[DRAFT SYLLABUS ~ September 2012]
First Year Seminar
Psychology in Everyday Life
Fall 2013
Instructor: Ricardo A. Machón, Ph.D. Office: UNH 4749 Phone: 310.338.1766 Course: FYS XXXX Room: XXXX Class Meeting: MWF CRN: XXXX Office Hours: XXXX (Jazzman’s Café) XXXX (Lion’s Den) And by appointment. E-­‐mail Address: Ricardo.Machon@LMU.EDU Required Texts: [1] Readings will be posted on MyLMUConnect. [2] Writing manual style text. TBD. Course Description: This course explores the science of psychology and its applications in everyday life experience. By critically examining and meaningfully integrating its historical roots— Philosophy and Natural Science— the course will introduce students to the intersection of psychological science, transcendence and contemporary social issues. Students will be introduced to the Biological-­‐Psychological-­‐Social/Cultural model, a lens through with human behavior and mental processes are examined. By exploring the strengths and limitations of the scientific method along with the 3 pillars of contemporary psychology, students will gain a holistic understanding of what it means to be a thinking, feeling, acting, reflecting, and questioning human being in everyday life. This First Year Seminar is designed to address the broad theme of Science, Nature and Society. Course Requirements: Weekly Writing Assignments 40% Final Project Portfolio 30% Class discussions and Oral Presentations 15% Information Literacy competencies 15% Total Course Percent: 100% Ricardo A. Machón, Ph.D. Syllabus FYS: Psychology in Everyday Life Fall 2013 Final Course Grade Computation-­‐-­‐ A A-­‐ B+ B B-­‐ C+ C C-­‐ D F > 93 % 90 -­‐92 % 87 -­‐89 % 83 -­‐86 % 80 -­‐82 % 77 -­‐79 % 73 -­‐76 % 70 -­‐72 % 60 -­‐69 % < 59 % Kindly note that I do not award “extra” points for any reason. Grades are rounded to the next highest tenth of a percent on all assignments/exams with the exception of the Final Course Grade. General Course Objectives: This First Year Seminar is designed to introduce the first year student to the life of the mind and rigors of a Loyola Marymount University “liberating arts” education. It draws inspiration from the LMU Mission in cultivating the education of your whole person by inspiring and facilitating your learning in all its forms. Student Learning Outcomes: This course, as part of the LMU Core Curriculum, strives to achieve the following learning outcomes. After having taken this First Year Seminar, students will demonstrate increased:  Understanding and appreciation of the intellectual rigor and academic excellence of an LMU education.  Engagement in critical and reflective scholarly discourse.  Skills in reading critically and reflectively.  Effective use of basic research skills and information literacy.  Use of skills in oral and written communication on psychological topics. Student E-­‐mail Addresses: All students registered in the class are required to have an active e-­‐mail account. It is expected that you will check your e-­‐mail regularly because I will use it as a supplemental means of communicating with the class. It is your responsibility to notify me whenever your e-­‐mail address changes. Policy on Use of Electronics in the Classroom: Use of a laptop in class is a privilege. I allow it for those of you who need to use it for taking notes. Abuse of this privilege (non-­‐course related use, such as surfing the Internet, checking e-­‐
mail, chatting, instant messaging and the like) will result in loss of this privilege for the individual student and likely the entire class. Additionally, use of telephone for texting and other non-­‐course related activity during class time will not be permitted. You may be asked to leave the room if you are seen using your telephone. In any case, your mobile phone should be turned off or placed on vibrate/silent mode during class. 2
