Psychology 80272:  General Psychology

SUNY New Paltz

Fall 2K

T, Th 2:00-3:15

 

Professor:  Glenn Geher

* Office: WSB 203 i

*  Office hours:

            Mondays, 2-4; Tuesdays, 12:20-1:50; Thursdays, 3:30-5;

And by appointment.

*  Office phone number: TBD

*  E-mail:  geherg@matrix.newpaltz.edu

*  Web address: http://www.newpaltz.edu/~geherg/

 

Required reading materials:

 

*           Weiten, W. (2001).  Psychology: Themes and Variations.  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

 

*           Pettijohn, T.F. (2000).  Sources:  Notable Selections in Psychology.  Guilford, CT:  Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.

 

Course Objectives:

 

            Welcome to General Psychology.  The main objective of this course is for you to gain a basic understanding of different theoretical perspectives in psychology.  In addition, you will learn how these different perspectives are related, what the shortcomings of each perspective are, and what these different ways of thinking have to offer you as you wander about in life.  Every course you ever take should provide you with new ways of thinking about the world.  Hopefully, this course will be no exception.

            As a discipline, psychology is inherently interesting, relevant, and, simply put, pretty neat.  Topics addressed in this course will include historical perspectives in psychology, basic research methodology, physiological underpinnings of behavior, in addition to several others.  The assignments in this course are primarily designed to help you gain a broad understanding of psychology as well as the ability to generalize principles you learn across different contexts.  Further, a writing component is built into this course to help you develop your ability to express complex ideas.  If all goes well, you should walk away from this course with several tools for understanding the world.

 

Course Requirements: 

 

1.  Three Exams(60% of course grade; 20% each): There will be three examinations consisting of both multiple choice and essay questions.

 

2.  Two Paper Assignments (40% of final grade; 20% each): Two paper assignments will be given out during the semester.  For the first assignment, you will be asked to summarize one of the readings from Pettijohn’s book.  Additionally, you should discuss the relevance and applicability of the article you choose.  The second assignment is designed to have you apply psychological concepts to art.  Detailed assignments will be handed out in class. 

 

3.  Research Participation Credits (OPTIONAL).  Psychologists who conduct research often use general psychology students as participants.  As part of this course, you may have the opportunity to serve as a participant for a variety of studies being conducted by psychology faculty and students here at New Paltz.  These opportunities will serve the functions of (a) allowing you a first-hand look at what psychological research is all about and (b) assisting with the data collection process for the researchers.

 

For every study in which you participate this semester, you will receive one point added to your final grade.  You may earn up to a maximum of four such participation points. 

 

Further details regarding this process will be addressed in class.

 

Grading:  Grades for all examinations and papers will be on a scale from 1 to 100.  The following equation will be used to determine your final grade: 

 

*  Final grade = (Exam 1 * .20) + (Exam 2 * .20) + (Exam 3 * .20) + (Paper 1 * .20) + (Paper 2 * .20) + (Research Participation Points)

 

Your final grade will be on a scale from 0 to 100.  Final grades will be converted to letter grades using the following criteria:

 

94 - 100 = A

90 - 93  = A-

87 - 89  = B+

84 - 86  = B

 

80 - 83  = B-

77 - 79  = C+

74 - 76  = C

70 - 73  = C-

67 - 69  = D+

64 - 66  = D

60 - 63  = D-

Below 60 = F

 

Note that due to research participation points, it is possible for final grades to exceed 100.  Final grades that are greater than 100 will be assigned letter grades of ‘A.’
Course Calendar

 

Week of          Topic                                                                          Reading

8-28                Welcome to Class!!!!                                               This syllabus;                                                                                                             Weiten (Chap. 1);

Pettijohn (1.1,1.3, 1.4)

 

9-4                  Research in Psychology                                           Weiten (Chap. 2)                                                                                          

9-11                Biological Psychology                                              Weiten (Chap. 3);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (2.1, 2.3,                                                                                                                 2.4)

 

9-18                Sensation and Perception                                       Weiten (Chap. 4);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (4.1)

 

9-25                                                                                                                           

9-26                Exam 1: Weiten (Chaps. 1-4)

                        and corresponding Pettijohn articles

 

                        Variations in Consciousness                                   Weiten (Chap. 5);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (5.1, 5.2)

 

10-2                Learning through Conditioning                                Weiten (Chap. 6);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (6.1, 6.2,

                                                                                                            6.3)

 

10-9                More on Conditioning; FUN!

 

10-16              Memory                                                                      Weiten (Chap. 7);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (7.1, 7.2,

                                                                                                            7.3)

 

10-23              Human Development                                                Weiten (Chap. 11);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (3.1, 3.2,

                                                                                                            3.3, 3.4)

 

10-24              Paper 1 is due.
10-30 

10-31              Exam 2: Weiten (Chaps. 5-7, & 11)

                        and corresponding Pettijohn articles

 

Happy Halloween!

                                                                                   

                        Personality Psychology                                            Weiten (Chap. 12);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (11.1,                                                                                                                      11.2, 11.3)

 

11-6                Personality Psychology                                            Weiten (Chap. 12);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (11.1,                                                                                                                      11.2, 11.3)

 

11-13              Psychological Disorders                                          Weiten (Chap. 14);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (13.1,                                                                                                                      13.2, 13.3)

 

11-20              Psychological Disorders                                          Weiten (Chap. 14);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (13.1,                                                                                                                      13.2, 13.3)

 

11-21              Paper 2 is due.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

11-27              Psychotherapy                                                           Weiten (Chap. 15;

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (14.1, 14.2                                                                                                 14.3)

 

12-4                Social Psychology                                                    Weiten (Chap. 16);

                                                                                                            Pettijohn (15.1, 15.2                                                                                                 15.3, 15.4)

           

12-19                          Final exam: Weiten (Chaps. 12, 14-16) and                

(12:30-2:30)              corresponding Pettijohn articles

Course policies:    

1.  Cheating.  DO NOT CHEAT.  Any student caught cheating on an exam will automatically fail that exam and, perhaps, the course.  In addition, his or her name will be reported to the coordinator of campus judicial affairs. 

