Chabot College
Fall 2003
Replaced Fall 2010
Course Outline for Psychology 1
GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY
Catalog Description:
1 - General Psychology
3 units
Basic psychological concepts underlying human and animal behavior in such areas as
learning, motivation, perception, personality and social behavior. Strongly recommended:
Eligibility for English 1A. 3 hours.
[Typical contact hours: 52.5]
Prerequisite Skills:
None.
Expected Outcomes for Students:
Upon completion of the course students should be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
demonstrate an understanding of the major theoretical perspectives in psychology;
identify and apply key findings and principles established through empirical
research in psychology;
define major methods of research and investigation used in psychology;
assess how the field's findings have been applied in various specialized professional
practices, including the helping professions;
demonstrate an understanding of the scope and diversity of psychology's methods
and subject matter.
Course Content:
1.
Foundations:
a.
History of Psychology
b.
Key Theoretical Perspectives in Psychology: Biological, Behavioral,
Evolutionary, Social, Humanistic, Cultural, Psychoanalytic
c.
Empirical Methods of Research and Investigation in Psychology
d.
The Scope and Diversity of Psychology’s Methods and Subject Matter
2.
Research Findings, Key Principles and Major Theories:
a.
Biological Basis of Behavior
b.
Sensation and Perception
c.
Conditioning and Learning
d.
Memory
e.
Emotion
f.
Motivation
g.
Personality
h.
Life-span Development
i.
Social Behavior
Chabot College
Course Outline for Psychology 1
Fall 2003
Page 2
Course Content (Cont'd):
3.
Application in Specialized Areas of Professional Practice:
a.
Measurement of Mental Abilities
b.
Measurement of Personality
c.
Behavior Disorders
d.
Therapies: Psychological and Biological
e.
Behavior Modification
4.
Optional Topics:
a.
Human Consciousness: Normal and Altered States
b.
Drugs and Behavior
c.
Adjustment
Methods of Presentation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Lecture - discussion
Classroom participation
Audio visual aids
Classroom experiments
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
1.
Typical Assignments
a. Assigned reading
b. Classroom exercises and experiments. For example, demonstration of the
serial position effect using memorization of nonsense syllables.
c. Computer simulations of laboratory experiments in psychology. Students
perform the simulations as homework and then complete a worksheet that
provides questions about the essential features of the experiment. Simulations
used include operant and classical conditioning demonstrations, classic studies
of feature-detecting neurons in the visual cortex and hemispheric differences
in the cerebral cortex, and an experiment on visual attention phenomena
2.
Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
a. Midterm examinations
b. Quizzes
c. Student reports
d. Student/instructor conferences
e. Final examination
Chabot College
Course Outline for Psychology 1
Fall 2003
Page 3
Textbook(s) (Typical):
Discovering Psychology, Hockenbury, D.H., & Hockenbury, S., Worth Publishers, 2000,
or latest edition.
Exploring Psychology, Myers, D., Worth Publishers, 2002, or latest edition
Psychology, Zimbardo, Weber, Johnson,, Allyn & Bacon., 2002, or latest edition.
Special Student Materials:
None.
tf: Doc:\Psy 1
Revised: 10/21/02