Introduction to Psychology Craig Chalquist, MS PhD

PSY 250.5– 3 units Sonoma State Psychology Dept.

FallSemester 707-540-5359

Mon.-Wed. 10:45-12 (Stevenson 1002)

Course Overview

Everything you will ever experience comes to you through the filter of your mind. Psychology is the study of how this filter works—and how it doesn’t. From the lowliest aspirations to the President’s Freudian slips, every bit of human behavior everywhere brings with it a piece of activated psyche. Fascination with human psychology is as old as our species, but the science of psychology is relatively recent. It has also become quite complex. Some would say it IS a complex.

Course Objectives

  • To gain an overview of the field(s) of psychology: its history, branchings, brain science, forms of research, goals, aims, and interests (e.g., psychotherapy).
  • To learn about what psychologists do and how they do it.
  • To discuss current views of what constitutes mental illness and psychological health.
  • To understand the key differences between quantitative and qualitative research.
  • To apply psychological knowledge to other realms—film, culture, contemporary events.

Required Reading

Griggs, R. (2005). Psychology: a concise introduction. Worth Publishers.

Grading

  • Class participation (all activities): 25%.
  • Pop quiz: 25%.
  • Midterm quiz: 25%. We will discuss the quiz in the class just before you take it.
  • Final quiz: 25%.

Class exercises and activities to be announced in class.

Office Hours

Call or email for an appointment.

General Information about Psychology Department:

If you are a psychology major, it is a good idea to check the Psychology Department’s web site periodically for relevant information regarding advising, graduation requirements, Psi Chi events and activities, etc. (

Classroom Culture

For the benefit of ALL the members in this class, please turn your beepers and cell phones off during class, refrain from smoking within 20 feet of the building (a campus policy) and limit talking to class-related topics during class discussion. The acoustics in this room are uneven, and it can be very difficult to hear lecture and discussion if there are private conversations going on.

Class Schedule

Week 1 (8/23)

No reading due.

Week 2 (8/28, 30)

Reading due: Chapter 1.

Week 3 (9/4, 6)

School closed Monday, 9/4.

Chapter 2: “The Neuron” and “The Nervous System and the Endocrine System.”

Week 4 (9/11, 13)

Chapter 2: “The Brain.”

Week 5 (9/18, 20)

Chapter 3: “How the Physical World Relates to the Psychological World” and “How We See and How We Hear.”

Week 6 (9/25, 27)

Chapter 3: “How We Make Sense of What We See.”

Week 7 (10/2, 4)

Chapter 4.

Week 8 (10/9, 11)

Chapter 5: “The Three-Stage Model of Memory” and “Encoding Information into Memory.”

Week 9 (10/16, 18)

Chapter 5, “Retrieving Information from Memory,” and Chapter 6, “Problem Solving.”

Week 10 (10/23, 25)

Chapter 6, “Thinking Under Uncertainty” and “Intelligent Thinking.”

Week 11 (10/30, 11/1)

Midterm quiz.

Week 12 (11/6, 8)

Chapter 7.

Week 13 (11/13, 15)

Chapter 8.

Week 14 (11/20)

Chapter 9, “How Others Influence Our Behavior.”

School closed 11/22.

Week 15 (11/27, 29)

Chapter 9, “How We Think About Our Own and Others’ Behavior.”

Week 16 (12/4, 6)

Chapter 10.

Week 17 (12/11, 13)

Final exam.

If you are a student with special learning needs and you think you may require accommodations, your first step is to register with the campus office of Disabled Student Services, Salazar 1049, phone 664-2677.DSS will provide you with written confirmation of your verified disability and authorize recommended accommodations. You then present this recommendation to the instructor, who will discuss the accommodations with you.