Psychology 103: Introduction to Psychology

Spring, 2001


Dr. Faye Steuer Office: 55 Coming St. (first floor)

Phone: 953-8196 email: steuerf@cofc.edu



Required reading materials:

(1) Weiten, W. (2000). Psychology: Themes and variations, Briefer Version (4th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

(2) Materials on electronic reserve at the Library.

Recommended materials:

Wasden, R. E., & Stalling, R. B. (2000). Study guide for Weiten's Psychology: Themes and variations, Briefer Version (4th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Weiten, W. (2000). The Psyk.trek CD-ROM (Version 1.2). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

This course will introduce you to the fascinating field of scientific psychology. It is a prerequisite for all other psychology courses at the College of Charleston and a requirement for the psychology major.

We will be covering Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, and 14 and parts of Chapters 5 and 10 in the textbook by Weiten. In addition, several articles on electronic reserve will be assigned.

Grading:

Your understanding of the material in this course will be tested on nine 25-point tests and a 50-point cumulative final exam. The tests will cover reading materials and lecture notes.

Tests will be composed mainly of multiple-choice questions. The total number of points you can earn on all tests (including the final) is 275.

Your final grade will be based on the total number of points you earn, as follows:

257-275 points = A

238-256 points = B+

219-237 points = B

200-218 points = C+

181-199 points = C

162-180 points = D

0-161 points = F


Attendance policy:

You are expected to attend every class. Attendance will be taken regularly. One point will be subtracted from your semester point total for every class you miss after three absences. If you are absent fewer than three times, bonus points will be added to your point total. (No absences = 3 bonus points, one absence = 2 bonus points, two absences = 1 bonus point.)

Reading &

A defining--and liberating--characteristic of an educated person is the ability to acquire new knowledge independently. Very often, of course, this is accomplished through reading. For this reason, I stress reading independently in all the classes I teach. In this course it will be essential for you to do the reading independently, thoroughly, and on time.

Reading is a skill. The more you learn how to do it properly and practice it, the better you get at it. If you feel you are not as skilled a reader as you would like to be, talk with me. I have some suggestions that may help you.

Missing a test:

If you should have to miss a test, you can make it up on the last day of class (Wed., April 25). This is the only time when make-up exams will be given. All make-up exams will be essay exams. Essays are typically more difficult than short-answer exams. I recommend that you make every effort to take the regular tests.

Office hours:

Mon. and Wed., 2:00 - 3:00 PM; Tues. and Thur., 11:00 - noon; or by appointment.

Semester calendar with assignments and test dates:

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Day/date: Assignment or test:

Wed., Jan 10 ---

Fri., Jan. 12 Text: pp. xxxi - xxxv and pp. 25-29

(Mon., Jan. 15) (no class; Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday)

Wed., Jan. 17 Text: Ch. 1, pp. 3-24

Fri., Jan. 19 Reserve article: Kogan, Where happiness lies

Mon., Jan. 22 TEST 1 on Ch. 1, reserve article, & class notes (25 points)

(Topic: Evolution of psychology)

Wed., Jan. 24 Text: Ch. 2, pp. 32-44

Fri., Jan. 26 Text: Ch. 2, pp. 44-53

Mon., Jan. 29 Reserve article: Dickinson & O'Connell, Effect of quality and

quantity of study on student grades

Wed., Jan. 31 TEST 2 (on Ch. 2, reserve article, class notes) (25 points)

(Topic: Research and statistics)

Fri., Feb. 2 Text: Ch. 3, pp. 60-70

Mon., Feb. 5 Text: Ch. 3, pp. 70-82

Wed., Feb. 7 Text: Ch. 3, pp. 82-89

Fri., Feb. 9 Reserve articles: Associated Press, Scientists find way to make

brain cells; Saunders, Freeing minds with EEGs

Mon., Feb. 12 TEST 3 (on Ch. 3, reserve articles, class notes) (25 points)

(Topic: Biological bases of behavior)

Wed., Feb. 14 ! Text: Ch. 4, pp. 92 - 104

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Day/date: Assignment or test:

Fri., Feb. 16 Text: Ch. 4, pp. 104 - 113

Mon., Feb. 19 Text: Ch. 4, pp. 114-123

Wed., Feb. 21 Reserve articles: Travis, Perfect pitch common among the blind;

Tuma, I know I've seen that face before; Glausiusz, Are you wired for pain?; Carpenter, Why do 'they all look alike'?

