PS210 Unit 9 History and Modern Practice Paper Example

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Three episodes from psychology's past are linked to three features of practice today in this PS210 Unit 9 paper on history and modern practice. Binet's school tests, turned by Goddard and the wartime Army tests into rankings of groups, led to fairness requirements in today's joint testing standards. Little Albert's conditioning without meaningful consent led toward the informed consent and debriefing rules of the APA Ethics Code. Research drawn from a narrow population led to cultural adaptation of cognitive behavioral therapy. The APA's 2021 apology frames the lesson. Purdue Global PS 210, History of Psychology, assigns this paper in the BS in Psychology course.

CoursePS210 History of Psychology
UnitUnit 9
Paper typeHistory and modern practice paper
LengthAbout 480 words, 4 pages double-spaced
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolPurdue University Global
ProgramBS in Psychology
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for PS210 Unit 9

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From Army Tests to Informed Consent: A PS210 Unit 9 Paper on History and Modern Practice

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

PS210: History of Psychology

Unit 9 History and Modern Practice Paper

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The thread connecting historical episodes to modern practice is the writer's own; the sources cited are real.

What this part is doingPairing each historical episode with the practice it shaped in the lead shows the paper argues cause, not coincidence.
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Episode One: Tests That Ranked People

Alfred Binet designed his tests in the early 1900s to identify French schoolchildren who needed extra help, and he warned against treating the score as a fixed measure of innate ability. American psychologists adapted the tests and often ignored that warning. Henry Goddard tested immigrants at Ellis Island and reported high rates of what he called feeblemindedness, and wartime Army group tests from 1917 and 1918 were cited afterward to argue that some national and racial groups were inherently less intelligent, results that ignored differences in language, schooling and familiarity with American culture (Guthrie, 2004). Those claims supported restrictive immigration laws and eugenic sterilization.

What It Changed

Modern testing practice was shaped partly in reaction. The testing standards issued jointly by three professional bodies treat fairness as a central requirement and call for evidence that a test means the same thing across the groups it is used with (American Educational Research Association et al., 2014). A test score is no longer supposed to be interpreted without considering the examinee's language and background.

Binet's warning that a score is not a fixed measure of a person became, a century late, a professional standard.

Episode Two: Research Without Consent

The Little Albert study involved an infant whose mother had little meaningful say, and the conditioned fear was never removed. Later twentieth-century scandals in medical research, along with concerns about deception in psychology experiments, led to formal research ethics rules. The APA Ethics Code now requires informed consent for research and therapy, attention to the welfare of participants and debriefing after deception (American Psychological Association, 2017).

What this part is doingConnecting Little Albert to modern consent rules shows how an episode from the thread shaped current ethics.
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Episode Three: Who Was Studied and Who Did the Studying

For much of its history, psychology's researchers and participants were mostly white and middle class, and findings were treated as universal. That history matters for cognitive behavioral therapy, whose early trials drew largely on such participants. Clinicians and researchers now adapt the therapy for clients from other cultures, adjusting examples, language and the way thoughts and family relationships are discussed, since assumptions about independence and family built into the early manuals did not suit every client.

What These Episodes Teach

The three episodes share a lesson: psychology's tools were applied to people who had little voice in how they were used. The modern answers, fairness standards, informed consent and cultural adaptation, each give that voice back in a specific way. The APA's 2021 apology acknowledged that the field's history includes harm, and these practices are part of how the field tries not to repeat it.

What this part is doingEnding on the shared lesson behind all three answers gives the paper a single argument.
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References

American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education. (2014). Standards for educational and psychological testing. American Educational Research Association.

American Psychological Association. (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct (2002, amended effective June 1, 2010, and January 1, 2017). https://www.apa.org/ethics/code

Guthrie, R. V. (2004). Even the rat was white: A historical view of psychology (2nd ed.). Pearson.

What the PS210 Unit 9 assignment asks for

PS210's ninth unit commonly asks how psychology's history, including its mistakes, shapes ethics and practice today. Choose two or three specific episodes and describe each accurately, with names, dates and consequences. For each, identify a feature of current practice that responds to it, such as a testing standard, an ethics rule or a clinical adaptation, and explain the connection rather than assuming it. Use the actual documents that govern practice today where possible, such as the Ethics Code or the testing standards. Avoid treating history as a list of villains; explain the scientific and social reasons mistakes were made. Close with a lesson that unites the episodes. Cite historical and professional sources in APA style.

How the PS 210 Unit 9 example is put together

The paper opens with Binet's purpose and warning, then Goddard's Ellis Island testing and the wartime Army tests cited for immigration limits and sterilization, with Guthrie's account. The response section describes the jointly issued testing standards and their fairness requirement, under a highlighted line that Binet's warning became a standard a century late. Little Albert's consent problem leads to the Ethics Code's rules on consent, welfare and debriefing. A section on narrow research populations connects to adapting cognitive behavioral therapy across cultures. The close names the shared lesson, people with little voice in how tools were used, and ties it to the 2021 apology. Each section pairs one past failure with one present safeguard.

Where the points sit in the PS210 Unit 9 rubric

Instructors grade this paper on accurate history and convincing links to present practice. Each episode should be described with specifics, and each modern feature should be shown responding to it, not merely existing alongside it. Using the governing documents themselves, such as the testing standards or the Ethics Code, earns more than citing general claims about ethics. Explaining why mistakes happened, in scientific and social terms, shows historical understanding beyond blame. A unifying lesson at the end gives the paper an argument. Balanced treatment that acknowledges the field's corrective efforts as well as its harms is valued. APA citations for both historical and professional sources complete the paper.

Common PS210 Unit 9 mistakes, and how to avoid them

The most common weakness is listing historical wrongs without connecting any of them to current practice, which turns the paper into a catalog. Another frequent slip asserts that a modern rule exists because of an episode without evidence of the link. Students sometimes misattribute Binet's intentions to the American adapters of his test. Professional documents are often cited secondhand. Papers occasionally treat all early psychologists as complicit, ignoring those who objected. Before submitting, check that each episode has a date and a name, that each modern feature is described from its own document, that you explain at least one reason the mistake seemed reasonable at the time, and that your conclusion states a single lesson.

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Send the topic and the instructions with the rubric. A custom paper connects a historical episode to present-day practice. It comes back within 24-48h, and the first is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.

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PS210 Unit 9 questions, answered

What historical episodes shaped modern ethics?

Intelligence testing and eugenics, harmful experiments and the exclusion of groups from the field.

Has the APA addressed its history?

In 2021 the APA issued an apology for its role in promoting and perpetuating racism.

Should the paper make recommendations?

Often, yes, connecting lessons from history to current practice.

Where can I find a free PS210 Unit 9 sample paper?

This page holds the complete PS210 Unit 9 paper linking intelligence testing, Little Albert and narrow research samples to today's standards, consent rules and cultural adaptation.

What was Binet's original purpose in the PS210 Unit 9 sample?

To identify French schoolchildren who needed extra help, with a warning not to treat the score as a fixed measure of ability.