How do we determine psychological-experimental training menus?

An analysis based on syllabi

Abstract

Psychological-experimental training is a popular method of education for psychology courses. Although it is possible that a training menu can affect undergraduate’s skills and later understanding of psychology, there is no systematic research about what theme is likely to be included in the menu. Training syllabi from Japanese universities were collected and the similarity structure of selecting themes was analyzed. Four ways of arranging themes were found: preferring classical and standard themes; preferring recent and flexible theme; emphasizing clinical demands; and abstract themes based on research methods. The relationship among the themes was interpreted with the similarity structure. A possible determinant of theme selection was discussed in terms of student’s cognitive demand.