Syllabus for Psychology 100

Syllabus for PSYCH 100: Introductory Psychology

Dr. John A. Johnson

Fall, 2009 Section 001

Office hours: T&Th 1:30-2:30 & by appointment, 172 Smeal 375-4774

Hiller Building Auditorium (Room 107)
Tuesday & Thursday, 3:05-4:20

Course Description:

This course is a broad survey or overview of the discipline of Psychology. 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, Evolutionary 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.

Textbook and Class Attendance:

Gazzaniga, M. S., Heatherton, T. F., & Halpern, D. F. (2010). Psychological Science (3^rd Edition). New York: W. W. Norton.

(A downloadable eBook version and an online eBook version for $48.00 are available at: http://www.nortonebooks.com/disciplines/Discipline.asp?DiscId=15 )

How important is reading the textbook? I will lay out the facts and let you decide. It is a fact that the more times you are exposed to the course material, the better you will do in the course. You will understand and remember the information presented in class better if you read the relevant textbook material before class. I will be referring to passages, pictures, and diagrams in the book from time to time in lectures. Re-reading the textbook material again after class will reinforce your learning. On the other hand, another fact is that all exam questions come from material we cover in class, and many ideas I present in class are not covered in the book. This means it would be possible to pass the course by attending every class, paying close attention, and taking good notes, without ever reading the book. It is probably impossible to pass the course by reading the textbook and PowerPoint slides but never attending class. Studying the textbook will help you do well in the course. Attending class is absolutely critical to doing well in the course.

Additional Reading:

During the second quarter of the course, students are encouraged to read from an Evolution and Heredity (EHR) Module available at:
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072937769/student_view0/module_chapters.html

Also during the second quarter of the course, students can access a study guide for relevant chapters from a Norton textbook, How Humans Evolved, at Norton's web site:
Australopithecus http://www.wwnorton.com/college/anthro/evolve4/ch/11/welcome.shtml
Homo erectus and Neanderthals http://www.wwnorton.com/college/anthro/evolve4/ch/13/welcome.shtml
Homo sapiens http://www.wwnorton.com/college/anthro/evolve4/ch/14/welcome.shtml

Course Objectives:

The broad objective of the course is the same as the goal of psychology itself: to help you understand how the mind works and to understand why we behave the way we do.

I also hope to accomplish three more specific goals related to the process of understanding the mind and behavior:

1. I want to enable you to critically evaluate claims about the mind and behavior, no matter who is making the claim: someone off the street, the author of print or electronic media, or even a professional psychologist. I'd like you to be able to imagine, "What kinds of questions do I need to answer to decide whether a psychological claim is true?" I'd also like you to be able to tell the difference between what is true and what people wish were true about human nature.

2. I hope you will become familiar with some of the important psychological theories and findings that have been offered to explain how the mind works and why we behave as we do.

3. The information in this course is about people in general, but hopefully it will increase your own self-understanding and be useful to some of your personal concerns and interests.

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 explain what goes on inside the heads of different types of psychologists--what interests them, how they think, and how they argue about what is true and what isn't true. This unit might be called "The Psychology of Psychologists."

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, movies, and web sites with a psychological slant. Please feel free to do the same. I will be glad to discuss any information you come across.

Very Specific Course Objectives

To see a list of very specific things you need to know for each exam, browse to the ANGEL page for this course, https://angel.psu.edu/ , and follow the Study Guide links.

Course Outline:

Chapters and page numbers are from the primary textbook for the course, Psychological Science. EHR reading assignments refer to the Evolution and Heredity module described in the Additional Reading section of this syllabus. The reading assignment "3 anthropology links" refers to the three study guide links at the Norton web site, described in the Additional Reading section of this syllabus.

Week	Class Meeting	Topic	Reading Assignment
		NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY
1	1 T Aug 25 2 Th Aug 27	The what, when, how, and why questions in psychology Historical origins of experimental and measurement psychology	Ch. 1, pp. 3-5 Ch. 1, pp. 16-22
2	3 T Sept 1 4 Th Sept 3	Perspectives in psychology 20^th century psychology	Ch. 2, pp. 33-37 Ch. 1, pp. 6-15 Ch. 1, pp. 22-31
3	5 T Sept 8 6 Th Sept 10	Nonexperimental methods in psychology Experimental method in psychology	Ch. 2, pp. 37-43; 51-57 Ch. 2, pp. 43-49
4	7 T Sept 15 8 Th Sept 17	Recording and analyzing data in psychology EXAM 1: NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY	Ch. 2, pp. 57-66

