PSYCHOLOGY 2.2 : INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Course Description and Objectives.  This general survey course is about psychology as a science. There are many new concepts which you will just have to know and two general classes of test questions: 1) knowledge questions - what you know about the concept itself, and 2) conceptual questions - knowing how to apply the information to specific and general situations. The conceptual questions are usually harder ones.

Text. Myers, D. G. (1999). Exploring psychology (4th ed.). New York: Worth.

Student Workbook: I strongly recommend that you use it. Each chapter has two sets of practice questions, just like on the exams. In fact, each exam will have up to five workbook questions per chapter. [STUDY HINT: Answer the first set of quiz questions after first studying the chapter material for class; then re-study the material you get wrong. To prepare for each exam, take the second quiz only after review-studying for the exam. You should score at least 80 % if you understand most of the information.

Reading Assignment Policy: You are responsible for all of the assigned reading. There are slightly more than 500 pages in this textbook, an average of about 20 pages of assigned reading for about 25 class periods, excluding exam days. But these pages are broken up with many cartoons, graphs, pictures, review sections, and space for making notes in the book itself. Even though the reading assignments are not heavy, it is still very easy to get behind in studying. So try to at least skim the reading before coming into class so that you know what’s going on. The advantage to you is that you will know what is being emphasized and you won’t have to take as many notes in class.

Lecture Policy: There is just too much material to cover it all in class. That’s why you have a text book to learn the rest since you are still responsible to understand it. If you bring your book to class, then you can check off what I’ve covered, write notes in the margins by the relevant topics, and study and store in memory what you’ve already read during the lecture! Ample opportunities will be given in class for you to ask questions about the readings. Obviously, if you read beforehand you will know what you don’t know, and can ask me to explain it in class. If asking in class for explanations and you still don’t understand it, your Teaching Assistant, Dawn Polen, and I will be happy to help you by visiting us during our office hours.

Class Time: Attendance, by University policy, is not mandatory. When you attend class please plan to be on time and stay the full class period. Sleeping in class, reading newspapers and non-relevant course material, and carrying on lively conversations with buddies is going to be discouraged. You are not entitled to any of these during class time. Please respect the class and your classmates who want to be in this class and have paid to take this course to learn. Oh yes, no personal beepers or cell-phone calls during class, please!

My main purpose in the classroom is to teach you. I completely understand that for some of you not all the classroom lecture material is personally exciting, interesting, or relevant. The same is true for me. Then too, like you, I can have good days and not-so-good days. With hundreds of students in a classroom, and each of us unique, that’s just the way it is. If you are having problems with the class for whatever reasons, please talk about it with either Dawn or me.

Honors Course Supplement: If you are eligible for honors credit and are interested please see me.

Examinations Policy: Examinations will be given on the dates listed. Any changes will be announced at least one class period in advance. I will attempt to have any schedule changes posted sent by email to your PSU ACCESS account only. However, every student is responsible for all information when missing class, for whatever reason. No exams will be postponed or made-up for purely personal reasons. Two general exceptions will be for documented official University business or illness that has a medical excuse.

There will be four within-class exams, one about every three to four weeks, and a fifth final comprehensive exam which is already scheduled during Finals Week. The exam questions will not be written word-for-word from the book. Often the lecture material will go beyond just the book information. You are responsible for knowing all lecture material and all assigned reading materials. You must take both the first and the final exams. Of the remaining three, one of them can be an optional "drop" exam to use if you miss your ride, forget the exam date, oversleep the exam, etc., or for any personal crisis or business. If you miss the first or fifth exams for one of the two legitimate exceptions, you are entitled to a make-up exam; otherwise you automatically get an F grade. If for any reason (other than for one of the two legitimate exceptions) you miss any of the other three exams that have the “drop-option,” you can just drop it without any penalty. If you miss two or more exams, obviously you are likely to fail the course.

Grading and Grades.

Test grading that you will receive is in percentage points of the total 100 points possible for each examination. Your raw test-score of percentage of questions correct will come to you automatically to your PSU ACCESS e-mail account from the University Testing Service, after I have checked to make certain everything is okay with the scoring. Allow up to four days to receive them, excluding the weekend. There will be no “grade-curving” in the strict sens of the term. If necessary, I will adjust the grades. In that way, if everybody gets high scores, then everybody can get the high grades.

Grade adjustment works this way: The top four or five exam percentage scores of the class will be adjusted to a 100-percentage points A grade; in that way no single extra-high score can blow the top off the grading. For example, if the top four or five exam scores average 54 answers correct out of a possible 60, that’s 90 % correct. Then I would add 10 percentage points, bringing those top scores to average 100 %. Then everyone else’s exam score would be given 10 percentage points too. After every exam I will tell you how many points to add to your score. You will have to keep track of your adjusted grades, for only at the end of the semester will the scores be adjusted in the Testing Services records for your final grades.

All questions you have about your exam grade must be completed within one week after the exam results are sent to you. Please first check with Dawn during her posted office hours. She, not I, will have all of the exams in her office. Any further questions about your grade I will be happy to handle.

Exam letter grades and the exam percent correct scores are as follows:

A 95 A- 90 - 94.9 B + 88 - 89.9 B 84-88 B- 80-83 C+ 75-79C 70-74 D 60-69.9 F 59.9 >.

Research Participation: This course requirement is explained in detail in the section below. Research participation counts for 20 percentage points of the total possible 400 percentage points for this course. This is not just extra credit.

