General Psychology

GAC Psychology Password Authentication Page General PSYCHOLOGY PS100

PS100 - General Psychology
Dr. Dick Martin

Instructor's Hours:
My office hours to meet with students are flexible and I can arrange to meet with you at almost any time that I am not teaching class. However, I suggest that you see me after class or Email me to set up a specific time. I prefer to use Email dick@gac.edu to arrange appointments or to answer simple questions. I do have regular hours from 11:00 - 12:00 on MWF for those who are free at that time. Do not leave requests on my voicemail to call you back. I will not return them.

General Information:
This course is designed as a broad introduction to the study of psychology, and it will be necessary to cover a great deal of material in a relatively short period of time. Classroom lectures will follow the same general outline as the reading assignments in the text. Students who keep pace with the reading will have an advantage in understanding the material presented in class and being prepared for examinations. Caution: Some of the material in the text will not be covered in class, and some of the material covered in class will not be in the text, but both types will be covered on the examinations.

Assignments and Grading:
There will be four tests given during the semester, each worth approximately 60-90 points. Seventy-five percent of your grade will be based on the total number of points earned on all four examinations. Twenty percent of your grade will be based on points earned for quzzes and assigned lab exercises. Five percent will be based on participation in experiments.

Quizzes: Each section of the course has assigned quizzes with deadlines. Quizzes cannot be taken after the deadline and if you miss taking the quiz you will forfeit those points. The quizzes are intended to be taken before I lecture on the topic in class. You are allowed to take these quizzes up to three times and you are given credit for your best score. You are to take these exams by yourself and any collaboration with other students will be considered cheating and will be dealt with harshly. You will need an access code to sign on to the portal to take the quizzes.

Laboratory Exercises:
There are assigned lab simulations from the Psych-Trek, a psychology software package, available ONLY in Room SSC27. These simulations must be completed before the deadline listed in this syllabus. You will receive no points if you take the lab after the deadline.

Procedure for Using Psych-Trek
1. Proceed to SSC27 and logon to computer using your username and password, but make sure the domain is set to GUSTIE.
2. Click on Windows Start icon and then click all programs. Find psychology, and click on it, and then click on Psych-Trek that appears as one of the options.
3. The software will take a bit of time to load but it will finally show you a a cube in the center of your screen. Click to the side of the center cube to make it revolve, until you reach simulations.
4. Choose the simulation you want by clicking on it. IMPORTANT! Before you run program click on the psi symbol in thelower right hand corner that is in the central rectangle of those that form a cross.
5. Now, login with your first and last name. You must do this so the program will print your name on the data set when it is is sent by email.
6. Complete simulation.
7. Once the simulation is completed you have the option of printing or sending an email of your results. Choose the alternative "send email" and send it to psy100dm@gac.edu. You must include the entire address including @gac.edu. This also true when filling your email address in the space "From:." Type in your complete email address including @gac.edu. If you do not do this, you will not receive an auto-reply from me telling you I received your data. After you send your data, it will respond "Net Error: OK...email sent" This is normal and you should ignore it.
8. After a brief period of time, the program will automatically send a reply to your email box. You can also print your results and keep them until you get an email reponse back, if you are concerned that it did not work as intended. This can be done by returning from the email option and pressing print.
9. You can check to see if I have given you credit by checking HERE. I will update this site weekly.

Participation in Experiments:
To provide additional experience in psychological science, students will be required to participate in actual research carried out by Gustavus faculty members and psychology majors. Students will have a variety of opportunities available throughout the semester from which to choose and will be expected to sign up on their own to participate in 4 different experiments outside of class. There will be Online experiments, that can be completed from a computer console, will count for 1/2 an experiment.

Students who do not wish to participate in research may substitute equivalent alternative assignments whereby they read 3 empirical research articles published in the journal Current Directions of Psychological Science, and complete a brief written assignment for each article. A copy of the instructions for the altenative assignment can be found here.

Collectively, participation in these experiments (or equivalent alternative assignments) is worth 5% of students’ final course grade. Specific written guidelines both for required experiment participation and alternative assignments will be distributed and discussed in class. Participation experiments beyond 4 will be treated as extra-credit (3 points per expeiment, maximum 9 points).

Grading: Letter grades will be determined on the basis of the top score in the class. For example, if the top student in the class has a total of 500 points, those students who attain 96% of that total, or a minimum of 480 points will receive A's. To pass the course a student must earn 65% of the top score, or in my example, a minimum of 325 points.

