PY101 General Psychology
M,W,F 10:20 – 11:15MH200
Dr. Jerri Edwards
Office: Morton Hall Rm 329 Phone: 824-2318
Email: edwardjd@uah.edu
Please leave detailed voice mail messages. You may call my voice mail at anytime.
Office hours: Mon, Wed 9:00 – 10:15 a.m., 1:30 – 2:15 p.m., or by appointment.
Required Text: Bernstein, Clarke-Stewart, Penner, Roy, and Wickens. (2000). Psychology. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Additional Reading: Additional readings may occasionally be assigned in class by the Instructor.
Course Format, Goals, and Learning Objectives: This course will provide an introduction to research
methods and findings in the field of Psychology. Topics that will be covered include Biological Psychology,
Sensation, Learning, Memory, Cognition, Language, Development, Personality, Psychological Disorders and
Social Psychology. You will be required to attend lectures, read your textbook (as well as any additional
assigned readings), view videos, participate in class demonstrations and discussions and participate in research
studies. The course will consist of lectures, videos, demonstrations, and discussions. Students are expected to
complete the assignments and readings before coming to class so that they may participate in meaningful
discussion. Please turn off all cell phones, pagers and watch alarms during class-time.
In line with the goals for general educational requirement courses, this course aims to encourage intellectual
curiosity, to increase critical thinking skills, and to promote familiarity with and understanding of human
behavior.
At the end of this course, through participating in research studies, completing assignments, learning from class
lectures, participating in class discussions, reading the text and viewing of videos you should be able to:
• Characterize psychology as a discipline by recognizing and explaining the different specialty fields
within psychology
• Explain major theories and perspectives in psychology
• Understand different research methods.
• Apply psychological principles to social issues and everyday problem solving
• Recognize the necessity of ethical behavior in psychology research and be familiar with guidelines for
the ethical treatment of human and non-human research participants.
• Demonstrate competence in locating and choosing appropriate sources.
• Demonstrate the ability to read and accurately summarize scientific literature.
• Recognize, develop, defend and criticize arguments and persuasive appeals.
• Use critical thinking skills to evaluate the credibility of research findings.
• Seek and evaluate scientific evidence for making psychological claims.
These skills will be evaluated through quizzes, exams, and homework assignments.
Month
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
Day
M
W
F
M
Date
Subject
30 Introduction
1 Introduction
3 Introduction/Research
6
LABOR DAY - NO CLASS
Page 1
Text
Assignments Due
1
1
1-2 LAST DAY TO ADD
COURSE
--
PY101 General Psychology
W
F
M
8 Quiz 1, Research
10 Research
13 Biological
W
F
M
W
F
M
15
17
20
22
24
27
M,W,F 10:20 – 11:15MH200
2 Quiz 1 Chs 1-2
2
3 LAST DAY TO
WITHDRAW WITH
REFUND
3
3
3-4 QUIZ 2 Chs 3-4
4
4
4
Biological
Biological
Quiz 2, Biological/Sensation
Sensation
Sensation
Sensation/Details for HW
assignment
1-4 Chapters 1-4
W
29 Exam 1
F
1 Learning
6
OCTOBER
M
4 Learning
6
W
6 Learning
6
F
8
-FALL BREAK - NO CLASS
M
11 Learning/Memory
7
W
13 Quiz 3, Memory
7
7 HOMEWORK DUE
F
15 Memory
M
18 Memory
7
W
20 Cognition/Language
8
We are midway through the semester. You should have at least 5 research credits at this point!
F
22 Cognition/Language
8
M
25 Cognition/Language
8
8/12 QUIZ 3 Chs 8,12
W
27 Quiz 4 – Lanugage/Development
F
29 Development
12
M
1 Development
12
NOVEMBER
W
3 Development
12
F
5 Exam 2
Chapters 6,7,8,12
M
8 Personality
14
W
10 Personality
14 LAST DAY TO
WITHDRAW
F
12 Personality
14
M
15 Psycholgocial Disorders
15
15 QUIZ 4 Chs 14-15
W
17 Quiz 5, Psychological Disorders
F
19 Psychological Disorders
15
M
22 Psychological Disorders
15
W
24
NO CLASS
F
26
NO CLASS
M
29 Social Cognition
17
W
1 Social Cognition
17
DECEMBER
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PY101 General Psychology
8:00–10:30 am
F
M
W
F
3
6
8
17
M,W,F 10:20 – 11:15MH200
Social Cognition
Exam 3
Grades/Review
COMPREHENSIVE FINAL
EXAM
17
Chapters 14, 15,17
1-4, 6-8, 12, 14, 15, 17
Attendance Policy: It is in your best interest to attend each class session. If you miss a class it is your
responsibility to get lecture notes from a fellow classmate. You are responsible for all text chapters listed on
the syllabus, handouts, and material presented in class including videos. Should you have questions over text
readings, please ask the instructor to explain in class.
