Psychology 111

Lecture

Introduction to Psychology

Meeting Time: T & TH, 1:00-3:00

Instructor: Dr. Ann Merriwether

Office Hours: T, Th 11:45-12:45 M, 1:15-2:30 and by appointment

Office: 2042 East Hall

Phone: 647-6788

Unique Name: annmerri@umich.edu

Graduate Student Instructor: Minnie Bluhm

Office Hours: M 2:00-4:00 and by appointment

Office: 400 North Ingalls Building (Room 2152)

Phone: 763-2068

Unique Name: mbluhm@umich.edu

Department URL: www.umich.edu/~psycdept/ - go to this page and click on courses and resources.

REQUIRED TEXT AND READINGS:

1) Wade, C. & Tavris, C. (2000). Psychology 6th Edition, Longman, New York

2) Hock, R. R. (1999). Forty studies that changed psychology 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River,

New Jersey

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Readings: All assigned readings from the text and "Forty Studies" must be completed on time.

Exams: There will be three 150 point exams: two in-class exams and an optional cumulative final exam. Each in-class exam will include material from the text, films, lectures and section material contained in the previous unit. No make-ups will be given during the semester, students who miss an in class exam must take the optional cumulative final to replace the missing exam score. Students who have taken both in class exams may take the optional cumulative final to replace their lowest in-class exam score. If your optional final grade is lower, it will not be used in the calculation of your course grade. All exams will consist of 52 multiple choice questions. Please see attached description of exam hints. Please bring number two pencils on exam days. Students who have a documented learning disability and who need special considerations during the exams should see me as soon as possible.

Quizzes: There will be six unannounced ("pop") quizzes each worth 30 points during the semester. These will be multiple choice or fill in the blank format and given towards the beginning of lecture. The five highest scores will be counted, the lowest quiz score will be dropped. No make-up quizzes are planned, if you miss a quiz that will be the one you drop.

Papers: Students must complete two short papers during the semester. Papers are due at different times so plan your choice to reflect your semester work load. Students may complete their own two papers by using either in class experiments or by using the "Mind Matters" CD that came with the textbook. Students can choose which options best meet their interests and schedule. Papers must be typed, double spaced and 2-3 pages long. Each paper is worth 50 points ( please see the enclosed description of the papers).

Discussion questions: All students are expected to write discussion on three of the reading (see attached description and specified due dates). Students should type up no fewer than 5 questions for each reading set. Questions will make up 50 points towards students' final grades.

The Final Course grade will be determined as follows:

There are a total of 600 points available. This is made up of the top two exam scores, top five quizzes, two papers, and two discussions question sets. You are responsible for all announcements made in class, whether or not you are present. All class work must be typed. Please keep a copy of all the work you turn in. The breakdown of the grades will be: 93%-100%= A, 90%- 92% = A-, 87%-89%= B+, 83%-86%= B, 80%-82%= B-, 77%-79%= C+, 73%-76%= C, 70%-72%= C-, 67%-69%= D+, 63%-66%= D, 60%-62%= D-, <59%= E

COURSE OUTLINE

HONESTY:

I expect you to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity in this course. Cheating in any form, including (but not limited to) using notes or open books on tests, copying answers from another person's paper, verifying one's own answers with another person, giving test information or answers to another, and the representation of someone else's work as one's own, is a serious offense in a university community. Students sometimes mistakenly fail to count as cheating their copying from published work. I definitely do consider such plagiarism as cheating, and a student who does it will be treated in the same way as one who copies another student's answer's on a final exam. I will deal with all cases of cheating, should any occur, in the strongest manner consistent with current university policy (Senate Policy 49-20). This will usually mean an F in the course.

Papers :

In-class Experiments

Throughout the semester we will complete class experiments or surveys. I will present the results of these class experiments and then students may write reaction papers based on their experiences with the experiment and their reaction to the results. Each paper should include a summary of the experiment, a summary of the class results, and a conclusion . Usually these experiments are conducted to illustrate important concepts or issues in psychology so it is important to talk about these issues in the conclusion of your paper. You may complete this paper by writing up a reaction paper to any of the three following in-class experiments.

Class Experiments

Drawing Task due 3/9

A /. B response 3/22

Picture Reaction 4/5

CD-ROM

Throughout the semester we will be using the CD "Mind Matters" that came with your text book. You should use the CD as a supplement to the lecture. It contains numerous hands-on learning exercises. On their own time students should complete the "Mind Matters" CD-ROM exercises. Students will choose exercises from the list below and write reaction papers based on their experiences with the exercise and their reaction to the results. Each paper should include a summary of the exercise, a summary of their results, and a conclusion . Usually these exercises are conducted to illustrate important concepts or issues in psychology so it is important to talk about these issues in the conclusion of your paper. You may complete a paper by writing up a reaction paper to any of the following CD ROM exercises

Predicting the Results of Psychological Research 1/16

Signal Detection Theory 2/15

Test of Memory I &II due 3/15

Discussion questions

 Students should read each of the assigned readings in "Forty Studies". Students should select and type five questions for three of these readings. Questions should be thoughtful and insightful. Questions should be able to generate spirited class discussion. Questions should focus on controversial issues and ideas from the articles. Questions should relate the articles to broad issues in psychology. Questions should not simply be information seeking.