Note Well! Grades will be posted by ID and sent to students in a general Email. If you would prefer not to have your ID posted with your score in this manner you should inform me before the first exam.

Attendance:
Class attendance is the responsibility of the student but attendance each day is expected. Faithful class attendance is correlated with good grades. Students are invited to ask questions during class, either to clarify points in the lecture, or material in the text. Spontaneous remarks often make for an interesting discussion or change of direction.

Policy On Academic Honesty.
It is a rare occurrence when I have to deal with academic dishonesty but you should know that any such transgression will be dealt with severely. Obviously, cheating on exams is dishonest, but it is also dishonest to copy another student's work, to represent someone else's work as your own, or to represent that you have completed work when that is not the case, or to give or to be given answers to quizzes. Sanctions may include failing this course and a meeting with the Associate Dean of the college.
Flu Policy
·         If you are suffering flu-like symptoms and reside in a residence hall, please consider leaving campus either by going home or to the off-campus home of a friend or relative until 24 hours following your fever. If you live in a residence hall and are unable to leave campus, please stay in your room. Ask a friend to be your "flu buddy" and deliver meals and class notes to you. Gustavus has flu buddy kits available at the Health Service.
·         If you have flu symptoms and live off campus, stay home from school. Find a “flu buddy” to bring notes from class.
·         If you can't avoid close contact with others on campus,
wear a surgical mask, available at the Health Service.

Schedule of Assignments:

The Textbook: Psychology by Schacter, Gilbert, and Wegner

Textbook reading assignment 1st Quarter.
Chapter 1. Psychology: The Evolution of a Science
Chapter 2. The Methods of Psychology Lecture Notes for Introduction
Chapter 3. Neuroscience and Behavior Lecture Notes for Brain
Chapter 8. Consciousness Lecture Notes for Sleep

In the opening chapters of the text we encounter some interesting philosophical questions as we attempt to explore characteristics of the discipline of psychology. What makes it a science? Does an empirical science rule out some types of explanations of human behavior? The third chapter explores the most complex organ in the known universe, the human brain. We often underestimate its complexity, because our behavior appears so effortless. However, the behavioral difficulty of individuals who are brain damaged drives home how important a healthy brain is for normal human abilities and interactions.The chapter on consciousness describes the states of alertness which are dependent on brain mechanisms.

WEEK ONE:
Sept. 8 to 11
Wednesday: Introduction-Format of Class

WEEK TWO:
Sept. 14-18

Complete quizzes for chapters 1 and 2. Due by Midnight Friday.

WEEK THREE:
Sept. 21-25
Lab Assignments. Due by Midnight Friday
Simulation 1: Experimenting with the Stroop Test.
Simulation 2: Hemispheric specialization.
Complete quizzes for chapters 3 and 8. Due by Midnight Friday.

WEEK FOUR:
Sept. 28-Oct. 2
Wednesday: Exam in class on Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 8.

Textbook reading assignment 2.
Chapter 4. Sensation and Perception Lecture Notes for Perception
Chapter 6. Learning Lecture Notes for Learning
Chapter 5. Memory Lecture Notes for Memory
In the chapter on sensation and perception we consider the question of what is the nature of reality and what is the source of knowledge. Is reality "out there" or inside of us? The final two chapters, concerns how our experience, enables us to learn from, to remember about, and to understand the reality that is a construction of our sensations and perceptions.

WEEK FIVE:
Oct. 5-9
Nobel 6-7 no class on Wednesday.
Extra Credit option (3 points). Attend one of the public lectures for the Nobel conference. Write a one page paper explaining the thesis of the lecturer and whether or not you disagreed with the conclusions and why? Paper is due Thursday at midnight.
Complete Quiz for Chapter 4 by midnight Thursday.

WEEK SIX:
Oct. 12-16
Complete Quiz for Chapter 6 by midnight Wednesday.
Lab Assignments. Due midnight Friday.
Simulation 4 Shaping in operant conditioning. The five people who complete this with the fewest number for reinforcements receive 3 bonus points.
Simulation 5 Memory processes I.

WEEK SEVEN:
Oct. 19-23
Complete Quiz for Chapter 5 by midnight Mondayw.
Friday, October 23. Exam on Chapters 4, 6, and 5.

MIDBREAK Oct. 24-27

Textbook reading assignment 3.
Chapter 9. Intelligence Lecture notes for Intelligence
Chapter 10. Emotion and Motivation Lecture notes for Emotion Lecture notes for Motivation
Chapter 12. Personality Lecture notes for Personality

This fourth of the course largely deals with developmental psychology, which has often described individuals in terms of their developmental stages, and has emphasized the importance of early experience. The other chapters discuss the success of psychology in its attempt to measure complex abilities by reducing them to numbers. Is that possible and what may be some of the pitfalls in this approach?

