PSYCHOLOGY 201: GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY (Fall 2014)
Section 3, 11-12:15 Tuesday/Thursday, Nutt Auditorium
Instructors:
Emails:
Phone Numbers:
Office Locations:
Office Hours:
Dr. Kenneth Sufka
pysufka@olemiss.edu
(662) 915-7728
311B Peabody
Th & Th 1-2pm & by appt
Dr. Todd Smitherman
tasmithe@olemiss.edu
(662) 915-1825
302D Peabody
Tu & Th 9:30-10:30am & by appt
TEXTBOOKS AND COURSE INFORMATION
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Required Text: Introduction to Psychology 10 edition e-book, by James W. Kalat. The ISBN# for the ebook is 1285190289—purchasing this will provide you access the entire book online, as well as study tools
and practice quizzes using an online program called Coursemate. You can purchase the e-book online for
$49 at http://www.cengagebrain.com/micro/OleMiss/PSY201. The e-book can also be purchased through
the main bookstore for $66.
Please note that you cannot sell this e-book back to the bookstore, but it is MUCH CHEAPER than buying
the paperback or hardback versions ($160-$200) and includes access to online study resources not
included with the paperback or hardback versions. For students wanting to purchase a paperback of this
textbook, the ISBN is 9781133956600.
Recommended Study Manual: The A-Game: Nine Steps to Better Grades (2011), by Kenneth J. Sufka.
The ISBN for this book is 9781936946020. It can be purchased at www.theagamebook.com or in
bookstores in town or on campus.
Catalog Description: Introduction: individual development, motivation, emotion, motor function, sensory
and neural functions, intelligence, learning, perceiving, thinking, social behavior, disorder and treatment,
and personality.
Course Description and Objectives: This course is designed to provide students with an overview of
psychology, the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology, as you will see, is a
diverse field of study. Throughout the term we will discover, discuss and integrate the basic concepts,
principles and scientific methods in the various sub-disciplines of psychology from behavioral neuroscience
to abnormal psychology. Most importantly, the course is designed to help you appreciate the scientific
aspects of psychology. Along the way, we hope to correct misconceptions, to demonstrate psychology’s
relevance in your daily lives, and to convey a sense of enthusiasm for your continued study in this
interesting field. But most of all we hope you enjoy the course. We are certain you will learn a lot.
METHODS OF EVALUATION
Exams: There will be 4 multiple-choice exams throughout the term. Each exam will consist of 50 multiplechoice questions and be worth 50 points. For each exam you will need to bring a #2 pencil and a fullsize Scantron (Purple form NCS No. 16485). It is expected that you will take each exam at the regularly
scheduled time. We do NOT have a drop exam policy.
Make-Up Exam Policy: Please note that simply not showing up for an exam, and then contacting the
instructor afterwards with an excuse, however justified, is poor form. You should make every effort to
contact the instructor ahead of time if an emergency arises. Any questionable excuses should be
discussed with the instructor prior to the exam date.
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**Strict Makeup Exam Policy**:
Students may make up an exam within one week only if:
1. The excuse is reasonable (e.g., illness, travel for athletes/band) AND
2. You have written documentation for the date of the exam (not for the day before or after the exam).
Acceptable written documentation includes a note from your physician or coach.
For any other missed exam, whether you don’t have a good reason, lack the required
documentation, or cannot make it up within a week of the exam, you will be allowed to make up any
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exam(s) you missed during the 2 hour of the final examination period. Please note: missing one
exams means you will be studying for two exams (or more if you missed more than 1 exam) at the
very end of the term (the final exam plus the one(s) you missed).
Academic Integrity: We, and the University, expect all students to be scrupulously honest. Cheating,
plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty will not tolerated. At a minimum, any student caught
cheating will receive a grade of “F” in the course and be subject to additional disciplinary action through
university procedures, including potential probation, suspension or expulsion. Further details on UM’s
academic integrity policy are found in the M-book.