Examples of an acceptable question:

Milgram

Milgram identified multiple situational factors that contributed to obedience to authority. How can his research help us gain insight into historical events like Nazi Germany or current examples of human atrocity

Examples of unacceptable questions:

Milgram

What is obedience?

What were the results and conclusions of the Milgram reading?

Were there ethical considerations from the Milgram reading?

Five great questions will earn you 25 out of 25 points!

Discussion questions will be graded as follows:

25 points (really great!)

20 points (good)

10 points (poor)

0 points (unacceptable)

There are a total of 12 readings and students must write discussion questions on 3 of them. I will count the two highest towards students' final grade. No late questions will be accepted. If you do not turn one in, that will be the one you drop. Students must choose one readings from each of the three sections below:

Section One Select one reading from below. Due in lecture on 2/6

Reading One

Gazzaniga

Rosenzweig et. al.

Reading Two

Dement

Cartwright

Reading Three

Gibson & Walk

Reading 4

Pavlov

Watson & Rayner

Skinner

Bandura et. al.

Section Two Select one reading from below. Due in lecture on 3/20

Reading 5

Rosenthal & Jacobson

Reading 6

Loftus

Reading 7

Harlow

Reading 8

Freud

Section Three Select one reading from below. Due in lecture on 4/3

Reading 9

Piaget

Zajonc & Markus

Reading 10

Asch p. 290

Milgram

Darley & Latane

Reading 11

Rosenhan

Reading 12

Smith & Glass

Whitehead et. al.

Extra Credit

Student may earn up to 12 points in extra-credit by completing the following extra-credit option.

Students may write up to 4 sets each containing 5 multiple choice questions. These questions must be application style rather than simple recognition questions. The first two sets should cover material from the first half of the course and are due on Feb. 13th. The second two sets should cover material from the second half of the course and are due Mar 29th.

Example of an acceptable question:

A child punches her sister and her mother doesn't let her watch TV for a week. The child never does it again. In this example, taking away TV privileges is an example of:

A. positive reinforcement

B. negative reinforcement

C. positive punishment

D. negative punishment

E. cannot tell without more information

Example of an unacceptable question:

The medulla is responsible for:

A. respiration.

B. bodily balance.

C. playing the piano.

D. picturing your mother's face. 

HOLIDAYS

If there are religious or cultural holidays you wish to observe, please see me and I will be happy to go over any class discussions and activities with you.

Exam Hints

* There will be a few practice items on the web site prior to the exam.

*Exams will contain material taken from your text (and many of these items will not be covered in lecture unless students bring them up in section).

*Exams will contain material taken from lecture, sections, and films (and many of these questions will not be in your text or readings). This means if you miss lecture and/or section, you could have difficulty on these items.

*I will put two extra credit questions on each exam. I will grade the test as though it contained only 50 items. The rationale for this is: I will try very hard to write clear and unambiguous questions, but it is really hard to write questions that eliminate all ambiguity and differences in interpretations of wording! These extra questions will compensate for any inadvertent ambiguities.

*Everything in the text, films, lecture, is fair game. You can expect the most questions from lecture and the text with few from films. You can probably get a good average grade from mastering the major ideas from text and lectures, you will probably not get an honors grade without knowing subtle details and implications from course material. Some test items might be viewed as "picky" but if you really know the subtle implications of material they will not be "tricky" or misleading. I will never try to trick or mislead you but I really want you to be able to understand the subtle points of psychology.

*Suggestions or complaints about test items must be submitted in writing (e-mail is fine) within one week of the exam. You must give a complete description of why an item seemed "bad (too hard, or picky isn't acceptable; unclear, ambiguous or incorrect with a detailed explanation is the way to go). I will read all messages but given time constraints will probably not respond to them. I will re-score the test if an item is problematic.

E-MAIL COMMUNICATION:

I want to warn you that I am notoriously bad about checking my e-mail. I do try to check on days when I'm teaching but will sometimes skip days. I do eventually read all my e-mail so feel free to comment on things that are happening in 111. I welcome any suggestions you have. One note of caution: while I really do want to hear about things you disagree with or complaints you might have, please comment in a constructive and respectful way. Rude or otherwise inappropriate e-mail will not be answered or acted upon. Please let me know if I ever communicate rudely or inappropriately with you! It has been noted by social critics that email messages tend to be more impulsive than writers would sometimes like and this can result in messages that we wish we could call back.

Important Course Dates

January

Predicting the Results of Psychological Research due 1/16

February

Discussion Set One due 2/6

Extra Credit questions due 2/13

Signal Detection Paper due 2/15

Exam 1 2/22

March

Drawing Task Paper due 3/9

Test of Memory I & II Paper due 3/15

Discussion Set 2 due 3/20

A / B Paper due 3/22

Extra credit questions due 3/29

April

Discussion questions due 4/3

Picture Reaction Paper due 4/5

Exam 2 4/12

Optional Final 4/25

 POWER POINT PRESENTATION ON STEREOTYPING

IN CLASS SURVEY