Course Description and Syllabus
Course Information
PSY 100 – General Psychology
Course description: Lecture on and discussions of basic psychological
processes, including learning, perception, motivation and emotion,
higher mental processes, individual differences, personality and
additional selected topics.
Number of credit hours: 3
Prerequisites: None
General Education: Satisfies the General Education Social Context and
Institutions Requirement
URL for Course: Courses.maine.edu
Faculty Information
Name: Jordan P. LaBouff, Ph.D.
Phone: 207-581-2826
Fax: 207-581-6128
E-mail address: Jordan.LaBouff@umit.maine.edu
Physical Location: 352 Little Hall
Office Hours: Tues, Weds, Thurs 5:00pm – 7:00pm via Google
Hangout
Instructional Materials and Methods
Textbook:
Title: Psychology
Author: Saundra K. Ciccarelli & J. Noland White
Edition: 3th Edition
Publisher: Pearson
ISBN: 978-0205832576
Technological Details
This course will be run through blackboard, youtube, and Google
Hangouts. Information on how to connect to electronic resources is
available on bloackboard. Students will also be responsible for viewing
and listening to online multimedia content. Closed-captioning or
transcripts will be available.
Students will be expected to have computer access at least three
times each week, and to have a stable internet connection (i.e., a
connection that allows constant access over more than one hour for
exams). Much of the content in the course will require streaming or
large downloads; although a broadband connection is not required for
these resources, it is strongly recommended (contact instructor for
suggestions).
Students will require basic computer competency to navigate to the
course website, watch linked online videos, and follow links to online
quizzes. If you have any questions about your ability to access the
online content of this course, please contact UMaine IT for technical
support - http://www.umaine.edu/it/helpcenter/ - Phone: 581-2506;
e-mail: help.center@umit.maine.edu
Student Learning Outcomes
Course Goals:
This course will set up the foundations of psychological science.
The specific objectives were developed by the American Psychological
Association and represent the basis of the psychological worldview. In
this course, you will work to develop basic competency in the discipline
and to engage that competency with the world outside of the
discipline. There are five primary goals for the course.
1. Developing a knowledge base in psychology
2. Engaging in scientific inquiry and critical thinking
3. Practicing ethical and social responsibility in a diverse world
4. Promoting effective communication
5. Growing professional development
Student Learning Outcomes:
1. Developing a knowledge base in psychology
a. Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes
in psychology
b. Develop a working knowledge of psychology’s content
domains
c. Describe applications of psychology
2. Engaging in scientific inquiry and critical thinking
a. Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological
phenomena
b. Demonstrate psychology information literacy
c. Engage in innovative and integrative thinking and problem
solving
d. Interpret, design, and conduct basic psychological research
e. Incorporate sociocultural factors in scientific inquiry
3. Practicing ethical and social responsibility in a diverse world
a. Apply ethical standards to evaluate psychological science
and practice
b. Build and enhance interpersonal relationships
c. Adopt values that build community at local, national, and
global levels
4. Promoting effective communication
a. Demonstrate effective writing for different purposes
b. Exhibit effective presentation skills for different purposes
c. Interact effectively with others
5. Growing professional development
a. Apply psychological content and skills to career goals
b. Exhibit self-efficacy and self-regulation
c. Refine project-management skills
d. Enhance teamwork capacity
e. Develop meaningful professional direction for life after
graduation
Instructional Objectives
1. Developing a knowledge base in psychology
a. Describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes
in psychology
i. Use basic psychological terminology, concepts, and
theories in psychology to explain behavior and
mental processes
ii. Explain why psychology is a science with the primary
objectives of describing, understanding, predicting,
and controlling behavior and mental processes
iii. Interpret behavior and mental processes at an
appropriate level of complexity
iv. Recognize the power of the context in shaping
conclusions about individual behavior
v. Identify fields other than psychology that address
behavioral concerns
b. Develop a working knowledge of psychology’s content
domains
i. Identify key characteristics of major content domains
in psychology (e.g., cognition and learning,
developmental, biological, and sociocultural)
ii. Identify principal methods and types of questions
that emerge in specific content domains
iii. Recognize major historical events, theoretical
perspectives, and figures in psychology and their link
to trends in contemporary research
iv. Provide examples of unique contributions of content
domain to the understanding of complex behavioral
issues
v. Recognize content domains as having distinctive
sociocultural origins and development
c. Describe applications of psychology
i. Describe examples of relevant and practical
applications of psychological principles to everyday
life
ii. Summarize psychological factors that can influence
the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle
iii. Correctly identify antecedents and consequences of
behavior and mental processes
iv. Predict how individual differences influence beliefs,
values, and interactions with others, including the
potential for prejudicial and discriminatory behavior
in oneself and others
2. Engaging in scientific inquiry and critical thinking
a. Use scientific reasoning to interpret psychological
phenomena
i. Identify basic biological, psychological, and social
components of psychological explanations (e.g.,
inferences, observations, operational definitions,
interpretations)
ii. Use psychology concepts to explain personal
experiences and recognize the potential for flaws in
behavioral explanations based on simplistic, personal
theories.