Research Participation. Because research is an integral part of the discipline of psychology, it is important
that students learn about the methods, tools, and ethics of psychological research. Therefore, you will earn 5%
of your grade by participating in research related activities. You must collect 10 research points by
participating in activities outside of the classroom. These include participating in experiments, viewing videos
and answering a short quiz, or reading the selected articles on reserve at the library and successful completion
of the reading quiz. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THE SEMESTER TO OBTAIN THESE
CREDITS. Contact Marcy McFarlin if you have questions. Her office is MH136. Her phone number is 8244590 and her e-mail is [mcfarlm@email.uah.edu]. Research participation will specifically help you to meet the
learning objectives of recognizing the necessity of ethical behavior in psychology research and be familiar with
guidelines for the ethical treatment of human and non-human research participants.
Quizzes: Four quizzes that cover text material will be given in class. Each quiz will be worth 10 points. These
quizzes will include short answer questions and are given to encourage you to keep current with your textbook
reading. Make up quizzes will not be given. Instead, you will be allowed to drop one quiz. It is highly
suggested that you plan to take all of the quizzes in case extenuating circumstances arise that prevent you from
being in class for a scheduled quiz.
Homework: You will need to find an original research article of an empirical study in the area of Memory,
Learning, Cognition or Language. This research article should contain introduction, methods, results and
discussion sections. You must pick a peer-reviewed journal – not a magazine or newspaper. Excellent
examples of journals for this assignment include, but are not limited to: Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Human Learning and Memory; Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition,
Memory & Cognition, Journal of Memory & Language. If in doubt, bring the article to the instructor for preapproval. You will be given a demonstration of library resources in class prior to this assignment being due.
Detailed information about this assignment will be posted on the web site no later than September 27th. This
assignment will help you to demonstrate competence in locating and choosing appropriate sources, demonstrate
the ability to read and accurately summarize scientific literature, use critical thinking skills to evaluate the
credibility of research findings, and seek and evaluate scientific evidence for making psychological claims.
This homework assignment is due on October 15th at 10:20 a.m. This assignment is worth 10 points (5% of
your grade). Two points will be deducted from the assignment grade per class period of lateness. The
maximum late penalty is 6 points. No homework assignments will be accepted after December 8th, the last
regular class period. You may turn in homework assignments early if you wish. If you copy homework from
another student, you will receive a 0.
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PY101 General Psychology
M,W,F 10:20 – 11:15MH200
Exams: Three exams and one comprehensive final will be given during the quarter. Each exam will be worth
50 points. The exams will cover material presented in class (including demonstrations and videos) as well as
the assigned readings. The exam dates are tentative, it is your responsibility to find out about any changes
should you be absent. The comprehensive final will be composed of questions from the three regular exams as
indicated to you in class. Exams will mostly include multiple choice, but may also have short answer, fill inthe-blank questions, or true-false questions. No make-up exams will be given. Instead, you will be allowed to
drop your lowest exam score. I recommend practicing with the study guide to help you prepare for the exams.
Generally, I try to return quizzes and exams to you at the next class period, but will always return them within
one week.
Grading:
The total of your best 3 exams (out of 150) will be worth 75% of your final grade. The total research activities
points (out of 10) referred to earlier will be worth 5% of your final grade. The total of your best three quizzes
(out of 30) will be worth 15% of your grade. Your homework assignment (out of 10) will be worth 5% of your
grade. Sum all of these points (best 3 exams, best 4 quizzes, homework, and research points) and divide by 2
and this will be your final grade.
Grades will be distributed as follows A - 90 - 100%, B - 80 - 89%, C - 70 -79%, D - 60 - 69%, F - 0 - 59%.
The above schedule and procedures of this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating
circumstances. Any changes will be explained in class by the Instructor. It is your responsibility to find
out about any changes should you be absent from class.
PSI CHI – Psi Chi, the psychology honor society, promotes psychology at UAH through activities, research,
and travel to professional conferences. For more information about Psi Chi, contact the society president,
Trish Brown (uahpsichi@yahoo.com) or the faculty advisor, Dr. Sandra Carpenter (carpens@uah.edu).
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