Course Syllabus
Psychology 101 -- Introductory Psychology
Instructor: Richard Lippa Spring 2008
Office: H-710-N
Office hours: Tues, Thurs 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Phone: 714-278-3654; on campus phones: Extension 3654
E-mail: rlippa@fullerton.edu
Web page: http://psych.fullerton.edu/rlippa/index.html
(Note: Class materials are posted on my web
page!)
Goals and Objectives of the Course
This course will introduce you to the theories, research methods, and empirical findings of modern psychology. In addition to studying diverse topics in psychology (such as biological psychology, perception, learning, emotions, personality, social behavior, and psychopathology), you will also gain knowledge about how social scientists frame questions, devise hypotheses, and gather data. While this course will emphasize primarily empirical, scientific psychology, it will also consider a number of other points of view (for example, Freudian psychology, humanistic psychology).
Of course, psychology appeals
to many people because they hope to learn more about their own thoughts,
feelings, and behavior. If you read the
text and attend the lectures conscientiously over the next four months, you
should gain new insights into your own and other people's behavior.
One textbook is required for
this course: Psychology: A Concise Introduction by Richard A. Griggs (1st
Edition, 2006, Worth). This book has been ordered and should be available at
the Little Professor Bookstore,
A detailed listing of reading assignments follows. In general, you will be asked to read one chapter each week. It's your responsibility to read the text. I don't guarantee that I will cover in class all the topics discussed in your text. It is important to keep up with the reading! Your text is one of the shortest and least expensive on the market. Take advantage of it!
Reading Assignments
by week of: Read Chapters: Topics:
Jan 21 1 What is psychology?
Research methods
Jan 28 2 Biological psychology
Feb 4 2 Biological psych. (cont.)
Feb 12 3 Sensation & Perception
________________________________________________________________
Feb 18 4 Learning
Feb 25 5 Memory
March 3 6 Thinking, Language, and
March 10 6 (continued) Intelligence
_________________________________________________________________
March 17 7 Developmental psychology
March 24 8 Personality
April 7 9 Social Psychology;
April 14 9 (continued) Motivation and Emotion _________________________________________________________________
April 21 10 Psychopathology
April 28 10 (continued) Psychopathology;
May 5 10 (continued) Psychotherapy
EXAM DATES
Exam 1: Thursday, Feb 14 Exam 3, Thursday, April 17
Exam 2: Thursday, March 13 Exam 4 (Final exam):
2-page paper: Th, April 20 Check Spr 08 Class Schedule
GRADES AND EXAMS
There will be four exams. The dates are listed above. Exams will consist of multiple-choice questions. The first three exams will have about 50 questions each and will cover material from just the preceding 4 weeks. The final exam will have about 50 questions on material from the last three weeks of the class plus approximately 30 cumulative questions that test earlier material in the class and material from the writing pointers sheet on my Web page. The final exam will include a number of questions about the writing pointers sheet on my web page. Thus the final exam will be about 50% longer than earlier exams(about 80 to 85 questions instead of 50 questions) and it will count more in determining your final grade.
Your total points in the class
will be the sum of your exam scores and your paper scores. Final letter grades will be assigned
according to the following scale. Please note that plus/minus grading will be
used.
Grade Percent of total possible points
A+ 90-100 percent
A 85-89 percent
A- 80-84 percent
B+ 77-79 percent
B 73-76 percent
B- 70-72 percent
C+ 67-69 percent
C 63-66 percent
C- 60-62 percent
D+ 57-59 percent
D 53-56 percent
D- 50-52 percent
F less than 50 percent
A Word to the Wise
TO DO WELL IN THIS CLASS, IT
IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU ATTEND CLASS REGULARLY AND READ CHAPTERS ON A
WEEK-BY-WEEK BASIS. Last semester, about 30% of all students received final
grades of D or F. Here are some
comments recent students made on their teacher evaluation forms from my Psych.
101 class: “He is very
interesting and challenging. But overall a great professor.” “Doesn’t mess
around.” “He gave concrete examples and explained things well in all lectures.”
“Awesome teacher. Made the class interesting.
Made me want to come to class.” “He was tough on papers.” “I had to
work.”
