Alvin Community College Psychology 2301 Section 06 Spring 2013 Syllabus

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1 Psych General Psychology Instructor: Bridget Comeaux Room: A235 Telephone: Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 8 to 2:00 Course Goals and Description: (3 credits) This course gives the student a broad view of the field of psychology and acquaints him/her with the fundamentals of behavior in daily life. The course will cover such topics as human and moral development, qualitative and quantitative research methods, problem solving, language development, emotions, motivation, personality, stress, learning, thinking and social factors in behavior. Prerequisites: READING 0310 and ENGLISH 0310 Learner Objectives: Define psychology and its branches Define the research methods used in empirical studies Understand the relationship between the brain and behavior Identify the stages of the lifespan and the major developmental changes in each stage Recognize the difference between sensation and perception Define various states of consciousness and identify the stages of sleep Identify the steps and differences between classical and operant conditioning Recognize the major theorists within psychology and learning theory and identify key elements within each theory Define thinking, language and intelligence- understand the relationship between the three Recognize and classify symptoms of major psychological disorders

2 Learner Objectives Continued: Alvin Community College Identify the major social factors that influence human behavior and recognize the relationship between social factors and individual behavior. Recognize several different types of therapy and identify the person responsible for the development of the treatment method. Use Critical thinking skills to start thinking like a psychologist. Textbook: Required: Myers, D. (2009). Psychology in Everyday Life, New York: Worth Publishers. Diana Hacker, (2009). A Pocket Style Manual, Bedford/St. Martin s (You will have to purchase this at an off campus bookstore. You will need this to write the two papers this term.) All assignments will be written in APA format. You are expected to follow the style and know how to create a Work Cited page for both paper assignments. I will also hand out readings that are appropriate to the topic we are covering in class. You are expected to read these handouts. Exam/ quiz questions will be taken from these handouts. Course Format: Class lectures, DVD video clips, Power-point presentations, and online material will be used when appropriate to transmit material. Small and large group discussions will supplement the lectures. In and out of class activities will help illustrate important concepts. Course Outline: 1. Psychology s Roots, Big Ideas, and Critical Thinking Tools 2. Developing Through the Life Span 3. Gender and Sexuality 4. Sensation and Perception 5. Learning 6. Memory 7. Thinking, Language, and Intelligence 8. Motivation and Emotion

3 9. Social Psychology 10. Personality 11. Psychological Disorders 12. Therapy 13. Stress (If time is given) Alvin Community College Changes in the syllabus: There could be changes in the syllabus. I reserve the right to make any appropriate changes in the syllabus. It is the student s responsibility to keep updated on course information through Blackboard, or a phone call to my office. Evaluation and Assessment: Quizzes and attendance 15% Essay on Memory 25% Midterm exam 25% Article analysis/reaction paper 30% Final exam 15% **The Instructor saves the right to change the evaluation method if it becomes apparent that the students in the class are not reading the assignments or paying attention to the lectures. Letter Grades will be assigned according to the following scale: A B C D 0-59 F I.Incomplete: No Incompletes. Or I grades will be given except for extreme circumstances. If an I grade is assigned and the course work is not completed by the pre-arranged time limit, this grade will convert to an F. W..Withdrawal: Students who file withdrawal requests by the published deadline will receive a grade of W. It is recommended that the student talk to the instructor before withdrawing. If a decision is made to withdrawal, the student must start the process at the Enrollment Services Center, room A-100. Failure to withdraw by the deadline may result in a grade of F

