Psychology 135: - Courses in Psychology - UCLA

PsychologySummer Session A, Section 3 2008Instructor: Kenneth Leising, C. Phil.Office: Franz Tower 2567BOffice Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 3:30-4:30p.m.E-mail: kleising@ucla.eduLectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-3:05 in MS 5118Course DescriptionWelcome to Introductory Psychology. The goal of this course is to give you an overview of thediscipline of psychology. We will start with the humble roots of psychology as a single discipline andprogress to discuss its modern multifaceted appearance. Along the way we will discover what makespsychology a science, what aspects of existence are subject to the study of psychology, and howpsychological studies are relevant to media content encountered in daily life. The course is primarily alecture, but you will have ample opportunity to contribute to your learning experience through in-classactivities and discussions. The text will guide lectures, but material presented in lecture may coverstudies not included in the text as well content from popular culture (e.g., music and videos).Major Course Objectives• To make you more aware of the origins of your thoughts and actions.• In order to accomplish this level of awareness, we will breakdown most aspects of your existence –development, learning, personality, language, intelligence, emotion, motivation, stress, memory -and seek to understand the inner workings and theories behind what it is we are experiencing.• To understand how it is we go from a question, “Why could I not remember that stranger’s name?”to an experiment designed to answer that question using methods for research accepted by thescientific community.• To use your new knowledge of the science of psychology – hypothesis generation, design,evaluation - to be able to identify some of the critical questions we must ask when evaluatingresearch claims in the media and casual conversation.• To become familiar with psychological terminology and provide a wide and deep enoughintroduction so that you will be able to think about and engage in conversation with a friend, family1

member, or psychology professor about the most influential topics of the field.• To ignite a sense of curiosity that may lead you to become a psychologist in your own way, whetherin your personal or professional lives, or both.Learning Resources and Teaching MethodsWe will use many different learning resources to introduce you to Psychology and few methods forevaluating your understanding of the course content; (A) the textbook, (B) lectures, (C) in-class quizzesand exercises, (D) in-class group presentation, (E) office hours, (F) experimental participation and/orarticle summaries, (G) midterm, and (H) final exam. These are each outlined in more detail below.A. The Textbook: Lilienfeld, S.O., Lynn, S.J., Namy, L.L., Woolf, N.J. (2009). Psychology: FromInquiry to Understanding. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon Publishers.The textbook is required and can be purchased at the campus bookstore. A copy of the text is alsoavailable for 2-hour reserve at Powell Library.B. The Lectures: Lectures are intended to help clarify some of the particularly difficult topics coveredin the text. My lectures will also differ from the textbook somewhat. Sometimes we will look moreintensively at particular topics, resourcing the original research studies, updating certain topics withcutting edge research, and applying topics to real life events. We will also occasionally show videosand try demonstrations that are not described in your text. You are strongly encouraged to attend allclass meetings.I will provide PowerPoint outlines of my lectures with several key definitions and sections of contentmissing. The missing sections will be filled in and explained during lecture. I find this is a happymedium between instructors who provide nothing and cause students to write feverishly while trying topay attention, and those instructors who provide all the information in the PowerPoint and enablestudents to skip lecture because they think they have all the information they need.Assessment:Your final grade in this course will be determined by:In-Class Exercises: 5%Presentation: 10%5 In-Class Quizzes: 15%Midterm: 35%Final: 35%100%C. In-class exercises and quizzes: Five in-class exercises and five in-class quizzes are scheduled.Quizzes will occur at 1:02 (beginning of class). No one arriving late will be given extra time on aquiz - so don’t be late! Each quiz will consist of 5 questions presented in various formats: multiplechoice,short answer, matching, or a combination of the three. All quizzes will cover materialpresented in the textbook and lectures (including demonstrations, exercises, and videos) andassigned readings. In-class exercises will be graded either pass or fail.No make-up exercises or quizzes can be given. However, your final quiz/assign grade will be basedon your highest 4 scores from the quizzes and highest 4 scores from in-class assignments. Thatmeans your lowest quiz and in-class assignment scores will not count. If you miss a quiz orassignment you receive a score of zero for that quiz/assignment. Each quiz is worth 3.75% of yourfinal grade and each assignment is worth 1.25% of your final grade.D. Group Presentation: Presentations are scheduled for Tuesday, July 22 nd . Each group will berequired to give a 5-7 minute infomercial on a product of their choosing. Each member mustcontribute to the presentation. More information on the presentation will be given on the day of themidterm.2

