WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON
CANADA
Department of Psychology
2014-2015
Psychology 1000 Section 650 - Online
Introduction to Psychology
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
An introductory survey of the methods and findings of modern scientific psychology. The following
topics will be covered: history and methodology, biological psychology, sensation and perception,
learning and motivation, verbal and cognitive processes, developmental psychology, social
psychology, individual differences (intelligence and personality), and clinical psychology.
Antirequisites: Psychology 1100E, the former Psychology 1200
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit.
So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for
the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Shelley Cross-Mellor
Office: 8210 SSC (locked area)
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: scrossmellor@gmail.com
Teaching Assistant: TBA
Office: TBA
Office Hours: TBA
Email: TBA
If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist
you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources
and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any
other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services
for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an
accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Required: Passer, M.W., Smith, R.E., Atkinson, M.L., Mitchell, J.B., & Muir, D.W. (2011).
Psychology: Frontiers and Applications. Fourth Canadian Edition. Toronto: McGraw Hill Ryerson.
Note: this text comes shrink-wrapped with a passkey for CONNECT when purchased new. This is not
required. However, I strongly believe that you will find CONNECT very useful and therefore it is
recommended. There are practice quizzes for each chapter as well as many other useful study aids.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is an introductory level survey of the methods and findings of modern scientific psychology.
The goal is to provide students with an overview of various topic domains within the realm of
psychology. As such, students will be exposed to diverse theoretical viewpoints and various methods
and procedures for the scientific investigation of psychological issues. Note: Modern psychology is
scientific in nature. Consequently, we will spend a lot of time discussing science-related topics such as
research design, neural functioning, sensory mechanisms, etc.
Each chapter in the text covers a major interest area in psychology. Following each chapter, students will
be able to identify the major concepts and terminology for that topic area. In addition, when presented
with a hypothetical problem or case, students will be able to assess and evaluate the problem and choose
the best solution.
5.0 EVALUATION
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to
conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the
following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2100-2990-level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as
follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):
A+
A
B
C
D
F
90-100
80-89
70-79
60-69
50-59
below 50
One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
Superior work that is clearly above average
Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
Competent work, meeting requirements
Fair work, minimally acceptable
Fail
There will TWO exams during the course. The first exam will be held during the December exam period
(December 6-17) and will be set by the Registrar’s office. This exam will consist of 100 multiple
choice questions (Chapters 1 – 8 plus the Appendix ) and is worth 40%. Questions will be based on
both the text and the online lecture material. The final exam will be scheduled by the Registrar’s
office during the final exam period in April (April 11-30). The second exam will consist of 100 multiple
choice questions and is worth 40%. This second exam will cover both text and online lecture
material related to Chapters 9 – 17. Please note the Office of the Registrar schedules exam dates and
times – please do not make any travel arrangements during the exam period until the exam schedule is
finalized.
In addition to the exams, there is a research requirement (Check “Research Papers” on OWL) that
involves reading & reviewing an original research paper in psychology (under “Assignments” on Owl).
A link to the papers and instructions are posted on the website. You should write NO MORE than the
maximum of 4 pages (i.e. 1200 words). Feel free to use bullet points where appropriate. This review is
worth 10% and is due on January 30th at 11:55 p.m.
Finally, there is an online discussion requirement (under “Forums” on Owl). You will be assigned to a
group of about 20 students and twice during the course, you must go online and discuss specific issues
about a video/website that will be assigned to view. There will be one required online discussion during
the first half of the course, and one during the second. Each discussion is worth 5%. The marking
scheme will be posted on our OWL site.
The first online discussion (in the side bar Forums) will run from Friday October 17 – Thursday
October 23
The second online discussion (in the side bar Forums) will run from Friday February 27 – Thursday
March 5
EVALUATION SUMMARY
Midyear Exam: 40%
Final exam: 40%
Online Discussions - 10% (2 - each worth 5%)
Research Review: 10%
6.0
LECTURE SCHEDULE
Topics will be covered in the following order during the course. “Lecture dates” are given so that you
can keep up with the readings, but of course, you can access the lectures in any order and time frame you
like. Lectures are intended to highlight certain areas of each topic -- there is not enough time
available to us to cover all the material. However, you are responsible for all the material in the text.
Please note that there is a fairly heavy reading load in this course – you will need to cover
approximately at least one chapter every week. Thus, it is important for you to keep up with the
readings.
First Term Chapters:
Week 1 – September 12, 2014 – Introduction to the Course
Week 2 – September 19, 2014 – Chapter 1: Psychology – The Science of Behaviour
Week 3 – September 26, 2014 – Chapter 2: Studying Behaviour Scientifically
Week 4 – October 3, 2014 – Chapter 3: Biological Foundations of Behaviour
Week 4 – October 10, 2014 – Chapter 4: Genes, Evolution and Behaviour
Week 6 – October 17, 2014 – online discussion #1
Week 7 – October 24, 2014 – Chapter 5: Sensation & Perception
Week 8 – October 31, 2014 – Chapter 6: States of Consciousness
Week 9 – November 7, 2014 – Chapter 7: Learning and Adaptation – Part One
Week 10 – November 14, 2014 – Chapter 7: Learning and Adaptation – Part Two
Week 11 – November 21, 2014 – Chapter 8: Memory
Week 12 – November 28, 2004 - Review
Mid-year TEST (40%): Chapters 1 – 8 + Appendix; Date: TBA - December 6-17
Second Term Chapters:
Week 1 – January 9, 2015 – Chapter 9: Language and Thinking
Week 2 – January 16, 2015 – Chapter 10: Intelligence
Week 3 – January 23, 2015 – Chapter 11: Motivation and Emotion
Week 4 – January 30, 2015 – Chapter 12: Development Over the Lifespan
Week 5 – February 6, 2015 – Chapter 13: Behaviour in a Social Context – Part One
Week 6 – February 13, 2015 – Chapter 13: Behaviour in a Social Context – Part Two
Week 7 – February 27, 2015 – online discussion #2
Week 8 – March 6, 2015 – Chapter 14 - Personality
Week 9 – March 13, 2015 – Chapter 15 – Stress, Coping and Health
Week 10 – March 20, 2015 – Chapter 16 – Psychological Disorders
Week 11 – March 27, 2015 – Chapter 17 – Treatment of Psychological Disorders
Week 12 – April 3, 2015 – Review
Final TEST (40%): Chapters 9-17; Date: TBA – April 11-30, 2015
7.0
STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other
scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the
integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholoff.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All
multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable
software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments
will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to
over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such
checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism
of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement,
currently between The University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension
from the University, and expulsion from the University.
8.0
OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://www.registrar.uwo.ca/index.cfm
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergradresponsibilities.htm
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2014 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.