Syllabus Sections
Publish Date
05/12/2011 16:31:50
Introduction to Psychology
PSYC-2301
Summer 2011
05/23/2011 - 06/29/2011
Course Information
Section 008
Lecture
MTWTh 10:00 - 11:50
RVSE 7004
Rose Hattoh
Office Hours
No office hours have been entered for this term
Course Requirements
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the topics and issues that psychologists study, the research methods they employ, their major findings, and the ways in which psychologists apply the research findings to the solution of personal and societal problems. Also, this course provides students with the basic terminology and principles that enable them to take more advanced courses in psychology if they wish to learn more about some particular area.
The following topics will be covered:
· Research Methods
· Personality
· Learning
· Life-Span Development
· Physiological Basis of Behavior
· Cognition (including Sensation, Perception, and Memory)
· Stress (as well as intellectual, social, physical and emotional health)
· Psychological Disorders
· Social Psychology
Grading will be based on four multiple choice tests and four in class quizzes. Questions on the tests and quizess will be based on assigned readings, lectures, videos, online presentations.
Course syllabus will be distributed to students on the first day of class.
Readings
Wood, S., Wood, E., & Boyd, D. (2011). The World of Psychology (7th Edition)
Course Subjects
Date Topic Chapter
May 23 Course introduction, review of syllabus, Introduction to Psychology 1
May 24 Introduction to Psychology 1
May 25 Biology and behavior 2
May 26 Biology and behavior, Sensation and Perception 2 & 3
May 30 Memorial Day, No Class
May 31 Quiz 1; Sensation and Perception 3
June 1 Test 1; Learning, 5
June 2 Learning and Memory 5 & 6
June 6 Memory 6
June 7 Cognition, Language and Intelligence 7
June 8 Cognition, Language, and Intelligence 7
June 9 Quiz 2; Child Development 8
June 13 Test 2; Child Development 8
June 14 Adolescence and Adulthood 9
June 15 Adolescence and Adulthood, Health and Stress 9 & 12
June 16 Quiz 3; Health and Stress 12
June 20 Test 3; Personality Theory and Assessment 13
June 21 Personality Theory and Assessment 13
June 22 Psychological Disorders and Therapies 14 & 15
June 23 Psychological Disorders and Therapies 14 & 15
June 27 Social Psychology 16
June 28 Social Psychology 16
June 29 Quiz 4; Test 4
Student Learning Outcomes/Learning Objectives
Chapter 1
What is Psychology
OBJECTIVES:
When you have finished studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Define psychology.
2. Know the history of psychology.
3. Describe the various specializations of psychology (clinical, counseling, social, experimental, developmental, school, industrial etc. )
4. Discuss the various schools of psychology (biological, behavioral, psychodynamic, cognitive, humanistic and socio-cultural)
5. Discuss the scientific method and its disadvantages.
6. Describe the goals of psychology
7. Understand critical thinking?
8. Explain the methods of observation: case study, survey and naturalistic observation and discuss their uses and limitations.
9. Discuss the Experimental Method and explain: hypothesis, dependent and independent variable, control group, experimental group, random sample, experimenter bias, blind and double-blind experiments.
10. Know the strengths and weaknesses of the correlational method.
11. Discuss ethical issues associated with research in psychology.
Chapter 2 Biology and Behavior
1. K now the basic parts of a neuron and their functions
2. Distinguish between afferent (sensory) and efferent (motor) neurons.
3. Explain how messages are transmitted from neuron to neuron
4. Describe the organization and function of the nervous system.
5. List the major structures of the brain and know their functions: hindbrain
6. Discuss the functions and specialization of the cerebral hemispheres.
7. Locate and identify the functions of frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes.
8. Summarize the findings of the split-brain study.
9. Distinguish between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
10. Explain the functions of the following glands: pituitary, thyroid, pancreas and adrenal glands.
Chapter 3 Sensation and Perception
1. Explain sensation and perception.
2. Explain absolute and difference thresholds and sensory adaptation.
3. Know the functions of the following: cornea, Iris, pupil, retina, rods, cones, fovea, optic nerve and visual cortex.
4. Explain how retinal image is formed and how it gets transformed into a meaningful image.
5. Explain visual illusion e.g. Muller-Lyer illusion and Ponzo illusion.
6. Describe Gestalt psychology and the perceptual laws of closure, proximity, similarity, continuity and figure-ground perception.
7. Explain perceptual constancies (size, color, shape, brightness)
8. Explain the differences between top-down and bottom-up processing.
Chapter 4 States of Consciousness
- Explain consciousness
- Explain the circadian rhythms and describe their relation to the 24 hour day cycle
- Discuss the different levels of consciousness and the kind of processing that occur at each level according to Freud’s theory.
- Discuss the stages of sleep, especially the difference between REM and NREM.
- Identify the major sleep disorders (narcolepsy, apnea, insomnia etc. ) and the effects of sleep deprivation.
- Discuss dreams from Freud’s perspective.
- Describe how the disruptions of circadian rhythms affect shift workers.
- Discuss the effects of hypnosis and meditation on the body.
Chapter 5 Learning
1. Explain learning.
2. Describe the process of classical conditioning and show how it demonstrates learning by association.
3. Know the basic procedure of classical conditioning. Differentiate among unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response, and neutral stimulus. Apply these terms to examples of classical conditioning.
