Johnson's Psy 2 Syllabus

Syllabus for Psy 2:  Psychology                    Dr. John A. Johnson
Fall Semester, 1996                                Office 188 Smeal
Sec 1 Tue & Thur, 3:05-4:20                        Hours TR 11-12 and by appt.
Hiller Building Auditorium (Room 107)              j5j@psu.edu
                                                   http://cac.psu.edu/~j5j/

Course Description:

This course is a broad survey or overview of the discipline of Psychology.
Several features of the course this semester represent a major departure from
the way I have taught the course for the last 15 years. The primary change I
am implementing this semester is the use of collaborative student workgroups
to encourage active learning. Members of each group will collaborate on a
project that entails searching the World Wide Web for information related to
the first quarter of the course. Each student's learning during this portion
of the course will be evaluated by an independently written paper rather than
a multiple-choice test, as has been the case in the past.

A second new feature will be a posting of the multiple-choice tests for the
remaining three quarters before the test dates. Although I am not
requiring members of the workgroups to collaborate after the initial project,
my hope is that everyone continues to meet in their groups to discuss what
the correct answers to the test questions might be.

Finally, I am changing the grading scale for what constitutes an A, B, C, D,
or F for the course. In the past I had used the standard but perfectly arbitrary
cutoff points of 90% for an A, 80% for a B, and so forth. This semester I will
still demand high performance for an A, but will make it somewhat easier to earn
a C, C+, B-, B, B+, or A-. Also I have decided that any student who regularly
attends class, makes an honest effort to learn, and demonstrates at least some
learning will be guaranteed at least a passing grade. In the past, only a few
students failed to earn at least a D; this semester I expect all students to
pass this class.

The content of the course is arranged as follows.

The first quarter of the course introduces general issues in the discipline
such as historical development of the different fields, basic and applied
research, scientific reasoning, and psychological methods and statistics.
This introduction is followed by discussions of theories and findings
in different fields of psychology, including Developmental Psychology,
Social Psychology, Neuropsychology, Perception, Cognition, Learning,
Personality, and Abnormal Psychology. Students interested in pursuing any of
the above areas in greater detail and depth will find that the Psychology
Department offers courses that are devoted entirely to a single field.





Required Textbook:

Lefton, L., Lonner, W. J., Malpass, R. S., Baron, R. A., & Pinel,
J. P. J. (1995) Psychology. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon/Ginn Press.

You will understand and remember the information presented in class
if you read the relevant textbook material before class. It wouldn't
hurt to re-read the textbook material again after class. The textbook reading
assignments are meant to clarify and reinforce what is presented in class.
The only textbook information on which you will be tested is information
that is also presented in class.

Course Outline:

CLASS
MEETING TOPIC READING ASSIGNMENT

NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY

1 R 8/22 The What, How, & Why of Behavior Chapter 12

2 T 8/27 History of Basic Psychology Chapter 1, pp. 1-13

3 R 8/29 History of Applied Psychology

4 T 9/3 Modern Psychological Schools & Frameworks Chapter 1, pp. 13-20

5 R 9/5 Psychological Research Methods Chapter 1, pp. 20-36

6 T 9/10 Interpreting Research Results Chapter 10

7 R 9/12 * * * EXAM 1: NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY * * *
NOTE: You are required to take this exam but it will not
count toward your grade unless you want it to. See section on
grading for further details.

BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

8 T 9/17 Evolution & Behavior Chapter 11, pp. 345-352

9 R 9/19 Heredity & Behavior Chapter 2, pp. 37-65

10 T 9/24 Ethology Chapter 11, pp. 353-360

11 R 9/26 Evolutionary Basis of Social Behavior Chapter 11, pp. 360-367

12 T 10/1 Evolution and Motivation Chapter 11, pp. 368-373

13 R 10/3 Prosocial and Aggressive Behavior Chapter 11, pp. 373-383

14 T 10/8 Nature and Nurture Chapter 2, pp. 65-76

15 R 10/10 Social and Emotional Development

16 T 10/15 Attraction and Close Relationships Chapter 3

17 R 10/17 * * * EXAM 2: BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR * * *

THE BRAIN, COGNITION, AND LEARNING

18 T 10/22 The Old Brain Chapter 4, pp. 83-106

19 R 10/24 Cerebral Cortex and Lateralization Chapter 4, pp. 106-111

20 T 10/29 ANS, Hormones, & Pheromones Chapter 4, pp. 111-118

21 R 10/31 Perception Chapter 5

22 T 11/5 Memory Chapter 6

23 R 11/7 Classical & Instrumental Conditioning Chapter 7, pp. 211-253

24 T 11/12 * * * EXAM 3: BRAIN, COGNITION, AND LEARNING * * *

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

25 R 11/14 Personality Theory Chapter 8, pp. 255-286

26 T 11/19 Personality Assessment Chapter 8, pp. 286-296

27 R 11/21 Theories of Abnormal Behavior Chapter 9, pp. 297-304

28 T 11/26 Classifying Abnormal Behavior Chapter 9, pp. 304-312; pp. 315-332

* * * THANKSGIVING BREAK * * *

29 T 12/3 Personality Disorders Chapter 9, pp. 312-315

30 R 12/5 * * * EXAM 4: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES * * *

Course Objectives:

The course has three objectives:

1. You should learn to think as psychologists think and to learn
how to critically evaluate psychological research.

2. You should become familiar with some of the important theories
and findings in the major fields of psychology.

3. You should come to understand how psychological issues affect
you personally, and you should increase your self-understanding.

