COURSE SYLLABUS
Psychology 2- Reedley College
PSY-2-52112, General Psychology
General Psychology, 9:00 AM to 10:45 AM
Spring Semester 2010
Tuesday/Thursday, Bldg LFS, Room A

 Instructor: Dr. Ann Reitan
 E-mail: 
 Office hours: by appointment only

Course Description:  This is a survey course in general psychology.  Its purpose is to provide the student with an understanding of the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.  Topics include history, methodology, biopsychology, lifespan and development, sensation and perception, consciousness and altered states, learning and memory, thought and language, intelligence, motivation and emotion, personality, psychopathology and therapy, stress and health, and social and cultural influences.  

Course Objectives: Students should be able to demonstrate the following:

$	    An understanding of the breadth or scope of the field of psychology
$	    An understanding of the basics of psychological study and techniques
$	    Knowledge of the various theories, such as cognitive and psychodynamic theories.
$	   Understanding of terms and concepts within the domain of psychology

Required Text: Wade and Tavris, Invitation to Psychology, 4th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2005.  Note that the following course Schedule for Spring Semester 2010 is subject to revision, as necessary:

01/12-01/14:  Course Introduction:  What is Psychology?, Chapter 1
01/19-01/21: Theories of Personality, Chapter 2
01/26-01/28:  Development over the Life Span, Chapter 3
02/02-02/04:  Neurons, Hormones and the Brain, Chapter 4
02/09 - Review for Exam One, Consciousness: Body Rhythms and Mental States, Chapter 5
02/11 Exam One, (Chapters 1 - 4)

02/16: Review of Exam Results, Consciousness: Body Rhythms and Mental States, Chapter 5 02/18-02/23: Sensation and Perception, Chapter 6
02/25-03/02: Thinking and Intelligence, Chapter 7
03/04: Topic to be announced
03/09-03/11:  Memory, Chapter 8
03/16-03/18:  Learning, Chapter 9
03/23:  Review for Exam Two, Behavior in the Social and Cultural Context, Chapter 10
03/25:  Behavior in the Social and Cultural Context, Chapter 10
03/29-04/02: Spring Recess
04/06:  Exam Two, (Chapters 5-9)  
04/08: Review of Exam Results, Psychological Disorders, Chapter 11
04/13-04/15:  Approaches to Treatment and Therapy, Chapter 12
04/20: Emotions, Stress and Health, Chapter 13

04/22-4/27:   The major motivators of life, Chapter 14
04/29-05/11: Group Presentations
05/13: Review for Exam Three
05/18: Topic to be announced
05/20: Final Exam 9:00 AM to 10:50 AM

Dates to Remember-- Please note the following important dates:

January 18th: Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
February 12th: Lincoln’s Day Holiday
February 15th: Washington’s Day Holiday
March 29th – April 2nd: Spring Recess

Exam #1: 02/11/10
Exam #2: 04/06/10
Exam #3: 05/20/10

01/22/10: Last day to drop a class and be eligible for a fee refund/reversal
01/29/10: End of Three-Week Drop period (no “W’ on transcript)
Last Date to end a full term class
03/11/10: Last day to declare pass/no pass (P/NP) grade option
03/12/10: End of Nine-Week Drop period (no drops after this date)
03/19/10: Last day for degree and certificate candidates to file application for May 2010 completion
05/17/10: Spring final exams begin
05/21/10: Spring semester ends

Attendance and Participation: Please note that attendance and participation are course requirements.  Regular and appropriate classroom participation can affect your grade in a positive way.  Failure to attend class regularly will result in poor performance, in terms of both the learning and the examination processes.  Note that a consistent failure to attend class, (i.e., missing four or more hours of class prior to the drop date), may result in your being dropped from the course.  Additionally, you should be aware that any student may be dropped from the course if he of she misses two or more consecutive class periods.  If you must arrive or leave early, please do so in a manner that does not disrupt the class.  Excessive tardiness may also affect your grade.  The instructor reserves the right to take roll any time to determine if you are in attendance during the class session.  If a student arrives late to class, after roll has already been taken, the student must notify the instructor of his or her attendance at the end of the class session.  If you intend to miss a class, please attempt to notify the instructor in advance. Note that cell phone usage is not allowed during the class, unless such usage is due to an emergency. Laptop computers and recording devices are permitted in the classroom at the discretion of the instructor, and only in the event that they are being used to facilitate student learning. Note also that individuals not enrolled in the class may not attend the class.  Auditing of courses is not allowed.

Reading Assignments: All required readings should be completed before the corresponding lecture so that students are prepared to participate in class discussions.  It should be emphasized that students’ grades will be affected positively if students participate meaningfully in class discussions.   Note: It is essential that all students enrolled in this course either purchase, (new or used), borrow, or have access to the required text, and the correct edition of the text is the 4th Edition of Invitation to Psychology, by Wade and Tavris.

Exams: There will be three exams, worth 100 points each.  The material covered in the exams will be drawn from your textbook and class lectures.  Exam questions will be multiple choice and short-answer in format. Each exam consists of thirty-five multiple choice questions and two essay questions.  The multiple choice questions represent seventy percent of the grade on each exam, and the essay component represents thirty percent of the grade on each exam.  Each student is required to bring both a new 8.5 inch by 7 inch blue book and a SCANTRON Form No. 882-E to each of the three exams.

