Pittsburg State University – College of Education – Department of Psychology & Counseling
History & Systems 761-01 – 3 credit hours
Fall 2009, Th 6:30 – 9:20, WH 201
Instructor:
Phone:
Office:
Email:
Gwen Murdock, Ph.D.
620-235-4524
WH208A
gmurdock@pittstate.edu
Office hours: M: 1:00 -3:30,
Tu: 10:45 – 12:00 & 1:00 - 3:30,
Th: 10:45 -12:00 & 1:00 - 3:00
or by appointment.
Course description: Brief survey of the philosophical and physiological backgrounds of modern
psychology. The contributions of structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, dynamic
psychology, and humanism to the development of scientific psychology. Prerequisite 9 hours of
psychology.
Course objectives: At the end of the course the student will be able to identify and describe:
1. the basic assumptions underlying each major system in psychology;
2. the contributions of each system in psychology to understanding behavior and mental processes;
3. the most significant contributors to each system within psychology;
4. the impact of nonwestern contributions to psychology on the development of scientific psychology;
5. the future direction for the field of psychology.
Text: Brennan, J.F. (2003). History and systems of psychology (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Course Schedule: The course will cover the material from the textbook in the order listed by the author.
However, we will very briefly touch upon Chapters 1-4. There are 14 remaining chapters and 16 weeks in
the semester. Allowing for time for exams, it means that we will cover more than one chapter per week.
Important Dates:
Exams: Sept 24th, Oct 29th, Dec 3rd
Group project starting Nov 19th until the end of the semester.
Final exam: Dec 17th.
Grading:
Exams (20% each) = 60%
Group project= 20%
Final exam = 20%
Final grade assignment: 90-100 = A; 75-89 = B; 60-74 = C; 50-59 = D; 0-49 = F.
Exams will be based on reading assignments, lectures, class discussions and activities. The exams will
consist of short answer and essay questions. The material in the course is cumulative, by its very nature.
Expect to be graded on your ability to continually integrate material from the beginning of the semester
into what you are currently being examined on. A study guide will be distributed before each exam, which
will consist of basic definition items to know and the scope of material that will be the basis for the essay
questions.
Group projects: Students will organize themselves into groups of 3-4 people. Each group will select a
unique topic from a chapter in: Hock, R. R. (2008). Forty studies that changed psychology (3rd ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. A copy of this text will be on 2 hour reserve in Axe Library. I will keep a
running list of the chapter topics that have already been selected. Please clear your selection beforehand
with me.
Your 15 minute group presentation, using power point slides, will consist of a summary of that
chapter and an integration of the ideas of that chapter with the material presented in the course. Before
scheduling a presentation time, each group must make a practice presentation to me at a mutually
convenient time.
Your presentation will be graded on how well you managed the logistics of completing the
assignment, involving all group members in the presentation, thoroughly and accurately summarizing the
chapter and the analysis of and integration of the chapter with material from the course.
ANGEL: All handouts, lecture outlines, study guides and grades will be posted on Angel. Power point slides
will not be posted. If you must miss a lecture for any reason, you are still responsible for the material
covered in class that day and must get the class notes from another student. You are encouraged to use
Angel to post materials for your fellow group members.
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR: Some faculty members describe specific rules about classroom behavior that they
will not allow. These include specific rules about cell phones, texting, computer use, coming late, leaving
early, etc.
In this class, you may do whatever you want in this classroom as long as the instructor and other
students are not aware of you doing anything but sitting quietly and participating in class discussion. If you
are cruising the internet and other students are looking at your screen, you are in violation. If you are
answering cell phone messages and we can hear any sound from you or your phone, you are in violation. If
you choose to come late or leave early and you do anything but move quietly between your seat and the
door, you are in violation. If you are whispering to your neighbor and we are distracted by the whispers or
your nonverbal behavior, you are in violation. Violators will be penalized in ways designed to provide
vicarious punishment to the whole class and to extinguish the behavior in the violator.
MAKEUP EXAMS AND LATE WORK: Work can be submitted before the due date, but not after the due
date. The final day to present your Group Project is Dec. 10th. Any presentation that is not made will
receive a zero grade.
Missed exams will only be made up by one comprehensive make up exam scheduled on the night of
the final exam at the very end of the semester, regardless of the reason for missing the exam. If a missed
exam is not made up at that time, it will be counted as a zero grade.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Plagarism includes citing sources without proper documentation and copying the
text of another person’s writing without acknowledging it as a direct quote. Cheating includes submitting a
paper for one class that you already received credit for in another class and sharing computer files of
writing with another person. If you have any questions about whether a particular behavior is appropriate
for this class, please ask me. Plagarism and cheating are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. People
who exhibit such behaviors will receive appropriate punishment, possibly failing the class.
Special concerns: If you have a disabling condition requiring accommodation in meeting class
requirements, please contact me as soon as possible at the end of the first class period.