Middlesex Community College

Course Syllabus

Semester: Fall 2007

Course Number: PSY 111

Course Title: General Psychology I

CRN: 3258

Credit Hours: 3 credits

Department: Social Science

Instructor: Dr. Yi Guan

Course Location: Online

Course Prerequisites: English 101 Placement

Meeting Time (days/hours): This is a distance learning course, and you are required to log on at least three times weekly at your convenience to complete class assignments.

Scope of Course

This course is an introduction to the major principles and theories of psychology including perception, learning, biological basis of behaviors, motivation, emotion, personality, learning, therapy, etc. The course serves as prerequisites for many psychology and education courses. Class activities including reading, discussions, and research will result in better understanding of major psychological theories and their implementations in real life. The learning objectives and outcomes stated below specify detailed learning outcomes that students will acquire.

Textbook:

Essentials of Understanding Psychology, Feldman, 2008, 7^th Edition ISBN: 978-0-07-340594

Online Companion Web Site: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073405493/student_view0/index.html

Office Location and Hours: Chapman 632, by appointment.

Office Phone: (860) – 343 -5783

Email: WebCT internal mail. Use yguan@mxcc.commnet.edu only when you are unable to access WebCT site.

Attendance Policy: You are required to log on at least three times weekly and perform tasks and assignments online according to course outline in the syllabus. All weekly assignments, weekly discussions and weekly summary, are due midnight of Sunday. Exams, paper, and all other assignments are due according to the course outline. Late submission will be penalized.

Class Cancellation Policy: Not applicable

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

Understand the terminology, theories, and concepts of general psychology.

Compare and contrast the major psychological theories and their application to behavior.

Apply the major psychological concepts to human behavior in general and to their behaviors in particular.

To understand the importance of human diversity in psychology.

Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of each chapter the students’ performance will be satisfactory when they are able to:

Chapter One: Introduction to Psychology

Understand the past, present and the future of psychology
Understand how research is conducted in psychology
Gain a knowledge of what trends currently shape psychology

Chapter Two: Neuroscience and Behavior

Understand the basic elements of behavior
Understand the nervous system and the endocrine system
Understand the functions of the brain
Understand the sex and cultural differences of the brain

Chapter Three: Sensation and Sensation

Understand how we sense the world around us
Understand the five senses
Understand perceptual organization in constructing our view of the world

Chapter Four: States of Consciousness

Understand the stages of sleep
Understand the importance of dreams
Understand hypnosis and meditation
Understand the impact of drug use: the highs and lows of consciousness
Understand what environmental factors are important for social development

Chapter Five: Learning

Understand classical conditioning and how it explains behavior
Describe different types of learning processes – classical conditioning

and operant conditioning

Understand learning across all cultural and racial groups

Chapter Six: Memory

Understand the foundations of memory
Understand how we recall long-term memories
Gain an understanding of forgetting: when memory fails

Chapter Seven: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

Understand what cognitive psychology is and how we form concepts and solve problems
Understand how we reason and make decisions
Know what artificial intelligence reveals about cognition
Understand what is the structure of language and how we acquire it

Understand the origins and history of psychological testing
Know what is intelligence
Understand how psychologists develop tests
Understand how biological and environmental factors contribute to intelligence
Understand the impact of having an exceptional IQ
Understand how certain racial groups are evaluated and why a bias exists

Chapter Eight: Motivation and Emotion

Define motivation and emotion
Understand how motivation and emotion affect behavior

Chapter Nine: Development

Understand nature, nurture and prenatal development
Understand physical development throughout the life span
Understand thought development throughout the life span
Understand social and emotional development throughout the life span
Understand what environmental factors are important for social development
Explain what impact personality and cultural development (such as race, ethnicity

and social class) has on human development

Understand the rites of passage around the world in ethnic, racial and religious groups

Chapter Ten: Personality

Define what is personality
Define what is the psychodynamic approach to personality
Understand the Trait and Type theories of personality
Understand the humanistic approach to personality
Understand the cognitive approach to personality
Understand how psychologists assess personality