iii. Use an appropriate level of complexity to interpret
behavior and mental processes
iv. Ask relevant questions to gather more information
about behavioral claims
v. Describe common fallacies in thinking (e.g.,
confirmation bias, post-hoc explanations, implying
causation for correlation) that impair accurate
conclusions and predictions
b. Demonstrate psychology information literacy
i. Read and summarize general ideas and conclusions
from psychological sources accurately
ii. Describe what kinds of additional information beyond
personal experience are acceptable in developing
behavioral explanations (i.e., popular press reports
vs. scientific findings)
iii. Identify and navigate psychology databases and
other legitimate sources of psychology information
iv. Articulate criteria for identifying objective sources of
psychology information
v. Interpret simple graphs and statistical findings
c. Engage in innovative and integrative thinking and problem
solving
i. Recognize and describe well-defined problems
ii. Apply simple problem-solving strategies to improve
efficiency and effectiveness
iii. Describe the consequences of problem-solving
attempts
d. Interpret, design, and conduct basic psychological research
i. Describe research methods used by psychologists
including their respective advantages and
disadvantages
ii. Discuss the value of experimental design (i.e.,
controlled comparisons) in justifying cause-effect
relationships
iii. Define and explain the purpose of key research
concepts that characterize psychological research
(e.g., hypothesis, operational definition)
iv. Replicate or design and conduct simple scientific
studies (e.g., correlational or two-factor) to confirm
a hypothesis based on operational definitions
v. Explain why conclusions in psychological projects
must be both reliable and valid
vi. Explain why quantitative analysis is relevant for
scientific problem solving
vii. Describe the fundamental principles of research
design
e. Incorporate sociocultural factors in scientific inquiry
i. Relate examples of how a researcher’s value system,
sociocultural characteristics, and historical context
influence the development of scientific inquiry on
psychological questions
ii. Analyze potential challenges related to sociocultural
factors in a given research study
iii. Describe how individual and sociocultural differences
can influence the applicability/generalizability of
research findings
iv. Identify under what conditions research findings can
be appropriately generalized
3. Practicing ethical and social responsibility in a diverse world
a. Apply ethical standards to evaluate psychological science
and practice
i. Describe key regulations in the APA Ethics Code for
protection of human or nonhuman research
participants
ii. Identify obvious violations of ethical standards in
psychological contexts
iii. Discuss relevant ethical issues that reflect principles
in the APA Ethics Code
iv. Define the role of the institutional review board (IRB)
b. Build and enhance interpersonal relationships
i. Describe the need for positive personal values (e.g.,
integrity, benevolence, honesty, respect for human
dignity) in building strong relationships with others
ii. Treat others with civility
iii. Explain how individual differences, social identity,
and worldview may influence beliefs, values, and
interaction with others and vice-versa
iv. Maintain high standards for academic integrity,
including honor code requirements
c. Adopt values that build community at local, national, and
global levels
i. Identify aspects of individual and cultural diversity
and the interpersonal challenges that often result
from diversity and context
ii. Recognize potential for prejudice and discrimination
in oneself and others
iii. Explain how psychology can promote civic, social,
and global outcomes that benefit others
iv. Describe psychology-related issues of global concern
(e.g., poverty, health, migration, human rights,
rights of children, international conflict,
sustainability)
v. Articulate psychology’s role in developing, designing,
and disseminating public policy
vi. Accept opportunity to serve others through civic
engagement, including volunteer service
4. Promoting effective communication
a. Demonstrate effective writing for different purposes
