Psychology 101: Introduction to Psychology

Spring 2005

Monday and Thursday, 8:30 am – 9:40 am

 

Professor: Sally Theran, Ph.D.

Office: 484B Science Center; phone: x3001

Email: stheran@wellesley.edu

Office hours: Thursdays, 4 pm – 5:30 pm, or by appointment

 

Course Objectives:

The goals of this course are to give you a background in the field of psychology, and to understand psychology from a scientific perspective.

 

Course Requirements:

Your class participation is an important part of this course; your participation in class discussions is an important part of your learning experience and you are expected to be an active participant during the class. It is expected that you will have read the reading material prior to the class meeting so that you can actively participate in discussions. You are expected to attend class everyday. If you miss class, you are responsible for obtaining information on material covered in class from one of your classmates. Please feel free to attend my office hours, and contact me if you are having problems with or have any questions about the course material. Your class participation and attendance is worth 5% of your final grade.

In addition, there will be active learning projects (ALPs) during class time that will enhance your understanding of the material, promote class discussion, and develop your understanding of the practical applications of the material. These cannot be made up, and while not all will be grade, their completion is a course requirement. The ALPs are worth 5% of your final grade.

During the semester, you will complete several short writing assignments. In addition, we will be visiting the Child Study Center several times, and you will have an assignment to complete for each visit. These assignments will be discussed during class. All of the writing assignments are worth 10% of your final grade.

You will complete a term paper that is due on the last day of class. This paper will provide an opportunity to explore an area of psychology that is of interest. You will consult with me on your topic, and will do research using PsycINFO and other relevant research tools. An assignment during the semester, an annotated bibliography, will help you focus on the paper steps. The term paper is worth 20% of your final grade.

Finally, there will be three exams that will consist of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. The first two will be taken during class, and the last cumulative exam will be during finals week, Wednesday, May 18^th, from 2:30 pm – 4 pm. Each exam is worth 20% of your final grade.

 

Course Readings

The majority of reading will be from the textbook, but occasionally the text will be supplemented by a journal article or magazine article that will enrich your knowledge of the topic. This will be announced in class and on the course conference. These articles will all be available via e-reserve on the course conference unless otherwise noted.

 

Texts: 

Gazzaniga, M., & Heather, T. (2002). Psychological Science. New York: Norton.

 

Hock, R. (2005). Forty studies that changed psychology (5^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

 

Student with Disabilities

            Students with disabilities who are taking this course and who need disability-related accommodations are encouraged to work with Barbara Boger, the Director of Programs of the Pforzheimer Learning and Teaching Center (if you have learning or attention disabilities) and Jim Wice, the Director of Disability Services (if you have a physical disability) to arrange these accommodations. Their offices are located in the Pforzheimer Learning and Teaching Center in Clapp Library.

 

Policy on Extensions

 

Please do not ask me for an extension on any assignment or for postponement of an examination. I will not determine if you deserve an excused extension for an assignment or an exam, but I will accept your personal judgment based on the policy outlined below.

 

Excused extensions

 

There are only two contingencies which are acceptable for the excused postponement of assigned work: personal illness or family crisis. If either of these contingencies prevents you from satisfying your assignments, you are entitled to an excused extension. If an excused extension is taken, the following steps must be taken:

 

1) Prior to the class period at which the work is due (or at which the exam is to be given), you must notify me (ext. 3001) that you will not be present at the exam or that the assignment will not be submitted. This notification must be made before the actual class begins.

 

2) You must contact me within one day of the missed assignment/exam to make arrangements to complete the work.

 

3) You must submit to me with your assignment a written statement indicating that you are acting in accord with Wellesley's Honor Code. The statement may be brief and needs only to indicate: 1) that you are requesting an excused extension; 2) that the reason for the extension is consistent with the criteria described above; and 3) that you are acting in accord with Wellesley's honor code. You do not need to specify the reason for the extension, but must specify that your situation meets the above criteria. The statement should be submitted with the late assignment or exam. (I will assume that any late work submitted without a written statement is an unexcused extension.)

 

Unexcused late work

 

Any late work/missed exam for which the procedures above are not followed will be considered unexcused late work. Such work will be subject to the following penalties:

 

Papers/assignments will be accepted up to one week after the due date and will be penalized 5% for each day that passes beyond the due date.

 

Missed exams must be completed before graded exams are returned to the class. The exam grade will be reduced 5% for each late day beyond the scheduled date of the exam that it is taken.

