General Psychology: PSY 101 Fall 2024 Syllabus PDF

General Psychology: PSY 101 Fall 2024 Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:30-10:20; Wall 210 Instructor Professor Molly Flaherty (she/her/hers) [email protected] Office: Wall 371; 704-894-2197 Office hours: Mondays 2:30-4 and Wedne...

General Psychology: PSY 101 Fall 2024 Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:30-10:20; Wall 210 Instructor Professor Molly Flaherty (she/her/hers) [email protected] Office: Wall 371; 704-894-2197 Office hours: Mondays 2:30-4 and Wednesdays 10:30-12, or by appointment (email to ask!) Email hours: 24 hour response turn-around time M-F, 48 hours on weekends Course Description This course will introduce you to the field of Psychology: the study of human behavior and the human experience. Throughout the semester, we will discuss many of the sub-disciplines of psychology, exploring the major research findings within each discipline as well as the ways in which psychological research is applicable to our everyday lives. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which Psychology focuses on some groups of people and not others. Course Learning Outcomes (from APA 2.0 2013) 1.1a: Use basic psychological terminology, concepts, and theories to explain behavior and mental processes 1.1b: Explain why psychology is a science with the primary objectives of describing, understanding, predicting, and controlling behavior and mental processes 1.2a: Identify key characteristics of major content domains in psychology (e.g., cognition and learning, developmental, biological, and sociocultural) 1.3a: Describe examples of relevant and practical applications of psychological principles to everyday life 2.4a: Describe research methods used by psychologists including their respective advantages and disadvantages 2.4c: Define and explain the purpose of key research concepts that characterize psychological research 2.5c: Describe how individual and sociocultural differences can influence the applicability/generalizability of research 3.1d: Define the role of the institutional review board (IRB) 3.3b: Recognize potential for prejudice and discrimination in oneself and others 3.3c: Explain how psychology can promote civic, social, and global outcomes that benefit others 5.2a: Recognize the link between efforts in self- management and achievement Course Materials Required Texts: Spielman, R., Jenkins, W., Lovett, M. (2020). Psychology 2e. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/details/books/psychology-2e Kearns, Tl, Lee, D. (2015). General Psychology: An Introduction. Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Open Textbooks. https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/psychology-textbooks/1 These are both open license textbooks, meaning they are FREE to you. You can download them or read them at the links provided above. Additional journal/popular press articles and book chapters: posted on Moodle Participation & Attendance I hope you will actively participate in this course. This is the best way for you to be fully engaged in learning the material. Additionally, it makes the course more enjoyable for everyone. Participation includes working in pairs/groups during class activities, sharing group activity results, and participating in activities on Moodle. If you will be unable to participate in a class due to a holiday/game/major foreseeable event, please let me know via email at least one week in advance. If an emergency arises such that you cannot participate in class, please let me know via email as soon as possible. There are options to make up any participation activities missed due to absence (see below). Up to three missed class activities (due to unexcused absence) will be dropped from your grade without penalty. Community Care and COVID-19 (and other illnesses) A key aspect of our course this semester will be making sure that our classroom is a safe, healthy place for all of us in which we can all be ready to learn. In order to make this happen, we will engage in the practice of community care, meaning we will actively support one another’s wellbeing. Here’s how: Safe You’ll be encountering many new ideas in our classroom, including many you do not have experience with in your own life. Your classmates are an incredible resource to learn from, and I hope you will share your parts of your life with us in class. In this course we will seek to learn from one another and our huge range of experiences and we will respect the identities and lived experiences of others. If something in our class does not feel safe to you, or if there is a particular issue you are worried about, please come talk to me. Healthy Stay home when you are sick. If you are feeling sick/unwell, even just a little bit, or you aren’t sure if you’re getting sick, do NOT come to class. Even if it’s not COVID. You will always be able to access the slides and recordings after class is over and you can make up the in class activities (within two weeks of the missed class). I am happy to meet with you once you’re feeling better to get you caught up. If you are exposed to illness or think you might be getting sick, wearing a mask to class will help keep other safe. I will provide them at each class meeting. Masking during a COVID surge (which we’re in as of 8/26) is always a good idea. I will mask as well. If you test positive for COVID, be certain to follow Davidson and the CDC’s guidelines. