Prior to completing the journal this week, read Chapter 1: Professional Applications of Psychology in the course textbook, read the APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Links

Prior to completing the journal this week, read Chapter 1: Professional Applications of Psychology in the course textbook, read the APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Links to an external site.) (Introduction and Preamble), and watch Samantha Agoos’s TED-Ed Animation, 5 Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking (Links to an external site.). Keep these resources handy, because we will be referring back to them throughout your assignments in this course.

Several areas are identified in the chapter as applicable to the requirements of a psychology professional. These include application of critical thinking, professional writing and communications, and codes of conduct. Specifically in the preamble of the APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct (Links to an external site.), it states that instructors are obligated to encourage ethical standards by students. Hence it is important that you illustrate that you understand the importance of these ethical practices in this course.

With this in mind, reflect on your own journey in academics by considering the following sentence starters as you write your journal:

• Do you believe you have improved your level of critical thought during your time with Ashford? In what ways?
• Do you believe you have improved your level of professional writing standards? What improvements can you identify?
• Do you utilize software that can help you edit your writing? If so, what software works best for you?
• Do you double check that you have sufficiently given credit to outside authors? Was there a resource that was most helpful to you?
• Do you use your own voice rather than just writing exactly what someone else said with quotes?
  • When you do this, do you still cite where you learned the information?
• How about ethical standards associated with giving advice: Are you more careful now to not give psychological advice, without having additional education, or supported evidence?
• What do our reflection resource readings tell us about applying ethics?

There are many additional considerations you may include, but the key to this reflection is to

• Demonstrate a broad understanding about the importance of the responsibilities associated with graduating with knowledge in the area of psychology.
• Explain the potential applications of such knowledge to your future goals.
• Discuss implications associated with ethical writing practices.
• Discuss the implications of offering psychological advice to others, with limited knowledge and without credentials.

(Please do not list these sentence starters in your reflection. You should simply make sure that you discuss each in a way that reflects your understanding of the significance and applications of having a psychology degree.)

Your journal this week should be two to three pages and have an introduction and a conclusion as described in the Ashford University Writing Center’s resource, Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.). In addition, demonstrate your understanding of Chapter 1 by applying ethical writing standards through the use of appropriate citations, when appropriate. Specifically, as you use the resources included in this reflection to explain your understanding, add them as a citation. Example: As suggested by Harper and colleagues (2019), it is important to not just accept the findings of research, but to consider the potential alternatives to what is suggested (1.1).

You should also exhibit obvious attention to critical thought and understanding of the content, as demonstrated in Samantha Agoos’s TED-Ed Animation, 5 Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking (Links to an external site.).

As this is your personal reflection about the material this week, your journal should limit the use of quoted material. Proper grammar should be applied. Consider using the Ashford University Writing Center’s Grammarly (Links to an external site.) resource. At minimum, cite your text and the required websites to support your assertions within your explanation, but you may also use additional scholarly sources. The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. References should be listed following the reflection, in APA format. You will have until 11:59 p.m. on Day 6 (Sunday) to deliver this journal reflection.

The Week 1 Journal

• Must be one to two double-spaced pages in length (not including the list of references) and formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must use at least the required websites in addition to the course text, when applicable. Feel free to use additional scholarly sources. Note that your personal experiences/opinions do not need to be cited.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
• Must document any information used from sources, if applicable, in APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.)
• Must include a list of your references, if applicable, at the end of your reflection that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.