Professor B. Smith General Psychology 001-4 Fall, 2010

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Professor B. Smith General Psychology 001-4 Fall, 2010

MWF 11:30 AM to 12:35 PM, MG 3

Office: Winter Hall, W334 Email:

Phone: 565-6113 Web site: http://homepage.westmont.edu/bsmith

Office hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 1:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. (You can check my office hours for a given week and make an appointment at http://www.westmont.edu/_academics/pages/advising/ if you want to make sure to get in at specific time)

OR by appointment at another agreed-upon time.

Goals of Course: There are particular goals for this course that happen to overlap somewhat with goals that the College has (the standards of excellence and their corresponding learning outcomes). The College goals are broader and have been determined to be important to the education of all students. These standards are Christian orientation, diversity, critical-interdisciplinary thinking, written & oral communication, active societal & intellectual engagement, and research & technology. The particular goals of this course, along with the institutional standards, are listed below.

At the completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. understand the major theoretical perspectives and methods of psychology as well as why psychology is considered a life science (critical-interdisciplinary thinking),

2. identify a number of content areas of the discipline,

3. evaluate theoretical conclusions analytically (critical-interdisciplinary thinking),

4. apply psychological principles in their everyday lives (active societal & intellectual engagement),

5. understand the genre of scientific writing to the extent that they can comprehend psychological journal articles (research & technology),

6. find and select appropriate journal articles, using electronic data bases, that will serve as the foundation for writing assignments in the course (research & technology),

7. use the text, class discussion, and reflection to begin their integration of psychological, scientific, and scriptural truths (Christian orientation; active societal & intellectual engagement), and

8. demonstrate improvement in using APA formatting and editorial styles when summarizing the journal articles that referred to in goals #5 and 6, clearly and cogently, without plagiarizing (written & oral communication; research & technology; Christian orientation).

GE Requirements Satisfied: This course meets the requirements for Common Inquiries: Exploring the Life Sciences.

Required Texts:

Gazzaniga, M. S., Halpern, D. F., & Heatherton, T. F. (2010). Psychological Science (3rd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton.

Myers, D. G., & Jeeves, M. A. (2003). Psychology through the eyes of faith (rev.). New York: HarperCollins.

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. (Make sure that you get the 2nd printing.)

Recommended Resources:

Resources for Current Students in Psychology (click on the relevant links at):

http://www.westmont.edu/_academics/departments/psychology/

Resources for PSY 001 Students:

http://www.westmont.edu/_academics/departments/psychology/psy001.html

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Course Requirements:

Readings & Lectures.

Prepare to write and think about the new material before coming to class.

·  Read the appropriate sections of your chapters (in small chunks).

Ø  Read the information for what you don't know.

Ø  Rather than highlight, jot notes and questions to yourself in the margins or in a separate section of your notebook.

·  Review the previous class' lecture before you come to class to help yourself learn the material and prepared for that day’s lecture.

Attend class as another chance to write and think about the new material.

·  Take notes on the material presented to remind yourself of the information in the lecture.

Ø  Put ideas into your own words.

Ø  Organize the lecture information by topic, using a spatial or color arrangement in your notebook.

·  If you don't find answers to the questions you had while reading, ask these questions in or after class.

Formal Writing Assignments.

The purposes of these assignments include:

1) learning how to write using a particular formatting style, in this case, APA formatting style;

2) learning how to write in a particular scientific style, using APA editorial style;

3) learning how to summarize information from a variety of sources without plagiarizing or quoting;

4) introducing you to strategies for searching electronic data bases;

5) allowing more in-depth investigation of a topic in which you are interested; and

6) providing opportunities to practice reading and comprehending the psychological literature.

Each of the following writing assignments is worth 25 points and must be

·  Typed using APA formatting and editorial styles

Ø  Appropriate pagination, page headers, and margins

Ø  Organize the paper as if you were reporting an experiment

Ø  Use proper headings for the sections of the paper

Ø  Cite the source(s) properly that you used, distinguishing between paraphrases and quotes

Ø  Use formal, grammatical English concisely

Ø  Use formal, concise, precise writing style (scientific) rather than a creative writing style

·  Submitted electronically before class on the day it is due, using

Ø  MSWord (the word processing standard at Westmont) or .rtf format (you can convert to this using Save As. . . in your word processor)

Ø  and your email program to send your paper as an attachment

Ø  Name this file using the following format: YOURLASTNAME#.doc or YOURLASTNAME#.rtf, where # is the number of the paper

·  Submitted in a printed version. This copy

Ø  should NOT include cover sheets or ending sheets

Ø  should NOT be put in a folder, paper protector, or report cover

Ø  must be paper clipped or stapled together

·  Accompanied by an electronic pdf of the article on which the paper is based

Grades for all of these assignments are based on accuracy and clarity of communication, comprehension of the source, as well as grammar, word usage, spelling, appropriate voicing, and use of APA formatting and editorial styles. Each class period that the paper is late, 3 points will be deducted. Due dates are listed on the syllabus.

Writing Assignment #1: Summary of an APA Style Manuscript. The goal of this assignment is to learn the basic organization of, and the formatting and editorial styles used in, writing reports of empirical research in psychology. If you do a good job on this paper, it will make an excellent template for any APA-style writing you will do in the future—whether in this course or others.

To prepare for this assignment:

·  Skim and read pp. 9-11, 21-39 in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition), as needed. Some suggested reading deadlines are printed [in brackets] on the reading schedule.

·  Take notes on the relevant information, indicating clearly the source and whether the information is quoted.

·  Review the sample papers (pp. 40-60).

·  You will also find parts of Chapters 3, 4, 6 and 7 (typing instructions on pp. 228-231) of the Manual helpful as a reference.