 

 

Grading:

 

A   =	4.0    =	92.5% +
A- =	3.67 =	89.5% - 92.4%
B+ =	3.33  =	86.5% - 89.4%
B   =	3.0    =	82.5% - 86.4%
B-  =	2.67 =	79.5% - 82.4%
C+ =	2.33 =	76.5% - 79.4%
C   =	2.0    =	72.5% - 76.4%
C-  =	1.67 =	69.5% - 72.4%
D   =	1.0    =	59.5% - 69.4%
F    =	0.0    =	<59.4%

Course Outline:

 

Week	Date	Topic	Readings
1	January 31 February 3	Introduction to Psychology Research Methods	Syllabus Chapters 1 & 2
2	February 7 February 10	More methods and some ethics Biopsychology	Hock, preface Chapter 3 Hock: Bouchard et al.
3	February 14     February 17 Meet at CSC	The Brain     Doing some research	Chapter 4 Hock: Rosenzweig et al.                 Gazzaniga
4	February 21 February 24	NO CLASS – Holiday Sensation Assignment #1 Due	Chapter 5
5	February 28 March 3	Perception and Processing Library Tutorial	Hock: Turnbull
6	March 7 March 10	First Exam Classical & operant conditioning	Chapter 6, pp. 162-182 Hock: Pavlov                   Watson & Rayner                   Skinner
7	March 14   March 17	Social Learning Theory         Assignment #2 Due Memory	Chapter 6, pp. 182-198 Hock: Bandura Chapter 7 Hock: Loftus
8	March 21 March 24	NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
9	March 28   March 31	Cognition Idea & Bibliography Due Motivation	Chapter 8 Hock: Tolman Chapter 9
10	April 4   April 7	Emotion   Second Exam	Chapter 10 Hock: Ekman & Friesen
11	April 11     April 14	Social Development     Cognitive Development Assignment #3 due	Chapter 12 Hock: Harlow            Kohlberg Ch. 11, pp. 344-367, 379-384       Hock: Piaget

12	April 19 (TUESDAY)   April 21	Social Cognition   Development in reality	Chapter 11, pp. 367-378       Hock: Triandis et al. Chapter 13       Pettito & Marentette
13	April 25   April 28	Interpersonal processes   Interpersonal processes at work   Assignment #4 due	Chapter 14, pp. 463-469       Hock: Milgram Ch. 14, pp. 450-463, 469-482 Hock: Darley & Latané
14	May 2   May 5	Personality   Mental illness	Chapter 15 Hock: Rotter Chapter 16 Hock: Rosenhan            Seligman & Maier
15	May 9	Treating mental illness Assignment #5 due	Chapter 16 Hock: Smith & Glass
	Wednesday May 18, 2:30 – 4 pm	Third Exam

 

Note: This is a tentative schedule of the semester’s topics. A specific week’s or day’s topic may change, as may the readings. These will be announced on the course conference.

 

           

 

	Department of Psychology   Wellesley College                                          ________________________________________________

Guidelines for Requesting Recommendations

 

The request for a recommendation should be made at least one month prior to the due date. All necessary materials should be delivered to the recommender at this time. Always give the potential recommender the option to decline.

 

The student should provide the following materials:

 

·      If you are applying to graduate school, please provide a summary sheet indicating the following for each school: name of the institution; name of the department/program to which you are applying; the degree you will be working toward (M.A.; Ph.D.); date the recommendation is due.

Example:

            Michigan State University – Clinical Psychology – Ph.D.    due: Jan 1, 2005

            Boston College – Counseling Psychology – M.A.                 due: Jan 15, 2005

            University of Michigan – Social Work – M.S.W.                  due: Feb 1, 2005

 

·      If there are forms for the recommendation, please complete the top part of all of the forms.

 

·      If you are applying for a fellowship, internship, etc., please provide:

o      a few sentences in your own words describing the program, fellowship, etc. (what sort of intellectual/personal qualities is the program seeking in its applicants?)

o      the name/address of the person to whom the letter should be addressed

o      the date the recommendation is due

 

·      Copies of personal statements or essays that you plan to include with your application.

 

·      Current transcript (xerox copy is fine)

 

·      Your resumé (with important experience/activities highlighted)

 

·      A stamped, addressed envelope for each application. (Recommendations will be mailed in envelopes provided. If envelopes are to be sealed and returned to student, a self-addressed envelope with appropriate postage should be provided.)

 

·      Please answer the questions on the following page and return your answers to me with the materials listed above. (It is fine to write your answers by hand under each question.)

1) Please list the courses that you have taken with me, indicating the semester in which you took each course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2) What would you like me to know about you as I write this recommendation? (Feel free to include details that we have discussed in prior conversations.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) What particular skills, interests, or experience do you hope to highlight in your application?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4) What have you been doing since we last worked together?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5) Are there any weaknesses in your application of which you would like me to be aware? (It often helps for me to know--this does not mean that I'll mention them!)

 

 

 

Checklist

 

            List of graduate programs and deadlines

 

            Copies of applicable forms with top sections completed

 

            Information about fellowship(s) and deadlines

 

            Copies of application statements/essays

 

            Transcript (unofficial copy is fine)

 

            Resumé

 

            Stamped, addressed envelope for each application

 

            Answers to questions above