Writing assignment. To provide you will a writing assignment
in Introductory Psychology (this is a University requirement), this class will
require you to write a short paper. The
paper must be AT LEAST two type-written pages in length, double-spaced,
left-justified, with one-inch margins, standard fonts (“Courier New” or “Times
New Roman”), standard font size (12-point), and with a separate title page that
includes the title of your paper, your name, and your student ID number, your
class title (Psych 101) and the days and times your class meets (e.g., Tueday,
Thursday 8:30 am). Do not put your name or the paper’s title on the pages that
follow the title page.
In your paper you are to apply a certain area of psychology (e.g., research on brain injuries and behavior to your own life and life experiences. Papers must be on a list of topics that you can find on my web page.
All the writing in your paper must be in your own words. Do not quote from your textbook or from other books or Internet sources! If there is evidence of plagiarism (that you are using other people’s words in your paper), then you will receive a zero for your paper and I will report you to the CSUF Dean who deals with academic dishonesty.
You must turn in a draft of your paper by the Thursday, April 10, and
then turn in a revised version, based on written feedback on your draft, by the
last class day of class (Thursday, May 8).
Even though I’m calling your
first version a “draft,” it must represent your best effort. Papers will not be
accepted late. Papers will not be accepted by email. If you hand in the first
draft late, you will receive a zero on it.
If you hand in the final version late, you will receive a zero on it.
You must attach (staple) your initial draft, which has my corrections on
it, to your revised draft and turn them both in together. Your paper grade will
consist of the average of the points you receive for the draft (1 to 20 points,
based on quality) and of the points you receive for the final revised paper (1
to 20 points, based on quality). Papers
will be graded both on content and writing quality. You will automatically lose points if your
paper is less than 2 pages in length and if you do not follow instructions
about paper format (font size, margins, etc.).
Posted on my web page are instruction sheets that describe some common
writing problems in student papers and that give instructions and suggestions
for your papers. You should read these sheets carefully and work hard to avoid the
writing problems outlined on these sheets.
There will be questions based on material in the writing pointers sheet
on the final exam!
CLASS MATERIALS
Class materials (copies of this syllabus, lecture outlines, study guides, instructions for papers and “writing pointers sheet”) can be found on my web page (address given at the beginning of this syllabus). Use this resource!
TEST FORMS (ANSWER SHEETS FOR
EXAMS)
To take your exams you will need to buy four answer sheets at the bookstore. These sheets are 6-by-11-inch forms, and they are titled "ParSCORE, Student Enrollment Sheet." They are printed in a reddish color. The form number is F288-ERI-L.
Note: Your exam will not be accepted if it is filled out on the wrong answer sheet. If you bring a wrong answer sheet to class on the day of an exam, you will have to go to the bookstore and buy a correct form. Get the correct forms now, and avoid upset on exam days.
POLICY ON MAKE-UP EXAMS
You will be permitted to take a make-up exam only if you have a legitimate reason for missing the original exam. If you miss a regular exam, you must bring written documentation (e.g., a doctor's note, a funeral program) in order to take a make-up exam. If you know ahead of time that you will have a problem taking an exam, come and talk to me about it. Generally, make-up exams will be essay tests and will be graded more strictly than the original exam. It is to your advantage not to miss exams.
SUBJECT PARTICIPATION
As a student in Introductory Psychology you are expected to participate as a subject in a number of psychology studies conducted by various researchers in the Psychology Department. Your participation should come to four hours in total (some studies last ½ hour, some last one hour, some last 2 hours, etc.). The educational rationale for this participation is that you gain direct knowledge of how psychological research is carried out when you participate as a subject.
A separate sheet describing the procedures for signing up for studies should be attached to this syllabus. If for some reason you wish not to participate as a subject, you may choose instead to write a short paper on some topic in psychology to satisfy this "subject requirement." Before writing this paper, come and talk to me about possible topics.
ETHICS AND STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
A sheet is attached that describes your responsibilities as a student in this class. Please read this sheet carefully. You are responsible for completing all assigned work, and you are responsible for doing your own work. You should seriously consider adjusting your work schedule over the next four months to provide yourself with adequate time to do your school work.
If I discover any evidence of cheating on tests or plagiarism (copying others’ words) on papers, I reserve the right to assign you a zero for the class. In addition, I will report your case to the CSUF Dean who handles academic dishonesty. Such a report stays on your record for many years at CSUF.