Extra Credit through Psychology Research: Students may earn up to 8 extra credit points through 1)
participating in psychology research studies in the department, 2) writing summaries of published
psychology research articles, or 3) a combination of these activities. Each hour of research you participate
in is worth 1 point, and each article summary you turn in is worth 1 point. These 8 points will be added to
your cumulative point total, which will be divided by 200 to calculate your final grade. Earn all 8 points and
this, in effect, can raise your final grade by 4% (up to the next plus/minus letter grade). Research
participation will be recorded by the experimenter in the online SONA interface. Instructions for research
participation are provided on page 5 of this syllabus. Details concerning earning extra credit through
summaries of psychology research articles are summarized on page 6. Participation in research studies
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must be completed by Friday, Dec 5 at 5pm. Article summaries should be submitted typed and in
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hardcopy form (no electronic copies) no later than at our last lecture meeting on Thursday, Dec 4 .
Grades: Learning is NOT a spectator sport. Excellent grades require you to be active in the learning
process, beginning today. Attend class, be prepared, be attentive and take copious, organized and
thorough notes. Take advantage of the office hours provided.
Exam grades will be posted on Blackboard shortly after each exam. Earned Extra Credit points will be
updated then too. Final grades will be assigned according to the percentages below. The course grade will
be derived from the 4 exams (each worth 50 points) and any extra credit points that you may earn; the total
will be divided by 200 to calculate your final % grade. Letter grades will be assigned as follows:
A
.92-100
B+
.84-.879
C+
.72-.759
D
.52-.639
A-
.88-.919
B
.80-.839
C
.68-.719
F
< .519
B-
.76-.799
C-
.64-.679
Please Note: Given our generous grading scale and the opportunity to earn extra credit points,
grades will NOT be rounded up. Further, end-of-term grade changes will only be made due to
clerical errors.
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ADDITIONAL COURSE INFORMATION
Graduate Teaching Assistant: An advanced psychology doctoral student will serve as GTA for this course.
She will assist in the proctoring and grading of exams and hold office hours to help clarify difficult concepts,
review exams and grades, administer make-up exams, and discuss study strategies.
GTA:
Mary Jourdan
Emails:
mkjourd1@go.olemiss.edu
Office Location:
Peabody 101B
Office Hours:
Mon 2-3pm, Tu 11:30am-12:30pm, Wed 2-3pm, Fri 9:30-10:30am, & by appt
Special Accommodations And University Services: If you feel that you have a disability that qualifies
under the Americans with Disabilities Act and require accommodations, you should contact the Office of
Disability Services at 915-7128 or sds@olemiss.edu. Once you have the appropriate documentation from
that office, inform the instructor as soon as possible so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged
well before any exam. For students with significant academic, personal, or emotional problems, the
University offers a number of free or reduced-cost services that you may wish to take advantage of if the
need arises.
-Academic Support Center: 350 Martindale, 915-5970
-Psychological Services Center: G382 Kinard Hall, 915-7385
-University Counseling Center: All American Drive, 915-3784
Attendance: While there is no formal attendance policy, we cannot stress enough the importance of
attending each and every lecture. Students who miss class rarely do well on exams, and we will cover
material at times that is not in your textbook but for which you are still responsible. Please be respectful of
the learning environment by arriving ON TIME, being attentive, participating in discussions, taking copious
notes, and asking questions when needing clarification.
• Cell phones, iPods, iPads, and electronic devices other than laptops must be silenced or turned off.
• We do NOT provide lecture notes online and cannot re-lecture material during office hours if you miss
class. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to obtain the notes from another student in the class.
*In the past, students have posted without permission our lecture slides online for purchase. This is a
violation of copyright laws. We do not mind you sharing class notes with fellow students but please do
NOT make them available online in any form. More importantly, we strongly advise you NOT to use (or
purchase) any online exam prep material other than the study materials provided through CourseMate,
which comes with the e-book. This is because we have no oversight of other study materials and do
NOT endorse them. In the past, students have purchased other study materials and found it to be a big
waste of their money and time, as they ended up with poor exam scores. It is unethical to profit on
vulnerable students and not deliver advertised results.
Good Versus Bad Questions: You have probably been told that there is no such thing as a bad question.
That is simply incorrect. Now there are good questions. Rule #3 in The A Game tells you to ask questions
when you are lost in the lecture. We need you to follow well what we are trying to teach. Could there be
such a thing as a bad question? You bet. Bad questions are those easily answered by reading this
syllabus and include, among others:
- When are your office hours?