(Note: Today is the last day to withdraw from a course with the grade of "W.")

Fri., Feb. 23 TEST 4 (on Ch. 4, reserve articles, class notes) (25 points)

(Topic: Sensation and perception)

Mon., Feb 26 Text: Ch. 6, pp. 160-170; Reserve article: Unconditioned

behavior

Wed., Feb. 28 Text: Ch. 6, pp. 170-180

Fri., Mar. 2 Text: Ch. 6, pp. 180-187

(March 5 - 9) (Spring Break)

Mon., Mar. 12 Text: Ch. 6, pp. 188-191

Wed., Mar. 14 TEST 5 (on Ch. 6, reserve article, class notes) (25 points)

(Topic: Conditioning and learning)

Fri., Mar. 16 Text: Ch. 7, pp. 194-205

Mon., Mar. 19 Text: Ch. 7, pp. 205-213

Wed., Mar. 21 Text: Ch. 7, pp. 213-221; Reserve articles: Carpenter, Memory

illusions wobble, but they don't fall down; Bower, Certain memories may rest on a good sleep

Fri., Mar. 23 TEST 6 (on Ch. 7, reserve articles, class notes) (25 points)

(Topic: Memory)

Mon., Mar. 26 Text: Ch. 5, pp. 130-145

Wed., Mar. 28 Text: Ch. 10, pp. 278-289

Fri., Mar. 30 Reserve articles: Sivitz, Two aspects of sleep share a master;

Begley, Mind games

Mon., Apr. 2 TEST 7 (on Chs. 5 & 10, res. articles, class notes) (25 points)

(Topics: Sleep; motivation)

Wed., Apr. 4 Text: Ch. 12, pp. 346-357

______________________________________________________________________________

Day/date: Assignment or test:

Fri., Apr. 6 Text: Ch. 12, pp. 357-367

Mon., Apr. 9 Reserve article: Azar, Was Freud right? Maybe, maybe not.

Wed., Apr. 11 TEST 8 (on Ch. 12, reserve article, class notes) (25 points)

(Topic: Personality)

Fri., Apr. 13 Text: Ch. 14, pp. 407-421

Mon., Apr. 16 Text: Ch. 14, pp. 421-437

Wed., Apr. 18 Reserve articles: Smith, Smoking increases teen depression; Foxhall, Suicide by profession; Bower, Nausea drug may aid alcoholism treatment; Associated Press, Monkeys dose selves with pot ingredient

Fri., Apr. 20 TEST 9 (on Ch. 14, reserve articles, class notes) (25 points)

(Topics: Psychological disorders)

Mon., Apr. 23 study session for final exam

Wed., Apr. 25 Make-Up Exams

(If you do not have a test to make up, you do not need to attend class today.)____________________________________________________________________________________

(In the event that class is called off, for any reason, on the day of a test, that test will be given on the next day of class. Otherwise, tests will always be given when scheduled.)

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WRITE IN THE DAY, DATE, AND TIME OF THE FINAL EXAM HERE:




_______________________________________________________


(Final will be cumulative. Study all assigned reading in the text and all class notes.)























Record of Grades:




Score on Test 1 __________ Cumulative total __________

Score on Test 2 __________ Cumulative total __________

Score on Test 3 __________ Cumulative total __________

Score on Test 4 __________ Cumulative total __________

Score on Test 5 __________ Cumulative total __________

Score on Test 6 __________ Cumulative total __________

Score on Test 7 __________ Cumulative total __________

Score on Test 8 __________ Cumulative total __________

Score on Test 9 __________ Cumulative total __________

Extra credit points ________ Cumulative total __________

Attendance adjustment (+ or --)

________ Cumulative total __________



Score on Final __________ GRAND TOTAL



Your final grade will be based on your grand total, as follows:

257-275 points = A

238-256 points = B+

219-237 points = B

200-218 points = C+

181-199 points = C

162-180 points = D

0-161 points = F