PSY101 (Section 002) Syllabus, Page 1 of 9
Introductory Psychology (PSY101, Section 002), Fall 2012
Tuesday / Thursday, 3:00 - 4:50 PM, Veterinary Medical Center, e100
INSTRUCTOR________________________________________________________________
Professor: Dr. Zach Hambrick (hambric3@msu.edu)
Office Hours: Tuesday / Thursday, 1:30 - 2:30 PM, 298B Psychology Building
Graduate Teaching Assistant: Jennifer Lawlor (jalawlor2@gmail.com)
Office Hours: Tuesday, 9:30 - 11:30 AM, 231 Psychology Building
TEXT_______________________________________________________________________
David G. Myers, Psychology, 10 th
Ed.
NOTE: This is the book for the course. If you have a different book (including an earlier edition of Meyers), return it, and get this book.
COURSE GOALS_____________________________________________________________
The goals of this course are to: (1) educate you about the science of psychology; (2) familiarize you with major research approaches, theoretical issues, and controversies in psychology; and
(3) increase your awareness of the practical relevance of research findings from psychology.

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GRADE______________________________________________________________________
Tests: 80% of your grade will be based on your test scores. There will be 3 tests (26.67% each) during the semester; each will (a) include 50 multiple-choice questions, (b) cover lectures and assigned reading from the textbook. For each test, there will be an in-class review during which you will have an opportunity to ask questions. If you are having trouble with material from the course, you may wish to meet with me or the teaching assistant during office hours (or by appointment).
I am interested to learn how much students actually learn from this course. Some students have taken a psychology course in high school whereas for others, all of the material is new. On the first day of the class, all students will complete a psychology knowledge test. You will NOT receive a grade on this test. Completion of this test will count 1% of your final grade, but you will receive full credit, regardless of your score.
Exam: 15% of your grade will be based on your exam score. The exam (15%) will (a) be cumulative, (b) include 50 multiple-choice questions, (c) cover lectures and assigned readings from the semester.
Research Experience: 4% of your grade will be based on your participation in experiments conducted by faculty and graduate students in the Department of Psychology. You will receive 1 credit for each 30 minutes of research participation, and must accumulate 14 credits (7 hours) to receive maximum credit for the research experience component of your grade. You may accumulate an additional 7 credits (3.5 hours) for 2 extra course points. You will receive course points for up to 21 research credits.
If you do not wish to participate in experiments, an alternative assignment is writing a 14-page term paper, due on Thursday of finals week. If you elect to write a paper, you must get approval for the topic from Prof. Hambrick. Plagiarism of the term paper (e.g., copying a paper from the
Internet) will result in a zero for the assignment (and possibly other consequences). Beyond the required 14 pages, you will receive 1 extra credit point for each addition two pages (up to six pages).
The final grade will be based on 100 course points…
% of grade Date
Psychology Knowledge Test 1%
Test 1 26.67% 10/4
Test 2 11/1
Test 26.67% 12/6
Exam 12/10
Research Participation 4%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 100%
Extra Credit 2% (maximum)

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The grading scale will be no more stringent than the following:
> 89.5 = 4.0
84.5 - 89.4 = 3.5
79.5 - 84.4 = 3.0
74.5 - 79.4 = 2.5
69.5 - 74.4 = 2.0
64.5 - 69.4 = 1.5
59.5 - 64.4 = 1.0
< 59.5 = 0.0
Policy on grade changes: At the end of the semester, if you believe that I made an error in calculating your grade, please let me know. I will check your grade, and I will change it if I have made an error. This is the only circumstance under which I will change a grade.
Under no circumstance will I “bump up” your grade, or give you a special extra credit opportunity. I never do this, and so please don’t ask. There will be no exceptions.
To calculate your grade at the end of the course: (1) Convert each of your test scores into a percentage (e.g., 42/50 = 84%); multiply the average of these percentages by .80 to obtain course points earned for tests. (2) Convert your exam score into a percentage, and multiply this value by .15 to obtain course points earned for the exam.
(3) Multiply the number of research credits you accumulated (up to 21) by .286 to obtain course points earned for research participation.
(4) Add 1-3, plus 1 point if you took Psychology Knowledge Test. This sum is the total number of course points you earned. See the grading scale for your course grade.
1. Average test score (%) x .80 = Course points for tests
2. Exam score (%) x .15 = Course points for exam
3. HPR credits (up to 21) x .286 = Course points for research
Please do not e-mail me before the end of the course to ask what your grade is, or to ask whether there will be a curve.
CLASSROOM RULES & E-MAIL POLICY__________________________________________
Class will start at 3:00 PM sharp. Talking during class will not be tolerated.
Please don’t hesitate to e-mail us about matters pertaining to the course. We will respond to you as promptly as possible (usually within 24 hours). However, we will not respond if you write to ask a question that could have been answered by attending class, or to requests for the syllabus, lecture notes, etc. (i.e., things you could have obtained by attending class). So that we can respond as efficiently as possible, please take care in writing your e-mails. Treat e-mails to us as professional correspondence.
Check your e-mail regularly! During the course, we will e-mail you from time to time with announcements and reminders. Please read these e-mails as soon as you receive them, and please check your e-mail regularly.

