Textbook: Psychology, Ninth Edition in Modules by David G. Myers ...
Psychological science is an extremely broad field that encompasses many
diverse areas.
Psych 10: Introductory Psychology UCLA 2012 Winter Section 2 Meeting Time: Room: Class Website: Instructor: Email: Office hours: Teaching Assistant: Textbook:
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00-9:50 am Moore, Room 100 ccle.ucla.edu, log in with your Bruin ID and Password Jennifer Shultz, Psy.D.
[email protected] Franz 2555, Thursdays, 12-2pm Xiaoyang Yang Office Hours: Franz Hall 2549, Tues. 10-11am
[email protected] Psychology, Ninth Edition in Modules by David G. Myers
The textbook is the only reading required for this course. It is absolutely necessary that you have access to a copy of it as soon as the course starts. It is available at the UCLA store and also on 2-hour reserve at Powell Library. Contacting Me The quickest and best way to reach me is through e-mail. I encourage you to email me with concise, specific questions about the material, and if it is during the day, I will usually respond quickly. If you have many questions that will take awhile to discuss, then please to come to my office hours.
Course Overview and Objectives This course is designed to give you a primer on the field of psychology. Psychological science is an extremely broad field that encompasses many diverse areas of study, including (but not limited to) the examination of social behavior, development, learning, behavior, memory, and mental health. We will discuss not only the factual knowledge that the field has generated, but also how different types of psychologists study different aspects of human behavior, ranging from neurons in the brain to how groups and the surrounding environment affect individuals’ social behavior. In the process, we will touch upon the importance of the scientific method as a tool for making discoveries about human behavior. After taking this course, you should be able to: • Identify some of the prominent findings that have emerged out of the major subfields of psychology. • Understand the basic methods employed by psychology’s sub-disciplines. • Intelligently evaluate research claims that you hear in the “real world”. What I Need From You: I want to make sure you leave this course with a solid grasp on the fundamental aspects of the major areas of psychology. But I do not want this to
be a mere passive exercise in memorization. I want you to engage with the information on a deep level. This course will emphasize critical thinking skills and careful consideration of material. I expect you to participate – ask questions, pose hypotheses, criticize experimental data, etc.
Assignments and Grading - Summary First Midterm Exam – 33.33% Second Midterm Exam – 33.33% Final Exam – 33.33% Research Participation – 0%, but required to pass
Calculation of Final Grades A+ 97%+ A 93-97% A90-93% B+ 87-90% B 83-87% B80-83% C+ 77-80% C 73-77% C70-73% D/F-range below 70% _______________________________ Final grades will be curved such that 20% of students will receive an A- or better; 30% will receive a grade between B- and B+; 40% will receive a grade between Cand C+; 10% will receive D+ and lower. Note too that I will not curve your grade downwards – if half of you get 95% throughout the course, each of you will A’s.
Assignments and Grading – Details I. Exams: 33.3% of final grade Exams will not be cumulative. That is to say that the first midterm will cover material presented in the first third of the course, the second midterm will cover material in the second third of the course, and the final will cover material in the last third of the course. All of the material covered since the previous exam is fair game, including the readings that were assigned for the same day you are taking the exam. Exams will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions. Be on time to class as exams will start promptly at the beginning of class and I will not hand out exams to anyone after the first student completes their exam. Makeup exams are offered if, and only if, there is a documented
emergency that prevents a student from attending the usual exam time. Any makeup exam given will be in essay format. Xiaoyang Yang will be available for review questions on the following dates before the exam: 1/24, 2/21, 3/13. He will be able to answer questions or review material with students between 11am-12pm in his office in Franz on those days.
II. Research Participation You must also participate in research studies while enrolled. You must earn a total of 6 research credits (equivalent of 6 total hours) in order to pass this course. You may choose which studies to participate in. Anyone who does not fulfill this requirement will receive an incomplete for this class. You must register on the following website to participate in research: http://ucla.sonasystems.com/. If you have problems with registration, please contact
[email protected]. All participation must be completed before March 15th in order for you to receive credit. You must assign your research credits to this course. The alternative is to complete a 2-3 page writing assignments, one per unit. Please contact me at the beginning of the course for the details of this assignment if you decide to opt out of the research requirement.
Course Policies Attendance: Although attendance is not directly graded, all of the material mentioned in class (including information presented in videos, in-class discussions, and formal lecture) are material that can and likely will be on the exams. This should give you a strong incentive to attend every class. Readings: you are responsible for doing the assigned readings for each lecture before the lecture. The material in these readings will be on the exams, and reading the material prior to class will give you a context to better understand the lecture. A note on academic dishonesty: All work you submit in this course must be your own. If you are caught cheating, you will receive a zero on the assignment and be reported to the Dean of Students. Don’t do this. Any instance of academic dishonesty can have serious consequences and will be handled in accordance with UCLA guidelines, which can be found here: http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/dos/assets/documents/StudentGuide.pdf . Do you know what plagiarism is or how it is defined? Many students do not, and as a result they sometimes do not even know when they are plagiarizing. Thus, it is especially important that you familiarize yourself with this concept.
Course Schedule Week 1
2
3
4
5
Day/Date Topic T 01/10
Course Introduction: History of Psychology
1, 2
R 01/12
History and Research Methods
3
T 01/17
Biological Psychology
4, 5, 6
R 01/19
Sensation and Perception
17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
T 01/24
Learning and Behavior
23, 24, 25
R 01/26
Memory
26, 27, 28, 29, 30
T 01/31
First Midterm Exam
R 02/02
Emotions, Stress, and Health
T 02/07 R 02/09
6
7
8
13, 14 15,16
Personality Psychology
45, 46, 47
R 02/16
Social Psychology
56, 57, 58, 59
T 02/21
Evolutionary Psychology
11, 12
R 02/23
Second Midterm Exam
T 02/28
T 03/06 R 03/08
10
Developmental Psychology: Prenatal to Childhood Developmental Psychology: Adolescence to Adulthood
40, 41, 42, 43
T 02/13
R 03/01 9
Reading Modules
T 03/13 R 03/15
Clinical Psychology: Introduction to Psychological Disorders, Anxiety Disorders Clinical Psychology: Dissociative, Personality, Somatoform Disorders Clinical Psychology: Mood Disorders and Schizophrenia
48, 49 50 51, 52
Clinical Treatment: Therapies
53, 54
Treatment: Biomedical Therapies Motivation and Work FINAL EXAM *complete research participation by this day to pass the class*
55 36, 37, 38, 39