·  Find an empirical research study that has 3 or more authors:

Ø  Record all citation information

Ø  Take notes on an interesting idea or fact that you will summarize in your paper

Successful completion of this assignment includes:

·  A comprehensive summary of pp. 9-11, 21-39 of the APA Publication Manual (6th edition)

·  Paraphrasing the information and acknowledging the source so you don’t plagiarize

·  Formatting and organization that complies with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition) guidelines and will include:

Ø  a title page (use your name and Westmont College [for the author and affiliation, respectively]; make up a title to suit your fancy)

Ø  an abstract

Ø  a reference section

Ø  an author note

Ø  a body with appropriate text citations and headings for major sections and subsections

·  Each section and subsection of the body of the paper will contain a brief description of the kinds of information that would go into that section and the writing style that should be used.

·  Citations of three sources, using APA format:

Ø  your textbook (once)--summarizing an interesting fact or concept

Ø  the Manual--multiple times in every section of your paper, as appropriate

Ø  and the research study in psychology with 3+ authors in both the Introduction and again in the Discussion section

Writing Assignments #2 and #3: Extended Abstracts. For these 2 papers, you will practice applying the knowledge that you've gained writing the first summary paper, above, as well as reading and comprehending research studies written in APA style.

To prepare for these assignments:

·  Choose a single topic or issue in psychology that is of interest to you

·  Then find a recent psychological, empirical journal article on this topic using PsycINFO

·  Read the article and take notes on the relevant information, clearly indicating when you are paraphrasing and when you are quoting

Successful completion of these assignments includes:

·  Using your notes to write a comprehensive summary of the article you read

·  Paraphrasing the information without plagiarizing

·  Formatting and organizing your work with the APA Publication Manual (6th edition) guidelines so it includes:

Ø  a title page

Ø  a reference section

Ø  an author note

Ø  a body with headings for major sections and subsections

·  Appropriate text citations of the source when paraphrasing or quoting so it is clear throughout every paragraph that the information comes from your article. (But a single citation at the end of the paragraph isn't good enough; that's MLA, not APA, style.)

·  References are identified properly in your reference section, using the DOI.

·  Concise, clear, precise writing using APA editorial style

Assignments, Demonstrations, Activities, and Discussions. Over the course of the semester, we will discuss various issues, in small groups or as a class. You may then be asked to write and turn in written reflections or conclusions regarding that issue. There will also be activities, both in and out of class, and demonstrations in which you will have a chance to participate and observe. Participation in, and completion of any written work associated with, these opportunities is worth 5 to 20 points each. These opportunities will be announced as they occur and cannot be made up if they occur during class time.

Participation in Research Studies. In order to gain experience with research terms, designs, methods, and tasks, you are required to participate in up to 3 studies that are pre-approved by the psychology department. The actual number will be determined later in the semester, based on the number of studies available. Although there is no point value associated with this requirement, it must be completed in order to earn a passing grade in the course.

Check the experiments that are available by clicking on the link “Research Study Sign Up for PSY 001 Students” at the web page: http://www.westmont.edu/_academics/departments/psychology/subjectpool.html

Tests. Finally, there will be 4 multiple choice tests of approximately 75 questions (worth 1 point each), which will cover

·  information from the text and from class time (lectures, videos, demonstrations, activities)

·  the main ideas of Myers and Jeeves

·  plagiarism (in increasing detail), and paraphrasing and quoting properly

·  APA editorial and formatting styles (in increasing detail)

·  and the research studies that you participated in.

The fourth exam will be given during exam week, but will not be comprehensive. There will be no makeups for any exam except in the case of medical emergencies. Please make sure your travel before and after holidays does not interfere with assignments or exams because they cannot be completed other than at the scheduled time.

Note Bene: It is expected that you will complete every portion of assignments, tests, and papers on your own, unless it is stated explicitly that that particular task is a group project. Students who are involved in "working together," who receive "help" from other sources when it is not appropriate, or who plagiarize or allow others to plagiarize from their work, can earn penalties that range from an F on the assignment to an F in the course, at the instructor's discretion. Additional penalties may include suspension or expulsion from the college.

Plagiarism. To plagiarize is to present someone else's work—his or her words, line of thought, or organizational structure—as your own. This occurs when sources are not cited properly, or when permission is not obtained from the original author to use his or her work. Another person's "work" can take many forms: printed or electronic copies of computer programs, musical compositions, drawings, paintings, oral presentations, papers, essays, articles or chapters, statistical data, tables or figures, etc. In short, if any information that can be considered the intellectual property of another is used without acknowledging the original source properly, this is plagiarism.

Please familiarize yourself with the entire Westmont College Plagiarism Policy that is available at: http://www.westmont.edu/_offices/provost/plagiarism/plagiarism_policy.html

This document defines different levels of plagiarism and the penalties for each. It also contains very helpful information on strategies for avoiding plagiarism. It cannot be overemphasized that plagiarism is an insidious and disruptive form of academic dishonesty. It violates relationships with known classmates and professors, and it violates the legal rights of people you may never meet.

In this course, first and second instances of minimal plagiarism will result in Fs on the assignments until they are redone satisfactorily. The maximum grade on the first rewritten assignment is one letter grade lower (e.g., B  C) than it otherwise would have earned. The maximum grade on the second rewritten assignment is two letter grades lower (e.g., B  D) than it otherwise would have been. The third instance of minimal plagiarism will be considered substantial plagiarism and the consequences as described in the Westmont College Plagiarism Policy will be applied.

In all cases of plagiarism, a report will be submitted to the Provost's Office documenting the incident.

Point Breakdown for Assignments and Tests and Grading Scale.

For now, a straight scale will be used to calculate grades. This may change later in the semester, however. Straight scale percentages and points are as follows (note that an A is considered 95% or better):

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