E. Office Hours: Please visit during office hours!!! Office hours allow me to deliver personalizedanswers to difficult concepts covered in class. It is my sincere promise to do my best to make sureyou feel comfortable with a concept before you leave my office. My patience is never ending andmy door is always open (during office hours). If your schedule conflicts with my weekly officehours, meetings may be arranged by appointment. You can also contact me by e-mail.F. Experiment Participation and/or Article Summaries: Students enrolled in Psychology 10 arerequired to serve as psychological research subjects for a total of six hours or write three abstractsand articles from psychology journals, or do a combination of both. Please see the full descriptionat the end of this syllabus.G. One midterm exam is scheduled for Thursday, July 10 th , in our normal classroom and it will startat the beginning of class. The midterm exam will consist of 30 multiple-choice and 5 short answerquestions and will contribute 35% of your final grade.H. The final exam will be held on Thursday, July 31 st , 1:00 - 3:05 pm in our normal classroom(unless otherwise indicated in class). The final exam will also consist of 30 multiple choice and 5short answer. The final exam will cover only that material presented in the lectures and readingssince the midterm. It will contribute 35% of your final grade.Some important notes about the exams: All exams will cover material presented in lectures (includingdemonstrations and videos) and assigned readings. The material covered on each exam is listed on thesyllabus. On exam days, bring pencils and erasers. Exams will start on time and no one arriving late willbe allowed to start writing the exam after the first person has left the room - so don’t be late. Scantronanswer sheets will be provided. Scores will be posted on my.ucla.edu. Although answer sheets will notbe returned to you, you are encouraged to review them during office hours.Make-up exams will be permitted only in situations of illness or medical emergency.If such circumstances do exist, you will be required to notify me prior to the exam if at all possible. Youwill also be required to present appropriate documentation (e.g., physician’s verification). Students whomiss an exam without previously informing me and who cannot provide documentation will receive a zerofor that exam. Be sure to plan ahead because I cannot allow make-ups for events like exam schedulingproblems or early trips home!Each exam will include a 2-point bonus question of a to-be-determined format. Sorry, but no other form ofextra-credit is available in this course. Grades will be assigned on a standard curve assigned by thepsychology department. A distribution of the marks will be posted on the class website following eachexam to give you an idea of how you are doing relative to others.I. Psychology 10, Section 3, Class Lecture and Reading Schedule – Summer 2008Dates are subject to change.Date Lecture Topics Reading Quizzes/ActivitiesWeek 1 T: 06/24 Lecture topic: What is psychology and how is it ascience?Pgs. 2-13, 24-43 Register on Experimetrix.Activity: Wason 2-4-6 TaskTR: 06/26 Lecture topic: Research Methods Pgs. 64-90, 94-98 Activity: Design your ownexperiment*Week 2 T: 07/01 Lecture topic: Learning Pgs. 233-253,257-267Quiz #1: ResearchmethodsMultimedia PresentationTR: 07/03Lecture topic: The biological basis of behavior.Memory: the good, the bad, and the forgotten.Pgs. 274-300, 129-136, 142-145Quiz #2: LearningActivity: Mouse PartyActivity: Fun with memorytechniques3

Week 3 T: 07/08 Lecture topic: Language and Intelligence Pgs. 323-334,355-363, 375-387TR: 07/10Midterm Exam: Includes readings up to andincluding 07/08.Pgs. 398-428Developmental PsychologyWeek 4 T: 07/15 Lecture topic: Emotion, Motivation, and Stress Pgs. 446-455,469-487, 494-503Activity: Excerpts fromvarious IQ testsActivity: Exploring StressReductionTR: 07/17 Lecture topic: Personality Pgs. 578-602 Quiz #3: Emotion,Motivation, and StressActivity: Fake v. Genuinesmiles*Week 5 T: 07/22 Lecture topic: Social Psychology Pgs. 534-571 Quiz #4: Who we are(Personality)Activity: Present your ownad commercial.TR: 07/24 Lecture topic: Clinical Pgs. 624-627,639-665,Week 6 T: 07/29 Lecture topic: Clinical Psychology - Treatments Pgs. 672-693,699-703TR: 07/31Quiz #5: How we fit in(Social)Activity: Case StudiesActivity: Role Play – Guessthe technique*FINAL EXAM*Final Exam is scheduled for Thursday, July 31, 2008, 1 - 3:05 pm (normal class time) andincludes only those materials covered since the midterm*Additional Resources and Course InformationCourse Website:How do I get to the course site?Go to: http://www.lsic.ucla.edu/ (case sensitive)Use Bruin OnLine (BOL) IDs as your Username.Your password is your 9-digit student ID number.After logging in to the following site you will see our course site listed along with all of the other coursesyou are taking that uses the blackboard system.If you don’t have a BOL account you can get one here:http://www.bol.ucla.edu/services/accounts/If you have trouble logging on to the course site, please send an e-mail to webpages@psych.ucla.edu.Computer Labs:Students may use the Psychology computer labs at 2434 Franz Hall (2nd floor of Franz Tower, Phone:(310-206-0638), 3290 Franz Hall (3rd floor of Middle building, Phone: (310-206-9885), 3351/3260 FranzHall (3rd floor of Middle building, Phone: (310-206-9885) and 3312 Franz Hall (3rd floor of Middlebuilding, Phone: (310-206-3447) to access course information from web pages. The rooms have differentopen hours depending on when classes are scheduled but they try to have at least one of these roomsopen for student use between 9-5, Mon-Fri. If you are not familiar with how to use a course web page, alab proctor will happy to assist you.Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:We will make every effort to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities. Please let me knowof any special requirements as early in the quarter as possible so that I can ensure that appropriateaccommodations are made.4

