Course Information

General Info

Course Info:

Psych 1: Introduction to Psychology
M,T,Th: 11:00am-12:15pm
Room 200-207
Text: Wade, C. & Tavris, C. (2000). Psychology: 6th Edition. Prentice Hall.
Course Website: www-psych.stanford.edu/~bigopp/psych1.html

Instructor Info:

Jennifer Randall Crosby	Danny Oppenheimer	Grainne Fitzsimons	Aaron Kay
jlr@psych.stanford.edu	bigopp@psych.stanford.edu	grainne@psych.stanford.edu	aaronk@psych.stanford.edu
Rm 242	Rm 342	Rm 252	Rm 375
725-4604	725-5487	725-4604	725-4609
Mondays 1:30pm-2:30pm	Tuesdays 10:00am-11:00am	Tuesdays 12:15pm-1:15pm	Thursdays 12:15pm -1:15pm

Course Goals:

There are four main goals for this course. The first is to provide a review of the discipline of psychology. This means that at the end of this course, students should have a thorough understanding of the methods that are used in the empirical study of human behavior and mental processes. Further, students should be familiar with the fundamental findings in the psychological literature and should know enough psychology to understand scientific articles in a variety of psychological subdisciplines.

Secondly, we hope to create interest in the field of psychology. Clearly, as psychology is our chosen discipline, we find the topic fascinating. We would like to pass our enthusiasm for the topic on to students. We want students will find the class enjoyable, and the material exciting. Ideally, students will gain an appreciation for psychology that will spur them to take more advanced classes in the future.

Third, we want to make students critical consumers of information. The mass media is filled with "pop" psychology, and poor science. Upon completion of this course, students should have the tools necessary to critically evaluate psychological claims, and recognize pseudo-science when they come across it. Students should further be able to recognize flaws in experiments in a variety of other disciplines, and be in general wiser consumers of media information.

Finally, we want to see if anybody actually reads the "course goals" section of the syllabus. There are certainly reasons to skip immediately to the "grading" section of the class, but a wise consumer of information might find that the course goals will tell much more about the usefulness of a class than grade breakdowns would. And to reward the steadfast reader, the first person to notice this fourth point and mention it to a professor will win a prize.

Overall, we expect the course to be a lot of fun, and are thrilled to have you joining us. We love meeting with students outside of class, and are very responsive to feedback. We hope to make this one of the best experiences you have this summer.

Course Requirements:

In addition to keeping up with the reading, and being attentive in class, students will have four assignments, a midterm, and a final.

Assignments:

There will be four assignments due in this class. The assignments will involve critical analysis of articles, ideas, and experiments. The distribution dates and due dates for the assignments are listed on the course schedule. The first three assignments are meant to be short (2-3 pages in length, double spaced, normal font and margins). The final assignment will be a bit more demanding (approximately 3-4 pages in length, double spaced, normal font and margins) and will be worth a larger percentage of your final grade. You are encouraged to talk with others in the class, and your instructors during preparation of writing your analysis, but the write up must be your own.

Exams:

There will be two exams: a midterm and a final. They will be a combination multiple choice, and short answer. The final will also have a long answer question. The final will contain primarily material from the second half of the course, however it will contain some questions on larger issues which have been covered throughout the class.

Extra Credit:

There is the potential to earn extra credit in this class by participating in psychological experiments or by writing a research paper. More information about this option can be found on the extra credit handout. Up to 5% of your total class score can be earned in this manner.

Grades:

The grade breakdown will be as follows:
Assignment 1: 5%
Assignment 2: 5%
Assignment 3: 5%
Assignment 4: 15%
Class Participation: 5%
Midterm: 30%
Final: 35%

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