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/prevention/index.html If circumstances dictate, I may hold class lectures synchronously on Zoom at the assigned class time (link on Moodle, or you may connect via phone and follow along with the posted slides). Ready to Learn I want to get to know you, and I want you to succeed in this class. I hope that you will come by my office hours not just when you have a concern, but also to introduce yourself. I also encourage you to check in with me and let me know about any life circumstances that are affecting your academic performance at the moment. And I’ll keep you updated on my life situation too. The earlier we start, the better we can plan together for success. Technology in the Classroom You may use your laptop to take notes and we will sometimes use laptops for class activities, but please refrain from using the internet, texting, etc. during class time. If you think you might have trouble keeping yourself off the internet, I recommend taking notes using pen/pencil and paper. In fact, recent research shows that laptop/cell phone use decreases student performance by about ½ a letter grade. Those sitting nearby you also suffer a drop in grades. If you have a disability or condition requiring laptop use, this may not apply to you. Use of phones during class (including to text under the desk) is not permitted. Class may not be audio or video recorded without prior permission and such recording may violate your fellow students FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) rights. Course Assignments and Grades Class Engagement 30% Mini-quizzes: 10% Mini-quizzes are designed to help you keep up with the course material and to give you the chance to keep tabs on your own mastery of the material. Quizzes will be posted to Moodle, and you may take them as many times as you would like to. If you score at least an 80% by 48- hours after class time, you will receive full credit. You can drop one mini-quiz with no penalty. Participation in in-class activities: 15% In class activities will be completed in pairs or small groups. Some in class assignments will require prep work before you come to class. These are marked on the syllabus and I will always remind you when they are coming up. The assignments are graded on completion and will be posted to Moodle after class time. If you miss synchronous class, you may complete the activity within two weeks (14 days) of the end of class to receive full credit. Research Credits: 5% One of the objectives of this course is to give students an opportunity to be involved in psychological research. To fulfill this requirement, students may participate in research projects or may listen to approved research talks. Research studies count for either ½ credit or 1 credit (depending on how long they take to complete) while research talks are one hour and count as 1 credit. 3 credit hours are required for this class. Participate in a Davidson student research study: The psychology department has an active research program. If you choose this option, you will be a participant in a research study conducted by Davidson students. There will be both in person and remote opportunities for participation. As a student PSY 101, you will automatically be enrolled in the Psychology Participant Pool Moodle page. This page provides information about how to sign up to be in a study, details about available studies, and number of credit hours. Please do not discuss any information or details about the study with other students. This could compromise the validity of the research. Attend an approved psychology talk: There will be several opportunities to hear psychologists talk about their research. Dates and times of these talks will be posted on the Psychology Participant Pool Moodle page (recorded talks will be posted on Moodle). You may choose to attend one (or more) of these talks to fulfill a research credit requirement. After being in a study or listening to a talk, write a brief description of the research (2-3 sentences) and your thoughts/reactions to the research. Papers should be about half a page, double-spaced. Upload your writeup to Moodle within 2 weeks of participating in the research. You do not need to wait until the due date to complete research credits. Research credits are graded credit/no credit. Midterm Reviews 15% each, 30% total There will be two midterms in this course. These exams will include a mix of multiple choice, short answer, and longer essay-style questions. They will be posted to Moodle at class time and due 24 hours after they are posted. More information the exam will be provided as it gets closer. Final Review 20% There will also be a final review (exam) in this course. The exam will include a mix of multiple choice, short answer, and longer essay-style questions. It will be posted during exam week (Dec 12-17) and due on December 17th. More information the exam will be provided as it gets closer. Popular Press Assignment 10% In this assignment you will find a popular press article that addresses a psychological phenomenon of interest. You will then also locate the journal article or scholarly writing the popular press piece is based on and compare the two. Due 10/7 by 11:59pm. More details will follow closer to the due date.  Rewrite the Textbook Assignment 10% Psychological research, like all science, is a deeply human enterprise and that means that its findings are influenced by the researchers’ bias and worldview. In this assignment you will consider a piece of popular culture (a podcast, a song, an article) that addresses psychological research in its historical and cultural context and reflect on the way psychology fits into the world. Due 11/18 by 11:59pm. More details will follow closer to the due date. Final Grade Calculations Your final letter grade will be calculated based on the following: A 93.0 – 100% C+ 77.0 – 79.9% A- 90.0 – 92.9% C- 70.0 – 72.9% B+ 87.0 – 89.9% D+ 67.0 – 69.9% B 83.0 – 86.9% D 60.0 – 66.9% B- 80.0 – 82.9% F 0 – 59.9% C 73.0 – 76.9% Honor Code The honor code at Davidson is both a privilege and a responsibility. Academic dishonesty of any type will not be tolerated. All work turned in for this class must be fully pledged; unpledged work will not be graded. Students are encouraged to discuss ideas with others, but all exams and written assignments are to be completed independently and without the assistance of AI (such as ChatGPT). Sharing lecture recordings with those not in our class without my explicit permission also constitutes a violation of the Honor Code. To pledge your work (experiential papers, research proposal), type the full pledge and sign your name. For work that is turned in via e-mail (response papers), type the pledge at the end of the assignment, followed by your name. “On my honor I have neither given nor received unauthorized information regarding this work and have followed all regulations regarding it.” Late Work Excused late work: Excused extensions are granted in the case of personal illness or family crisis. These are very real possibilities in any semester, so please ask if you need an extension. To request an excused extension: 1) Prior (if possible) to the due date, notify me that you are seeking an extension. 