Ricardo A. Machón, Ph.D. Syllabus FYS: Psychology in Everyday Life Fall 2013 Pre-­‐requisites: None. Late Assignments: All assignments are due at the beginning of class. Late assignments will gladly be accepted. Your grade will be lowered one full grade for every day that it is late, starting 10 minutes after the beginning of class when the assignment is due. No exceptions. Academic Honesty and Integrity-­‐-­‐LMU Honor Code and Process: Cheating or plagiarizing on exams or assignments will not be tolerated and will result in at least a grade of F on the assignment or exam and it may be referred to the appropriate disciplinary body for additional sanctions. Kindly refer to the LMU Honor Code and Process printed in the Undergraduate Bulletin for further reference. Americans with Disabilities Act: Students with special needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act who need reasonable modifications, special assistance, or accommodations in this course should promptly direct their request to the Disability Support Services Office. Any student who currently has a documented disability (physical, learning, or psychological) needing academic accommodations should contact Disability Services Office (Daum Hall Room 224, 310.338.4535) as early in the semester as possible. All discussions will remain confidential. Please visit http://www.lmu.edu/dss for additional information. The information contained in this syllabus is based on the instructor's best judgment prior to the start of the semester. The course calendar may change due to extenuating circumstances. Students will be informed in class or via e-­‐
mail regarding any adjustments to the course schedule. 3
Ricardo A. Machón, Ph.D. Syllabus FYS: Psychology in Everyday Life Fall 2013 GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE FIRST YEAR SEMINAR SCHEDULE Format for the FYS: The writing specialist and I will work as a team. The semester will be divided into 4 modules in which I will lecture and lead class discussions on Mondays and Wednesdays and students will meet with the writing specialist on Fridays in Modules A [weeks 1-­‐4] and C [weeks 9-­‐12]. The writing specialist will meet with students for writing consults on Mondays and Wednesdays and students will meet with me for oral presentations and class discussions on Fridays in Modules B [weeks 5-­‐8] and D [weeks 13-­‐15]. Weekly Writing assignments: Students will prepare 2-­‐3 page response papers to the assigned weekly readings due on Fridays. The writing specialist will be grading these assignments for grammar, style and the like. The instructor will provide feedback on the overall development of themes, critical analysis and understanding of the concepts in the readings. These short, writing assignments will form the basis for weekly oral discussions and presentations the following week. Multiple drafts of evolving and cumulative writing assignments will be expected. Final Project: In consultation with the instructor, students will submit a project, based on a portfolio model. Students will take one or several of the shorter weekly assignments, and (beginning in Module C) begin to develop and refine them into a final project that creatively integrates the themes of the First Year Seminar. Two preliminary drafts will be required before submitting the final project to be graded. TENTATIVE Readings— Philosophical Issues Readings: 1. Kronman, A. T., (2007). Introduction & What is living for? In, Education’s End (pp. 1-­‐35). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 2. Slife, B. D., Yanchar, S. C., & Reber, J. S. (2005). Introduction: Thinking critically about critical thinking. In B. D. Slife, J. S. Reber & F. C. Richardson (Eds.), Critical thinking about psychology (pp. 3-­‐14). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 3. Slife, B. D., Yanchar, S. C., & Reber, J. S. (2005). Are the natural science methods of psychology compatible with theism? In B. D. Slife, J. S. Reber & F. C. Richardson (Eds.), Critical thinking about psychology (pp. 163-­‐184). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 4. Chung, M. C., & Hyland, M. E. (2012). God, divine forces and who we are. In History and Philosophy of Psychology (pp. 5-­‐33). West Sussex, UK: Wiley-­‐Blackwell. 5. Chung, M. C., & Hyland, M. E. (2012). Psychology and science: First Beginnings. In History and Philosophy of Psychology (pp. 34-­‐60). West Sussex, UK: Wiley-­‐Blackwell. 6. Chung, M. C., & Hyland, M. E. (2012). Philosophy of mind and philosophy of science. In History and Philosophy of Psychology (pp. 61-­‐87). West Sussex, UK: Wiley-­‐Blackwell. 7. Williams, R. N. (2005). The language and methods of science: Common assumptions and uncommon conclusions. In B. D. Slife, J. S. Reber & F. C. Richardson (Eds.), Critical thinking about psychology (pp. 235-­‐
249). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 4
Ricardo A. Machón, Ph.D. Syllabus FYS: Psychology in Everyday Life Fall 2013 8.