4 Cheating, Plagiarism, and Discipline: Alvin Community College prohibits cheating and plagiarism. If you are caught you will be punished according to Alvin Community College policy as stated in the college catalog and student handbook. I would prefer not to have to ask any student to leave class, so if you do feel the need to disrupt the class please feel free to excuse yourself. The classroom is a learning atmosphere and out of respect for all students is it should remain as such during class time. ADA Compliance Statement: ACC complies with ADA and 504 Federal guidelines by affording equal access to individuals who are seeking an education. Students who have a disability and would like classroom or Blackboard accommodations must register with the Office of Disability Services, A 136, Instructors are not able to provide accommodations until the proper process has been followed. Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT): Letting someone know The Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT) at Alvin Community College is committed to improving community safety through a proactive, collaborative, coordinated objective and thoughtful approach to the prevention, identification, assessment, intervention and management of situations that pose, or may reasonably pose a threat to the safety and well-being to the campus community. College faculty, staff, students, and community members may communicate concerns to the BIT by bit@alvincollege.edu ACC Learning Lab: located upstairs in building A, provides students with a variety of services including tutoring (math, writing, and other disciplines); computers and printers; a testing facility; and tables/carrels for studying. Learning Lab hours are M-TH 8:00am 9:00pm and F 8:00am 4:00pm. Testing hours are M-TH 10:00am 7:30pm (Tests must be completed by 8:30pm) and F 10:00am 12:00pm (Tests must be completed by 1:00pm). *Closed on Fridays in the Summer. Call for more information. WEBACCESS: Passwords or ACC Computer Lab Information- contact the IT Dept. Help Desk at Academic Honesty: Alvin Community College has a strong disciplinary stance on cheating or plagiarism of any kind. Suspected policy violations will be investigated and possibly reported according to college policies. I would prefer not to have to ask any student to leave class, so if you do feel the need to disrupt the class please feel free to excuse yourself. The classroom is a learning atmosphere and out of respect for all students is it should remain as such during class time.

5 Writing Expectations: Good writing skills are required. A significant number of grammatical or writing errors will reduce an assignment grade. Please use the Writing Tutorial Services in the Learning Lab for writing assistance. Writing Tutoring in the Learning Lab offers tutoring services to all college students, on any sort of writing project. Students may come for a tutoring session during any stage of the writing process, whether they need help brainstorming, narrowing a topic, clarifying a thesis, organizing their thoughts, documenting sources, or improving the flow of the language. All tutors are trained to give students thoughtful feedback and advice on a variety of writing concerns. Also tutors will be able to check your paper to see if it fits the APA style guidelines. As you write your analytical reactions/decisions papers using primary and secondary resources, imagine you are writing for intelligent people who know little about psychology. It is up to you to convey the research given on a particular topic (false memories or psychopathology). Write confidently and intelligently about your understanding of the dynamics within the world of mental health. Use what you have learned in class to expound on the attitudes concerning individuals labeled normal or mentally ill. In both papers you are being asked to bring together what you have learned and the material covered in the textbook and the articles passed out in class. Just hitting the minimum word count often will not enable you to cover all that is required in the rubric. Please put your time into your papers so that you write more than a handful of pages. Papers fewer than 750 words almost always lack the development and serious analysis of the sources presented. Electrical Devices: Phones, I-pods and other communication devices are expected to be turned off during class. If it becomes apparent that they are on and the student is communicating with others during class then they will be asked to leave and counted absent. Make-up Policy: There are no make-ups or extended deadlines for the quizzes, papers or exams. The exams will be open for several days you are expected to take it within the window given. If you have internet difficulties you need to ask in advance for an alternate paper copy of the test. Five points will be taken off your assignment grade for each day it is late- no exceptions.

6 Extra Credit: There is one extra credit assignment worth. This assignment is based on the study of the personality within psychology so you must wait until chapter 11 is covered. These will be added to your lowest grade. The assignment will be given at a later date. Chapter 11 activity_11 Take the personality test. Read what it says about your personality. It is called the Temperament Sorter II. Write a one page paper about what you thought about the questions and if you agree with the findings why or why not? Due Date: April 10, 2013 Attendance: Class attendance and participation is very important to pass this class. Class lectures will include material not covered in the textbook. This material is needed to write up your assignments and movie paper. Attendance will be taken on a class by class basis. More than one absence will significantly affect your grade. Exams and quizzes: Quizzes will be given on a class per class basis. You will need to read the chapter to answer the quiz questions accurately. The quizzes will be given at the beginning 15 minutes of each class and promptly picked up 15 minutes after class has started. If you show up and attempt to answer the question them the lowest grade you may receive is 70%. If you are late or absent then the quiz grade goes to a 0. There are no makeups to taking the quizzes. Exams: There will be two major exams covering the material presented in class. The Exam unless told otherwise will be in Blackboard for you to take. You will have a 4 to 5 day window to take the exam. The exam closes at midnight on the last day usually a Sunday. You forget to take the exam there are no makeups and you will receive a 0 for the exam grade. If you have no internet service then you need to talk to me about an alternative method to taking the exam. It is your responsibility to let me know in time to make you a hard copy of an alternative exam. Assignments: There are two writing assignments. The key to doing well on each assignment is to read the articles presented and to follow the rubric exactly. I also expect you to have