WEEK EIGHT:
Oct. 28-30
Welcome Back!

WEEK NINE:
Nov. 2-6
Complete Quiz for Chapter 10 by midnight Wednesday.

WEEK 10:
Nov. 9-13
Complete Quiz for Chapter 9 by midnight Wednesday.
Complete Quiz for Chapter 12 by midnight Sunday.

Lab Assignments. Due midnight Friday.
Simulation 8 Psychological testing--Measuring your creativity

WEEK 11:
Nov. 16-20
Wednesday, November 18. Exam on Chapters 9, 10, and 12.

Textbook reading assignment 4.
Chapter 15. Stress and Health Lecture notes for Stress
Chapter 13. Psychological Disorders Lecture notes for psychopathology Lecture notes for disorders
Chapter 14. Treatment of Psychological Disorders Lecture notes for Psychotherapy
Chapter 16. Social Psychology Lecture notes for Social Psychology

Freud believed that much of our psychological life takes place without our conscious awareness. This is indeed true, but as we will learn in the first chapter, the source of our motivations may often be a function of mechanisms in the brain. Psychology has often been identified with the categorization and treatment of disturbed individuals. What is the role of stress in creating psychological problems? What are the assumptions in classifying an individual as abnormal and how might psychotherapy work? Finally, we end this course with a discussion of the complex ways we function as social beings.

WEEK 12:
Nov. 23-27

Monday:

Wednesday and Friday THANKSGIVING

WEEK 13:
Nov. 30-Dec. 4
Complete Quiz for Chapter 15 by midnight Monday.
Complete Quiz for Chapter 13 by midnight Sunday.

WEEK 14:
Dec. 7-11
Complete Quiz for Chapter 14 by midnight Wednesday.
Lab Assignments. Due midnight Friday.
Simulation 9 Clinical Diagnosis
Simulation 10 Social Judgement

WEEK 15:
Dec. 14-15
Complete Quiz for Chapter 16 by midnight Tuesday.

Final Exam: Chapters 15, 13, 14, and 16.
PSY-100-001, 002            Richard Martin                      Thursday                         1:00-3:00                NHS AUD