- When is our next exam?
- What kind of scantron do I need?
- Can I earn extra credit points?
- (After the class has ended…) Is there anything I can do to raise my grade?
The major issue is our inability to answer such questions from 300+ students and meet our work
obligations. This is not how we can spend our day. All course policies are contained in this syllabus. So
please, just ask good questions.
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Withdrawal Date: The last day to withdraw from a class is October 6 . Beyond that date it requires a
signature from your academic Dean, and these are not easily approved.
Email: Check your university email regularly for class communications. We do not email to other accounts.
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PSYCHOLOGY 201: COURSE CALENDAR
DATE
LECTURE TOPIC
Aug 26
Orientation to the Course and Field
Aug 28
Academic Success
Sep 2
What is Psychology: Goals and Historical Trends
Sep 4
Scientific Methods I: Nature of Science and Conducting Research
Module 2.1
Sep 9
Scientific Methods II: Research Methods in Psychology
Module 2.2
Sep 11
Biological Psychology: Neurons and Behavior
Sep 16
Biological Psychology II: Drugs and Their Effects
Sep 18
EXAM 1: Lecture and text material since the start of the term
Sep 23
Learning I: Classical Conditioning
Module 6.1
Sep 25
Learning II: Operant Conditioning
Module 6.2
Sep 30
Memory I: Types of Memory
Oct 2
Memory II: Forgetting
Module 7.3
Oct 7
Intelligence I: Intelligence and IQ Testing
Module 9.1
Oct 9
Intelligence II: Evaluating IQ Tests
Module 9.2
Oct 14
EXAM 2: Lecture and text material since exam 1
Oct 16
Consciousness I: Sleep
Oct 21
Consciousness II: Hypnosis and Other Forms of Altered Consciousness Module 10.3
Oct 23
Emotions, Stress, and Health I: The Nature of Emotion
Module 12.1
Oct 28
Emotions, Stress, and Health II: Stress and Health
Module 12.3
Oct 30
Personality I: Personality Traits and Assessment
Nov 4
Personality II: Personality Theories
Nov 6
EXAM 3: Lecture and text material since exam 2
Nov 11
Abnormal Psychology I: Defining Abnormality
Module 15.1
Nov 13
Abnormal Psychology II: Overview of Psychotherapy
Module 15.5
Nov 18
Specific Disorders and Treatments I: Anxiety Disorders
Module 15.2
Nov 20
Specific Disorders and Treatments II: Mood Disorders & Schizophrenia Module 15.4
Nov 24-28
TEXTBOOK READINGS
Course Syllabus
A-Game
Modules 1.1, 1.2
Modules 3.1, 3.3
Module 3.2
Modules 7.1, 7.2
Module 10.2
Modules 14.2, 14.3
Module 14.1
**NO CLASS—THANKSGIVING BREAK**
Dec 2
Social Psychology I: Social Perception and Cognition
Dec 4
Social Psychology II: Interpersonal Influence
Extra credit article summaries due by class time on Dec 4
Module 13.2
Module 13.5
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Tuesday, December 9 at 12 NOON; EXAM 4: Lecture and text material since exam 3
PLEASE NOTE: The schedule and policies in this course are subject to change in the case of extenuating circumstances.
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EXTRA CREDIT THROUGH PSYCHOLOGY EXPERIMENTS USING SONA
SONA is the online system that manages student participation in research studies and contains
announcements describing research projects that are currently going on in the department. You must be at
least 18 years old to participate in psychological research.
Here is how to get registered for the system and sign up for studies. If you have any questions please
contact Dr. John Young at jnyoung1@olemiss.edu.
Go to the SONA website: http://olemiss.sona-systems.com/
Click the field to create a new account. Select your course/section from the list after filling in the
requested information, and you’re ready to go. Please note that if you lose your password you can
request it automatically from the main SONA page.
Once signed in you can view a list of currently available studies. You’ll only see one (titled
“Prescreening”) at first. Participation in this questionnaire study is required to gain access to any
other research opportunities, and we suggest you go ahead and complete it right away. Sign up
for this study and click the link to participate. This will take you to an external website where you can
do the prescreening study (should take you about 45 minutes). Complete all questions (all the way to
the end) and you’ll automatically be credited for 1 research hour.