Chapter Eleven: Health Psychology: Stress, Coping and Well-Being

Define stress
Understand how people cope with stress
Define health psychology
Understand how race, culture, social class and ethnic group affects stress

and physical health

Understand the psychological aspects of illness and well-being
Gain an understanding of how to promote health and wellness

Chapter Twelve: Psychological Disorders

Define abnormal psychology
Gain an understanding of the major psychological disorders
Identify which gender, race, culture and ethnic group(s) are more prone

to suffer from psychological disorders

Chapter Thirteen: Therapy

Gain an understanding of the different types of psychotherapy: psychodynamic, behavioral

Cognitive, humanistic, interpersonal, and group approaches to treatment

Understand what humanistic therapies emphasize
Gain an understanding of biomedical therapy – biological approaches to treatment
Identify why social class, race and ethnicity influences how and if one is to

receive treatment

Chapter Fourteen: Social Psychology

Understand attitudes and social cognition

Understand how people influence one another
Understand the elements and consequences of prejudice and discrimination
Identify the positive and negative aspects of social behavior

Competence/Assessment

Competence will be demonstrated in each chapter:

By weekly assigned readings
By weekly discussions
By bi-weekly summary
By examination
By research paper

Course Requirements and Evaluation Methods

Weekly discussions 20%

Bi-weekly summary 20%

Paper 20%

Exams 40%

ADA Accommodations Statement

Students with physical or learning disabilities who may require accommodations are encouraged to contact the Counseling Office. After disclosing the nature of the disability, students are urged to discuss their needs with individual instructors. This should be done at the beginning of each semester. Instructors, in conjunction with appropriate college officials, will provide assistance and/or accommodations only to those students who have completed this process.

Academic Ethics and Classroom Behavior

At Middlesex Community College we expect the highest standards of academic honesty. Academic dishonesty is prohibited in accordance with the Board of Trustees’ Proscribed Conduct Policy in Section 5.2.1 of the Board of Trustees’ Policy Manual. This policy prohibits cheating on examinations, unauthorized collaboration on assignments, unauthorized access to examinations or course materials, plagiarism, and other proscribed activities. Plagiarism is defined as the use of another’s idea(s) or phrase(s) and representing that/those idea(s) as your own, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Use of Computing Resources

All resources and facilities of the Data Processing Labs, including the computer classroom sites, are to be used solely for the legitimate and authorized academic and administrative purposes. Any unauthorized or illegitimate use of the computer systems, resources, and/or facilities will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, including but not subject to criminal prosecution in accordance with Section 53a-250, et seq., of the General Statutes.

Course Outline

Weeks	Reading Assignments	Assignments
Week 1, 8/28-9/3	Chapter 1 Introduction to Psychology	Discussions - Introduction - Chapter 1 Questions
Week 2, 9/4 – 9/9	Chapter 2 Neuroscience and Behavior	Discussions Summary-Chapter 1 and 2
Week 3, 9/10 – 9/16	Chapter 3 Sensation and Perception	Discussions
Week 4, 9/17 – 9/23	Chapter 4 States of Consciousness	Discussions Summary – Chapter 3 and 4
Week 5, 9/24 – 9/30	Chapter 5 Learning	Discussions Exam 1 (Ch1 – Ch4)
Week 6, 10/1 – 10/7	Chapter 6 Memory	Discussions Summary – Chapter 5 and 6
Week 7, 10/8 – 10/14	Chapter 7 Thinking, Language, and Intelligence	Discussions
Week 8, 10/15 – 10/21	Chapter 8 Motivation and Emotion	Discussions Summary – Chapter 7 and 8
Week 9, 10/22 – 10/28	Chapter 9 Development	Discussions Exam 2 (Ch5 – Ch8)
Week 10, 10/29 – 11/4	Chapter10 Personality	Discussions Summary – Chapter 9 and 10 Paper topic and outline due (11/4)
Week 11, 11/5 – 11/11	Chapter 11 Health Psychology: Stress, Coping, and Well-Being	Discussions
Week 12, 11/12 – 11/18	Chapter 12 Psychological Disorders	Discussions Summary – Chapter 11 and 12
Week 13, 11/19 – 11/25	Thanksgiving Break	No Assignments
Week 14, 11/26 – 12/2	Chapter 13 Treatment of Psychological Disorders	Discussions
Week 15, 12/3 – 12/9	Chapter 14 Social Psychology	Discussions Summary – Chapter 13 and 14
Week 16, 12/10 – 12/16 Exam III, 12/10 – 12/17	Class Wrap-Up Exam II, 12/10– 12/17	Research Paper due 12/10 Final Exam (Ch9 – Ch14) 12/10-12/17