i. Express ideas in written formats that reflect basic
psychological concepts and principles
ii. Recognize writing content and format differ based on
purpose (e.g., blogs, memos, journal articles) and
audience
iii. Use standard English, including generally accepted
grammar
iv. Write using APA style
v. Recognize and develop overall organization (e.g.,
beginning development, ending) that fits the purpose
vi. Interpret quantitative data displayed in statistics,
graphs, and tables, including statistical symbols in
research reports
vii. Use expert feedback to revise writing of a single
draft
b. Exhibit effective presentation skills for different purposes
i. Construct plausible oral argument based on a
psychological study
ii. Deliver brief presentations within appropriate
constraints (e.g., time limit, appropriate to audience)
iii. Describe effective delivery characteristics of
professional oral performance
iv. Incorporate appropriate visual support
v. Pose questions about psychological content
c. Interact effectively with others
i. Identify key message elements in communication
through careful listening or reading
ii. Recognize that culture, values, and biases may
produce misunderstandings in communication
iii. Attend to language and other cues to interpret
meaning
iv. Ask questions to capture additional detail
v. Respond appropriately to electronic communications
5. Growing professional development
a. Apply psychological content and skills to career goals
i. Recognize the value and application of research and
problem-solving skills in providing evidence beyond
personal opinion to support proposed solutions
ii. Identify range of possible factors that influence
beliefs and conclusions
b.
c.
d.
e.
iii. Expect to deal with differing opinions and
personalities in the college environment
iv. Describe how psychology’s content applies to
business, health care, educational, and other
workplace settings
v. Recognize and describe broad applications of
information literacy skills obtained in the psychology
major
vi. Describe how ethical principles of psychology have
relevance to non-psychology settings
Exhibit self-efficacy and self-regulation
i. Recognize the link between efforts in selfmanagement and achievement
ii. Accurately self-assess performance quality by
adhering to external standards (e.g., rubric criteria,
teacher expectations)
iii. Incorporate feedback from educators and mentors to
change performance
iv. Describe self-regulation strategies (e.g., reflection,
time management)
Refine project-management skills
i. Follow instructions, including timely delivery, in
response to project criteria
ii. Identify appropriate resources and constraints that
may influence project completion
iii. Anticipate where potential problems can hinder
successful project completion
iv. Describe the process and strategies necessary to
develop a project to fulfill its intended purpose
Enhance teamwork capacity
i. Collaborate successfully on small group classroom
assignments
ii. Recognize the potential for developing stronger
solutions through shared problem solving
iii. Articulate problems that develop when working with
teams
iv. Assess strengths and weaknesses in performance as
a project team member
v. Describe strategies used by effective group leaders
vi. Describe the importance of working effectively in
diverse environments
Develop meaningful professional direction for life after
graduation
i. Describe the types of academic experiences and
advanced course choices that will best shape career
readiness
ii. Articulate the skill-sets desired by employers who
hire or select people with psychology backgrounds
iii. Describe settings in which people with backgrounds
in psychology typically work
iv. Recognize the importance of having a mentor
v. Describe how a curriculum vitae or resume is used to
document the skills expected by employers
vi. Recognize how rapid social change influences
behavior and affects one’s value in the worldplace
Note – competencies at these objectives will be assessed with an
online pre-test and post-test measure. Completing these measures
will be required to complete the course, your performance on them,
however, will not influence your grade. See the “Qualtrics Pretest” link
on the course website for more information.
