NOTE: There may be adjustments and changes in this
syllabus. You are responsible for any
changes announced in class (even if you miss a class for an excused absence).
Course: Psyc 100/07 &
100/08. Introductory Psychology. 3 s.h.
Fall 2002. CRN #720 & 721.
Meeting times and places:
Psyc 100/07: TuTh 2:00-3:15, IRC#3. Final exam is Tu 12/17/02 11:00 AM - 1:30
PM.
Psyc 100/08: TuTh 4:00-5:15, IRC#3. Final exam is Th 12/12/02 11:00 AM - 1:30
PM.
Do not register for this course if you cannot make the final exam time!
Required text:
Feldman, R.S. Essentials of Understanding Psychology,
5th edition. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2003. Make sure you
purchase the paperback Essentials version of the text, and make sure it is the
fifth edition.
Instructor:
|
Walter vom Saal, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology 502 Fitzelle Hall State University of New
York, College at Oneonta Oneonta, NY 13820-4015 |
office phone: Psyc. dept. office: home phone: |
607-436-3704 607-436-3223 607-432-1316 |
|
e-mail: vomsaaw@oneonta.edu website:
www.oneonta.edu/faculty/vomsaaw |
||
Office hours: To be announced.
Web page: www.oneonta.edu/faculty/vomsaaw
OR go
to Oneonta home page, click Academics, click Academic Departments, click
Psychology, click Faculty, click Walter vom Saal home page.
Catalog Description: A comprehensive overview of psychology, including:
methods, physiological, developmental, sensation and perception, learning,
cognitive, motivation and emotion, personality, psychopathology, psychotherapy, social, and applied.
Course goals and meta-goals: The primary goal of the course
is to offer you the opportunity to learn basic information about psychology as
described in the catalog description. A
secondary but important set of goals are what I call meta-goals, by which I
mean goals that go beyond the subject matter of this particular course. My meta-goals for you include learning the
following skills: listening; note-taking; reading; studying; writing well
(including correct grammar and spelling); thinking critically; challenging
assumptions; reading and following instructions; becoming aware of cultural
variations; becoming aware of (and sympathetic to) human weaknesses; and increasing your own personal
self-awareness. These may be evaluated
during quizzes, exams, or by other means and form part of your grades.
Attendance policy: Students are expected to attend all classes. If you miss a class, even for an excused absence, you are responsible for finding out about any class announcements, including those about changed requirements or due dates. If you miss a class, please contact a classmate or the teaching assistant regarding material you missed.
Final examination. Final exam times for each course are printed in
the college course schedules. You
should plan for these when you register for a course. I will not approve adjustments in final exam times except for
truly unpredictable emergencies. If this
is not acceptable to you, drop the course now.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING:
Exams: There are three examinations.
See topic outline for dates. Exams will include material drawn from the
text and the lectures.
Library exploration: Each student must select a topic and locate
library materials on that topic in our library. More details will be given in class. The due date is shown on the list of dates.
Research participation: Students in all sections of Introductory
Psychology serve as subjects in research carried out by advanced psychology
majors. Each student must collect six Research Participation Points by the due
date shown on the topic outline. These
are a course requirement but are not added in any way to the final grade. Failure to collect the required
Participation Points will result in receiving a grade of INC for the
course. Participation points may be
earned by:
a. Participate in one or more authorized psychology experiments (approximately one point per
ten minutes of participation). This
will give you experience with direct involvement in psychological
research. Sign up on the bulletin board
outside of Fitzelle 102. Be sure you
meet all requirements before signing up.
Note the name of the experiment, experiment number, and time and
location on a separate sheet of paper, and DO NOT LOSE this paper. Once you have signed up for an experiment you must appear or you
will receive a point penalty.
Confidentiality will be maintained, and you may withdraw your consent
and discontinue at any time. To get
credit for participation, make sure you get a form filled out when you
participate, and submit the form to me.
b. Write a research report on a subject approved by the instructor (six points for
two typed double-spaced pages with at least one reference to a book or journal
article).
Attendance: attendance is required
in order that you may participate in demonstrations, classroom activities, and
discussions. An attendance grade will
be given with point reductions for each unexcused absence. In order for the instructor to consider
whether an absence may be excused, a written explanation of the absence with
documentation as appropriate must be submitted to the instructor within one
week of the absence.
Homework: occasional homework assignments will be given. Since these will be in preparation for class
discussion, late homework will not be accepted except for official approved
absences.
Optional study cards: Students may earn credit by preparing study
cards for each third of the course as described in class. Bring the study cards
to each examination.
Optional study partner project: Students are urged to study with a study
partner and may earn credit for doing this.
