The History of Psychology Rating Game

Christopher Green (who provides us with the fantastic resource "Classics in the History of Psychology") and Shane Martin developed a game we can all play!

Here's Christopher's description of the game:

"Play is extremely simple: The player is shown a pair of significant individuals from the past and asked to click on the name of the person who had the greatest impact on the psychology. If the player needs to refresh his/her knowledge of the figures, there is a short description of their important career highlights, along with a link to their Wikipedia entry. As soon as the player clicks on one of the two names, s/he is shown a new pair to choose from.

Players can play the game for as long as they like, as often as they like, whenever they like. They can quit at any time (though they might find it a little addictive). At the bottom of the page, they will find "top ten” lists that have been compiled from the tens of thousands of choices that they and others have made. (Click on the “Ratings” menu tab and they’ll find the complete list of ranking, along with some specialized top ten lists, including one for women psychologists.)

As well as a game, this is also a research project for us: the PsyBorgs Digital History of Psychology Laboratory at York University in Toronto. When starting the game for the first time, the player is asked three optional demographic questions, and there is a consent form to be “ticked” if the player is willing to allow his/her data to be anonymously included in the research project"

 I played for a while and found it addictive! I ended up skipping many pairings b/c I wasn't familiar with either name, but I enjoyed seeing the match ups, and the "rankings" at the bottom are fascinating (complete list of rankings).

(NOTE: If your district has rules about students participating in research studies, you may want to tell them to NOT click the box to participate in the study and give consent)

Psychology's EloRater Game



posted by Rob McEntarffer

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