions. However, we suggest encourag-
ing students to learn from and apply the framework presented by the instructor’s
lecture on Wundt.
Tests. Keniston uses the prescriptions for questions on tests. Here is an example of a
multiple choice question:
One of the philosophical foundations of modern psychology is scientific materialism, or
mechanism. This strain of thought makes specific prescriptions about how we should under-
stand human mind and behavior. Here are eight of the prescriptions that Robert Watson
contends define the issues we study in psychology. Which four of these are the “prescriptions
of scientific materialism?”
Vitalism Determinism Naturalism Dualism
Monism Purism Theism Methodological Objectivism
Here is an example of an essay question in which students summarize a historical figure’s
ideas in terms of Watson’s (1967) prescriptions:
Write Freud’s prescription for psychology. Use Watson’s prescriptions as indicated in the
survey that I used at the beginning of the semester; you could fill the form out as you imagine
Freud would. Then write a paragraph in which you highlight the distinguishing characteris-
tics of the prescription.
How the Prescriptions Infuse Course Content with Critical Thinking
Watson’s (1967) prescriptions allow instructors to infuse critical thinking into a history
and systems of psychology course by providing a framework for teaching as well as a
vehicle for thinking about course content. As a framework, the prescriptions help an
instructor to achieve perspective, integrity, and unity in a discipline that often seems
fragmented and haphazard. As a vehicle, the prescriptions carry students repeatedly
through exercises that keep them thinking about what they are learning and that prompt
them to construct their own understanding of psychological systems.
Learning about the prescriptions affords multiple critical thinking opportunities.
At heart they expose the assumptions inherent in psychological systems. Identifying
prescriptions requires students to discover and explain the positions various systems
take on the same set of prescriptions. Identifying a system’s prescriptions prepares
students for a comprehensive comparison and contrast among systems. Doing this may
also encourage students to examine their stereotypes about schools. For example, they