Grading and Course Expectations
Your grade will be determined independently of any other grades
in the class. That is, I will (and would love to!) give all As, if that is
what all of you earn.
As a general rule, my tests and assignments are designed to be
difficult, and final grade distributions are adjusted as needed at the
end of the semester. Most students find that they can earn a B with
reasonable effort. It takes more effort (of a different kind, of course)
to get a D or an F in the course as it does to make an A, though it has
happened in the past.
Your grade will be determined by your weekly quiz average,
weekly discussion and participation average, psychology in action
assignment average, midterm exams, and comprehensive final exam.
The weighting of those categories is described below.
Grading Distribution
Weekly Quiz Average
10%
Weekly Discussion / Participation Average
30%
Psychology In Action Assignment Average
15%
Midterm Exams (3 at 10% each)
30%
Final Exam
15%
Total
100 %
An example:
Quiz Average: 100% x 10%
10
Discussion/Participation Average: 88% x 30%
26.4
Assignment Average: 83% x 15%
12.45
Midterm Exams: 91% x 30%
27.3
Final Exam: 93% x 15%
13.95
Total
90.1 = A-
Final grades will be assigned roughly as follows:
Grade
Percentage
A
92.5% è
A90% è
B+
87.5% è
B
82.5% è
B80% è
C+
77.5% è
C
72.5% è
C70% è
D+
D
DF
67.5% è
62.5% è
60% è
ç 60%
I reserve the right to change the cutoffs required, but I will only
change them in your favor. That is, you should determine how many
points you need to achieve whichever grade you want at the beginning
of the term. If you want to earn an A-, you need to earn a weighted
average of 90%. That will guarantee an A- in the course. In the case
of a very skewed distribution of grades, however, it may take less than
a weighted average of 90% to earn an A-.
Learning Units:
Each week of the course will be composed of a Learning
Unit. Each unit will contain multiple elements that are to be completed
that week. The old learning unit shuts down and the new
learning unit becomes available at 12:00pm (noon) on Sundays
each week. See course calendar for details.
Each unit will open with a brief introductory video, pointing you
towards important themes, upcoming deadlines, and framing the
week’s discussions. Second, you’ll be expected to read two or more
chapters of the textbook. Third, each unit will contain one or more
longer content/lecture videos to help you navigate the content.
Next, each week will point you towards an example of our course
content in contemporary news or multimedia (e.g., a podcast or online
news clip), and to discuss that content and your understanding of the
text with a group of your peers in the discussion forum on blackboard.
Each week, I would like you to stop by the discussion board at the
beginning of the week, before you read the text if you must, to give
some initial impressions on the material we will be covering that
week. Then, come back mid-week while reading the material and post
how your opinions might have changed, and guide other students to
the same kinds of understanding you've gotten out of the text.
Finally, each week you will have a quiz available as a study aid.
Each quiz will be composed of 10 questions, randomly drawn from a
large question bank created for you. These quizzes are designed to be
a learning tool for you. As such, you are welcome to take the quizzes
however many times you like, receiving different questions from the
question bank each time. The last score you receive on the quiz
will be your quiz grade for that learning unit.
The first week will have three quizzes: One over this syllabus,
another over Chapter 1, and the final over Chapter 2.
These learning units are designed to keep all of your weekly
assignments contained in one easy to access and easy to understand
location.
Discussion / Participation:
Unlike most face-to-face classes, the online environment does
not allow students to simply sit back and absorb the knowledge that
pours forth from their professor. Instead, in order for the online
classroom to be effective, students must actively engage the textbook
author through the material, engage the professor and engage one
another in discussion.
30% of your grade will come from discussion and
participation. Each student is required to make at least 3 posts
on 3 separate days on the discussion board each week. You
must answer the questions posed by the professor and respond to the
responses of your fellow students as well. Please feel free to pose
your own questions of your colleagues. Please note that 3 posts is a
bare minimum of participation. I would love to see a full flowing
discussion each week and will do what I can to personally facilitate
that.
