Psychology 571 – Pioneers of Psychology
Summer 2010
John Sparrow, Ph.D.
Office: University Center Room 351
Phone: 641-4151 (e-mail: john.sparrow@unh.edu; Web: pubpages.unh.edu/~jes1)
Office hours:
Monday - 5:00 – 5:45
Wednesday - 5:00 – 5:45
Other times are available by appointment.
Course Syllabus
Required Books:
Gay, P. (ed.) (1989). The Freud Reader. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ["F"]
James, W. (1985, originally published in 1892). Psychology: The Briefer Course. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. ["J"]
Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers. ["M"]
All three of these books are available at the UNHM Bookstore.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to give the student an overview of some of the "key players" in the field of psychology. Of course, given the short time frame within which we are working, we can only hope to discuss a very few of the many individuals involved in the progression of psychology as a science. Hence, I have chosen three individuals to study: William James, Sigmund Freud, and Stanley Milgram. Please understand that this course is not meant to serve as a generic history of psychology course -- instead, our job is to examine several individuals, study some of their great works, and try to put this information into some sort of historical context. Please note that PSYC 571 is one of the General Education offerings (Group 8) so students are expected (and encouraged) to bring different perspectives to the course content! Further note that Psyc 571: Pioneers of Psychology was formerly known as Psyc 571: The Great Psychologists (and you canÕt receive credit for taking both!).
TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES
The primary class format will consist of lectures, discussions, debates, videos, exams, writing assignments, and individual research. This course, perhaps more than any other that I teach, demands active participation on the part of the enrolled
students. I plan on spending minimal time lecturing in the traditional sense -- instead, I hope we can engage in some intelligent discussion relating "the pioneers of psychology" to our own lives, the field of psychology, and the evolution of science, in general. I have tried to select individuals whom I feel contributed to psychology in unique, and sometimes controversial, ways. Please get involved in what is going on -- this will make your experience a much more positive one!
READING ASSIGNMENTS
On the course calendar I have outlined the specific reading assignments for this course. Please try to have the readings done by the dates listed. You will note after looking at the calendar that there is a lot of reading to get through in this course! You should consider your primary task in this course as one of reading, reading, reading! I can almost guarantee that you will not be able to successfully get through this course by skimming through the readings the night before the exams. Prior to reading through each selection, I will be giving you some questions to consider in terms of how they relate to the selected portions of text.
EXAMS
There will be three exams throughout the course (as listed on the course calendar). The exams will consist of a mixture of short-answer, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and essay type questions. Material from the class lectures/discussions as well as the outside-of-the-class reading assignments will be fair game for the exams. I will tell you more about each exam as we approach the different exam dates. Please note that, as a general rule, there will be no make-up exams given. Extenuating circumstances may require the approval of the Dean along with supporting paperwork. Problems meeting these guidelines should be brought to my attention at least five days before scheduled exams.
ONLINE READING DISCUSSIONS
Throughout the course, I will ask you to respond to the assigned readings and the discussion questions. As youÕre reading through the designated assignments, please focus, in writing, on the questions that I will be posting on Blackboard (in the ÒDiscussion BoardÓ). I expect your responses to be thoughtful and detailed, and based on the points that are raised in the readings; note that you must answer ALL questions assigned for a given unit. At a MINIMUM, you are required to post your substantive responses in Blackboard at least three times within each of the three course units, on at least three different days within each of the units (to help spread-out the discussions). The Discussion Board for each unit will open at the start of a given unit, and will end at 11:59pm the evening before each scheduled exam. In addition, you will be expected to post your written responses (either as a Word or .rtf file) to the discussion questions to Blackboard via the supplied link, again, sometime before 11:59pm the evening before each scheduled exam; I will also ask you to submit a paper copy of your responses in class, on each of the three scheduled exam dates. You may post your discussion responses at any time during the intervening unit, given the restrictions outlined above. Please note that once an online discussion has ended for a given unit, there is no way to make-up for that missed exercise!
PAPER ASSIGNMENT / POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS
As an ongoing project throughout the course, you will be expected to conduct your own research on a different "pioneer of psychology." You will be picking your person out of a hat and conducting a historical search of the person's work, contributions to the discipline, individual personality patterns, and anything else that you find interesting/relevant to the person's role in the field of psychology! I will tell you more about this assignment in one of the upcoming class meetings. Rough drafts of papers are REQUIRED and are due, in class, on June 16; the finished papers are due, in class (and online), on June 21. YouÕll also be developing a 5-slide PowerPoint presentation that provides a graphic and text summary of your research. At the end of the course, all students will be expected to post their slides on Blackboard for the class to read and critique. We will have a final online forum where we will discuss your work as a class. The PowerPoint slides will also be due on June 21.
