2009 Fall PSY 11-01
Bulletin Course Description Broad survey of the field of modern psychology. Focus on the natural science study of behavior, emphasizing biological, evolutionary, cognitive, and developmental perspectives while placing this work in historical, social and philosophical context. Conceptual issues unifying the subfields of psychology highlighted along with consideration of techniques and methods by which knowledge about brain, mind, thought and behavior is acquired and refined. The implications for life and society of contemporary scientific approaches and technologies. Students required to participate in psychological research. Instructor: Whitfield or Staff
(Instructor named in bulletin description above may not be current. For current instructor, see listing below.)
Title INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY Department PSY Course Number 2009 Fall 11 Section Number 01 Primary Instructor Whitfield,Keith E Prerequisites Course Homepage On Blackboard
Synopsis of course content
Psychology 11 broadly surveys the field of psychology. This survey focuses on the natural science study of behavior,emphasizing biological, evolutionary, cognitive, and developmental perspectives while placing this work in historical, social and philosophical context. The conceptual issues which unify the sub fields of psychology highlighted along with a consideration of the techniques and methods by which knowledge about brain, mind thought and behavior is
acquired and refined. The implications for life and society of contemporary scientific approaches and technologies. Grades will be derived from performance on multiple choice and short essay exams.
Please Note: students must also fulfill a departmental research requirement (if this is their first course in psychology) -- either participate in psychology experiments or submit a research paper.
Textbooks
Gray, P. (2007). Psychology (5th edition). New York: Worth Publishers.
Slater, L. (2004). Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Assignments
Department-wide research requirement (if this is your first course in psychology): participate in experiments or write a brief paper on research issues.
Exams
Three exams with short-essay questions.
Term Papers
none
Grade to be based on
Exam average, Online course participation and class room participation.
