Psychology 1105 Syllabus 2024/2025 PDF

l2024-09-12 Syllabus l Contacting Dr. Legault: Psychology 1105 l Office Hours...

l2024-09-12 Syllabus l Contacting Dr. Legault: Psychology 1105 l Office Hours l Thursday 1:15 pm – 2:15 pm on Zoom Dr. Glenn Legault Laurentian University 2024/25 l1 l2 l Marking Scheme: l Midterm and Final examinations (60 % of l 2 Term Tests (40 % of final grade) final grade) l Fall Semester: l Will be written during the Fall and Winter l PSYC 1105 EL 01 on October 8, 2024 examination periods at a date to be determined l PSYC 1105 EL 02 on October 7, 2024 by the Registrar’s Office l Will be 3 hours in length l Winter Semester: l PSYC 1105 EL 01 on February 11, 2025 l Will be conducted using D2L and the Respondus l PSYC 1105 EL 02 on February 10, 2025 Monitoring System l Tests will be 80 minutes in length. l Tests will be held using D2L and the Respondus Monitor System l3 l4 l1  l2024-09-12 So what is psychology anyway? l Textbook l Wander through the psychology section of l King, L.A., Holder, M.D., Urbszat, D. (2024). your local bookstore: The Science of Psychology: An Appreciative l Finding happiness View Second Canadian Edition. McGraw-Hill l You Can be Happy No Matter What Ryerson Limited. l I Don’t Have to Make Everything Better l An e-version of the textbook is available on the l Make you rich Connect portal. l How to Make the Impossible Possible l Instructions for registering are available on D2L. l Get What You Deserve l Help you with your love life l Love is the Answer l The Art of Intimacy l5 l6 l The pop psych described above has l Informative to realize what psychology is NOT nothing to do with science of psychology l Psychobabble: pseudoscience and quackery covered by a veneer of psychological and scientific- l Psychology is based on scientific sounding language (R.D. Rosen, 1977) l Resolving your adult unhappiness by reliving the trauma of research and empirical evidence your birth Smartening your child by exposing him/her to Mozart at 2 l Psychology can be defined: l months of age. l The discipline concerned with behaviour l Reprogramming your brain to be more creative l Using technology to do get your brain to do things it might and mental processes and how they are otherwise not “choose” to do affected by an organism’s physical and l Transcutaneous Electro-Neural Stimulator l Whole Brain Wave Form Synchro-Energizer mental state, and the external environment. l7 l8 l2  l2024-09-12 l We need to distinguish between popular l Psychology has many competitors: opinion and findings from research l Palm reading l Birds of a feather flock l Opposites attract l Graphology together l Haste makes waste l He who hesitates is lost l Astrology l Actions speak louder than l The pen is mightier than l Between 1/3 and 1/2 of Canadians believe in words the sword astrology (De Robertis & Delaney, 2000) l It’s not whether you win l Winning isn’t everything, or lose, it’s how you play it’s the only thing l When each of these is put to the test, the game they “results” are so vague as to be l You can’t teach an old You’re never too old to dog new tricks l meaningless (or just wrong) learn l9 l10 Critical Thinking in Psychology l Critical thinking: l Ask Questions: l The ability and willingness to assess claims l Be willing to wonder and make objective judgments on the basis l Asking “what’s wrong here?” or “why is this of well-supported reasons and evidence, the way it is?” allows us to identify problems. rather than emotion or anecdote. l Do not approach psychology as received l Not just negative thinking. Also includes the wisdom. Ask questions about the theories ability to be creative and constructive and results discussed in this course. l The ability to think critically is crucial for the l Ask questions about human behaviour that advancement of science have not yet been asked. l11 l12 l3  l2024-09-12 l Define your terms l Analyze the assumptions and biases l Having raised a question, you need to frame it clearly. l Assumptions are beliefs that are taken for granted. l What makes people happy? l When assumptions prevent us from considering l Does happy mean a constant state of euphoria? evidence impartially, they become biases. l Does it mean being pleasantly contented with life? l Avoid emotional reasoning l Does it mean being free of problems or pain? l Passionate commitment allows people to think boldly l Examine the Evidence or to defend/advance a controversial view; however, l Accepting a conclusion without evidence, or worse, “gut feelings” are dangerous expecting others to do so, is lazy thinking. l