HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION
PSYCHOLOGY 201 (Introduction to Psychology I)
INSTRUCTOR: PROFESSOR RONALD BOYKIN
OFFICE HOURS: Office: Room 252AA; Telephone:703-933-3979; e-mail: rboykin@nvcc.edu or nvboykr@nvcc.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
· A survey of general principles underlying human behavior and the mind from a bio-psycho-environmental perspective. Topics include psychology's perspectives, thinking critically, neuroscience, nature and nurture, the developing person, sensation, perception, consciousness, motivation, and emotion.
TEXTBOOK:
· Myers, D.G. (2007). Psychology (8th
edition).
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
· 1. Be able to describe, orally and in writing, (1) how psychology is defined in the text, (2) the five perspectives on behavior and the mind, and (3) topics important in the sub-fields of psychology.
· 2. Be able to critically evaluate ideas, theories, and research findings presented in the text and by others; be able to integrate your own personal experiences with material in the course.
· 3. Be able to appreciate the complexity of behavior, in terms of causal factors.
· 4. Be able to use the course to help you gain a better understanding of your own behavior.
FORMAT:
· The course will combine lecture, discussion and classroom excercises. You are strongly encouraged to be active in your approach to learning in this class by contributing to discussions and asking questions or making comments during lectures. There are several advantages for you if you do so: first, you will be less likely to get bored; second, you will probably get a better grade; third, you will practice the skills involved in thinking critically, asserting yourself, and making the most of situations in which you choose to put yourself; finally, you may even find that you enjoy the course. Refusal to participate in classroom activities is grounds for withdrawal from the course.
EVALUATION:
Three exams (multiple choice and essay).
Class discussion of reading material is an integral part of this course. You should almost always have read the material before coming to class. Hopefully, the readings will be interesting and the discussion stimulating. I reserve the right to give short, unannounced quizzes on the basic material as a way of encouraging and rewarding reading the material before class. Any unannounced quiz will count 5% of your final grade. Values for the announced quizzes should be reduced equally in order to have total points equal 100.
It is important that you take the exams when they are scheduled. If you find that you are unable to take an exam at the scheduled time (due to, for example, your illness, or the death of someone close to you), you must call me immediately. When you call, you must leave a telephone number where I can reach you and best time to call. I reserve the right to require that you provide some excuse of your absence if your attendance is below 80% or if you have already failed to take an exam on time. You must also call me at my next office hour (after class) to be eligible for the curve.
If you miss an exam without a valid excuse or fail to make up an exam ASAP, you may make up the exam, but there may be a penalty of up to two letter grades (20 points). Failure to contact me prior to an exam to let me know you can't make that exam will make you ineligible for any curve on that exam. Failure to contact me by phone after an exam if you miss that exam may cost ½ letter grade. Exams must be made up within one week of the scheduled exam date; otherwise, you get a zero on that exam.
Each exam grade will count one-third of your final grade. A median as well as a mean will be calculated to determine your final grade. If the two methods yield different letter grades, then the average of the two will be used to assign your grade.
GRADES: Will be assigned as follows:
Grade Percent
A: 90-100%; B: 80-89%; C: 70-79%; D: 60-69%; F: Below 60%.
ATTENDANCE POLICY:
Your enrollment in this course constitutes a commitment to attend class. I encourage you to feel a sense of ownership of this course. Also, others can only benefit from your knowledge when you are in class to share it.
I assume that you will attend every class but one (anyone can miss one class for any reason) unless you are ill or have had a death or illness of someone close to you. Attendance will be favorably considered in determining your final grades in borderline cases (one or two points below a higher letter grade). 2 points for no more than one instructional period absence; 1 point for no more than two absences. You must not miss more than five hours of instruction for any reason to be eligible for a passing grade. If you violate the attendance policy, you receive an F if you were failing the course at the time, and W if you were passing.
LATE POLICY: Late arrival or early departure (more than 5 minutes) disrupts class. Therefore, any 3 of either of these in 4 consecutive class periods counts as 1 absence. First instructional period violations are also counted separately. No more than one late entitles you to an additional absence.
The row of seats nearest the door is for late arrivers. Seating on this row is at the discretion of the instructor.
WEEK TOPIC CHAPTER
1 Syllabus; Roots Prologue
2 Contemporary; video Prologue
3 Critical Thinking 1
4 Nature,Nurture of Behavior 3
5 Neuroscience,Behavior; Exam 1 Review 2
6 Exam 1 (P, Chs 1-3); Sensation 5
7 Exam 1 Feedback; Perception 6
8 Consciousness
7
9 Hypnosis; video; Exam 2 Review 7
10 Exam 2 (Chs 5-7); Motivation 12
11 Exam 2 Feedback; Work 12
12 Emotion 13
13 Developing Person 4
14 video; Summary; Exam 3 Review 4
15 Exam 3 (Chs.
12, 13, 4)
16 Exam 3 Feedback
NOISY CELL PHONES AND PAGERS DISRUPT
CLASS. If yours goes off, you must leave class immediately and be counted
absent for that instructional period. If it goes off during an exam, you may
lose up to four points on that exam, and have to finish the exam in the Testing
Center.