Winter term topics
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Motivation
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Intelligence & Reasoning
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Language & Nonverbal Communication
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Cognitive Development
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Social Development
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Social Perception
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Social Influence
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What’s the big deal about Freud?
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Personality
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Mental Disorders & Treatment
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Why do people do the things they do?
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Are some people smarter than others? Why? How can we measure intelligence? How do
people solve problems and what common errors occur?
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What rules do people use to communicate with and without words?
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How do children learn to think?
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How do children learn to interact with others?
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How do people understand their own behavior and the behavior of others? Why does
prejudice and racism occur and how can it be minimized?
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How can individuals, groups, governments and advertisers affect people’s behavior? Why do
nice people sometimes behave in evil ways?
Why has Freud had such a lasting influence on Psychology and pop culture when most modern
psychologists think he was full of crap?
Why are people so different in their personalities? How can personality be measured?
What drives behavior -- personality or situation?
What can go wrong with people’s mental health (anxiety & mood disorders, schizophrenia,
personality disorders, including psychopathy) and how can disorders be treated?
Is Psychology obvious?
• Is the fluffier side of psychology just the study
of the obvious?
• How often is our “intuitive psychology” correct?
Before and After 023 Questions
Answer these questions now based on your intuition.
Look at them again at the end of the course.
• You are a parent and you want your child, aged 10, to do well in
school. Is it a good idea to pay your child for getting good grades?
• Your friend gets a pet chimp and wants to teach it to communicate.
How successful do you think he will be?
• You are a school teacher and have found that one particular ethic
group in your class is being discriminated against by the other
students. What could you do to reduce the problem?
• What is schizophrenia? What is a psychopath?
• Was Freud the most important psychologist who ever lived or was he
just an overrated nutbar?
• You are at Masonville Mall and see a pickpocket pulling a wallet out
of a guy’s pants. Would you stop him or keep walking?
• Adolf Eichmann was a Nazi who supervised the deportation of 6
million Jews to the gas chambers. Was he inherently evil?
Winter Prof
• aka Dr. Culham, Professor Culham, Jody, Dr. Jody,
Ms. Culham, hey you
– any e-mails addressed to “Mrs. Culham” get forwarded to
the professor’s mother
• jculham@uwo.ca
– include “023” at start of e-mail subject to make your email spam-proof
– empty “Subject” lines from unknown names get deleted
• Office Hours
– make an appointment by e-mail
• Phone:
– 661-2111 x85643
Who should I ask?
Fall semester content, exams or grades:
• Ask Dr. Nurse
• snurse@uwo.ca
Research participation requirements:
• Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris
• Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris
• Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris
• Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris
• http://psyclone.psych.uwo.ca/intropsy/
• hmharris@uwo.ca
Alternative to research participation requirement
• Ask T.A. Jonathan Cant
• jcant@uwo.ca
Everything else
• Ask me!
• jculham@uwo.ca
Course Web Page
• http://instruct.uwo.ca/psychology/023/
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check announcements regularly
check exam grades
lecture outline and class info
– lecture notes will be available by 6 pm the evening before the next day’s class
– I recommend you print handouts and bring them to class to jot notes on
• if we don’t get to everything, stopping point will be noted and you will be expected to
bring previous day’s handout to class
•
optional web sites and demos
The Common Wisdom
• “Do not read the textbook if you can learn
it from the lectures. Textbooks are
boring.”
• “Do not go to class if you can learn it from
the textbook. Professors are boring.”
Wiser Wisdom: Lectures
• Attend classes
– classes reinforce material covered in text
– classes include some material not in text
• professors are more enthusiastic when teaching
material they find interesting
– videos, stories and demos give different
perspective and may be more memorable
– opportunities for questions, clarification &
discussion
How Much?!!!
Textbook
• $104
Lectures
• UWO tuition for Science student: $5,042
• Tuition per 1-semester course: $504
• Number of full lectures this semester: 22
• Cost per lecture: $22.91
– Note: This cost is only a fraction (~1/3 in Ontario) of the true
cost of an education, with the remainder paid by taxpayers
For comparison…
• Cost of movie at Silver City: $9.95
Think!
– Even though slide handouts are available on the web
site, they deliberately do not contain everything
– from the memory section, you may now realize that
the likelihood of remembering something is related
to the “depth of processing” (how deeply you think
about it)
– take notes in margins
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fill in missing bits
write down examples
take notes on videos
make sure you understand concepts and can apply them to
new situations
– review lectures after class to reinforce material
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Wiser Wisdom: Text
Learn the text
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text can go into more detail than we have time
for in class
lots of material
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study actively, not passively
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study guide is optional
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check Lectures page of web to see specific
pages/FQs that will be tested
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1.
2.
reading alone is not enough
if you must use a highlighter, use it sparingly
use focus questions to guide your studying
read a focus question section
take point-form notes on the concepts, jargon,
details
3. answer the focus questions
The 8-hour guideline
Your education is a full-time job
• Assuming 40 hours of work per week, you
should be spending 8 hours per course per
week
Sample Weekly Breakdown
• 3 hours in class
• 1 hour reviewing class notes
• 2 hours actively reading text
• 1 hour organizing information and studying
Exam Question Breakdown
Lectures
Only
(includes
videos)
~20-25%
Overlap of Lectures and
Text
~50-60%
Text
Only
~20-25%
Tues. & Thurs.
Tuesday class
• 12:00 - 12:50
Thursday class
• 12:00 - 1:30 at latest
(except test days when you will have the
full 1 hour, 50 mins if needed)
• more video clips
– usually clips rather than full videos to highlight
important stuff without putting everybody to
sleep
Test Dates
Term Test 3
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Thursday January 29, in class
40 multiple choice questions
up to 1 hour, 50 minutes
10% of course grade
all material from Jan 6-27
Term Test 4
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Thursday March 4, in class
40 multiple choice questions
up to 1 hour, 50 minutes
10% of course grade
all material from Feb 30-Mar 2
Final examination
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To be scheduled by the registrar
100 multiple choice questions
up to 3 hours
30% of course grade
all material from Winter semester
• approx. 60% on material from Mar 9-Apr 6
• approx 20% on material from Jan 6-27
• approx 20% on material from Feb 30-Mar 2
Test Format
• multiple choice
– some “factual/definitional” questions
– more “conceptual/analytical” questions
• “Test yourself” sample questions
– will be given at start of each class so you have an idea
what to expect
• names of psychologists will only be tested for
the major players discussed in class with names
in pink
– dates of experiments will not be tested
Need Help?
General help:
• Learning Skills Services at the Student
Development Centre offers clinics and one-onone assistance. Rm. 210 UCC,
http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/learning/
Psych 023 help
• Make an appointment with me
Careers in Psychology
• See 023 web site for links
• talk to the Psych drop-in centre (SSC 3rd floor
by Starbucks)