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Introduction to Psychology: Grading, Course Conduct, and Course Objectives

This course provides an introduction to psychological content and perspective, scientific methodology and reasoning, theory, research, and generalizations, ethics and inclusiveness, and communication skills. Student assessment includes unit exams, a final exam, writing assignments, and experiencing psychology labs and discussions. Grades are determined based on a weighted average and translated into letter grades. Class policies emphasize free speech, skepticism, prioritization of class, and performance evaluation. The course covers the evolution of psychology, psychological perspectives throughout history, and current frontiers in the field.

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Introduction to Psychology: Grading, Course Conduct, and Course Objectives

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  1. Psychology 111 Grading and Course Conduct

  2. Course Objectives • Introduction to psychological content and perspective • Familiarity with scientific methodology and reasoning • Awareness of the relationship of theory, research, and generalizations • Ethics and inclusiveness • Communication skills

  3. Student Assessment • Unit Exams (60%); best 3 of 4 • Final Exam (15%); take-home critical thinking essay • Writing Assignments (15%) • Experiencing Psychology Labs and Discussions (10%)

  4. Letter Grade Determination • At mid point and course close, weighted average will be computed, e.g., • Weighted %age= [(.50 x exam average) + • (.15 x final score) + (.20 x Assign. avg.) + • (.15 x lab average)] • Weighted %age then translated into letter grade by ‘90-80-70-60’ criteria

  5. But what does a grade mean? • “A” distinctly superior performance • “B” consistently above average performance • “C” average performance • “D” consistently below average performance • “F” failing performance • Grades are not a reflection of your personal worth, but my assessment of your performance

  6. Important Class Policies • First Amendment-level protections of free speech • Question, Question, Question (Skeptical Inquiry) • This class first, illness, sports, debate, choir, music, travel, friends, family second • Not that these things are unimportant… • Performance, not effort, is measured and evaluated

  7. Some Intangibles for All Your Classes • Civility enhances learning. • Your enthusiasm is contagious • Be involved in class. • The "too cool for school" posture is unacceptable and offensive • When a fellow student speaks, it is not an opportunity to "tune out," take a break, or start a conversation

  8. Dress appropriately for class. • Never close your books or rustle your papers to signal the end of class • Don't wait until it's "too late" to seek help • Come to my office hours with definite questions, concerns, or problems in mind • Never ask "Did I miss anything important in class the other day?” Of Course You Did! • Regardless of what you might think, grading is not easy, nor do Profs take sadistic pleasure in it

  9. What is Psychology? • Psychology as a Natural Science and a Social Science • As a natural science, psychology involves the study of the laws of nature. • As a social science, psychology involves the study of the laws of the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of humans and other organisms.

  10. The Evolution of Ideas • Dialectic • Thesis • Antithesis • Synthesis

  11. Psychological Perspectives: The 1850s and Beyond • The Merging of Philosophy and Physiology Into Modern Psychology (1850–1900) • Psychology’s Youth: A Study in Diverging Perspectives • Structuralism, Functionalism, Pragmatism, and Associationism: Studying Behavior, Not Mental States

  12. Evolving Twentieth-Century Perspectives on Psychology • From Associationism to Behaviorism • Behaviorism—A Search for Rigor and Reduction • Gestalt Psychology: The Whole is Different • Cognitivism: Returning to Mental Acts • Current Frontiers: Biological and Evolutionary Psychology—The Brain and Body Reunited (Sort Of) • Psychodynamic Psychology: Conscious Behavior as the Tip of the Iceberg • Humanistic Psychology

  13. Interest in psychological topics is ubiquitous • 1879: Establishment of 1st laboratory for Psychological Study in Leipzig • Wm. Wundt: Goal was the identification of “mental elements”; a “periodic table of sensory events” • Structuralism

  14. Functionalism • Typically American emphasis on purposes and application • Key Question: What is consciousness for? • Emphasis on adaptation • Conceptually related to Evolutionary theory • Wm. James • ‘stream of consciousness’

  15. Behaviorism • Even more ‘typically American’ in its emphasis on practical applications • Restricted psychological topics to observable events • Brought psychology away from speculative treatises to observing measurable events • John B. Watson

  16. Psychoanalytic • Sigmund Freud • Emphasis on unconscious processes evidenced through behavior • Used a ‘clinical method’ in which hypotheses are evaluated by patient behavior

  17. Gestalt • Emphasized the unity of consciousness and perceptual events • Focused on identifying perceptual rules such as…

  18. Good Continuation

  19. Closure

  20. Proximity

  21. Where are the schools now? • No psychologist would be an adherent to any particular school • Best seen as progenitors to current psychological interests • Psychoanalysis Clinical Practice • BehaviorismLearning • Gestalt, Structuralism Sensation and Perception • FunctionalismCognition

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