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ACADEMIC HONESTY & TEST MAKEUPS_________________________________________
Any student caught cheating on a test will receive a zero for that test, and be reported to the
University. Test make-ups will only be allowed for serious illness (with doctor’s note), or death of family member or loved-one.
MSU policies on academic honesty: Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states that
"The student shares with the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and professional standards." In addition, the Psychology Department adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of
Scholarship and Grades ; the all-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades ; and
Ordinance 17.00, Examinations . If you decide to write a paper for this course instead of participating in experiments, you may NOT submit a paper you completed for another course for this assignment. Students who violate MSU academic integrity rules may receive a penalty grade, including a failing grade on the assignment or in the course. See also: https://www.msu.edu/~ombud/academic-integrity/student-faq.html
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Students with disabilities should contact the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities to establish reasonable accommodations. For an appointment with a disability specialist, call 353-
9642 (voice), 355-1293 (TTY), or visit MyProfile.rcpd.msu.edu
.
Note: Prof. Hambrick reserves the right to correct any errors in this syllabus.

PSY101 (Section 002) Syllabus, Page 5 of 9
_____________________________________________________________________________
8/30 Th Business & Introduction to Psychology Prologue
9/4 Tu
9/6 Th
9/11 Tu
9/13 Th
Thinking Critically with Psychological Science
Thinking Critically with Psychological Science
The Biology of the Mind
The Biology of the Mind
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
9/20
9/25
Th
Tu
Consciousness and the Two-Track Mind
Nature, Nurture, and Human Diversity
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
10/25 Th Emotions, Stress, & Health
11/13 Tu
11/15 Th
11/20 Tu
Developing Through the Life Span
Developing Through the Life Span
TBA
Chapter 12
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
_____________________________________________________________________________
12/10 Mon Exam
3:00 - 5:00 PM, E100, Veterinary Medical Center
Note: I reserve the right to make changes to the above schedule to meet the educational objectives of this course. I will let you know of any changes I make.

PSY101 (Section 002) Syllabus, Page 6 of 9
REGISTERING FOR RESEARCH PARTICIPATION
Participation in Psychological Research: Information for Students
As part of your psychology course, you are encouraged to participate in research projects conducted or supervised by the faculty of the department. The purpose of such participation is to give you some direct experience with real experiments and to give you a better idea of how the work of psychology is actually carried out. Participation is a course requirement for all sections of PSY
101.
SPECIAL NOTE: Students under 18 years of age may not participate in any HPR experiments. Special options have been created for students under 18 to meet the 14 credit participation. Contact Leslie Baldwin ( lbaldwin@msu.edu
) the HPR Student Coordinator, in
Room 262, Psychology building if you are under 18 and want to learn more about these options.
Steps in Research Participation : Registering as a Participating Student .
The purpose of this handout is to go over some of the things you will need to know before participating in psychological research. The first step is registering. This, like nearly all your scheduling activities is handled through a site on the Internet/World Wide Web. Its address is: http://psychology.msu.edu/HPRSystem/
*** If you have participated in the HPR in previous semesters you will need to create a new account.
***
You can access it using standard Web browsers (such as Netscape, Firefox or Microsoft Explorer).
This will bring HPR main page. Click on the Participant button. The first time you visit this page you must create your account. Click on the button that says Create an account - you will be directed to the page that says Enter the Account Creation ID . This semester your Account
Creation ID is psych2012 – in the box used to enter the access code, type it just like this (in lower case), then click on Enter. You will now see the registration page where you should provide all the requested information. Once your account is created, you will be able to log directly into the system with your user ID and MSU e-mail address. Please make sure you fill out all the fields in the registration form. Registrations with incomplete fields will not be able to view the available studies.
Among other things you will be asked to select the course and section number to which you wish to have your participation credits credited. It is CRITICAL that you select the correct course and section number. If you select an incorrect course or section, the credits that you earn through participation will NOT be relayed to the proper instructor and will not be counted in calculating your course grade. If you are enrolled in more than one participating class you will disperse the credits you earn between the classes (credits cannot be shared) on the “My Schedule “page on your
HPR account.
During some semesters, experimenters may want to get some background information on those participating in their experiments. They do this by having students answer Global Questionnaires.
The more of these that you fill out, the more experiments you will be eligible to participate in. So, after registering, you should click on the Answer Global Questionnaires button and see if any are posted.