How Assignments Help to Meet Course Objectives:

We will focus on the first goal during the first unit of the course
(Nature of Psychology). In this unit I talk about what goes on inside the
heads of different types of psychologists--what interests them, how they
think, what they argue about, etc. This unit might be called "The
Psychology of Psychologists." You, of course, will be actively
and collaboratively searching the World Wide Web for information relevant
to this portion of the course.

During the remainder of the course I present ideas within specific
areas of psychology, mostly through lectures. I also show several films
and videotapes and demonstrate certain psychological principles with
"mini-experiments" in class. The large class size discourages discussion, but I welcome comments
and questions at any point. Don't be afraid to interrupt if you have something
to say.

The third goal is actually a life-long project. What psychologists
do and say influences how we raise our children, how we run our educational
system, how employers treat employees, and how we evaluate our well-being,
among other things. I like to encourage an awareness of the impact of today's
psychologists by bringing in news clippings and magazine articles or
mentioning TV shows and movies with a psychological slant. Please feel free to do
the same. Searching the World Wide Web for psychological information is required
only for the first quarter of the course, but I hope that some students will find
the experience interesting enough to continue this activity for the remainder of
the course. Let me know if you find any interesting sites. In terms of print media,
you might want to look at Psychology Today (available in our library), a
very readable account of what is going on today in psychology. I will be glad to
discuss any information you come across.

Grading:

The grade you earn will be determined by the quality of your project and on
you performance on three 40-question exams. Each exam will cover only the material
since the previous exam. All questions will be multiple choice, and you will mark
your answers on computer-scored answer sheets. Please bring two number 2 pencils to
each exam! All multiple choice questions for the second, third, and fourth exams
will be posted on the World Wide Web prior to the exam date. You are encouraged
to study the exams and talk with other students about the answers. But on the day
of the examination you must take the test on your own, without help from other
students, books, and notes.

The research project for the first unit is worth 60 points. Each of the three exams
is worth 40 points.

At the end of the first unit of the course, you will take a multiple choice exam
that will not count toward your grade (unless you want it to; keep reading to find
out about this option.) This ungraded exam will serve two purposes. First, it will
provide excellent practice for the next three exams. I have found in the past that
students almost always do worst on their first multiple choice exam in Psy 2 and then
improve due to their experience with what these exams are like. The other purpose is
to see how well the class does compared to classes in previous years who were taught
strictly by the traditional lecture method.

Now, for the option of counting the test. If, by chance, you actually do better on
this test than on one of the next three tests, I will substitute your score on the
first exam for the lower score. In other words, I will use your three highest scores
from the four exams.

Grades will be based on the total points earned out of a possible
180 points (3 exams at 40 points each plus 60 additional points for
the research project). See table below.

Total points Approximate Letter grade
Percentage

166 - 180 92-100 % A

158 - 165 88- 91 % A-

151 - 157 84- 87 % B+

137 - 150 76- 83 % B

133 - 136 74- 75 % B-

129 - 132 72- 73 % C+

113 - 128 63- 71 % C

80 - 112 44- 62 % D

0 - 79 0- 43 % F

Other Factors that May Affect Final Grades:

Curving. I don't grade on a curve. Grades are based strictly on the total
number of points you earn according to the chart above.

Re-taking an Examination. In the past I have tried giving students who
did poorly on an examination a second chance to take the test, but this policy
has worked out very poorly. Therefore, you can take an examination only once.

Missed Examinations. Students who have a legitimate reason for missing
an examination (generally only serious illness or death in the immediate
family) should contact me to arrange to make up the examination. It is your
responsibility to contact me to make arrangements. Missed exams that are not
made up are entered as a zero score.

Extra Credit. Students can receive extra credit points for
participating in course-relevant research projects. Details concerning
this opportunity will be announced to the entire class near the end of
the semester. For those students who do not wish to be part of a research
project, extra credit may be granted on an individual basis. Students desiring
individual extra credit should approach me after class, with an idea
in mind. I do not have time to create special extra credit opportunities
for many individuals.

The Final Say. Policy 47-20 state that "Grades shall
be assigned to individual students on the basis of the instructor's
judgment of the student's scholastic achievement as set forth in Section
47-60 (my emphasis). This means that my professional judgment is the final
arbiter of all grades.

Statement of Academic Integrity:

Violation of academic integrity includes all of the following:

Cheating on exams

Having unauthorized possession of exams

Plagiarizing

Submitting the work of another person as your own

Tampering with the work of another student.

Students caught cheating on exams will receive a zero on that exam.
Students caught cheating a second time and students violating academic
integrity in any other way will receive an F for the course. In the case
of more serious violation of any of the above points (multiple violations;
organized, unauthorized, widespread distribution of exams, etc.), expulsion
from the University will be recommended to the Director of Academic Affairs.

Further information, including appeals processes, are described
in Policy 49-20 of the current Policies and Rules for Students
handbook.