Extra Credit: . You are allowed to earn up to 12 additional extra-credit percentage points in this course, no more than that. For every hour (or partial hour) of participation in Psychology Department research projects you can earn one hour of Research Participation Credit (RPC), as described in the section below. Since each RPC is worth two (2) extra-credit percentage points in this course, you only have to participate in a maximum of 6 hours of extra credit projects, surveys, or research. As an option, you can do a specially formatted term paper. These 12 points will be added to your total test percentage scores at the end of the semester and can increase your final grade up a letter grade. Also, if your final grade is within a couple of percentage points of a higher grade and you have earned all, or nearly all the extra credit, then your motivation to participate in the extra credit research will earn you the higher grade.

Course Evaluation: All exams are equally scores with a maximum 100 percentage points. Excluding the last exam (which you must take), your lowest of the other four exam scores will be dropped automatically. Any extra credit that you earn will be added to your total exam percentage points. Your course grade will be determined from a total of 400 possible percentage points.

Course Grade. Final course letter grades are figured from the total 400 percentage points from four exams of 100 points maximum each, and the required research participation of 20 points, Any extra credit percentage points of the 12 possible will then be added to that total. Letter grades will be assigned to the following percentage points totals of 400 as follows:

A  (95%) 380 A- (90%) 360 B+ (87.7%) 351 B (83.4%) 334 B- (80%) 320 C+ (75%) 300 C (70%) 280 D (60%) 240 F (<60%)

Office Hours. These are “open” hours for you when you can just drop in to see either Dawn or me. We have set aside these times for you to talk with us. Occasionally we may not be in the office during these times, and then for a good reason. But then we owe you an apology. Leave us a note where you can be reached and we will get back with you to make a “special” appointment to see you. You can also contact us by e-mail, but don’t expect an instant response. Sometimes there is a several hour delay during heavy mail transmissions. We usually check our e-mail two or three times during the day between 8 am and 6 pm. If it’s really important, pick up the phone or meet us during our office hours.

If you receive a D or F on the first exam and you believe that you studied hard and were prepared, then I want to talk with you in my office. You may have a special need (see next section) from a deficiency in reading, or in study or test-taking skills that needs to be dealt with immediately.

Special Needs: The Pennsylvania State University encourages qualified persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation in this course , have questions about physical access, have special circumstances that affect your studying/learning, please notify us immediately. Often I have referred students to the University's special services, such as reading improvement, note-taking, exam taking, study skills, and even personal counseling. Also there are private tutors available to help you.

Tape Recording of Lectures. This is with permission of the instructor for personal not-for-profit use only for students with certified educational disabilities, as notified to me by the office of Student Disabilities, Boucke Building.. Taping for selling notes for profit is strictly forbidden.

Policy on Plagiarism: The following is required to be a part of all course syllabi. According to written University policy, plagiarism, the stealing of another's ideas or works, is seen by this University as a serious offense. Receiving, or even giving, information during a test is included. Also included is just looking on or at another's test answers or positioning test answers so that they can be copied. An F grade will be earned for all involved. To protect the exam standards and maintain grade fairness for all students in this course, this policy must be enforced.

Research Participation

General Comments: For the most part, the material in this course is the product of psychological research. To increase your familiarity with psychological research, PSY 002 students are required to participate in research sponsored by the Psychology Department. All students are required to participate in a 1-hour “screening” session and in four additional hours of research. This research participation will contribute to your grade, counting as 5% of the course grade (in other words, if you do not complete the research participation requirement, you will lose 5% of the total 400 course points, or 20 points).

Age Limitation: Participation in research conducted in the Psychology Department is generally restricted to students who are 18 years of age or older, due to Federal laws governing research participation. Students under age 18 must therefore complete the research participation requirement by alternative means. Details will be announced in class.

Mass Screening Survey: During the screening session, you will be asked to complete a number of different measures. Based on your responses, you may be contacted by a researcher asking you to take part in subsequent studies. However, you will have the opportunity to indicate that your responses to screening cannot be used as data, and that you do not wish to be contacted for other studies on the basis of your answers to the screening questions.

Individual Research Participation: With the exception of the screening-related studies, in which a researcher contacts you, you will need to sign up for studies on a special website. You will use this website to sign up for a screening session and for the other studies needed to fulfill the research requirement. See the website at http://psyexp.la.psu.edu for more details about signing up for research (including information about the ‘no-show’ penalties). There is no guarantee of adequate opportunities to sign up for research at the end of the semester, so you should begin participation early.

Signed Informed Consent Document: Each specific study requires your informed consent prior to participation. That is, the procedure will be described and you will have the chance to ask questions and to decline to participate if you find the procedure objectionable. Students who have moral objections to participating in research should contact the instructor by the fourth week of the semester at the latest. Alternatives means of meeting this requirement will be provided.

Extra-Credit Research Participation: Depending on the availability of opportunities, it may be possible to participate in additional research for extra credit late in the semester. The availability of such opportunities will be announced in class and on the subject pool web site. If such opportunities are available, you may participate in up to six additional hours of participation, with each hour adding 2 percentage points grade for a total of 12 percentage points. If you miss an extra-credit session that you have signed up for, you will no longer be able to earn those 2 percentage points. Please note that there is no guarantee that extra credit opportunities will be available.

A final Note: Some of the experiments are quite complicated and require much time by the experimenter to prepare; others require that a specific number of people be used in teams, pairs, etc. If you fail to show up without notifying the experimenter you will earn a “minus one RPC,” or a -2 extra-credit percentage points. For example, if you fail to show up for a two-hour experiment you will “earn” -2 RPC (or -4 extra-credit percentage points) and will have only 4 possible RPCs (or 8 bonus points) remaining. The issue is pretty clear isn’t it? When you sign up, then please show up!