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Signing-up for research: You can sign up for experiments 24-hours a day on the Web site. To do so, get to the Student Menu (following the procedure described above). Then, to see a list of all experiments that are currently recruiting participants, click on the Sign up for an Experiment button and follow the indicated directions. Please make sure you read the participant task and any restrictions for the experiment you are signing up for.
Canceling appointments : Experimenters have invested a great deal of time and money in preparing an experiment. This goes to waste if you fail to keep your appointment . In such cases, you can cancel your appointment 24 hrs prior to the start time by clicking on the button marked View/Modify My Schedule at the Student Menu on the Web site and following the instructions for canceling an appointment. (
If you lost the appointment time and place : Sometimes, people mislay the date-time-location information for an experiment they've signed up for. If this happens to you and you ever need to check on your appointments (where you're supposed to be and when), you can always click on the button marked View/Modify my Schedule at the Web site to get this information. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by writing down all the information and keeping it in a safe place.
Reporting for a research appointment : Be sure to give yourself enough time to get to the experiment on time, ( Arriving 10 minutes before the experiment is to begin is suggested ) If you are late, you could find the experiment in progress and the door locked. On rare occasions, an experimenter may not make his/her appointment with you because of unusual circumstances (e.g., a car breakdown, a personal emergency). If this happens contact Leslie Baldwin, the HPR student coordinator in Room 262, Psychology Building or email her at: lbaldwin@msu.edu
to report it
(email is preferred).
Rights of Students Participating in Psychology Research
Participation must be voluntary/optional activities . First, it is Department, University, and
Federal policy that no student be compelled in any way to participate in research. If you participate in research, it must be done voluntarily. Therefore, even in classes where research participation is required, students must be offered one or more alternative activities to meet their requirement. If you want to avail yourself of such an alternative activity, you may get information from your professor. Note that on rare occasions there are more people interested in participating in experiments than there are openings in the experiments. If this occurs this semester, additional alternative activities will be provided later in the semester.
Participation should be educational . Second, participating in research should be a learning experience for you. You have a right to obtain information about the experiments in which you serve as a participant. You are entitled to have your questions about the experiment answered.
Also, at least five minutes of every experimental session must be devoted to teaching you something about the experiment. You are entitled to receive a written summary of the experiment, including the name and phone number of the person in charge of the experiment, whom you may contact if you have additional questions.

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The right to discontinue participation : Third, the Department of Psychology is highly concerned that no study be conducted that would in any way be harmful to you. Even so, it is possible that in rare cases you will feel uncomfortable about participating in a study for which you have volunteered. Just remember, you always have the right to leave any experiment. You don't have to explain or justify why you want to leave, and you can never be penalized for leaving.
The right to receive earned credits : Finally, if you do what you're supposed to do (sign up properly, show up at the right place at the right time, etc.), you have a right to receive the credit you've earned. So, for example, even if an experimenter has an equipment breakdown, you're still entitled to receive credit for the time you've spent in the study. However, do not sign up for the same study twice. Please remember that credit values are based on the time it takes to complete a study, (1 credit equal to 30 minutes) and not the study itself. Credits are not automatically awarded and it may take researchers a few days to collect their data and record attendance. The HPR does not penalize participants for missing studies but we do appreciate being notified if you cannot make your session.
Participants are NOT penalized for No Shows or if they cancel an appointment.
Reporting problems : If you ever encounter some problem or feel that your rights have been violated, we want to know about it. Problems you have will be handled by Leslie Baldwin, the
HPR student coordinator, email address lbaldwin@msu.edu
or come to Room 262 Psychology
Building. They will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken . You will need to know the name of the experiment and the date/time you signed up for.
Conclusions : We want to emphasize that negative experiences are very rare; most students who serve as participants in research at Michigan State find their participation interesting and enjoyable.
When you serve as a participant in psychological research you're benefiting personally by learning more about what the science of psychology is really about, but you're also benefiting many others.
Others like the psychologists who are working to get a better understanding of interesting and important behavioral questions. Others like people who will benefit when that knowledge is ultimately applied to everyday human problems like loneliness, depression, divorce, and self development. And others like future generations of students. Who knows? Perhaps the research you participate in this semester will be featured in future psychology textbooks, just as some of the experiments you'll study this semester had their data supplied by previous generations of MSU students. We hope and expect that you'll put as much in and get as much out of research participation as they did.

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