COURSE DESCRIPTION

The basic psychological concepts underlying human and animal behavior in such areas as learning, motivation, perception, growth and development, personality, and social behavior.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Define the term psychology and demonstrate command of basic vocabulary in psychology.

2. Recognized the difference between the science of psychology and pseudoscience, differentiating between anecdotes and information obtained using the scientific method.

3. Differentiate between applied and experimental psychology in relation to different types of psychologists and what they do.

4. Distinguish among the major theoretical perspectives in psychology (behavioral, psychoanalytic, cognitive, physiological, and sociocultural).

5. Identify or describe how psychological data are gathered and evaluated, and where bias may enter the research scheme.

6. Explain how psychological theories are used to describe, understand, predict, and control or modify behavior.

7. Recognize misuses and unethical applications of psychological principles.

8. Evaluate sources of information in psychology using traditional and electronic databases.
 

Lecture Topic	Text Reading Assignment
What is Psychology	Chapter 1
Biological	Chapter 3
Sensation and Perception	Chapter 5
States of Consciousness	Chapter 6
Learning	Chapter 7
Memory	Chapter 8
Motivation and emotion	Chapter 11
Stress, Coping and Health	Chapter 15
Language	Chapter 9
Human Development	Chapter 4
Personality	Chapter 12
Social Psychology	Chapter 16
Psychological Disorders	Chapter 13
	Final Exam

 

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Cheating of any sort will not be tolerated.  Any student who is caught cheating will receive a zero on that assignment of exam.  Cheating includes, but is not limited to:
· Looking at another student's paper during an exam
· Using any notes/electronic devices not approved by me during an exam
· Talking to another student about test material during an exam
· Plagiarism - Using someone else's words or ideas, and presenting them as your own

OUTSIDE ASSIGNMENT
Complete the chapter questions for each chapter in the casebook. This will assist you on the exams.

TURN IN THE COMPLETED CRITICAL THINKING EXERCISES FROM ANY THREE CHAPTERS IN THE CASE BOOK AT THE FINAL.  GRADED PASS/FAIL.

ATTENDANCE
If you miss more than 6 hours of lecture you can be dropped from the class. If you are tardy it is your responsibility to see the instructor about the roll sheet.

WEB PAGE
You can access my lecture outline on the web. Go to your internet service provider, click on file, open, and type http://saddleback.edu/faculty/bferguson/psych
Click on psychology 1, and then on power point presentation. Book mark this URL.