PS100 - General Psychology Dr. Dick Martin Instructor's Hours: My office hours to meet with students are flexible and I can arrange to meet with you at almost any time that I am not teaching class. However, I suggest that you see me after class or Email me to set up a specific time. I prefer to use Email dick@gac.edu to arrange appointments or to answer simple questions. I do have regular hours from 11:00 - 12:00 on MWF for those who are free at that time. Do not leave requests on my voicemail to call you back. I will not return them. General Information: This course is designed as a broad introduction to the study of psychology, and it will be necessary to cover a great deal of material in a relatively short period of time. Classroom lectures will follow the same general outline as the reading assignments in the text. Students who keep pace with the reading will have an advantage in understanding the material presented in class and being prepared for examinations. Caution: Some of the material in the text will not be covered in class, and some of the material covered in class will not be in the text, but both types will be covered on the examinations. Assignments and Grading: There will be four tests given during the semester, each worth approximately 60-90 points. Seventy-five percent of your grade will be based on the total number of points earned on all four examinations. Twenty percent of your grade will be based on points earned for quzzes and assigned lab exercises. Five percent will be based on participation in experiments. Quizzes: Each section of the course has assigned quizzes with deadlines. Quizzes cannot be taken after the deadline and if you miss taking the quiz you will forfeit those points. The quizzes are intended to be taken before I lecture on the topic in class. You are allowed to take these quizzes up to three times and you are given credit for your best score. You are to take these exams by yourself and any collaboration with other students will be considered cheating and will be dealt with harshly. You will need an access code to sign on to the portal to take the quizzes. Laboratory Exercises: There are assigned lab simulations from the Psych-Trek, a psychology software package, available ONLY in Room SSC27. These simulations must be completed before the deadline listed in this syllabus. You will receive no points if you take the lab after the deadline. Procedure for Using Psych-Trek 1. Proceed to SSC27 and logon to computer using your username and password, but make sure the domain is set to GUSTIE. 2. Click on Windows Start icon and then click all programs. Find psychology, and click on it, and then click on Psych-Trek that appears as one of the options. 3. The software will take a bit of time to load but it will finally show you a a cube in the center of your screen. Click to the side of the center cube to make it revolve, until you reach simulations. 4. Choose the simulation you want by clicking on it. IMPORTANT! Before you run program click on the psi symbol in thelower right hand corner that is in the central rectangle of those that form a cross. 5. Now, login with your first and last name. You must do this so the program will print your name on the data set when it is is sent by email. 6. Complete simulation. 7. Once the simulation is completed you have the option of printing or sending an email of your results. Choose the alternative "send email" and send it to psy100dm@gac.edu. You must include the entire address including @gac.edu. This also true when filling your email address in the space "From:." Type in your complete email address including @gac.edu. If you do not do this, you will not receive an auto-reply from me telling you I received your data. After you send your data, it will respond "Net Error: OK...email sent" This is normal and you should ignore it. 8. After a brief period of time, the program will automatically send a reply to your email box. You can also print your results and keep them until you get an email reponse back, if you are concerned that it did not work as intended. This can be done by returning from the email option and pressing print. 9. You can check to see if I have given you credit by checking HERE. I will update this site weekly. Participation in Experiments: To provide additional experience in psychological science, students will be required to participate in actual research carried out by Gustavus faculty members and psychology majors. Students will have a variety of opportunities available throughout the semester from which to choose and will be expected to sign up on their own to participate in 4 different experiments outside of class. There will be Online experiments, that can be completed from a computer console, will count for 1/2 an experiment. Students who do not wish to participate in research may substitute equivalent alternative assignments whereby they read 3 empirical research articles published in the journal Current Directions of Psychological Science, and complete a brief written assignment for each article. A copy of the instructions for the altenative assignment can be found here. Collectively, participation in these experiments (or equivalent alternative assignments) is worth 5% of students’ final course grade. Specific written guidelines both for required experiment participation and alternative assignments will be distributed and discussed in class. Participation experiments beyond 4 will be treated as extra-credit (3 points per expeiment, maximum 9 points). Grading: Letter grades will be determined on the basis of the top score in the class. For example, if the top student in the class has a total of 500 points, those students who attain 96% of that total, or a minimum of 480 points will receive A's. To pass the course a student must earn 65% of the top score, or in my example, a minimum of 325 points. Note Well! Grades will be posted by ID and sent to students in a general Email. If you would prefer not to have your ID posted with your score in this manner you should inform me before the first exam. Attendance: Class attendance is the responsibility of the student but attendance each day is expected. Faithful class attendance is correlated with good grades. Students are invited to ask questions during class, either to clarify points in the lecture, or material in the text. Spontaneous remarks often make for an interesting discussion or change of direction. Policy On Academic Honesty. It is a rare occurrence when I