Please note that FOR EVERY DAY THAT THE RESARCH PROJECT (PAPER/POWERPOINT) IS HANDED IN LATE, THE GRADE WILL BE LOWERED BY ONE LEVEL (E.G., A GRADE OF "B-" WILL BE DROPPED TO A "C+" ON THE FIRST DAY, A "C" ON THE SECOND DAY, A "D" ON THE FOURTH DAY, ETC.).
ATTENDANCE/CLASS PARTICIPATION
You are expected to be in attendance every class meeting. In addition, I expect all students to actively participate in the "goings on" of the class – both in the classroom and online. You will note that a portion of your final class grade is dedicated to attendance and class participation. Try to imagine yourself as a historian trying to unravel the works of some great thinkers in the field of psychology!
STUDENT EVALUATION
Final grades will consist of all of the elements outlined above. Specifically:
Reading Questions / Online Discussions: 15%
Exam 1: 20%
Exam 2: 20%
Exam 3: 20%
Paper Assignment / PowerPoint Presentation: 15%
Attendance/Class Participation: 10%
-----------------
Total 100%
Grades will be calculated based on the following percentage cutoff points:
A = 93 - 100% A- = 90 - 92%
B+ = 87 - 89% B = 83 - 86% B- = 80 - 82%
C+ = 77 - 79% C = 73 - 76% C- = 70 - 72%
D+ = 67 - 69% D = 63 - 66% D- = 60 - 62%
F = 0 - 59%
CHEATING
Cheating will not be tolerated in this class. Students caught cheating on exams, online discussions, or writing assignments (e.g., plagiarism) will automatically receive a course grade of "F" and his/her name will be forwarded to the dean's office in accordance with university policy. Hopefully, this information goes without saying.
A FEW FINAL WORDS...
If you have taken other classes with me in the past you know that I expect a great deal from my students. You should take your work very seriously and make a strong attempt at keeping up with the reading assignments, paper assignments, etc. Keep in mind that the general rule-of-thumb for attending college at UNHM is that for every hour of in-class meeting time, the student ought to be spending 2-3 hours outside of class time preparing for the class meetings. I do not mean to scare you off by stating this policy, but I do want my students to know this fact up front. Also, you should be aware that I keep all student examinations on file; hence, you will not be able to keep your examinations after I return them for your perusal. I will spend some time in class going over the exams after they have been graded. If you would like to go over your examination in more detail, you are welcome (and encouraged!) to come see me during office hours. This policy is a strict one and is non-negotiable.
As a final note, please turn-off – and put away -- all cell phones during class time! I consider the use of a cell phone during class time to be unnecessary and downright rude (and that includes texting, checking messages, etc.). If you must leave the phone on for critical reasons, please set the ringer to Òvibration modeÓ and discuss your reasons with me as to why the phone must be left on. Further, IÕm not in favor of using laptops during class time, with the possible exception of when theyÕre used appropriately and solely for the purposes of taking notes (itÕs counterproductive for the individual -- and distracting to others and myself -- when students are surfing the web, checking email, Facebooking, etc.). Please note that all of the information outlined in this syllabus is subject to slight modification throughout the course. If any substantive changes in the syllabus are warranted, I will let you know well ahead of time. Let's work on having both an educational and enjoyable summer of ÒPioneers of PsychologyÓ!
Date Topic Reading
May 24 Introduction / Nature of Science & Psyc J: pp. xi, xiii, xxv,Chs. 1,2,4
Online Discussion: William James
26 Roots of Psychology J: Chs. 7,9,11
J: Chs. 15,17,Epilogue
June 2 *************** EXAM #1 *******************************************************
Online Discussion: Sigmund Freud
7 Historical Roots of Psychoanalysis F: pp. xi,xiii,xxxi,3,45,48,60,78,86,96,111,129,239
9 Role of Sigmund Freud F: pp. 309,356,363,378,481
F: pp. 562,568,572,628,661,666,670,796
14 *************** EXAM #2 *******************************************************
Online Discussion: Stanley Milgram
16 Psychology's Broadening Base M: pp. xi,xv, Chs. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
Rough Draft of Papers Due
21 Social Phenomena and the M: Chs. 9,10,11,12,13
Broad Range of Milgram's Work M: Chs. 14,15,Appendixes I-II
Papers Due in Class/Blackboard & PowerPoint Due in Blackboard
23 *************** EXAM #3 *******************************************************
Within a few days, a copy of this syllabus will appear on my web page: http://pubpages.unh.edu/~jes1