Introductory Psychology
Summer 2007
Marlowe C. Embree, Ph.D.
5:15-8:10 p.m. Monday and Wednesday
Room 138
Summer school goes quickly... only 8 weeks, so missing one night of class is like missing an entire week of the regular semester! Please stay current and let me know IN ADVANCE if you must miss a class (ESPECIALLY an exam).
This course utilizes a "paperless" approach. All lecture notes and associated course materials are online. As noted below, exams will also be handled through the Web site. It is essential that you take advantage of this resource. If computer literacy is not your forte, please take steps immediately to ensure that you can find, and navigate your way around, this Web site. Talk to the friendly folks at the UWMC Computer Center if you need help, or email me (just click here).
Textbook:
Gazzaniga, Michael S., and Heatherton, Todd F. Psychological Science (2nd edition). New York: W. W. Norton, 2006.
The numbers in the course outline below refer to lecture units (Web notes), not to text chapters.
Details about assigned text readings can be found here.
Course outline:
Unit numbers below (1, 2, etc.) refer directly to the hyperlinked Web notes (NOT to text chapters). Follow the hyperlinks below for extensive information about lecture material.
June 11 (Mon) Unit 1a (What is psychology?)
Unit 1b (Levels of explanation, reductionism)
June 13 (Wed) Unit 2a (Ways of knowing)
Unit 2b (Research designs)
Unit 2c (Research designs, cont'd)
Unit 3: Physiological psychology
June 18 (Mon) Unit 3a (Mind-brain problem)
Unit 3b (Neural structure and function)
June 20 (Wed) Unit 3c (Nervous system)
Unit 3d (Cortical structures, split brain)
Unit 4: Sensation and perception
June 25 (Mon) EXAM #1 DUE IN CLASS (see below for details about exam formats and expectations)
Unit 4a (Psychophysics)
Unit 4b (Sensation)
Unit 4c (Perception)
Unit 5: Motivation and emotion
June 27 (Wed) Unit 5a (Temperament and motivation)
Unit 5b (Attribution and motivation)
Unit 5c (Emotion)
July 2 (Mon) Unit 6a (Learning and behaviorism)
Unit 6b (Respondent conditioning)
July 4 (Wed) NO CLASS
July 9 (Mon) Unit 6c (Operant conditioning)
Unit 6d (Conditioning practice)
Unit 6e (Cognitive modes)
July 11 (Wed) EXAM #2 DUE IN CLASS
Unit 7a (Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory)
Unit 7b (Sensory store)
Unit 7c (STM and LTM)
Unit 7d (Theories of forgetting)
Unit 8: Cognition, intelligence, and psycholinguistics
July 16 (Mon) Unit 8a (Varieties of intelligence)
Unit 8b (Intelligence testing)
Unit 8c (Language and thought)
Unit 8d (Psycholinguistics)
Unit 9: Developmental psychology
July 18 (Wed) Unit 9a (Stage theories of development)
Unit 9b (Cognitive development - Piaget)
July 23 (Mon) Unit 9d (Socioemotional development - Erikson)
Units 10 and 11: Clinical psychology
July 25 (Wed) EXAM #3 DUE IN CLASS
Unit 10a (Normality and abnormality)
Unit 10b (Axis I disorders)
July 30 (Mon) (Wed) Unit 10c (Axis I disorders, cont'd)
Unit 10d (Axis II disorders)
Aug. 1 (Wed) Unit 12a (Conformity)
Unit 12b (Obedience)
EXAM #4 is due no later than noon, Monday, Aug. 6 - No exceptions! (Put them in my faculty mailbox in the main administration office at UWMC.)
Earning Your Grade
Because of the brevity of the 8-week session, with time so much at a premium, I don't want to take up 300 precious minutes of class time with in-class exams. Instead, exams will be take-home exams.
Obviously, with a take-home exam, you are free to make use of your book, Web notes, your own in-class notes, and so forth. To compensate, I'll expect more of you (in terms of high quality, well thought through and well expressed answers) than I would in a conventional in-class exam. I expect students to work independently; occasional informal collaboration with other students is okay, but do your own work. If I see evidence of direct copying, plagiarism, or unfair collusion, I may, at my discretion, fail to accept your exam for grading. Do your own work, your own writing.
Exams will be posted to this Web site a few days prior to the due date ONLY.
Watch the due dates carefully. Late exams will not be accepted (legitimate, serious, documented emergencies of a medical or similar nature are the only exceptions, when these situations could not have been anticipated in advance). If you know in advance that you will need to make alternate arrangements for an exam, tell me as soon as possible so arrangements can be made. Sorry, but no accommodations can be made except in accordance with these guidelines.
Please submit exams in word processed form (no handwritten responses). Because of computer virus concerns, please do not submit them as emailed document attachments. Sorry, but exams that do not follow these guidelines will not be accepted.
Exam questions will be drawn from both assigned text readings and from lecture.
Grades are based on percentages of the highest score in the class for each exam. Rough (not legally enforceable!) grade cutoffs are as follows: 91-100% of highest point total = A, 81-90% B, 61-80% C, 41-60% D, 0-40% F. Pluses and minuses will be utilized in calculating the composite grade cutoffs for the overall semester grade, but will not be shown on grades for the unit exams.
I'm looking forward to this course and hope you are too!