Instructor:
James L. Hilton
3215 East Hall 763-1138, e-mail hilton@umich.edu
Office Hours: Thurs. 3:30-5:00 or by appointment. Also, I'm almost always available between lectures (i.e., Tues. and Thurs. 1-2) in MLB Aud. 3.
Lectures:
Section 001--Tuesday & Thursday 2-3
Section 030--Tuesday & Thursday 12-1
Required Texts
Psychology (Fifth Edition). Carole Wade and Carol Tavris. New York: Longman, 1998.
Forty Studies that Changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of Psychological Research (third ed.). Roger. R. Hock. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1998.
Course objectives:
The purpose of this course is, quite simply, to introduce you to the field of psychology. As such, there are three major goals of the course: (1) To introduce you to the ways in which different kinds of psychologists think about and approach questions of mind and behavior. One of the main themes of the course is that different kinds of psychologists (e.g., biological, social, clinical, etc.) approach psychology from different, but typically complementary, perspectives. (2) To introduce you to the body of knowledge, research findings, and underlying principles that currently exist in the field. (3) To stimulate you to think about how the material we cover in class applies to your daily lives. As a discipline, Psychology is concerned with questions that make up the very fabric of our existence. From the mundane (e.g., Why does the moon look big when it's low on the horizon? Why can't I remember a phone number for more than a few seconds?) to the profound (e.g., Why do people kill each other? What is "normal" behavior? Does free will exist?), psychology offers a unique perspective on many of the questions and social issues that confront us.
Grading:
Your final grade will be determined by as many as four factors: your grade on the first exam (30%), your grade on the second exam (30%), your discussion section grade (40%), and your grade on an optional final exam which, should it be higher, can be used to replace the lower of your two midterm exam grades. If your grade on the optional final is the lowest of the exam grades it will not be used in the calculation of your course grade.
All students are required to enroll either in a discussion section or a lab. One aspect of the course that may be new to you is that each discussion section or lab has a separate syllabus that outlines the readings and projects that are required for that part of the course. While different sections and labs may cover slightly different topics during the semester, each will have quizzes (10% of course grade), writing (20% of course grade), and a participation grade (10% of course grade). The teaching assistants will provide more details about sections when they meet. You must attend sections this week (i.e., the week of Sept. 7th) in order to get that information and to remain enrolled in the class. If you cannot attend the first week of sections, you must contact your GSI in advance.
The exams will be multiple-choice format and the optional final will be cumulative. The exams will be individually tailored for each of the sections and will be designed to cover the material presented in lecture, the assigned texts, and in sections. Make-up exams will not be given. If you miss an exam, you must take the optional final. In addition, you are responsible for knowing about any announcements that are made in class.
Participation in the subject pool/alternative reading
An important component of this course is the emphasis that is placed on the methods psychologists use. As you will see in lecture, psychology is a discipline built upon a variety of experimental and observational techniques. In order to introduce you to some of the methods that psychologists use more concretely, you are required to either: 1) serve as a subject in a variety of psychology experiments administered through the introductory psychology subject pool; or 2) see the Subject Pool Office about an alternate written assignment that will involve reading about and reporting on experiments conducted in psychology. The details of this component of the course are described on the attached handout, but you should keep in mind that whichever option you exercise, the primary purpose is for you to learn more about how psychologists conduct research.
Week of...
Sept. 7 INTRODUCTION/METHOD (Wade/Tavris chapt. 1)
Sept. 14 HISTORY. (Wade/Tavris chapt.2)
Sept. 21 EVOLUTION AND BEHAVIOR (Wade/Tavris chapt.3)
Sept. 28 PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY (Wade/Tavris chapt.4)
Oct. 5 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT (Wade/Tavris chapt.13)
Oct. 12 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT/SENSATION (Wade/Tavris chapt.6)
Oct. 19 SENSATION/PERCEPTION (Review Wade/Tavris chapt.6)
Oct. 26 PERCEPTION/FIRST MIDTERM EXAM in class Oct. 29.
Nov. 2 LEARNING (Wade/Tavris chapt.7)
Nov. 9 MEMORY (Wade/Tavris chapt.9)
Nov 16 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (Wade/Tavris chapt.17)
Nov 23 PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY/no class on the 26th. (Wade/Tavris chapt.12)
Nov 30 PATHOLOGY (Wade/Tavris chapt.15)
Dec. 7 WRAP-UP/SECOND MIDTERM EXAM in class Dec.10
OPTIONAL FINAL--For section 1 (i.e., if you are enrolled in the lecture that meets at 2), that time is Monday Dec. 21, 1:30-3:30 pm. For section 30 (i.e., if you are enrolled in the lecture that meets at 12), that time is Wednesday Dec. 16, 4-6.