7 someone else read you final paper before you turn it in. There are high expectations for the writing ability for college students. For some of you this might mean several trips to the Writing Tutors to check over your work and find mistakes. The last day to turn in work is the last day of class. Paper Assignment: False Memory Paper Topic: Admission of a "recovered" memory in a court case. The issue of recovered memories touches on topics related to memory research, clinical psychology, and legal interpretation of scientific evidence. Imagine you are a judge. A 24 year-old adult woman accuses her father of sexual abuse 20 years ago on the basis of a "recovered memory" she did not remember the abuse until last month, but now feels that she has a clear memory for the abuse. Her lawyer wants the woman to testify about her recovered memory of abuse. The lawyer defending her father argues that scientists have shown that such recovered memories cannot be real memories, and that this testimony should not be allowed from the woman because it may emotionally bias the jury against the father. The woman's lawyer counters with the argument that recent scientific evidence supports the possibility that the recovered may be accurate, and that the woman should be able to present this testimony to the jury. What is your ruling as a judge should the woman be allowed to present her recovered memory of abuse to the jury? What is the scientific evidence that favors allowing the woman to testify about the recovered memory, and what is the scientific evidence that favors not allowing her to testify about the recovered memory? In your paper, explain the controversy about recovered memories, summarize evidence for and against the likely accuracy of recovered memories, and explain how you would rule and why. Use only the four sources listed below as sources of evidence. In addition, you may optionally use material from the textbook. Your paper should be 2 3 pages long, double-spaced, 12 point font. Sources Loftus, E. "Creating False Memories." Scientific American 277, no. 3 (1997): 70 5.

8 Loftus, E. "The Reality of Repressed Memories." American Psychologist 48 (1993): Geraerts, E., et al. "The Reality of Recovered Memories." Psychological Science 18, no. 7 (2007): (PDF) Geraerts, E., et al. "Cognitive Mechanisms Underlying Recovered-Memory Experiences of Childhood Sexual Abuse." Psychological Science 20, no. 1 (2009): (PDF) Scoring Rubric Rough/ final Draft Writing Assignment Number of points possible Number of points given Organization Followed the direction given in the instructions 500 to 750 word s APA format must be followed Paper must be typed and s double spaced Heading must be correct All pronouns must be written in the third person expect where you are directly asked about your opinion. One inch margins all around the paper s The paper is aligned to the left hand side. Fewer than 10 spelling or grammatical errors The first sentence in a paragraph must be indented Font size is 12 Font is either Tahoma, Times New Roman or Calblri s

9 One major idea is presented in each paragraph The examples and discussion must support the topic sentence in each paragraph Concept map of the paper must be attached to the rough draft Outline must be attached to the rough draft APA cover sheet Content Give your ruling Discuss controversy of repressed memories Identify the website(s) that you are using. Give an example of the scientific evidence provided in one of the articles Summarize the evidence for and against the likely accuracy of the recovered memory Example are well detailed and precise descriptions are used 3 points s 5 point Does the argument that is made make sense to you? What other information would you like to before an informed decision be made if any? Are there questions you would like to ask? And what are they? Conclusion- What did you learn? In your opinion would these arguments