COMPLETING EXPERIMENT PARTICIPATION AND/OR ARTICLE SUMMARIESAs a student in this course, you will have the opportunity to participate in current, cutting-edge researchtaking place in the UCLA Psychology Department. All students enrolled in Psych 10 are required to earn6 research credits by serving as participants in psychological research. Each study you participate in istypically worth one research credit. If it is worth more than one credit, this will be listed in the experimentdescription. For students who would prefer not to participate in research, you have the alternative ofwriting three summaries of articles from psychology journals (each summary is worth 2 research credits).You may also do a combination of both research participation and article summaries.Obtaining the 6 research credits is a requirement for the course. Please note that students whodo not complete this research requirement by the last day of instruction will receive a grade ofIncomplete ("I") in Psych 10. In order to remove the "I", the research requirement will have to be fulfilledthe following quarter or else the "I" will lapse into an "F" (or "NP"). Students who received an "I" in theprior quarter they took Psych 10 can apply any accumulated credit towards the six hours of experimentcredit needed to receive a grade for Psych 10. Students who DROP Psych 10 after having served as aresearch participant CANNOT apply any accumulated credit towards the next time they take thecourse. So please don’t leave yourself out in the cold by putting off all the participation until the end ofthe quarter… start early.How to participate in research. The posting and scheduling of experiments is handled via an onlinescheduling system. To access the system, go to http://experimetrix.com/ucla orhttps://experimetrix2.com/UCLA/ (a link to experimetrix is also vailable on the course site). Be sure toselect read.me and follow the detailed information on how to use this system. The final day to receivecredit for experimetrix for Spring Quarter 08 is Thursday, July 25 (5 th Week). If you choose to participatein an experiment on July 25 th you must make sure the experimenter gives you credit that evening beforethe site closes at midnight. Please note that you must assign credits you receive to our "Psych 10"course in order for your credit to appear on your Credit Balance Report at the end of the quarter.Note that you must be registered with the Online Experiment Scheduling System before you canserve as a subject.If you have trouble registering on experimetrix please contact Janet Vera at jvera@psych.ucla.edu.Writing Journal Article SummariesAnother way that you may fulfill the research requirement for Psych 10 is by summarizing reports ofpsychological research. Completion of each article summary will give you two research credits. Thus,three article summaries will fulfill the six-credit research requirement. You may combine written articlesummaries with experiment participation. For example, you may choose to write one summary (for twocredits) and take part in four experiments (for four credits).How to write journal article summaries.1. You can find psychology journals at the College Library (Powell) or the Biomedical Library. Thearticles must come from scientific psychology journals, not reports from magazines,newspapers, or the media.2. Write a one-page summary of the article. A complete article summary will include the following(Don’t worry if some of these terms sound unfamiliar to you we will discuss them when wecover research methods.):5

• A few sentences summarizing the study’s hypotheses.• A description of the study’s methods and an identification of the type of design it used (i.e.,case study, survey, correlational, experimental).• A statement of the independent variable(s) and how they were measured or manipulated.• A statement of the dependent variables and how they were measured.• A statement of the findings in your own words (i.e., were the IV and DV significantly related toeach other? If so, in what direction?).• A critical evaluation of the conclusions of the study. What is the general conclusion of thestudy? Do you think the methods and findings of the study supported this conclusion? Arethere any other alternative explanations for the findings?3. Your summary must be typed and double-spaced. Be sure to provide a complete reference forthe article, including the author, title, name of journal, publication date, and page number at thetop of the summary as in the following example: Smith, B.J., & Jones, R.T. (1993). Mentalillness and social support. Psychological Science, 14, 207-219.4. You must hand in the first page and abstract of the article(s) you summarize with your reportsby Tuesday. July 29 th in class. If you cannot attend class that day arrange a time with me tohand in your articles. Please, do NOT slide papers under my door because my office may beused by others.6