General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243)
Chavez, Spring 2015
Professor George F. Chavez
2115 McCormick Center
Psychology Department
McCormick Center for Human Services
Bloomsburg University
400 East Second Street
Bloomsburg, PA 17815-1301
Office: (570) 389-4957
Email: [email protected]
www.georgefchavez.com/courses_genpsych.html
Office Hours: Mon | Wed | Fri 1:00pm-3:00pm
Class Room and Hours:
2303 McCormick Center
Mon | Wed | Fri 10:00am-10:50am
Final Exam:
5/7/2015, 10:15am-12:15pm
If you have little knowledge of what psychology is, it's likely that the first image that pops into your head is of an old, white-bearded
man, suspiciously peering at you through thick glasses, grimacing through a wooden pipe. You might be surprised to learn that the
world of psychology is both vast and largely unexplored. This course will introduce you to the many areas within psychology, the
various discoveries psychologists have so far made, and future possibilities for growth. You may find that the understanding of
psychology as the scientific study of behavior and experience is much easier to relate to than a bearded man in an armchair.
Course Goals:
 Knowledge of basic vocabulary and terminology employed by psychologists
 Understanding of both the major areas of study and the perspectives within the discipline of psychology
 Familiarity with how psychologists apply the scientific method and the key principles of psychological science
 Application of basic psychological concepts to everyday circumstances
Required Text (use the current edition specified) & Site (in addition to BOLT: http://bolt.bloomu.edu)
 Text: King, L. A. (2013). Experience Psychology (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
 Site: http://connect.mheducation.com/class/genpsych_chavez_spring2015
Classroom Rules
 You may use laptops, but only for taking notes or looking up relevant class materials.
 Anything that Professor Chavez deems disruptive is grounds for immediate dismissal from class.
Additional policies
Email: I will respond to emails sent to me as quickly as possible. However, I generally will not respond to emails between Friday
4:00pm and Monday 8:00am (the weekend). I may still send you emails for important notices during the weekend.
Personal Responsibility: As adults attending courses at the university level, you are responsible for knowing and following
university and course policies and regulations. You are expected to read this syllabus in full.
1
Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being
paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez.
Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT.
General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243)
Chavez, Spring 2015
Grading (All grades will be posted to BOLT)
50%
Exams 1 – 5
20%
Final Exam
(Each worth 10%)
15%
Online challenges
(Each worth 1%)
15%
Attendance
(Each call worth 7.5%)
Exams: Five non-final exams will be given throughout the semester. Each exam is 30 multiple choice questions. These
exams are not cumulative.
Final Exam: The final exam is 20% of your final grade. It is composed of 60 multiple choice questions. Part of the exam
will cover material from the last few chapters, and part of the exam will be cumulative/comprehensive.
Online Challenges: You will find these challenges on the CONNECT (textbook) website. There are 15 online challenges
that are each composed of 20 multiple choice questions. Some challenges are cumulative. I will let you know when
a challenge is cumulative. All challenges are due by 5:00pm, the day of the due date. I will not accept any late challenges.
There are no excuses for not completing these challenges before the due date.
Attendance: I will randomly call 10-20 names at the start of class. Throughout the course, I will call every student’s
name two times. This means that if you want to be SURE that you will get full attendance, you will attend ALL classes.
LearnSmart: You can access LearnSmart modules through the CONNECT website. Your
performance on these exercises is NOT graded. However, you will find that doing these
exercises can greatly improve your performance on the exam. Doing the LearnSmart exercises
is a great way to prepare for graded assessments (e.g. Challenges & Exams).
Course Grades
100 – 92%
91 – 90%
A
A-
89 – 88%
87 – 82%
81 – 80%
B+
B
B-
79 – 78%
77 – 72%
71 – 70%
C+
C
C-
69 – 68%
67 – 60%
D+
D
59 – 0%
F
Conventional rounding procedures from hundredths to non-decimal whole numbers are used when calculating grades. A
student with a 91.50% may round their percentage to a 92% (A), but a student with a 91.40% must round to a 91% (A-).
Furthermore, a student with 91.45% may round to a 92% (A), but a student with a 91.44% must round to a 91% (A-).
Professor Chavez will not be swayed by attempts from students to argue out of this rule. Grades will be posted on
BOLT.
2
Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being
paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez.
Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT.
General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243)
Chavez, Spring 2015
Grading Issues
Missing grades or errors: If you have taken an exam and your grade is not posted to BOLT, contact Professor Chavez
within the week. Failure to do so within one week may result in a 0 (zero) for the exam.
Excused absences from exams: Only the following conditions will excuse an absence during an exam day:
Severe personal illness accompanied by a doctor’s note, NOT a note from the health center.
Death of a family member accompanied by official documentation.
Official BU activity accompanied by note from advisor/coach/etc.
Official military activity accompanied by note from superior officer.
Pro-rated exam for excused absences: Grades for missed non-final exams will be replaced by your final exam grade
if you have an excused absence (see above). It is NOT a good idea to miss an exam, since some students find the final
exam MORE difficult than other exams.
Performance Issues
Accommodations: Any students eligible for classroom accommodations are invited to meet with Professor Chavez to
discuss their concerns and to present their disclosure forms from the Office of Accommodative Services.
Our University provides reasonable accommodations to students who have documented disabilities. If you have a
documented disability that requires academic accommodations and are not registered with the Accommodative Services
Office, please contact the Accommodative Services Office in the Warren Student Services Center, Room 043 as soon as
possible to establish your eligibility.
Tutoring and Support: If you feel you need extra help to improve your academic performance in this or any of your
courses, please consider requesting a tutor in University Tutorial Services (UTS). UTS offers peer tutoring at no charge to
Bloomsburg University students. The UTS office is located in Warren Student Services Center, Room 13.
Questions about grades: If you wish to discuss your grade or performance in the course, please set up a time to meet
with me before the last two weeks of class. After that point it is very unlikely that you can do anything to address your
grade.
Cheating: I will not tolerate cheating in any form. This includes copying of answers and discussing exams with students
who have not yet taken the exam. At minimum, if you are found cheating, you will receive a zero on the relevant
exam/assignment. Here is the University’s official policy on cheating: http://www.bloomu.edu/policies_procedures/3512
Disruptive Behavior: I consider any behavior that interferes with normal academic functioning as disruptive. This
includes:






