General Psychology Psychology 001 Spring 2006 Instructor: Arnold Kozak, Ph.D. [email protected] Assistant: Tyler Blouin: [email protected] Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just by sitting in class listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged assignments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of themselves. Chickering, A & Gamson, Z. F. (March 1987) Seven principles for good practice. AAHE Bulletin 39: 3-7. Introduction to Psychology covers a vast universe of material. Psychology is comprised of many distinct and interrelated fields of inquiry and career paths. Psychologists are involved with basic research on human and animal behavior, physiology, and psychological processes. Psychologists work in Universities, hospitals and clinics, and consult to industry. Your textbook, which takes a critical thinking approach, covers the field. I will not teach from the textbook in the classroom. Instead, we will explore selected issues in depth – discussing them and applying them to our own lives and experience. I will present themes and topics in class that expand on the material in the textbook. It is my intention that classroom time will be very interactive. I invite your questions and interruptions, as I don’t prefer to stand up and lecture non-stop. I find that a question and answer format is a more interesting way to teach and to learn. We will also watch instructive films throughout the term. Text Book: Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behavior. By Michael W. Passer & Ronal E. Smith McGraw Hill, NY 2004, 2nd Edition (please note there is a 3rd Edition of this textbook that was published too late for this course). 17 January :: Welcome… 24 January :: Quiz on Chapters 1 & 2 31 January :: Quiz on Chapter 3 7 February :: Quiz on Chapter 4 14 February :: Quiz on Chapter 5 21 February :: Quiz on Chapter 6 28 February :: Quiz on Chapter 77 March :: NO CLASS TOWN MEETING DAY 14 March :: Quiz on Chapter 8 21 March :: Quiz on Chapter 9 28 March:: Quiz on Chapter 10 4 April :: Quiz on Chapter 11 11 April :: Quiz on Chapter 12 18 April :: Quiz on Chapter 13 25 April :: Quiz on Chapter 14 2 May :: Quiz on Chapter 15 Grading Policy: • 30% :: Attendance: 2 points for each class. • 15% :: Participation: Includes classroom participation and home work assignments. Extra credit opportunities will be available. • 30% :: Quizzes on Textbook reading. Quizzes are take home and are due as shown on the schedule. Quizzes are available on ereserve at the library. Answers should be emailed to [email protected] in the following format (number of question. followed by the answer, one question and answer per line: 1. D 2. C 3. A • 25% :: The Journal Project: Introspection was one of the hallmarks of modern psychology. Giants in the history of psychology such as William James were interested in the science of subjective experience. Since each of us is a subject, we have the opportunity to learn about many principles of psychology by observing our own experience in a systematic and disciplined way. The journal project will give you experience. Monitor the following variables daily: mood, stress, sleep amount and quality. Choose one variable and make multiple ratings throughout the day, for example, morning midday, evening. Also, monitor your caffeine (and other substance if applicable) intake. Also, monitor a problem behavior, such as an impulsive behavior, bad habit such as smoking, or medical symptom (if these apply to you). Use graph paper or a table or Excel and rate these variables on a 10-point scale. Make notations on the events that correlate with the changes in your mood and other variables. This can take the form of journaling. One of the primary goals of this project is to correlate your ratings with events going on in your life, particularly the psychological events of thoughts and feelings. As we progress through the semester, you will learn new ways to think about your experience and to There will be no final or midterm examination.understand the relationships you are seeing. Cite the textbook where appropriate. In particular, you will try to notice patterns that emerge from the self-monitoring process. You will write a 5-page typed double-spaced write-up of the results of your observations. The journal project will be treated in a confidential manner, and will only be seen by Dr. Kozak. In a sense, this paper will be a scientific progress report consisting of a quantitative and qualitative report of your subjective experience. As part of the assignment, hand in your tabular data. You may also include excerpts from your journals and notes to support your observations. When you write up your observations, try to focus more on your interpretation of the data you’ve collected, instead of telling the stories about what happened. The Journal Project is due on the last day of classes. There will be no final or midterm