Syllabus - Courses in Psychology - UCLA

Psych 10: Introductory Psychology
UCLA 2012 Winter Section 2
Meeting Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00-9:50 am
Room: Moore, Room 100
Class Website: ccle.ucla.edu, log in with your Bruin ID and Password
Instructor:
Jennifer Shultz, Psy.D.
Email:
JenniferShultz@mednet.ucla.edu
Office hours:
Franz 2555, Thursdays, 12-2pm
Teaching Assistant: Xiaoyang Yang
Office Hours: Franz Hall 2549, Tues. 10-11am
yangxy@ucla.edu
Textbook: Psychology, Ninth Edition in Modules by David G. Myers
The textbook is the only reading required for this course. It is absolutely necessary that
you have access to a copy of it as soon as the course starts. It is available at the UCLA
store and also on 2-hour reserve at Powell Library.
Contacting Me
The quickest and best way to reach me is through e-mail. I encourage you to email me
with concise, specific questions about the material, and if it is during the day, I will
usually respond quickly. If you have many questions that will take awhile to discuss,
then please to come to my office hours.
Course Overview and Objectives
This course is designed to give you a primer on the field of psychology.
Psychological science is an extremely broad field that encompasses many diverse areas
of study, including (but not limited to) the examination of social behavior, development,
learning, behavior, memory, and mental health. We will discuss not only the factual
knowledge that the field has generated, but also how different types of psychologists
study different aspects of human behavior, ranging from neurons in the brain to how
groups and the surrounding environment affect individuals’ social behavior. In the
process, we will touch upon the importance of the scientific method as a tool for making
discoveries about human behavior.
After taking this course, you should be able to:
• Identify some of the prominent findings that have emerged out of the major
subfields of psychology.
• Understand the basic methods employed by psychology’s sub-disciplines.
• Intelligently evaluate research claims that you hear in the “real world”.
What I Need From You: I want to make sure you leave this course with a solid grasp
on the fundamental aspects of the major areas of psychology. But I do not want this to

e a mere passive exercise in memorization. I want you to engage with the information
on a deep level. This course will emphasize critical thinking skills and careful
consideration of material. I expect you to participate – ask questions, pose hypotheses,
criticize experimental data, etc.
Assignments and Grading - Summary
First Midterm Exam – 33.33%
Second Midterm Exam – 33.33%
Final Exam – 33.33%
Research Participation – 0%, but required to pass
Calculation of Final Grades
A+ 97%+
A 93-97%
A- 90-93%
B+ 87-90%
B 83-87%
B- 80-83%
C+ 77-80%
C 73-77%
C- 70-73%
D/F-range below 70%
_______________________________
Final grades will be curved such that 20% of students will receive an A- or better;
30% will receive a grade between B- and B+; 40% will receive a grade between Cand
C+; 10% will receive D+ and lower. Note too that I will not curve your grade
downwards – if half of you get 95% throughout the course, each of you will A’s.
Assignments and Grading – Details
I. Exams: 33.3% of final grade
Exams will not be cumulative. That is to say that the first midterm will cover material
presented in the first third of the course, the second midterm will cover material in the
second third of the course, and the final will cover material in the last third of the
course. All of the material covered since the previous exam is fair game, including the
readings that were assigned for the same day you are taking the exam. Exams will
consist of 50 multiple-choice questions. Be on time to class as exams will start promptly
at the beginning of class and I will not hand out exams to anyone after the first student
completes their exam. Makeup exams are offered if, and only if, there is a documented

emergency that prevents a student from attending the usual exam time. Any makeup
exam given will be in essay format.
Xiaoyang Yang will be available for review questions on the following dates before the
exam: 1/24, 2/21, 3/13. He will be able to answer questions or review material with
students between 11am-12pm in his office in Franz on those days.
II. Research Participation
You must also participate in research studies while enrolled. You must earn a total of 6
research credits (equivalent of 6 total hours) in order to pass this course. You may
choose which studies to participate in. Anyone who does not fulfill this requirement will
receive an incomplete for this class. You must register on the following website to
participate in research: http://ucla.sonasystems.com/. If you have problems with
registration, please contact subjectpool@psych.ucla.edu. All participation must be
completed before March 15th in order for you to receive credit. You must assign your
research credits to this course. The alternative is to complete a 2-3 page writing
assignments, one per unit. Please contact me at the beginning of the course for the
details of this assignment if you decide to opt out of the research requirement.
Course Policies
Attendance: Although attendance is not directly graded, all of the material mentioned
in class (including information presented in videos, in-class discussions, and formal
lecture) are material that can and likely will be on the exams. This should give you a
strong incentive to attend every class.
Readings: you are responsible for doing the assigned readings for each lecture before
the lecture. The material in these readings will be on the exams, and reading the
material prior to class will give you a context to better understand the lecture.
A note on academic dishonesty: All work you submit in this course must be your
own. If you are caught cheating, you will receive a zero on the assignment and be
reported to the Dean of Students. Don’t do this. Any instance of academic dishonesty
can have serious consequences and will be handled in accordance with UCLA guidelines,
which can be found here:
http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/dos/assets/documents/StudentGuide.pdf . Do you
know what plagiarism is or how it is defined? Many students do not, and as a result they
sometimes do not even know when they are plagiarizing. Thus, it is especially important
that you familiarize yourself with this concept.

Week
Day/Date Topic
1 T 01/10
Course Schedule
Course Introduction: History of
Psychology
R 01/12 History and Research Methods 3
Reading
Modules
2 T 01/17 Biological Psychology 4, 5, 6
R 01/19
Sensation and Perception
1, 2
17, 18, 19, 20, 21,
22
3 T 01/24 Learning and Behavior 23, 24, 25
R 01/26 Memory 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
4 T 01/31 First Midterm Exam
5 T 02/07
R 02/02 Emotions, Stress, and Health 40, 41, 42, 43
R 02/09
Developmental Psychology: Prenatal to
Childhood
Developmental Psychology: Adolescence
to Adulthood
13, 14
15,16
6 T 02/13 Personality Psychology 45, 46, 47
R 02/16 Social Psychology 56, 57, 58, 59
7 T 02/21 Evolutionary Psychology 11, 12
R 02/23
8 T 02/28
R 03/01
9 T 03/06
10 T 03/13
Second Midterm Exam
Clinical Psychology: Introduction to
Psychological Disorders, Anxiety
Disorders
Clinical Psychology: Dissociative,
Personality, Somatoform Disorders
Clinical Psychology: Mood Disorders and
Schizophrenia
48, 49
50
51, 52
R 03/08 Clinical Treatment: Therapies 53, 54
R 03/15
Treatment: Biomedical Therapies
Motivation and Work
FINAL EXAM
*complete research participation by this
day to pass the class*
55
36, 37, 38, 39