When disagreeing with someone, is it because the l Ask: what evidence supports or refutes the argument evidence isn’t compelling or is it because the issue and its opposition? How reliable is the evidence? makes you feel anxious/annoyed? l13 l14 l Don’t oversimplify l Critical thinking requires that you look beyond the l Tolerate uncertainty obvious and reject “either/or” responses. l Sometimes evidence is scant or l Seek more evidence than that provided by anecdotal inconclusive reports l Be willing to say “I don’t know” if the l Consider other interpretations situation warrants. l Generate as many reasonable explanations of a phenomenon as possible before forming your opinion. l Having considered the options, choose the interpretation that accounts for most of the evidence and does not have many unverifiable assumptions l Occam’s Razor l15 l16 l4  l2024-09-12 Psychology in Historical Context l Example: l Psychology became a “formal” discipline in the 19th century. l Fred and Bob are discussing the death l Great historical thinkers from Aristotle to penalty. Fred says “Look, I just feel strongly Zoroaster asked questions that would today be that it’s barbaric, ineffective and wrong.” considered as psychological. “You’re nuts,” says Bob. “I believe in an eye l Describe for an eye, and besides, I’m absolutely sure l Predict Behaviour l Understand it’s a deterrent to further crime.” Which l Modify lapses of critical thinking are Fred and Bob l Often, these studies of behaviour relied on guilty of? anecdotes or case studies. l17 l18 l The ancients weren’t always wrong. l Sometimes, they got it very wrong: l Based on observations of head-injured patients, Hippocrates opined that the brain is the source of l Phrenology was a theory proposed by “our pleasures, joys, laughter, and jests as well as Joseph Gall (1758-1828). It was the “study our sorrows, pains, griefs and tears.” of the mind” where personality traits were l In the 1st century AD, Stoic philosophers observed localized within the brain. Understanding that people do not get angry/sad/anxious about actual events but rather because of their bumps on the skull apparently gave insight explanations of events. into psychological phenomena. l John Locke (1643-1704) argued that the mind works by associating ideas arising from experience…and idea that is held by many psychologists today. l19 l20 l5  l2024-09-12 Modern Psychology l In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt who was a physician and philosopher, established the first psychology laboratory dedicated to applying the “SCIENTIFIC METHOD” the study of behaviour. l21 l22 l 3 early psychologies emerged: l Psychoanalysis l Structuralism: l Structuralists analyzed sensations, images and feelings l 19th century had the development of many into basic elements psychological therapies. l Metronome l “Mind Cure” l Eating an orange l Freud argued that many of his patients had mental l Introspection was problematic explanations for their symptoms rather than physical. l Functionalism l Emphasized the function or purpose of behaviour l Psychological distress was due to conflicts and emotional trauma of childhood and these were too l Instead of asking what happens, functionalists asked how and why. threatening to be brought to the conscious mind. l How do specific behaviours/mental processes help the l Conscious awareness was “tip of the iceberg”. organism adapt to the environment. l The unconscious contains unrevealed issues. l Died as a theory as it lacked a precise theory or program. l23 l24 l6  l2024-09-12 Modern Psychology l There are 5 generally-accepted psychological l Biological perspective Focuses on how perspectives: l bodily events affect l Biological behaviour, feelings, and thoughts l Learning l Donald Hebb argued l Cognitive that all behavioural and mental l Sociocultural phenomena arise as a function of the brain’s l Psychodynamic electrical activity. l We cannot know ourselves if we do not know our bodies l25 l26 Learning perspective l l How the environment l The cognitive perspective and experience affect an l Emphasizes what goes on in peoples heads organism’s actions l Behaviourists consider l “to know” environmental rewards and punishers that modify l How people’s thoughts and explanations affect specific behaviours. l Social-cognitive learning their actions, feelings and choices theorists believe that that people learn by adapting l Tries to to their environments and by imitating others/thinking l Model how we perform complex tasks about what is happening to them. l Find out what infants are “thinking” l