James W Pennebaker

This is an online class jointly taught by Professors Sam Gosling and Jamie Pennebaker.  The course is broadcast live and requires students to "attend" each class session.  The final grade is based solely on daily benchmark quizzes and four writing assignments.  No textbook -- all readings will be free and from online sources.  This is a challenging and fun class that encourages students to work together in order to learn about psychology and about themselves.

Seminars in Social and Personality Psychology. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Introductory Psychology is designed to give students a broad overview of the theory, methods, and findings of modern-day psychology.  This is a computer-intensive course whereby students will be required to bring a laptop or other wifi-enabled device to every class.  In addition to daily benchmark quizzes, students will be expected to discuss class topics, take surveys, and participate in exercises on their computers.  Although there is no textbook, online reading assignments will be assigned for each class.  Grades will be based on the daily benchmarks and four writing assignments.

Seminars in Social and Personality Psychology. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Daily benchmarks and grading. Although psychology is fun and exciting, don't expect it to be an easy course. Having taught this class dozens of times, we expect you to immerse yourself into the readings and lectures. This is an idea class as opposed to a simple fact class. We are more concerned with the ideas and implications of what Freud or Skinner thought than with their birthdays or favorite colors. All of the assessments will stress psychological concepts and their relationships to other concepts and to practical examples.

Rather than thinking of grading as a result of exams, tests, or quizzes, we think of this class as an opportunity to learn to ideas and perspectives. Instead of exams, we call them assessments or benchmarks. The benchmarks reflect student progress over the course of the semester. Although the lectures and readings are the same for both classes, the Pennebaker and Gosling sections will have separate benchmark assessments. If you are signed up for the 2:00 class, you can only take the 2:00 exam; ditto for the 3:30 class. The two sections will have somewhat different benchmark questions and may emphasize slightly different issues. Because any given lecture may be somewhat different in one class versus the other, be sure and attend the class you signed up for.

There will typically be an online benchmark at the beginning of every class. The benchmark assessments will generally include 8 questions – roughly half from lecture and half from the reading. Of the 8 questions, 5 or 6 will come from the previous lecture and most recent readings. The remaining 2-3 questions will be cumulative from previous parts of the course. In addition, at least one question will be specially selected from questions you have missed on your previous exams. Counting the first day of class, there are 28 lectures. The second lecture will be the first benchmark but it won’t count in order to give everyone the opportunity to learn how the system works. The remaining 26 classes will all have benchmarks that will count towards your final grade.

The final grade is based on your benchmark scores and the completion of the writing requirement. Each benchmark is worth 3.6% of your final grade. Your three lowest assessments are worth only 1%. The benchmark assessments are given at the same time at the beginning of class. If you are sick or have an emergency of some kind, you can take the benchmark remotely as long as you take it at the appointed time. If that doesn’t work, you can simply count up to three assessments that you miss as one of the lowest grades worth only 1% each. Because of this policy, there will be no makeup exams except under extremely unusual circumstances. Note that you are restricted to taking only five benchmark assessments remotely. If more than five are done remotely, you will be required to take supplementary exams during the final exam period on the supplemental assessments.

Seminars in Social and Personality Psychology. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.

Prerequisites

A passing score on the reading section of the TASP test.

Course Description

The purpose of this class is to explore the many ways in which psychology illuminates our understanding of thinking and behavior and to examine critically theories and explanations of psychological phenomena.

Topics will include: the brain and its hemispheres, stress and lie detection, sleep, dreaming, and consciousness, cognitive and moral development, Freud and personality, schizophrenia and depression, and social psychology across cultures.

Course Requirements

Five multiple-choice exams will test your understanding of the material. In-class exercises and the departmental research requirement (subject pool) will provide you with a close-up view of research methods. In addition to the class work, all Psychology 301 students must complete a research requirement by either participating in experimental sessions within the Psychology Dept. or by writing a research paper(the topic must be approved by the TA).

Grading Policy

The five tests. Your final grade in the course is based on your performance on the five exams -- and your turning in your writing assignments. There is no final exam in the course. The computation of your final grade is based on the following:

Lowest of your five tests = 0% Other 4 exams @22.5% each = 90%

Writing assignments. Five writing assignments are due over the course of the semester. You will be graded simply on whether or not you turn them in. Each writing assignment is worth 2%, all 5 count for 10%.

There is no extra credit for this course.

Tests are non-cumulative. The format of the test will be multiple-choice questions. You will be tested on the content of the textbook and lectures (including demonstrations and videos). Everyone is expected to take tests at the regularly scheduled time. The best 4 out of 5 exam grades will be used to determine the course grade. You can drop any of the exams for any reason BUT YOU MUST PASS THE LAST EXAM. If you do not pass the final exam, your score on that exam will count as one of your 4 grades. If you do pass the final exam, then the best 4 grades will used (irrespective of your score on the final exam).

Texts

Experience Psychology with Connect Plus Psychology Access Card, 1st Edition.  Laura A. King, University of Missouri---ISBN-13 9780077406578

Seminars in Social and Personality Psychology. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor.