PSYC 210 - 04 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY SYLLABUS

Descriptive Information

Course Number: PSYC – 210

Section: 07 (M W F 11:00 am – 11:50 am; 128 Blanks Hall)

Course Title: General Psychology

Course Description: This course is presented as a first exposure to the field of psychology. The course is both fascinating and challenging because it is a survey course, briefly touching on the chief topics of the incredibly vast scope of psychology. Theories and research relating to learning, psychological testing, personality, health, abnormal behavior and biological mechanisms of behavior will be discussed.

Credit: 3.0

Pre-requisites: NA.

Instructor: Dr. Gerry Hecht; 225 Blanks Hall; 771.2990; gerald_hecht@subr.edu

Office Hrs: "Virtual Office Hours" via email are available at any time-"In Person" office hours by appointment.

Course Goals and Objectives

General Goals: 1) To appreciate the vast scope of the field of psychology and its various sub-disciplines and hopefully to be inspired to major in psychology and/or study one of these areas in depth in the future.2) To understand psychology as a science—not as "armchair philosophy" and to understand the unique methodology employed by this science.

Course Objectives: This course is largely fact based. Objective examinations (see Grading section below) will be used to evaluate students understanding of psychological theories, methods and findings. In as much as psychology is the study of who we are (as human beings), however, students are actively encouraged to engage in discussion of the course material.

Required Readings:

 Psychology: Concepts & Connections By: Spencer A. Rathus

Course Requirements

A lecture/discussion format will be used. Readings will be assigned for each class. Lectures will either supplement material contained in the readings or present new information that is related to assigned material but not contained in the text. Class attendance is not mandatory, however it has been my experience that missing class is deadly (in terms of examination scores). The exception to this attendance policy is exam dates. Failing to attend class on the day of an exam will result in a grade of zero for that exam (as noted in GRADING below, the lowest exam grade will be dropped).

Student Evaluation

See the class schedule for exam dates. Questions will primarily consist of short-answer items but may also include multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, short answer, true/false, and matching items. Test questions will be drawn from material covered in the text and lecture. Although each exam will focus only on new material, the information presented in this course is somewhat cumulative in nature. Thus, students should review old material when studying for each exam. Each of the FOUR (4) exams will be worth 50 points. Students arriving late to class will not be given extra time to take the exam.

IMPORTANT: I do NOT penalize students for poor class attendance... HOWEVER: I DO NOT GIVE MAKEUP EXAMS!! My policy is to DROP the lowest of the 4 exam grades.  A grade of "0" for a missed exam can be DROPPED --BUT IT CANNOT BE MADE UP!! Therefore, if you miss more than one exam it becomes very difficult to pass the class!!

Grading

Regular Exams = 4 @ 50 points = 200 minus 50 (I drop the lowest exam score)

Total points = 150

A = 135+

B = 120-134

C = 105-119

D = 90-104

F = <90

Grades are not negotiable, and I do not round up! If you don’t want to end up a few points short of a grade, be sure to earn bonus points on the exams (there is usually an extra credit item on each exam)!

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