Psychology 410 Syllabus

Psychology 410 Syllabus

Course Objectives:

To integrate knowledge of Psychology through discussion of its historical roots and theoretical perspectives. To explore Psychology through the reading and critical review of primary literature sources. To gain experience with a seminar course mode, typical of graduate programs.

Textbook:

Benjamin, L.T. (1996). A History of Psychology: Original sources and contemporary research (2nd Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

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Psychology X410 Assignments

Week	Topic	Reading	Assignments
1	Organizational Meeting; Research	Chapter One	--
2	Philosophical Roots of Psychology	Chapter Two	--
3	Biological Psychology	Chapter Three	--
4	The French Clinical Tradition and Freud	Chapters Four, Thirteen	--
5	Psychophysics Midterm	Chapter Five	25%
6	Structuralism vs. Gestalt	Chapters Six, Fourteen	--
7	Darwin and Functionalism	Chapters Seven, Eight	--
8	Animal Experimentation	Chapters Nine, Ten	--
9	Behaviorism/Neobehaviorism	Chapters Eleven, Twelve
10	Applied Psychology	Chapters Fifteen, Sixteen	--
11	FINAL EXAM	Review	25%

Course Format and Evaluation:

Some class sessions will be comprised of lecture/discussion on the topics listed above. Students should read the assigned chapters before coming to class each Tuesday.
Each student will develop a 45 min. seminar. Students may choose to work individually or in pairs. Seminar topics are the student’s choice, but should be cleared with the instructor. Sample topics might include the roles of women and minorities in psychology, Reinforcement Theory vs. Unconditional Positive Regard, the history of cognitive psychology, methods for getting into grad school in psychology, etc.

Seminar leaders are responsible for:

Choosing three journal articles or web sites appropriate to their topic. These materials must be duplicated and distributed to the class one week in advance. I will assist with duplication.
Providing a brief (10 minutes or less) outline of the major issues of the area to be discussed.
Leading a class discussion on the topic.

Non-presenters are responsible for:

Doing the reading before coming to class.
Participating in the class discussion.

The midterm and final will be essay format. A list of six topics based on lecture and reading will be provided two weeks before each exam. Students will be asked to write on three of the topics. Please bring a blue book for each exam.

Course grades will be assigned as follows:

Organizing and leading a seminar 40%
Participating in other seminars 10%
Midterm and Final 50%
An additional 10% extra credit will be given for the development of a web page on a History and Systems topic of the student’s choice. I will provide software and instruction for those who wish to do this activity. An AIX account, which is free to students, is necessary in order to participate.

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Laura Freberg

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updated 7/20/98