 

2.  Plagiarism.  Plagiarism occurs when material is taken from a source without proper citation.  If you quote something directly (i.e., if you use another authors EXACT WORDS), you must use quotation marks.  If you borrow an idea and reword it, you must report your source.  Any student caught plagiarizing will automatically fail the assignment and, perhaps, the course.  In addition, his or her name will be reported to the coordinator of campus judicial affairs.  DO NOT PLAGIARIZE.

 

3.  Missing exams.  A Make-up exam may be given if there are extenuating circumstances AND it (the make-up exam) is officially scheduled before the scheduled examination.  If such circumstances are shown to exist, you may be able to take a make-up exam.  Special arrangements will be made as to the time and place of any make-up exams.  If a student requests a make-up exam after the scheduled examination, and especially extenuating circumstances (e.g., a serious illness) are demonstrated to exist, scheduling of a make-up exam might be considered.

 

4.  Rewriting papers.  You can rewrite the papers for this course after they are handed back.  In doing so, your grade can only improve.  Your highest grade on a paper will be used to calculate your final grade (the lower grade will be dismissed).  No rewrites will be accepted after the last day of class IN CLASS.  Rewritten papers need to be accompanied by the original draft with my comments.  Rewrites that are not accompanied by the original draft may not be accepted.  Rewrites handed in on the last day of class anywhere or anytime except in class (e.g., shoved under my door after class) will NOT be accepted.

 

5.  Course conflicts.  If you have a regular scheduling conflict with this course (e.g., you will have to leave every day before the end of class because of work, you have another course scheduled that overlaps with this course, or you will be going to Rome for 2 weeks during the term) you should not take this course.

 

6.  Your papers for this class may NOT be based on a paper you have written for another class.

 

            As a teacher I feel that my role is to help you learn, not to grade you, so please feel free to come see me or call me throughout the term if you have any concerns or questions.  I mean it.  Have a great semester.

 

 

Writing tips.

 

No papers with an abundance of the following errors will receive a grade of an ‘A.’

 

1.  USUALLY affect is a verb and effect is a noun; 

 

e.g., This variable affects several things.

e.g., That other variable produced a very large effect.

 

2.  If the subject of your sentence is singular, the verb and subsequent pronouns referring to the subject must be also:

 

e.g., The participant then provided HIS OR HER (NOT "THEIR") background

information.

e.g.,  The point of these studies WAS (NOT "WERE") blah, blah, blah ... (point is singular).

 

3.  NEVER use the word "PROVE" in a psychology article.  While psychologists do many things, proving is virtually never one of them.

 

INCORRECT: These results prove that Schmedley's hypothesis was correct.

BETTER: These results support Schmedley's hypothesis.

BETTER STILL: These results support the hypothesis that Schmedley should change his name ... just kidding.

 

4.  BE SUCCINCT.  Do not use a lot of words to make a point if you can make the same point with fewer words.  If two papers make the same points, the one with fewer words is, by my definition, better.

 

BAD:  Asch’s research on conformity is very interesting because it includes interesting research and has important ideas that are very meaningful.

 

BETTER: Asch’s research on conformity is interesting for several reasons.

 

5.  AVOID 1st person and, especially, opinions (unless they are asked for).

 

BAD: I am writing a paper on conformity.  In this paper, I will talk about how social psychologists have studied conformity and why I am so interested in this interesting topic.

 

BETTER: This paper will address conformity as it has been studied in social psychology.

 

6.  DO NOT USE CONTRACTIONS:

 

BAD: Subjects were asked if they’d administer an electric shock.

BETTER:  Subjects were asked if they would administer an electric shock.

 

7.         It’s means it is (but you should not be using contractions anyway).

 

            Its is a possessive pronoun referring to a noun that possesses something. 

e.g., The frog grabbed the fly with its tongue.   (here its means the frog’s)

 

8.  Punctuation marks go INSIDE quotation marks (when at the end of the sentence).

 

BAD:  Then the experimenter said, “Oh Boy”.

BETTER:  Then the experimenter said, “Oh Boy.”

BETTER STILL:  Then the experimenter said, “Golly!”

 

9.  Always follow the word “this” with a specific noun.  Otherwise, your writing will be unclear.

 

BAD: Changes will be made at all levels of management.  The impact of this will be enormous.

BETTER: Changes will be made at all levels of management.  The impact of this restructuring will be enormous.

 

10.  i.e., means “in other words.”  e.g., means “for example.”

 

e.g., These people are thought to be cerebral in nature (i.e., they tend to think a lot).

e.g., Their diet includes several kinds of flowers (e.g., roses).

 

11.  Here are some helpful word substitutions for you:

 

Change from                          to

looked at                                examined

got                                           obtained

did                                           conducted

 

12.  Only use the word “correlation” if you are referring to a specific relationship between two different variables.  Do not just throw this word around because it sounds good.

 

GOOD: A positive correlation was observed between number of hamburgers eaten and the size of one’s bellyache.

BAD: A correlation between these different ideas can be found.  (This sentence simply does not mean anything).