Behaviourists insistence on precision and l Finding types of intelligence not measured by “IQ” objectivity has done much tests. to advance psychology as a science l27 l28 l7  l2024-09-12 l Sociocultural l Psychodynamic perspective perspective l Focuses on social and l Explores how unconscious dynamics within the cultural forces outside individual moderates behaviour. to the individual l Social rules and roles l Inner forces l How groups affect l Conflicts attitudes and l Instinctual energy behaviours. l Cultural psychologists l Tries to find the unconscious roots of behaviour examine how cultural norms affect people’s l A bit outside of the mainstream of psychology. development, behaviour and feelings. l29 l30 l 2 influential movements in psychology l Feminist psychology l Humanist psychology l As more women entered psychology (~1970’s), it was noted that a bias existed in research methodology and in l In 1960’s, humanist psychology rejected the mainstream the types of questions being asked. ideas of psychoanalysis and behaviourism l Spurred research in areas that had been ignored: l The humanist view was that human behaviour is not l Menstruation determined by either unconscious conflicts or the l Motherhood environment l Power l People are capable of free will and therefore can make l Sexuality in relationships more of themselves than psychoanalysts or behaviourists would predict l There was (is!) some concern that the biases have been replaced with female biases leading to conclusions that l General goal is to help people express themselves and are stereotypical and without empirical support then, achieve their potential. l31 l32 l8  l2024-09-12 What do psychologists do anyway? l Most people think of a therapist when l Most researching psychologists hold a they think of “psychologists”. doctoral degree. l In fact, psychologists fall into 3 main l Basic psychological researchers seek categories: knowledge for its own sake l Teaching & research in academia l Providing health and/or mental health care l Applied psychological researchers are in a psychological practice setting interested in the practical uses of the l Doing research and applying findings within knowledge business, government, law or the military. l33 l34 l For example: Peer pressure l Language l Basic researcher asks “how does peer l Basic researcher might ask “can a monkey pressure influence people’s attitudes and learn sign language?” behaviour ?” l Applied researcher asks “can the l Applied researcher asks “how can techniques used in monkey research be knowledge about peer pressure be used to used to teach mentally challenged or reduce the incidence of binge drinking by disturbed kids to speak?” undergraduates” l35 l36 l9  l2024-09-12 l Nonclinical specialties in psychology l Developmental psychologists l Study how people change as a function of aging. l Experimental psychologists l Used to focus mostly on childhood/adolescence. l Conduct laboratory experiments in learning, motivation, emotion, sensation and perception, l Industrial/organizational psychologists neurophysiology, and cognition l Study employee behaviour in workplaces l Group decision processes, morale, productivity l Educational psychologists etc. l Study the psychological principles that relate to l Psychometric psychologists learning and look for ways to improve the l Design tests of mental abilities, aptitude, educational systems interests and personality. l37 l38 l Practices in psychology l Clinical psychologists l Goal is to understand and improve people’s l Diagnose, treat and study mental and emotional problems. physical and mental health. l Psychotherapy for those who are seriously l Counselling psychologists disturbed as well as those who are unhappy, l Help people with everyday life problems troubled or need to learn coping mechanisms. l School psychologists l Clinical psychologists are often confused with l Work with teachers, parents and students to l Psychotherapists improve performance and resolve emotional l Not legally regulated. problems. l Simply someone who does psychotherapy. l39 l40 l10  l2024-09-12 l Psychoanalyst l Licensed clinical social workers l Someone who practices a particular form of therapy: l Marriage, family and child counsellors. psychoanalysis l Has specialized training at a psychoanalytic institute and has undergone extensive psychotherapy themselves. l Used to require a Ph.D. or M.D. but this is being waived more often. l Psychiatrist l M.D. who has completed a specialized residency in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders l41 l42 l11