4. Describe the process of operant conditioning.
5. Distinguish between positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment. Give examples.
6. What are the major problems or objections in using punishment to decrease the occurrence of undesirable behavior?
7. Distinguish between continuous and partial schedules of reinforcement.
8. Describe cognitive influences on learning.
Chapter 6 Memory
1. Explain memory.
2. Describe the process of encoding, storage, and retrieval
3. Describe the characteristics of sensory, short-term, and long-term memory
4. Compare declarative/explicit and nondeclarative/implicit memory
5. Identify factors that influence retrieval.
6. Discuss the difference between recall, recognition, and learning.
7 Understand memory as a reconstructive process.
8. Explain the causes of forgetting.
Chapter 7 Cognition, Language and Intelligence
1. Explain cognition
2. Explain imagery, concepts, and reasoning
3. Compare inductive and deductive reasoning
4. Understand problem solving and decision-making.
5. Discuss the three basic approaches to problem solving.
6 List and explain some of the factors that impede problem solving.
7 Discuss the relationships between language and thinking (cognition).
8. Discuss the theories of intelligence (Spearman, Thurstone, and Sternberg).
9. Identify the contributions of Binet, Terman, Gardner, and Weschler to intelligence testing.
10. Explain the evidence for the genetic and environmental bases of intelligence.
11. Understand creativity
Chapters 8 Child Development
1. What is developmental psychology
2. Discuss the three major developmental issues:
· Nature vs. nurture
· Continuity vs. stage
· Stability vs. change
3. Describe the stages of prenatal development and discuss some of the negative influences on the fetal development.
4. Discuss the motor, sensory, and perceptual development of the child.
5. Discuss Piaget’s stages of cognitive development:
· Sensorimotor stage
· Preoperational stage
· Concrete operations stage
· Formal operations stage
6. Discuss language development of the child
7. Discuss the three parenting styles identified by Baumrind.
8. Explain peer influence on the child’s socialization process.
Chapter 9 Adolescence and Adulthood
10. Discuss adolescence and the developmental tasks
11. Discuss Erikson’s psychosocial theory in relation to the development of the child, adolescence and adulthood.
12. Discuss Kohlberg’s theory of moral development.
13. Discuss adulthood the physical changes that take place.
Chapter 10 Motivation and Emotion
1. Explain motivation.
2. Distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
3. Discuss the following theories:
· Instinct theory
· Drive-reduction theory
· Arousal/ stimulation theory
· Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
4. Discuss physiological and psychological effects on hunger.
5. Outline and discuss the components of emotion from the perspectives of:
· James-Lange
· Cannon-Bard
· Schachter-Singer
· Lazarus
6. Explain gender differences in experiencing emotions.
7. Explain how emotions influence our thoughts.
Chapter 12 Health and Stress
1. Define stress.
2. Describe the various stages of the general adaptation syndrome and Lazarus’ cognitive theory of stress.
3. Describe how people normally react to catastrophic events.
4. Outline the effects of stress on the immune system.
5. Distinguish between Type A and Type B behavior patterns.
6. Distinguish between problem-focused and emotion focused coping.
7. Explain the coping strategies and psychological moderators that help reduce the impact of stress and illness:
8. Discuss the effect of smoking and alcohol on health.
Chapter 13 Personality Theory and Assessment
1. Define personality.
2. Discuss Freud’s psychodynamic theory:
· Levels of Awareness
· Id, ego & superego
· Defense mechanisms
· Psychosexual stages of development
3. How important are defense mechanisms and psychosexual stages in personality development?
4. Evaluate Freud’s theory
5. Discuss Bandura’s social theory and explain reciprocal determinism and self-efficacy.
6. Explain Eysenck’s trait theory and the 5-factor model.
7. Know the contributions of Carl Roger to the study of personality: frame of reference, self-concept, self-ideal, positive regard, congruence.
8. Discuss cultural influence on personality.
9. Distinguish between objective and projective tests.
Chapter 14 Psychological Disorders
1. Identify the criteria commonly used to determine abnormal behavior.
2. Discuss the following theoretical views of psychological disorders:
· Psychodynamic model
· Behavioral model
· Biological model
· Biopsychosocial model
4. List and describe the major types of psychological disorders (anxiety, mood, Personality, and schizophrenia)
Chapter 15 Psychotherapy
1. Identify the major goals of Psychotherapy ( psychoanalysis, client centered therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, behavior therapy).
2. Discuss the biomedical models.
3. Summarize research on the effectiveness of psychotherapy.
Chapter 16 Social Psychology
1. Understand social psychology, social roles, social influence, social norms, conformity, obedience and compliance.
2. Describe Solomon Asch’s experiment and its effect on conformity. . Describe Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiment .
3. Explain the effects of social facilitation on performance. What are social loafing, groupthink, and group polarization?
4. Explain the fundamental attribution error.
5. Distinguish between situational and dispositional attribution.
6. Discuss the three components of attitude (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral).
7. Discuss cognitive dissonance theory and describe its effects on behavior and attitude.
8. Discuss altruism and bystander effect with regard to motives for prosocial behavior.
9. . Discuss prejudice and be able to define and recognize examples of in-group and out-group bias, racism, sexism and stereotypes.