have to deal with academic dishonesty but you should know that any such transgression will be dealt with severely. Obviously, cheating on exams is dishonest, but it is also dishonest to copy another student's work, to represent someone else's work as your own, or to represent that you have completed work when that is not the case, or to give or to be given answers to quizzes. Sanctions may include failing this course and a meeting with the Associate Dean of the college. Flu Policy · If you are suffering flu-like symptoms and reside in a residence hall, please consider leaving campus either by going home or to the off-campus home of a friend or relative until 24 hours following your fever. If you live in a residence hall and are unable to leave campus, please stay in your room. Ask a friend to be your "flu buddy" and deliver meals and class notes to you. Gustavus has flu buddy kits available at the Health Service. · If you have flu symptoms and live off campus, stay home from school. Find a “flu buddy” to bring notes from class. · If you can't avoid close contact with others on campus, wear a surgical mask, available at the Health Service.
Schedule of Assignments: The Textbook: Psychology by Schacter, Gilbert, and Wegner Textbook reading assignment 1st Quarter. Chapter 1. Psychology: The Evolution of a Science Chapter 2. The Methods of Psychology Lecture Notes for Introduction Chapter 3. Neuroscience and Behavior Lecture Notes for Brain Chapter 8. Consciousness Lecture Notes for Sleep In the opening chapters of the text we encounter some interesting philosophical questions as we attempt to explore characteristics of the discipline of psychology. What makes it a science? Does an empirical science rule out some types of explanations of human behavior? The third chapter explores the most complex organ in the known universe, the human brain. We often underestimate its complexity, because our behavior appears so effortless. However, the behavioral difficulty of individuals who are brain damaged drives home how important a healthy brain is for normal human abilities and interactions.The chapter on consciousness describes the states of alertness which are dependent on brain mechanisms.
WEEK ONE: Sept. 8 to 11	Wednesday: Introduction-Format of Class
WEEK TWO: Sept. 14-18	Complete quizzes for chapters 1 and 2. Due by Midnight Friday.
WEEK THREE: Sept. 21-25	Lab Assignments. Due by Midnight Friday Simulation 1: Experimenting with the Stroop Test. Simulation 2: Hemispheric specialization. Complete quizzes for chapters 3 and 8. Due by Midnight Friday.
WEEK FOUR: Sept. 28-Oct. 2	Wednesday: Exam in class on Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 8.
Textbook reading assignment 2. Chapter 4. Sensation and Perception Lecture Notes for Perception Chapter 6. Learning Lecture Notes for Learning Chapter 5. Memory Lecture Notes for Memory In the chapter on sensation and perception we consider the question of what is the nature of reality and what is the source of knowledge. Is reality "out there" or inside of us? The final two chapters, concerns how our experience, enables us to learn from, to remember about, and to understand the reality that is a construction of our sensations and perceptions.
WEEK FIVE: Oct. 5-9	Nobel 6-7 no class on Wednesday. Extra Credit option (3 points). Attend one of the public lectures for the Nobel conference. Write a one page paper explaining the thesis of the lecturer and whether or not you disagreed with the conclusions and why? Paper is due Thursday at midnight. Complete Quiz for Chapter 4 by midnight Thursday.
WEEK SIX: Oct. 12-16	Complete Quiz for Chapter 6 by midnight Wednesday. Lab Assignments. Due midnight Friday. Simulation 4 Shaping in operant conditioning. The five people who complete this with the fewest number for reinforcements receive 3 bonus points. Simulation 5 Memory processes I.
WEEK SEVEN: Oct. 19-23	Complete Quiz for Chapter 5 by midnight Mondayw. Friday, October 23. Exam on Chapters 4, 6, and 5.
MIDBREAK Oct. 24-27
Textbook reading assignment 3. Chapter 9. Intelligence Lecture notes for Intelligence Chapter 10. Emotion and Motivation Lecture notes for Emotion Lecture notes for Motivation Chapter 12. Personality Lecture notes for Personality This fourth of the course largely deals with developmental psychology, which has often described individuals in terms of their developmental stages, and has emphasized the importance of early experience. The other chapters discuss the success of psychology in its attempt to measure complex abilities by reducing them to numbers. Is that possible and what may be some of the pitfalls in this approach?
WEEK EIGHT: Oct. 28-30	Welcome Back!
WEEK NINE: Nov. 2-6	Complete Quiz for Chapter 10 by midnight Wednesday.
WEEK 10: Nov. 9-13	Complete Quiz for Chapter 9 by midnight Wednesday. Complete Quiz for Chapter 12 by midnight Sunday. Lab Assignments. Due midnight Friday. Simulation 8 Psychological testing--Measuring your creativity
WEEK 11: Nov. 16-20	Wednesday, November 18. Exam on Chapters 9, 10, and 12.
Textbook reading assignment 4. Chapter 15. Stress and Health Lecture notes for Stress Chapter 13. Psychological Disorders Lecture notes for psychopathology Lecture notes for disorders Chapter 14. Treatment of Psychological Disorders Lecture notes for Psychotherapy Chapter 16. Social Psychology Lecture notes for Social Psychology Freud believed that much of our psychological life takes place without our conscious awareness. This is indeed true, but as we will learn in the first chapter, the source of our motivations may often be a function of mechanisms in the brain. Psychology has often been identified with the categorization and treatment of disturbed individuals. What is the role of stress in creating psychological problems? What are the assumptions in classifying an individual as abnormal and how might psychotherapy work? Finally, we end this course with a discussion of the complex ways we function as social beings.
WEEK 12: Nov. 23-27	Monday: Wednesday and Friday THANKSGIVING
WEEK 13: Nov. 30-Dec. 4	Complete Quiz for Chapter 15 by midnight Monday. Complete Quiz for Chapter 13 by midnight Sunday.
WEEK 14: Dec. 7-11	Complete Quiz for Chapter 14 by midnight Wednesday. Lab Assignments. Due midnight Friday. Simulation 9 Clinical Diagnosis Simulation 10 Social Judgement
WEEK 15: Dec. 14-15	Complete Quiz for Chapter 16 by midnight Tuesday.
Final Exam: Chapters 15, 13, 14, and 16. PSY-100-001, 002 Richard Martin Thursday 1:00-3:00 NHS AUD