After you’ve done this, you can view other studies as they are posted throughout the semester, all
using the SONA website. Check back often because new studies are added frequently. Each
announcement specifies the investigator associated with the project and a short description of the
project. Sometimes the investigator specifies who is eligible to participate in the project, so you
should carefully read the requirements before signing up to participate.
If you want to participate in a study, follow the instructions provided online for that study. It is very important
that you keep your appointment at the scheduled time and room number. If for any reason you cannot
participate at the scheduled hour, you should cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If there is
less than 24 hours before the scheduled time, you must call the investigator to cancel your appointment.
When you arrive for your appointment, the investigator will explain the nature of the research project.
If at this time, or at any other time during the study, you feel that you would like to withdraw from the
experiment, you are free to do so, and you will receive credit for participation up to that point.
Each time you participate in a study, the experimenter will give you credit online. Both you and your
instructor will have access to this information. You may check it occasionally to note your progress. If you
participated in a study and have not received credit for it within a week of participating, email the
experimenter of that study directly. Remember, if you wait until near the end of the semester to participate,
there may not be studies available.
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All extra credit research participation must be completed by Friday, Dec 5 at 5pm.
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EXTRA CREDIT THROUGH LIBRARY RESEARCH
Summaries of Faculty Research Articles. The faculty in our Psychology Department have published
numerous journal articles pertaining to a wide variety of topics in psychology. A list of our faculty can be
found here: http://psychology.olemiss.edu/faculty/
Look through the faculty and see which faculty are researching topics that interest you. After you figure that
out, go to the Library’s online site: http://www.libraries.olemiss.edu/uml/
-Under “Research Tools,” select “Database Search,” then scroll down and select “PsychInfo.” Log in and
from that database, type in the last and first name of the faculty member you wish to look up. Citations to
their publications should appear, many of which will be accessible by clicking on the pdf “full text”
version. (If you cannot view the article you want directly, try to see if our library has that journal [back to
the Quick Links tab from the library home page]). *Note—make sure the article author is indeed the
same faculty member in our department—many researchers have similar names, but we will ONLY
ACCEPT SUMMARIES OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED BY OLE MISS PSYCHOLOGY FACULTY.
After reading an article, you are asked to reference the article and respond to four questions (see below for
template). One extra credit point will be given for each article completed. Your summary must be
entirely in your own words—not simply paraphrased or copied from the article itself. If you are
uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism, please ask as this is a violation of academic integrity with
very serious consequences.
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*You must turn in any completed article summaries by class on Thursday, Dec 4 . They must be
submitted typed and in hardcopy form (on paper). You must also print and attach the first page of the
article(s) you are summarizing (the page with the title, authors’ names, and abstract).
LIBRARY RESEARCH SAMPLE:
------------------------------------------------------------Student Name & UM ID #: Jane Scholar, 123456789
Authors: E.H. Kim, and K.J. Sufka
Article Title: The Effects of Environmental Enrichment in the Chick Anxiety Depression Model
Journal Name: Behavioural Brain Research
Journal volume, page numbers, and year: Vol. 221, pp. 276-281, 2011.
Research Summary:
a) What kind of research design was used (e.g., case study, correlation, true experiment, etc)?
These researchers employed a true experiment in their study.
b) What were the variables investigated (e.g., independent and dependent) in this study?
The independent variable was housing condition (standard versus enriched housing using mirrors and
strings and perches). The dependent variable was the number of distress sounds made by 1-week old chicks
during a 120 minute period when they were separated from other chicks.
c) What did the authors discover about their variables with their research project?
The researchers showed that enriched housing delays the onset of “behavioral despair,” a way of modeling
depression in animals. They also showed that in conditions of 3-day standard/3-day enriched housing, early
enrichment did not affect depression but that later enrichment does.
d) Your reactions:
This was a very interesting study. The authors argue that this method simulates findings from the clinical
literature on anxiety and depression in humans and could help us learn more about stress disorders.
Enriched housing seems similar to the concept of having many activities and stimuli available among
humans, which could prevent depression. I have never given much thought to animal research. But if
studies like this can improve the lives human suffering, then I think the government should spend more
money on neuroscience research.