2) Contact me as soon as possible after the due date so that we can make arrangements for you to submit the assignment within one week of the original deadline. 3) Include with your assignment a written statement indicating that you are being truthful in asking for an excused extension. I will assume that any work submitted late without a written statement is unexcused. Unexcused late work: 1) Reading responses/game assignment: If you turn in your work late without prior arrangement, it will be accepted up to one week after the due date, but will be docked by 10% of the assignment total each day. 2) Midterm: Must be completed within one week of the original exam date and by a specific deadline that we mutually agree on. Exam grade will be reduced by 10% for each day it is completed beyond the scheduled date of the exam. 3) Final review/exam: Must be completed by December 17th. Succeeding in this Course Students who spend 6-7 hours outside of class time reading and reviewing lecture notes typically have the best chances for success. If you’re looking for tips on effective strategies for reading a textbook, check this out. Come talk to me if you have any questions! If you have made it this far in the syllabus, please email me a gif or a meme to make me laugh and you will receive extra points to make up for one in class assignment/quiz (with the total not to exceed the in-class maximum 30%). Additionally, I encourage you to take advantage of the Academic Access and Disability Resources (available to all students): “Academic Access and Disability Resources offers free academic coaching services to students. If you need help with time management, test taking, studying efficiently, or other academic strategies, a professional staff academic coach or peer academic coach can meet with you once or on an as needed basis. Contact [email protected] for more information. Please also stay tuned for Peer Academic Coaching events throughout the semester.” Accommodations Your success in this class is important to me. We all need accommodations of some sort in some situations in our lives. If there are aspects of this course that prevent you from learning or exclude you, please let me know as soon as possible. Together we’ll develop strategies to meet both your needs and the requirements of the course. I also encourage you to speak with the Office of Academic Access and Disability Resources. If you need official accommodations, you have a right to have these met. Davidson’s Official Accommodations Statement: The college welcomes requests for accommodations related to disability and will grant those that are determined to be reasonable and maintain the integrity of a program or curriculum. To make such a request or to begin a conversation about a possible request, please contact the Office of Academic Access and Disability Resources by emailing [email protected]. It is best to submit accommodation requests within the drop/add period; however, requests can be made at any time in the semester. Please keep in mind that accommodations are not retroactive.  Course Outline Note: the course outline may change somewhat depending on class & interests. Wk Mth Day Topic Book Reading Additional Readings & Pre-Class Prep 1 Aug 26th Intro to Psych Science 28th What is Psychology? 1.1 -1.2 30th Careers in Psychology 1.3-1.4 2 Sep 2nd Labor Day NO CLASS 4th Research Methods 2.1 6th Types of Methods 2.2 3 9th Correlation & Causation 2.3 More Butter, Happier Citizenry 11th Ethics in Psychology 2.4 13th Biopsychology 3.1 4 16th The Nervous System 3.2-3.3 18th Brain & Endocrine System 3.4-3.5 20th Sensation & Perception 5.1-5.3 5 23rd Hearing & Other Senses 5.4-5.6 A Clearer Message on Cochlear Implants by Sara Nović 25th Learning & Behaviorism 6.1-6.2 27th Library Resources Special Guest: Cara Evanson (she/her) 6 30th Conditioning & Observation 6.3-6.4 Oct 2nd REVIEW I NO CLASS 4th Cognition 7.1 7 7th Creativity & Intelligence 7.3-7.6 Popular Press Assignment due 10/7 9th Language 7.2 Talking Black in America 11th Fall Break NO CLASS 8 14th Language II: Multilingualism Ferjan Ramirez TED Talk 16th Memory GP 153-160 18th Memory II GP 160-168 Roman Room Exercise 9 21st Memory in non-Humans Animals do have memories by April Reese 23rd Lifespan Development 9.1-9.2 25th Developmental Stages 9.3 10 28th Death & Dying 9.4 The Farewell (2019) or This American Life Episode 30th Motivation & Emotion GP 202-211 Nov 1st REVIEW II NO CLASS 11 4th Sexual Behavior 10.3 6th Personality 11.1, 11.4-11.5 8th Variation & Assessment 11.6-11.9 12 11th Social Psychology 12.1-12.3 13th Obedience & Discrimination 12.4-12.5 Whistling Vivaldi 15th Aggression & Prosociality 12.6-12.7 13 18th Stress & Health 14.1-14.3 Walk in the Woods Exercise (for class) Rewrite the Textbook Assignment due 11/18 20th Getting Professional Special Guest: Aisling Warde Zaccarelli, MSPH Experience in Psychology 22nd Managing Stress 14.4-14.5 14 25th Thanksgiving Break 27th Thanksgiving Break 29th Thanksgiving Break 15 Dec 2nd Clinical Psychology 15.1-15.3 4th Psychological Disorders I 15.4-15.6 6th Psychological Disorders II 15.7-15.10 Double Empathy 16 9th Therapy & Treatment 16.1-16.2 A Radical Experiment in Mental Health Care 11th Reading & Reflection Day 17th FINAL EXAM DUE