Even though the discussion boards are online communication,
please realize that this is a classroom assignment. That means you
need to take the extra few seconds to proofread your posts. Make
sure your “i”s are capitalized, that you’ve spelled words correctly, and
that you’ve used the correct version of “their, there and they’re.”
While you will not lose credit for your posts for minor errors, glaring
mistakes that demonstrate a lack of care for the course will not be
credited.
Psychology in Action and Exams
Every TWO weeks, you will have a new Psychology in Action
assignment. These assignments will ask you to read some article,
perform some online activity, or some experience in the real world,
and write a brief (no more than one-page) report about your
experiences. Details will be posted at the beginning of each two-week
period.
Also at the end of each two-week period, you will complete a
midterm examination. These exams are content-focused, largely
multiple choice, and will be conducted through the blackboard site and
will be available for you to take at your leisure any time across several
days (usually spanning Thursday-Thursday).
In case of technical trouble, You have a total of 2 attempts
for each exam.
When you open the exam, it begins an attempt. If you
inadvertently close the window, fail to submit the exam, or your
computer crashes, it will nullify that attempt. This is why you have
two attempts on the exam. Since you have two attempts, barring
extreme circumstances I will not reset your attempts to allow a third
even if there is a technical error. Take your exam times very
seriously, and you should not have any problems.
Please understand that the exams are randomly drawn from a
pool of items and it is exceptionally unlikely that you will receive any
of the same questions on each attempt on the exam. Much like your
quizzes, even if you submit both attempts, your last submission will be
your grade on the exam, so I encourage you not to start a second
attempt unless you are fairly certain you can get a higher score the
second time.
You will take 3 mid-term exams. There are no make-ups for
exams, you have almost 170 hours to complete them; make sure you
find time to do so.
Your final exam will be comprehensive and include both multiple
choice and short-answer questions, administered through blackboard.
It will be available for the final 4 days of the course (see calendar).
Late Work, Attendance, and Make Up Work Policies:
Attendance
As mentioned above, your presence in class will be measured
through your completion of the weekly content and discussion.
MISSED ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMS
Unlike face-to-face courses that require you to function on a
very specific schedule, this course allows you the flexibility to engage
with the material and the class when it’s convenient for you. Our
assignments are structured the same way. Instead of having a quiz
where you must be present in class during a 10 minute window to,
you’ll have quizzes that are available to you for 168 hours, and you
may take them as many times as you want. Your discussion board
grades work similarly. You have a huge window of time in which to
engage with your classmates each week to earn your discussion board
points.
Similarly, exams are available over a multi-day window. You
may complete the assessment any time during its open window
(visible in the course calendar.)
Due to the large window and restrictions of our online course
software, there is no way for me to extend deadlines on assignments.
Unless there is a severe Blackboard error that prevents access for
more than 24 hours, the quizzes and discussion boards will shut down
when the course rolls over each week at 12:00pm (noon) on Sundays.
Not only do you have a tremendous amount of time to complete
the work, at the end of the semester your three lowest quiz grades will
be dropped. Meaning that if there is something that takes you away
from the course for a few days, it’s not going to cripple your grade if
you’re conscientious about the rest of your assignments.
Incompletes are available only in extreme circumstances on an
individual basis. Please contact the instructor if you think this applies
to your situation.
Student Behavioral Expectations or Conduct Policy:
One of the shortcomings of an all text-based medium is the lack
of facial expressions, body gestures, and tone of voice that we all rely
on to impart meaning into the words we speak. Emoticons are a poor
substitute. Try to remember that others may read your messages with
a different tone than in which you wrote them. Also remember that a
message may have been intended to have a different tone than the
one you have read into it.
Always try to resolve disputes about the appropriateness of a
post within the discussion forum. Keep such posts as neutral as
possible, ask for clarification on a messages intention and meaning. If
you are uncomfortable confronting a fellow student in such a manner,
e-mail me directly and me alone. Do not email the fellow student
directly, especially without a CC: to me.
I do not tolerate flame wars. I will remove any abusive and
inappropriate posts. Such postings will not count toward attendance.