Kirschner, S. R. (2005). Conclusion: Toward critical openness. In B. D. Slife, J. S. Reber, & F. C. Richardson (Eds.), Critical thinking about psychology (pp. 267-­‐277). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Biology, Evolution and Genes Readings: 1. Pinker, S. (2006). How the mind works. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The Norton psychology reader (pp. 39-­‐44). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2. Borkenau, P., Riemann, R., Angleitner, A., & Spinath, F. M. (2001). Genetic and environmental influences on observed personality: Evidence from the German observational study of adult twins. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 170-­‐182. 3. Damasio, A. R. (2006). Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason and the human brain. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The Norton psychology reader (pp. 58-­‐69). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 4. Caspi, A., Sugden, K., Moffitt, T. E., Taylor, A., Craig, I. W., Harrington, H., McClay, J., Mill, J., Martin, J., Braithwaite, A., & Poulton, R. (2003). Influence of life stress on depression: Moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-­‐HTT gene. Science, 301, 183-­‐189. Consciousness Readings: 1. James, W. (2006). The principles of psychology. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The Norton psychology reader (pp. 3-­‐
11). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2. Freud, S. (2006). The unconscious. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The Norton psychology reader (pp. 12-­‐16). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 3. Beck, A. T. (2006). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The Norton psychology reader (pp. 380-­‐385). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 4. Cialdini, R. B. (2006). Influence: The psychology of persuasion. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The Norton psychology reader (pp. 265-­‐272). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 5. Bandura, A. (1978). The self system in reciprocal determinism. American Psychologist, 33, 502-­‐516. Personality Psychology Readings: 1. Kagan, J. (2006). Galen’s prophecy: Temperament in human nature. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The Norton psychology reader (pp. 283-­‐290). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2. Mischel, W. (2010). Consistency and specificity in behavior. In D. C. Funder, & D. J. Ozer (Eds.), Pieces of th
the personality puzzle: Readings in theory and research (5 ed.). (pp. 60-­‐75). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 3. Harris, J. R. (2006). The nurture assumption: Why children turn out the way they do. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The norton psychology (pp. 291-­‐303). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 4. McCrae, R., & Costa Jr., P. (2008). A five-­‐factor theory of personality. In O. P John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. rd
Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3 ed.). (pp. 159-­‐181). New York, NY: Guilford. Culture Readings: 1. Brown, D. E. (2006). Human universals. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The Norton psychology reader (pp. 318-­‐329). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2. Triandis, H. (1989). The self and social behavior in differing cultural contexts. Psychological Review, 96, 414-­‐432. 3. Richerson, P. J., & Boyd, R. (2006). Not by genes alone: How culture transformed human evolution. In G. Marcus (Ed.), The Norton psychology reader (pp. 335-­‐341). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 4. Markus, H., & Kitayama, S. (1994). A collective fear of the collective: Implications for selves and theories of selves. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 433-­‐448. 5
Ricardo A. Machón, Ph.D. Syllabus FYS: Psychology in Everyday Life Fall 2013 Psychology and Spirituality & Psychology and Philosophy Part II… Readings: 1. William J. Byron, S.J.— The Man Who Was Loyola, pp. 1-­‐7. AND Charles J. Healey, S.J — Ignatius’s Journey & Ignatius’s Later Years (1541-­‐56). pp. 1-­‐20. 2. Maslow, A. (1954). A theory of human motivation. In A. H. Maslow, Motivation and personality (pp. 80-­‐106). New York, NY: Harper & Row. 3. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999). If we’re so rich, why aren’t we happy? American Psychologist, 54, 821-­‐827. 4. Dahlsgaard, K., Peterson, C., & Seligman M. E. P. (2005). Shared virtue: The convergence of valued human strengths across culture and history. Review of General Psychology, 9, 203-­‐213. 5. Astin, A. W., Astin, H. S., & Lindholm, J. A. (2011). Ch. 1. Why spirituality matters; Ch. 2. Assessing spiritual and religious qualities. In, Cultivating the spirit: How college can enhance students’ inner lives. (pp. 1-­‐26). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 6. Astin, A. W., Astin, H. S., & Lindholm, J. A. (2011). Ch. 3. Spiritual quest: The search for meaning and purpose; Ch. 5. Spirituality in practice: Caring for and about others. In, Cultivating the spirit: How college can enhance students’ inner lives. (pp. 27-­‐ 48; 63-­‐82). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 7. Astin, A. W., Astin, H. S., & Lindholm, J. A. (2011). Ch. 8. How spiritual growth affects education and personal development; Ch. 9. Higher education and the life of the spirit. In, Cultivating the spirit: How college can enhance students’ inner lives. (pp. 115-­‐136; 137-­‐157). San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 8. Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Spirituality. In, Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification (pp. 599-­‐622). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 6