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This course is important because it will strengthen the student’s critical thinking skills and help them make the connection between psychology and everyday life. It will provide the student with a better understanding of why people behave the way they do, why psychologists conduct research, and be cognizant of the theories that guide research. The student will become acquainted with the breadth of the field of psychology and will obtain the core competencies as stated below, as well as a wealth on knowledge that will excite the student’s curiosity and increase their understanding of people’s behavior. The core competencies will provide the tools that will maximize the student’s ability to learn and retain the subject matter of psychology.

Middlesex Community College

Core Competencies

1) Communication Skills: Communication skills include reading, writing, speaking and research. We expect our graduates will have good critical reading skills so that they can discriminate between primary and secondary sources and between more and less important ideas in what they read. We expect our students to write and speak clear, correct expository English to communicate their ideas as well as to frame sensible arguments to support their points of view in an intelligent, thoughtful and civilized way. Communication is an interactive process through which there is an exchange of verbal and/or nonverbal information.

2) Conceptual Skills / Critical Thinking Skills: Conceptual skills refer to organized, responsive and critical thought. Many educators and philosophers define critical thinking as skillful, responsible, reflective thinking that facilitates good judgment because it: a) relies upon criteria developed or assessed, b) is self-correcting, and c) is sensitive to context. Critical thinkers can distinguish between fact, inference, and opinion; construct worthwhile questions; arrive at and justify conclusions; prioritize ideas; apply strategies for dealing with error, improbability and ambiguity; value, and access information including that derived from textbooks, lectures and electronic media; give and accept criticism constructively.

3) Quantitative Reasoning: Quantitative reasoning helps us learn about reality by applying measurement, mathematics, data collection and evaluation to the study of specific problems. Quantitative reasoning involves several skills or abilities: 1) to describe research problems or questions in terms of numerical, symbolic, and visual representation; 2) to solve problems by collecting and analyzing data, formulating alternative theories, and making reasonable conclusions based upon a body of evidence; 3) to communicate and critique quantitative arguments.

4) Technological Literacy: Technological literacy requires us to understand the potential and limitations of technology and to identify and effectively use the appropriate technology to achieve a desired outcome.

5) Information Literacy: Information literacy encompasses skills that enable individuals to determine when information is needed, efficiently access information, critically evaluate information and its sources, apply legal and ethical standards in using information, and appropriately apply information to one’s needs.

6) Aesthetic Perspective: The most elusive area in a well rounded education is that of aesthetics. Students should be aware of aesthetics both in daily life and in the context of their academic studies. Aesthetics encompasses forms of personal expression both in the natural world and in the world of man-made things (buildings, objects of art, etc.). In addition, aesthetics can be seen in more abstract, universal constructs such as the symmetry of an equation or the balanced physical structure of an atom. Students should be able to analyze and formulate opinions about the principles of design behind these formal and expressive structures.

7) Understanding of Diversity: Diversity means difference. People may be different with respect to their ethnicity, race, culture, religion or national origin. Or these differences may be social and personal such as class, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or appearance. We hope our graduates are able to recognize and appreciate these and other differences. Psychology embraces a global perspective in presenting issues of diversity concerning cultural awareness, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and age.

8) Values, ethics, and responsible citizenship: Psychology will help the student to recognize and analyze ethical issues, make and defend ethical decisions, demonstrate ethical behavior and social responsibility by engaging in community, social, civic, or cultural service.

These core competencies are important personally, academically, and professionally. The learning outcomes, as stated in the syllabus are covered in this course.