Under certain circumstances a more formal inquiry and/or
administrative action may be warranted.
If you own a web-cam feel free to record your comments and
questions as an .mpg (.mpeg for the Mac users in the group) and add
them as an attachment to your post in the discussion forum. I will
likely do this from time to time.
While engaging in the class, students are expected to maintain
classroom decorum that includes respect for other students and the
instructor, prompt and regular completion of material, and an attitude
that seeks to take full advantage of the education opportunity.
Disrespect to other students, the faculty, or social groups will not be
tolerated.
Academic honesty
Academic honesty is very important. It is dishonest to cheat on
exams, to copy term papers or to submit papers written by another
person, to “fake” experimental results, or to copy parts of books or
articles into your own papers without putting the copied material in
quotation marks and clearly indicating its source.
Students committing or aiding any of these violations may be
given failing grades for an assignment or for an entire course, at the
discretion of the instructor. In addition to any academic action taken
by an instructor, these violations are also subject to action under the
University of Maine Student Conduct Code. The maximum possible
sanction under the student conduct code is dismissal from the
University.
Students with disabilities
If you have a disability for which you may be requesting an
accommodation, please contact Ann Smith, Director of Disabilities
Services, 121 East Annex, 581-2319, as early as possible in the term.
Contacting me
I know your schedules are tightly constrained, so meeting during
“office hours” may be impractical. Should you need to contact me, the
easiest way is through e-mail. That will allow us to set a mutually
convenient time to meet online. In fact, often times routine “business”
can be handled entirely this way. I will usually get back to you within
24 hours.
I will communicate with the class through your Maine e-mail
accounts and blackboard.
My schedule is often unpredictable at best. I encourage you to
contact me if you’d like to meet, even if we can do it during regular
Google Hangout office hours.
Extra Credit
Extra credit opportunities may be made available throughout the
term. Keep an eye on the Extra Credit tab in blackboard for updates.
A Personal Note
By now you may have the impression that “learning is a grim
and serious business.” It’s not, at least in my class. By setting out
the ground rules before the semester starts later complications arising
from miscommunications can be avoided.
I think you’ll find that this course can be fun, as well as
informative. The workings of psychology are intriguing and the
constant discovery of them is exciting. I hope to share with you the
excitement I feel when studying about something so intriguing and
important. One of the nicest things that can be said about a class or a
professor is that “the class is hard, but I learned a lot.” I hope you
can say that about this course at the end of the term.
If something we cover in class is particularly interesting to you,
or you wish to discuss a topic at length, please feel free to schedule
some time to discuss it.
Course Schedule
In the event of an extended disruption of normal classroom activities, the
format for this course may be modified to enable its completion within its
programmed time frame. In that event, you will be provided an addendum
to the syllabus that will supersede this version.
Course Calendar
Reading
Exam?
Assignment
Date
Learning Unit Title
Jul 14 –
Jul 21
Week 1: Introduction,
The Brain and Behavior
Jul 21 –
Jul 28
Week 2: Perception and
altered perception
Jul 28 –
Aug 4
Week 3: Learning and
Memory
Psychology
Chapters 5
&6
Aug 4 –
Aug 11
Week 4: Thinking and
Language
Exam 2 [Ch 5-7]
Psychology
Aug 7 – Aug 14
Chapter 7
PIA2 Due Aug 11
Aug 11
– Aug
18
Week 5: Social and
Personality Psychology
Psychology
Chapter 12
& 13
Aug 18
– Aug
22
Week 6: Disorders and
Therapy
Psychology Exam 3 [Ch 10-13]
Chapter 10 Aug 15 – Aug 22
& 11
PIA3 Due Aug 22
Psychology
Chapters 1
&2
Psychology Exam 1 [Ch 1-4]
Chapters 3 Jul 24 – Jul 31
&4
PIA1 Due Jul 28
Final exam available Aug 18 – Aug 22.
Final date for all work to be in, unless other arrangements have been
made with instructor:
August 22nd, 2014.