To get full credit, for each third of the course meet with a study partner
three separate times and submit three separate one-page reports, one on each
meeting. Each member of the study partner team must submit a separate
report. Each report must state who you
met with, when and where you met, what you did, and your evaluation of whether
what you did was helpful.
|
Points to letter
grade: |
Letter grade to
points: |
||||||||||||
|
0.0 |
- |
59.9 |
=E |
80.0 |
- |
82.9 |
=B- |
|
E |
=0 |
|
B- |
=82 |
|
60.0 |
- |
62.9 |
=D- |
83.0 |
- |
86.9 |
=B |
|
D- |
=62 |
|
B |
=85 |
|
63.0 |
- |
66.9 |
=D |
87.0 |
- |
89.9 |
=B+ |
|
D |
=65 |
|
B+ |
=88 |
|
67.0 |
- |
69.9 |
=D+ |
90.0 |
- |
92.9 |
=A- |
|
D+ |
=68 |
|
A- |
=92 |
|
70.0 |
- |
72.9 |
=C- |
93.0 |
- |
96.9 |
=A |
|
C- |
=72 |
|
A |
=95 |
|
73.0 |
- |
76.9 |
=C |
97.0 |
- |
99.9 |
=A+ |
|
C |
=75 |
|
A+ |
=98 |
|
77.0 |
- |
79.9 |
=C+ |
|
|
|
|
|
C+ |
=78 |
|
|
|
Grading procedure: The grade will be based roughly on the
following weightings:
|
Exam
#1 (first part of course) |
25
points |
|
Exam
#2 (second part of course) |
25
points |
|
Final
Exam (third part of course) |
25
points |
|
library
exploration |
5 points |
|
research
participation activity |
REQUIRED |
|
attendance
and participation credit |
10
points |
|
homework
credit |
10
points |
|
study
cards |
additional
credit (approx 1/3 letter grade) |
|
study
partner project |
additional
credit (approx 1/3 letter grade) |
Note: The "points" shown for each component are only a rough
approximation of the relative weightings to be given to various course
requirements. The final course grade
will be based on my best overall professional judgment about how you performed
in the course and what you learned, and will not be bound by a rigid weighting
of individual components. In
particular, unusually good or unusually poor performance in any component may
increase the weighting of that component.
Additional options: Students desiring to replace or supplement
the above requirements or to submit additional evidence of learning may submit
a written proposal before the due date shown on the topic outline. Proposals will not be accepted past the due
date. Approval of proposals will be
based on the quality of the written proposal (including quality of
presentation, neatness, style, grammar, etc.) and evidence that the student is
capable of independent work.
Special note on Psychology Department
prerequisites: Psychology
Department policy now requires that course prerequisites be passed with a grade
of C or better. This means that if you
do not get a C or better in this course (i.e., if your get a C- or below), you
may not use this course to meet prerequisite requirements for other Psychology
Department courses.
Lateness policy: Except in the case of excused absences, late
homework assigned in preparation for specific classes will not be accepted and
will receive a failing grade. All other
work will receive a penalty of one letter grade for each calendar day
late. In the case of excused absences,
homework may be submitted late, and exams must be made up or replaced with an
alternative at the discretion of the instructor.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL WORK SUBMITTED: All work submitted for this course must be stapled (not paper-clipped) and must have the following information as high
as possible at the top of the first sheet:
|
Psyc
100/07 OR
Psyc 100/08 |
[Your name] |
|
[Title
of project or requirement] |
[date] |
Failure
to follow this requirement will result in a grade penalty and return of your
work for correction and resubmission.
In
addition, I will expect you to keep a copy of everything you
submitted, and also keep all drafts used in preparation for papers or other work
submitted.
PROOFREAD YOUR WORK! Papers returned with "C+R" written
on top mean you should correct errors and resubmit. Correct the errors by writing over the original; do not rewrite or retype the whole
paper. The grade for the work will be
“E” until the work is resubmitted with errors corrected.
NOTE:
There may be adjustments and changes in these dates. You are responsible for any changes announced in class (even if
you miss a class for an excused absence).
Unit # Reading Topic
--- --- Introduction
and overview
L02 Ch. 1 Perspectives
in psychology.
L03 Ch. 1 Research
in psychology.
L04 Ch. 1 Critical
thinking in research.
L05 Ch. 2 Biological
basis of behavior.
L06 Ch. 2 Nature
– nurture debate.
L07 Ch. 2 Evolutionary
psychology.
L08 Ch. 3 Sensation
and perception.
L09 Ch. 4 States
of consciousness.
EXAMINATION #1.
Covers Units L01-L09. (Bring study
cards.)
Feedback on Exam
#1.
L01 ** Study
skills and techniques.
** Readings from
the Text, Study Guide, and Student Survival Guide.
L10 Ch. 5 Learning
and Conditioning.
L10B Ch. 5 Examples
of conditioning in everyday life.
L11 Ch. 6 Memory.
Memory models. Short term memory.
L11B Ch. 6 Memory.
Long term memory.
L12 Ch. 7 Language
and thought.
L14 Ch. 7 Creativity
and problem solving.
L13 Ch. 7 Intelligence.
L15 Ch. 8 Motivation
and emotion.
L16 Ch. 8 Motivation:
human sexuality; gender.
L17 Ch. 14 Love
and relationships.
EXAMINATION #2.
Covers Units L01, L10-L17. (Bring study
cards.)
L18 Ch. 9 Human
development.
L19 Ch. 10 Personality:
overview
L19F Ch. 10 Personality:
the contributions of Freud.
L20 Ch. 11 Health
psychology.
L22 Ch. 12 Psychological
disorders & mental illness: overview.
L22A Ch. 12 Psychological
disorders: abnormal behavior in everyday life.
L23 Ch. 13 Treatment
of psychological disorders.
L24 Ch. 14 Social
psychology.
FINAL EXAMINATION.
Covers Units L18-L24. (Bring study
cards.)