Multi- and Transdisciplinarity as a Challenge for Environmental Psychology (Symposium)

Since 2008 the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has been funding ten transdisciplinary research projects within the thematic focus ‘From Knowledge to Action - New Paths towards Sustainable Consumption’. A particular challenge which is faced with the programm is the task to build a bridge between individual activities and ecological and social framework conditions. Environmental psychologists are involved in half of the ten transdisciplinary projects. The symposium gives an insight into the new thematic focus and the variety of psychological contributions. The presentations will focus on the specific competence of psychology within the broader research focus of the transdisciplinary projects. An invited discussant will reflect on the role of psychology within the field of sustainable consumption and about challenges of transdisciplinary research in general.

“Advertising Psychology – The Blog Seminar”.

The aim of the web-based course “Advertising Psychology – The Blog Seminar” was to offer a contemporary teaching design using typical Web 2.0 characteristics such as comments, discussions and social media integration which covers facebook and Twitter support, as nowadays, this is a common part of students’ everyday life. This weblog (blog)-based seminar for Advertising Psychology was set up in order to make the course accessible to students from different campuses in the Ruhr metropolitan area. The technical aspect of the open-source content management system Drupal 6.0 and the didactical course structure, based on Merrill’s five first principles of instruction, are introduced. To date, this blog seminar has been conducted three times with a total of 84 participants, who were asked to rate the course according to the benefits of different didactical elements and with regard to Kirkpatrick’s levels of evaluation model. This model covers a) reactions such as reported enjoyment, perceived usefulness and perceived difficulty, and b) effects on learning through the subjectively reported increase in knowledge and attitude towards the seminar. Overall, the blog seminar was evaluated very positively and can be considered as providing support for achieving the learning objectives. However, a successful blended learning approach should always be tailored to the learning contents and the environment.

Sport psychology: Needs and perspectives for research, education and application

Sport psychology has shown an increasing development in the past 25 years. A first focus is laid on the growth of research output as indicated by the number of publications. A more detailed analysis shows that some mainstream topics are very dominant in the international research literature whereas other themes are completely lacking. Possible biases are discussed as well as consequences for the body of knowledge in sport psychology. The need for a sound training in sport psychology is discussed in relation with the progress in sport psychology research. Different concepts of education in sport psychology with their respective background are compared and their impact on the development of sport psychology is discussed. The field of application, mainly in top level sport, is presented with a focus on professional standards and deontological codes. Conclusions are drawn with the aim to open new perspectives for research, education, and application of sport psychology.

Expertise in Clinical Psychology. The Effects of University Training and Practical Experience on Expertise in Clinical Psychology

How do university training and subsequent practical experience affect expertise in clinical psychology? To answer this question we developed methods to assess psychological knowledge and the competence to diagnose, construct case conceptualizations, and plan psychotherapeutic treatment: a knowledge test and short case studies in a first study, and a complex, dynamically evolving case study in the second study. In our cross-sectional studies, psychology students, trainees in a certified postgraduate psychotherapist curriculum, and behavior therapists with more than 10 years of experience were tested (100 in total: 20 each of novice, intermediate, and advanced university students, postgraduate trainees, and therapists). Clinical knowledge and competence increased up to the level of trainees but unexpectedly decreased at the level of experienced therapists. We discuss the results against the background of expertise research and the training of clinical psychologists (in Germany). Important factors for the continuing professional development of psychotherapists are proposed.