10 presented by the website hold up in a court of law? Work cited page included as the last page Paper taken and signed off by another person. Have them sign off on reading your paper. Yes it must be an adult. Word count Paper Assignment 2: Insane Places The article Being Sane in Insane Places by D. Rosenhan and a secondary source article will be handed out in class. Read the articles and write a three page reaction/ analysis paper. Make sure you answer all the guiding questions. Also carefully look at the rubric so you hit all the major points required for this academic paper. Identify the methodology of the study and the findings. Would the same thing happen today (individuals pretending to have a disorder being admitted easily into a mental hospital) why or why not? Be sure to include the implied message from the author. I am looking for you to answer the question: What do the author's findings mean to the treatment of patients in a hospital setting? What is the message that the author is trying to imply when he points out that the patients knew the pseudo patients and the medical professionals did not? What does this say about our medical professionals in their treatment of the mentally ill? What does it mean when the researchers sent no new psuedo patients to the hospitals and many hospital professionals claimed to have one in their midst? You must not write a summary of the article, I want you to analyze it. This will take at least 750 words minimum. Writing Assignment Number of Points Possible Number of Points Given Organization Followed the directions 20 points given by the instructor. Paper is an article analysis not a summary. 500 to 2,500 words APA format must be Followed Paper must be typed and 3 points

11 double spaced Heading must be correct All pronouns must be written in third person One Inch margins all around The paper must be aligned to the left hand side Fewer than 10 spelling or grammatical errors The first sentence in each paragraph must be indented Font size 12 Font is either Tahoma, Times New Roman or Calibri One major idea is presented in each paragraph The examples and discussion must support the topic sentence in each paragraph Original Questions are attached to the front of the paper Cover Sheet is in APA format Content Each question is answered thoroughly using examples from both articles. Methodology of the research study is identified and examples given. Question is answered as to whether pseudo patients could so easily be admitted

12 again into a mental health facility. Reason given as to why or why not. How were the patients treated by the staff within the hospital setting? Examples are given What was Rosenhan implying when he described the staff s treatment of the patients? Why could the other patients identify the pseudo patients whereas the medical staff could not? Examples are given. What were the interactions like between the doctors, nurses, psychologists and other personnel and the patients? Give an example? What was Rosenhan implying by discussing the lack of interaction between patients and staff? What was the process of depersonalization discussed in the hospital? What is message that Rosenhan expounds on when he promises to send pseudo patients but did not and many hospitals claimed to have one in their midst? The question is answered of whether the environment that a person finds him or herself in determines whether his or her behavior is normal or abnormal? What is your opinion about points 1 1

13 the difference between sane and insane or normal or abnormal? Total number of points 21 possible Number of points earned Ground Rules: 1. Be in your seat on time 2. Remain in class until the instructor declares that class has ended 3. Be quiet unless you desire to ask a question 4. Raise your hand if you desire to ask a question 5. Be polite to everyone in the classroom 6. Pay attention 7. Stay on task 8. Treat each other fairly by not asking the instructor for special favors 9. Stay awake 10. Refrain from taking pictures or otherwise tape the class without instructor permission 11. Refrain from cheating, plagiarizing or engaging in any form of academic dishonesty 12. Refrain from other impolite behaviors in class (e.g., reading newspapers or other non class material; kicking the seat in front of you) If you cannot abide by these rules, then please be considerate and do not attend class. One last note: I want to make this class as fun and painless as possible. I realize many students may be taking other classes, have job(s), and/or families. You are more than welcome to come and talk to me about any potential problems you are having so we can take care of them. If you need to withdraw from any class you must do so by April 11, 2013 at the ESC so you will not receive a failing grade. Tentative Schedule Dates Chapters Assignments /Exams August 30 Chapter 1 Research Handout September 6 History of psychology Research assignment September 9 Developmental -Lifespan Handouts and research question to be answered *Death clock experiment Mind blindness Handouts September 20 Gender and Sexuality Case Study

14 September 27 Chapter 5 Sensation and Handout Perception October 4 No class Midterm open from 2/17 to 3/3 midnight covering chapters 1,3,4, & 5 October 11 Chapter 6 Learning Class activity October 18 Chapter 7 Memory Handout writing assignment I October 25 Chapter 9 Motivation and Emotion High road verses Low road handout November 1 Chapter 14 Social Psychology Last two articles and a book chapter will be handed out False Memory Paper is Due beginning of class for you to read and starting thinking about your last paper. November 15 Chapter 11 Personality Optional/ conference with instructor if desired or needed Character traits small group activity November 22 NO CLASS Closed for Holiday November 25 Chapter 12 Psychological Handouts, Class activity Disorders December 6 Chapter 13 Therapy Writing Assignment 2 is due at the beginning of class on 12/6 Final Exam: Exam Closes at midnight on the 9th.