Make-up exams: If you are planning to miss an exam, you have three days to complete a make-up essay exam.  Make-up exams will be essay or short answer in format.  Note that this does not apply to the final Exam 3.  Please note that you must attend class on the date of the final Exam 3.  You must obtain approval from the instructor to take a make-up exam.  Note: Any student who does no notify the instructor prior to missing an exam may not be eligible to take a make-up exam.

GROUP PROJECT:

Each student will have to opportunity to participate in a group project that will allow each student within the group to earn a maximum of 100 points.  Each student should be aware that participation in this group project is a course requirement that can substantially influence his or her grade in a positive way.  The students who engage in the group project may utilize time in-class and outside of class to complete this project. Groups will consist of approximately five individual students.  After these groups have been formed, each group will be assigned a psychological perspective.  Examples of such perspectives include the Psychodynamic and the Behavioral perspective.

The assigned perspective will provide a basis for the assignment. A description of the subject matter to be investigated by means of this assignment will be distributed to the class early in the semester.  Groups of students will investigate the theoretical and practical aspects of their assigned perspectives, and they will be required to create a demonstration for the class regarding their perspective.  Students within the groups should be aware that the demonstration of their perspective should educate other students about their perspective.  Because learning proceeds from auditory, visual and experiential demonstrations of knowledge, groups of students will be required to use all three of these components within their demonstrations. 

Please note the following:

•	Dates of group presentations will be determined during class time to meet the demands of other class work.  

•	“Social loafing” is a topic that students will learn about in this class.  Social loafing of 	students in terms of this group project will not be tolerated!

Participation: The instructor will award points for participation on an irregular basis throughout the semester by assigning in-class (individual or group) work that may be collected on the day it is assigned. Being in the classroom at the time this work is assigned is a prerequisite for receipt of these points, based on these assignments.  Assignments may be distributed at the beginning, the middle or the end of class.  Regarding  these assignments, you may be allotted a specific amount of time for completion.  This means that students who are absent or tardy may not receive all or any of the points for missed in-class participation.  Please be aware that there may be no opportunities to make-up missed assignments required by in-class participation if you are not in attendance at class on the day(s) that such assignments are distributed or assigned.  Participation points will allow students to earn extra credit points toward their overall grades.

Grading: Grading is based upon the three exams, each of which is worth up to 100 points.  The final grade will also be based upon the group project, which will be worth up to 100 points.  The amount of points received in terms of extra credit participation points will be figured into your total grade.  The amount of extra credit points that each student can achieve will be determined as the semester progresses, as these scores are dependent on the number of participation exercises that are utilized in class throughout the course of the semester, as time permits.

You may earn as many as 400 points in totality.  However, the extra credit participation points may allow you to earn more that the amount of points that will allow you to achieve a high score.  Thus, it is possible to earn more points than is required for an A grade.  Because this is rarely the case, you are strongly encouraged to attend class, as being in class is a prerequisite for earning these extra credit points.

Letter grades are assigned as follows:

A 	(89.9%) =		360--400 points
B 	(79.9%) = 		320--359 points
C 	(69.9%) = 		280--319 points
D 	(59.9%) = 		240-- 279 points
F        <(less than 59.9 %)=  <240 points

Cheating and Plagiarism: You are expected to be honest in terms of presentation of your academic work.  Any incidents of cheating or plagiarism may result in various sanctions and penalties, ranging from obtainment of a failing grade on a particular assignment to obtainment of a failing grade for the entire course. The determination of the sanction or penalty in question is at the discretion of the instructor, depending on the severity and the frequency of such incidents.  

Note that plagiarism is a type of cheating wherein there is misrepresentation of someone else’s work as your own.  Copying information verbatim (word-for-word) from another source in a research paper is considered to be plagiarism.  When you write a paper or complete an assignment, you should either paraphrase or quote materials that are utilized and give appropriate credit to the true author within the body of your work and in the Reference Section.  Plagiarism is easily avoided; do not jeopardize your grade by means of cheating and plagiarism.

If you are having trouble in the class:  If at any time you find that you are having trouble succeeding in this course---whether you are enduring a change in life circumstances or because you do not understand the material---please see the instructor.  There are a variety of services available to assist Fresno City College students.

Suggestions for success: Psychology is a field of study that can be both interesting and fun.  If you follow these suggestions, you will be up-to-date in terms of progress in the class, you will have better success in terms of exams, and you will find the class to be much more enjoyable.

!	Always read the assigned chapter(s) prior to the lecture.  Students who fail to do so are often lost during lectures and tend to “tune out” during class time.  This may result in inadequate learning, poor examination scores, and lower grades.

!	Schedule your study time.  Students who succeed in college learn to structure their time, and they recognize that study time is as important as class time.  Be sure to regularly schedule time for studying.  A good rule of thumb is to study two hours for each hour of lecture.  

!	Consider creating study groups with other students.  One of the best ways to learn involves learning from others.

!	Know when you need assistance and seek it out.  All of us have strengths and weaknesses.  It is wise to get help when you are having difficulties.  Be sure to see your counselor or the instructor if you are struggling in this class.

If you have a verified need for an accommodation or materials in alternate media, (i.e. Braille, large print, electronic tests, etc) per the Americans With Disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, please contact your instructor as soon as possible.