SYLLABUS Psychology 110 Introduction to Psychology (Spring, 2004) COURSE OBJECTIVES Psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate majors, but very few people really know how extensive the field is, and exactly what it involves. So, my primary objectives in this course are to start introducing the field to you. It involves both an applied side by which we try to identify problems of living and adjustment, and how to help people with those problems, and it involves a component of basic research in which we study all types of human and animal behaviors, normal and abnormal, in order to find out more about who we are, and why we do things the way we do. In each case, we typically develop theories that provide potential explanations of how things work, and we try to test the adequacy of those theories by getting them to make predictions that differ from one another. We then test those theories to see which holds up better. So, another fundamental objective of this course will be to give you a grounding in the notion of psychology as a theory-driven scientific enterprise. You will learn a bit about the process of doing science, and why relying on common sense is a very bad way of learning about how things work. But in addition to introducing you to the general ideas of scientific testing as they apply to psychology, I also want to introduce you to the broad diversity of areas. In a survey course, we can only skim the surface of some of these, but I hope that the ones we do explore give you a better appreciation of just how broad a field psychology is, and how some of the areas are very different than what most people think of psychology as being. And as a more specific objective, I want to introduce you to some of the basic findings and theories (and in some cases, controversies) in psychology. Thus, we will look at such areas as perception, memory, learning, social psychology, attitudes and attitude change, personality theory, and lifespan issues. And I hope that in doing so, I will give you some useful practical knowledge and advice that will better help you understand how your own mind works, how to do better in work and in your social relations, and how to avoid being manipulated by others. Fundamentally, a college education is about learning to think, and to test what you hear from others or believe on your own. Without that ability, we are unable to separate opinions from facts. I happen to think that facts and reason matter, and I hope to give some of you an appreciation of why facts and reason matter, by the time the semester is over. TEXT We will be using the 7th edition of Karen Huffman's Psychology In Action. GI will noit require the Study Guide for this book, but I am recommending it: The Study Guide does a good job of introducing you to (and checking your knowledge on) the readings from the text. Approximate starting dates for the various topics appear below. TOPICS Topic 1 - History & Methods in Psychology 1/14 (Chapter 1) Topic 2 - Learning 1/28 (Chapter 6) Topic 3 - Memory 2/9 (Chapter 7) Topic 4 - Cognitive Processes 2/18 (Chapter 8) Topic 5 - Life Span I 3/5 (Chapter 9) Topic 6 - Life Span II 3/12 (Chapter 10) Topic 7 - Personality 3/19 (Chapter 13) Topic 8 - Mental Disorders 3/29 (Chapter 14) Topic 9 - Therapies 4/7 (Chapter 15) Topic 10 - Social Psychology 4/26 (Chapter 16) Tentative Test Dates: 2/6 Test 1: Topics 1 & 2 3/3 Test 2: Topics 3 & 4 3/22 Test 3: Topics 5 & 6 4/5 Test 4: Topics 7 & 8 4/23 Test 5: Topic 9 5/3 (7:30 am): Test 6: Topic 10 GRADING As is evident from above, I will be giving 6 tests. These will be objective tests, involving multiple-choice, matching, or fill-in-the-blank questions. The tests will generally consist of 50 questions. Each test will count as 100 points. Curves will be set for each test individually, as follows: I will take the average of the 5 highest scores, and multiply that by 90% to get the lower limit of an A, 80% to get the lower limit of a B, 70% to get the lower limit of a C, and 60% to get the lower limit of a D. This method automatically adjusts for whether each test is easy or hard, by moving the grading scale. So you can keep track of your cumulative scores, I will also reconvert your grades to a 90-80-70-60 system. For example, if the average of the top 5 on a test is 75, then lowest A and B would be 67.5 and 60. A 63 in this case would be a B, but when reconverted, it would appear as an 84. In this way, you can average your reconverted scores to see where your grade in the course is, after each test. If anyone wants, I will also allow you to take a seventh cumulative test (that is, over all 10 topics) that you can swap out for one of your tests. Obviously, since this test will cover more material, it will be harder. But if you flub a given exam, it allows a chance to make up your grade, though at a cost. Two more things can affect your grade. First, you can also earn bonus credit (up to 3 points) equivalent to 30% of a grade level by doing book reports that I will assign (with a short quiz), or by participating in the Psychology Department's Subject Pool (see the section on Research Requirement below). And second, I will subtract points (also up to 30% of a grade level) if you have too many unexcused absences (see the section on Attendance Policy below). If you miss too many classes, you can have 3 points taken away. Note that during tests, I have to be able to see where your eyes are looking, and that I will not allow hats to be worn. ATTENDANCE POLICY The State Board of Trustees requires regular attendance in 100-level courses, If you have over 5 unexcused absences, you will lose 3 points off of the total points. So, someone with a final average of 82 (a B) who has too many unexcused absences and no extra credit will end up with a 79 (a C). I will allow make-up work ONLY IF (a) due to an unforeseeable and excusable absence, or (b) due to a foreseeable and excusable absence of which I have been notified IN ADVANCE. Except in unusual circumstances (a medical emergency, for example), you will need to take a makeup exam within a week of the missed exam; otherwise, a grade of 0 will be recorded for the exam. Makeup exams are likely to be essay exams. RESEARCH REQUIREMENT There is a research requirement associated with this course that may be satisfied in one of two ways. The first way is to participate in the Department's Subject Pool, where you may be scheduled for up to 3 hours of psychological experiments during the semester. After each experiment, you will receive a handout from the experimenter telling you a bit about the experiment. Forms will be handed out that will let you tell researchers when you are available for experiments. The second way of satisfying the research requirement is by writing 3 book or experiment reports on approved books or journal articles I will assign that are relevant to psychology. You need to check with me on what an approved work is. To make sure you've adequately read the book or experiment, I will also generate a 10-point quiz for you to take for each report, based on your report and the main ideas in the work. If there is any reason to believe that a good faith effort was not made to meet the research requirements (for example, if you have too many excused absences from experiments or if you do poorly on the quizzes), then you will receive no additional points on your final grade. So, if you decide after signing up for the Subject Pool that you really don't want to participate in it, for whatever reason then you need to talk to me about doing book reports. OFFICE HOURS Office hours are posted on my door (Girard 202). At the moment, it seems likely that they will be Mondays and Fridays, 1 - 3 pm, although Friday office hours will be at my office in Rougeou (Rougeou 341). Depending on meetings, those hours may change. In any case, whenever my office door is open, regardless of whether I am holding office hours, feel free to ask me whether I have time to talk. On days when I have to change office hours due to meetings, I will generally post alternate hours for that week, so do check with me, or get in the habit of checking my door. You can also send brief questions to me via e-mail; my e-mail address is cech@louisiana.edu. EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE A map of this floor will be posted near the elevator (near the Psychology Department office) marking the evacuation route. This is also the Designated Rescue Area (an area where emergency service personnel will go first to look for individuals who need assistance in exiting the building). Students who may need assistance should identify themselves to the teaching faculty.