Principles of Psychology Psychology 125 Section C (still in progress; anything might change)

Chuck Huff	RNS 150 Tuesday: 11:45 - 1:10 Thursday: 12:45 - 2:05	current as of 12/07/2011
Regents Science Hall 120, 786.3169		Mail to Prof. Huff
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:10 - 3:00		Mail to the TAs (Alana Anderson & Stacy Bonds

"And now here is my secret,
a very simple secret; It is only with the
heart that one can see rightly; what is essential
is invisible to the eye"
-Antoine De Saint-Exupery

I want to measure those
essential, ephemeral things, things seen only with the heart.
And the measurement is true when the heart sees
the measurement and sharpens its vision.
-Chuck Huff

Welcome to the Introductory class in Psychology! I hope you will find this class a useful introduction to this exciting field: an introduction that will lay a foundation of psychological facts and theories and the scientific way of thinking about things psychological. If you plan to major, this is the essential foundation. If you are taking this just because it is interesting, it is also essential as basic information that will help you deal critically with the wide variety of claims you will hear about things psychological. We will not forget the mystery of being Human (or Bonobo) but we will concentrate on the empirical foundation and critical thinking required for this field.

Useful Links

Social Psychology Network tips on taking exams

Readings

Readings in the textbook are posted below in the schedule. Try your best to read ahead, so that you have at least read the material for the assigned day. You will find the lectures easier to comprehend and you will have an idea of what questions you might want to ask. The weekly quizzes will help you keep up.

Your Teaching Assistants

Stacy Bonds and Alana Anderson will be the TAs for this class. They will be running help sessions for the exams and for the project, in addtion to doing the grading for these.

Weekly Moodle Tests:

Beginning Sept. 15, a quiz on Moodle will open for you to take. It will open by 10 PM every thursday after class. These will bemultiple choice questions, and primarily factual. You have until Wednesday midnight of the next week to complete your quiz. The quiz is timed for 30 minutes, and there will be 10 - 15 items on each quiz. If you do not finish in this time, you will receive a 0 for the uncompleted items. The honor code applies to these quizzes, so you are on your honor not to share your quiz experience with others (and to report cheating if you become aware of it). I reserve the right to drop the lowest two quiz grades from your calculation.

Exams

There are three exams, one just before midterm break, one just before Thanksgiving break, and a final on Monday December 19, from 2 to 4 PM. Many things in our schedule will change, but these dates will not change. So check your semester schedule now to see if there are conflicts. I will give make up exams only with a note from your student dean.

Given the size of class, exams will all be multiple choice. Questions on the exams, unlike questions on the quizzes, will be primarily conceptual in nature. We will give you some example questions so you can be sure you understand these kinds of questions and how best to approach them.

About 10% of the second exam will be from material covered for the 1st exam. About 40% of the final will be from material covered in the first two exams.

Final Review Sessions

The Final Exam is Monday December 19 from 2:00 - 4:00 PM. There will be X review sessions for this exam:

Session 1: Tuesday Dec 13 7:30 - 8:30 PM RNS 150

Session 2: Wednesday December 14 1:00 - 2:00 PM RNS 150

Session 3: Saturday December 17, 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM RNS 150

Exam Return Sessions

Second exam:

Wednesday Dec 7 5:45 PM -7:45 PM (Stacy, in atrium outside classroom)

Thursday Dec 8 10:00 AM - Noon (Alana, in atrium outside classroom)

Research Participation

This will be your chance to see psychological research from the inside. The requirement is that you participate in

• at least two different studies
• that together are more than 2 hours of credit

You can participate in 2 more hours worth of credit, in whatever increments, to receive extra credit. This will total 1% of your final grade (not much, but helpful if you have missed a quiz or two).

Popular Psychology Paper

This is a short essay (1,500 words or less). You will compare the public reporting of a psychological finding in the popular press with the original article, noting accuracies, inaccuracies, and slant. More on this in a week or so.

Grading

Classrom Etiquette

This is a large class and many different types of peeople are trying to learn something. So, some ground rules will be helpful. No cell phones, unless it is an expected emergency. No laptops open in class, unless you have a disability accomodation that requires one. Please take care of biology before coming to class. Coffee, water, even a small sandwich, etc is fine, but no noisy or distracting food.

Disability Accomodation

If you have a documented disability that will impact your work in this class, please contact me to discuss your needs. Additionally, you will need to register with Student Disability Services. All such discussions will be confidential.

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Schedule

Disclaimer