Verbal, physical, or psychological threats, harassment, and violence.
Refusal to comply with my directions
Repeatedly arriving late or leaving early
Talking or speaking out of turn
Distracting use of electronic devices (e.g. phones, laptops, etc.)
Activities that are not relevant to the class (e.g. reading the newspaper)
If your behavior is disruptive, you will receive only one warning before I direct you to leave for the day. This will result in
you losing attendance points.
Important Note on Lectures & The Text
Attending lecture is NOT a replacement for reading the textbook. If you decide to attend the lectures, but never read the
text, then it is very unlikely that you will do well on either the exams or challenges. During class, I will NOT cover all of
the material in the book. Therefore, exam questions may address topics that were in the book but not in the lecture.
3
Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being
paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez.
Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT.
General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243)
Chavez, Spring 2015
Spring 2015 Schedule for
General Psychology
Week 1
Date
1/21
1/23
Topics




Introduction to Psychology
BOLT
Connect
A brief history
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Challenge 1 Due
Week 2
Date
1/26
1/28
1/30
Topic
 The scientific method
 How research gets done
 The nervous system & neurons:
How do you feel? How do you
do?
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Challenge 2 Due
Week 3
Date
2/2
2/4
2/6
Topic
 Brain structures
 The human “code”
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Challenge 3 Due
Exam 1
Week 4
Date
2/9
2/11
2/13
Topic
 Sensation & Perception
 Vision: From light to sight
 Hearing: Good vibrations
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Challenge 4 Due
Week 5
Date
2/16
2/18
2/20
Topic
 Memory encoding and storage:
Getting it “down”

 Memory retrieval: Bringing it
“up”
 How to remember (how not to
forget)
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Challenge 5 Due
4
Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being
paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez.
Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT.
General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243)
Chavez, Spring 2015
Week 6
Date
2/23
2/25
Topic
 Conditioning: Learning by
association?
 Cognition and culture in learning
2/27
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Challenge 6 Due
Exam 2
Week 7
Date
3/2
3/4
3/6
Topic
 Cognition
 Thinking and intelligence
 Physical development
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Challenge 7 Due
Week 8
Date
3/9
3/11
3/13
Topic
 Spring Break, y’all
 Spring Break, y’all
 Spring Break, y’all
Reading & Assignments
Note that Challenge 8 is due on Monday, 3/16
Week 9
Date
3/16
3/18
Topic
 Cognitive development
 Emotional and gender
development
3/20
Reading and Assignments
Challenge 8 Due
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Challenge 9 Due
Exam 3
Week 10
Date
3/23
3/25
3/27
Topic





Motive: Why you do what you do
Biological factors in motivation
Maslow’s hierarchy
Emotion and motivation
The biopsychosocial model
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Chapter 14
Challenge 10 Due
Week 11
Date
3/30
4/1
4/3
Topic
 Adjustment and change
 Stress and coping
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Challenge 11 Due
Exam 4
5
Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being
paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez.
Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT.
General Psychology, 101-02 (#1243)
Chavez, Spring 2015
Week 12
Date
4/6
4/8
4/10
Topic
 Freud and the mind
 Humanism and the person
 The trait perspective: You. . . in
five words
 Social cognition and
interactionism in personality
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Challenge 12 Due
Week 13
Date
4/13
4/15
4/17
Topic
 What your genes say about you
 Social cognition in social
psychology
 Why we help and why we harm
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Challenge 13 Due
Week 14
Date
4/20
4/22
Topic
 Group conflict
 Close personal relationships
4/24
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Challenge 14 Due
Exam 5
Week 15
Date
4/27
4/29
5/1
5/7
Topic
 Introduction to abnormal
behavior
 What is a disorder?
 Stigma
 Biological therapy and
psychotherapy
Reading & Assignments
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Challenge 15 Due
Final Exam on Thursday, May 7th, 2015
10:15am-12:15pm
6
Copyright 2015 (George F. Chavez) as to this syllabus and all lectures. During this course students are prohibited from selling notes to or being
paid for taking notes by any person or commercial firm without the express written permission of Professor Chavez.
Information in this syllabus is subject to change at Professor Chavez’s discretion. Students are advised to check for updates on BOLT.