EVOLUTIONARY BASIS OF BEHAVIOR

9 T Sept 22

10 Th Sept 24

Genes and behavior genetics

Nature and nurture

Ch. 3, pp. 77-87

Ch. 3, pp. 88-91

11 T Sept 29

12 Th Oct 1

Evolution

Human evolution

EHR Part I: The Evolutionary Perspective

3 anthropology links at Norton Web site

13 T Oct 6

14 Th Oct 8

Ethology

Human ethology; Motivation & emotion

EHR Part II: Contemporary Evolutionary Approaches

Ch. 9, pp. 379-390
Ch. 9, pp. 405-418

Ch. 12, pp. 553-559

15 T Oct 13

16 Th Oct 15

Mating and parenting

EXAM 2:EVOLUTIONARY BASIS OF BEHAVIOR

Ch. 9, pp. 398-401

Ch. 11, pp. 476-482

Ch. 12, pp. 559-567

THE BRAIN, COGNITION, AND LEARNING

17 T Oct 20

18 Th Oct 22

Structure and operation of the nervous system

Structure of the brain

Ch.3, pp. 92-104;
114-116

Ch.4, pp. 104-113
Ch.4, pp. 139-144

19 T Oct 27

20 Th Oct 29

Hormones and pheromones

Perception

Ch.3, pp. 116-119;
Ch.5, p. 189-192
Ch.9, pp. 396-398;
401-404

Ch. 5, pp. 213-233

21 T Nov 3

22 Th Nov 5

Learning

Memory

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

23 T Nov 10

24 Th Nov 12

EXAM 3: BRAIN, COGNITION, AND LEARNING

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Personality

Chapter 13

25 T Nov 17

26 Th Nov 19

Perspectives on psychological abnormality;
Organization of the DSM-IV

Anxiety, Somatoform, Dissociative, Sexual, and Personality Disorders

Ch.14 pp. 617-630

Ch.14 pp. 630-654

[T Nov 24]

[Th Nov 26]

NO CLASS! Thanksgiving vacation

27 T Dec 1

28 Th Dec 3

Treating anxiety, mood disorders, and schizophrenias

Treating childhood disorders

Ch. 15, pp. 665-694

Ch. 14, pp. 655-663; Ch. 15, pp. 699-711

29 T Dec 8

30 Th Dec 10

Knowing ourselves

Catching up, as necessary

Finals

Week

TBA

EXAM 4: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Grading:

The grade you earn will be determined by your performance on four multiple-choice exams. Details are presented below.

Exams

All four exams contain 40 questions that cover only the material in the most recent quarter of the course. All questions will be multiple choice, and you will mark your answers on computer-scored answer sheets. You may bring one sheet of 8.5 x 11" paper with notes to the exam. Please bring two number 2 pencils to each exam. Also, please bring your student ID card so that you can code your student number correctly on the answer sheet.

Sample multiple choice questions can be found on ANGEL. You are encouraged to study these questions 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. Each of the four exams is worth 40 points.

Computation of Letter Grade

Grades will be based on the total points earned out of 160 possible points. See the table below.

Point Total	Letter Grade
148-160 points	A
144-147 points	A-
141-143 points	B+
132-140 points	B
128-131 points	B-
125-127 points	C+
112-124 points	C
96-111 points	D
< 96 points	F

Other Factors that May Affect Final Grades:

Curving. I "curve up" on exams where the average score is less than 75% to bring the class average to 75%. For example, if the average score on Exam 1 was 28 out of 40 possible points (a 70%), I would add 2 points to everyone's score, bring the class average to 30 out of 40 (75%). I will announce in the class after each exam how many points, if any, will be added. I do not subtract points on exams.
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, injury or death in the immediate family, but I will consider other excuses) should contact me to arrange to make up the examination. I will decide whether the make-up will be an alternate multiple-choice test or a set of short essay questions. 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 in one of two ways. The first is to participate in a personality research study. This opportunity is available only to students who are 18 years of age or older. Students who participate are awarded 12 extra credit points (about 7% of the total points in the course). Details on participation will be announced in class after the first exam.
Second, students are younger than 18 and students who would rather write a paper than participate in the research study will have an opportunity to earn 12 points by reading about the five-factor model of personality and writing a paper in which they describe a public figure in terms of the five-factor model. Note that you can earn 12 points either by participating in the research project or by writing the personality description paper. You cannot earn more points by doing both.
The Final Say. Policy 47-20 states 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.

Note to Students with Disabilities:

Penn State DuBois welcomes students with disabilities into the University’s educational programs. If you have a disability-related need for modifications and/or reasonable accommodations in this course, please contact The Office for Disability Services, Diana Kreydt, 110G DEF Building, at 372-3037 or dlk34@psu.edu.

For further information regarding the Office of Disability Services, visit their web site at www.equity.psu.edu/ods/ . Instructors should be notified as early in the semester as possible regarding the need for modification and/or reasonable accommodations.

Attendance is Good—Unless You Have the Swine Flu

Attending class is essential to doing well in the course. When you attend class, you have an opportunity to learn from both the instructor and from other students. If you often miss class, you will miss information, and your participation rating from members of your group will suffer. However, if you are ill, especially if you have flu-like symptoms, please send me an email describing your illness as soon as possible and do not come to class. Public health considerations are more important than missed work, which can be made up.

Statement of Academic Integrity:

All students are expected to act with civility, personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is requisite to respect for self and others and a civil community.

Academic integrity includes a commitment to not engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. 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
Facilitating other students' acts of academic dishonesty
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.