Psychological literacies

Also guiding the TiTo approach is the concept of psychological literacy. Psychological literacy has been described as “the capacity to adaptively apply psychological principles to meet personal, professional and societal needs” (Cranney & Dunn, 2011, p.3). The TiTo model is designed to build the following 9 psychological literacies in both first year mentees and final year mentors:

Psychological literacy Description
Understanding the basic concepts and principles of psychology Having a well-defined vocabulary and basic knowledge of the core subject matter of psychology
Thinking critically Bringing a critical lens to all one does and understanding typical flaws in logical thought
Having problem solving skills Taking a creative and sceptical approach to problem solving
Understanding scientific research practices Valuing the intellectual challenges required to use scientific thinking and the disciplined analysis of information to evaluate alternative courses of action
Communicating well in many different contexts Communicating effectively in different modes and with many different audiences
Applying psychological principles to personal, social or organisational problems Using psychological knowledge to understand and help solve personal, social and organisational problems
Acting ethically Behaving in ways that demonstrate a sound knowledge of ethical principles
Having cultural competence and respecting diversity Demonstrating an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultural backgrounds and recognising, understanding and fostering respect for diversity
Having self- and other-awareness and understanding Being insightful and reflective about one’s own and others’ behaviour and mental processes

Source: McGovern et al. (2010). 

For more information on psychological literacies, see the website Are you Psychological Literate? developed by Jacqueline Cranney as part of her ALTC Fellowship.