Download SMESx Psychology 101 ​Course Syllabus

SMESx Psychology 101
St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
Course Syllabus
​
Psychology 101 will provide you with foundational knowledge and thinking skills to understand the
science of human behavior and thinking.
1. About Psych 101​
:
Psychology is the academic and applied study of the human mind and behavior. Perhaps
there are no more salient topics in the information age and the global economy than a
comprehensive understanding of how learning takes place and what predicts and determines
human behavior. The AP course is a primer, meant to provide substantive content through
which to understand the human condition and to inspire students to continue their learning
and growth.
This course is also self-paced, and a resource for you to engage with the subject of Psychology.
As such, we will not be posting in discussion forums often. Please see below for further
information regarding the discussion forums.
2. Video Lectures​
: Each week will open with a Psych Report video clip to frame the lesson for the
week and to dispel some common myths. There will also be 1 to 3 tablet capture videos to
dive into the content of the week. Additionally, there are a few TED talks for students to
watch. The TED talks are not mandatory content and students will not be held responsible for
them on weekly quizzes and the final exam.
3. Prerequisites​
: An open mind and willingness to share your thoughts.
4. Workload​
: It is expected that you will spend between 2 and 4 hours per week on homework,
readings and other activities.
5. Textbooks and Resources​
: The required textbook is embedded in the course. The course
instructors have curated the material that is most relevant to this class. If you are interested
in reading the book in its entirety, it is available at:
http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Introduction%20to%20Psychology.pdf
6. Discussion Forum: ​
Because this course is self-paced, and should you choose, a resource for
you to interact with other students, the discussion forum is to be used with proper etiquette
to ask and respond to questions from your peers. The course instructors will not be posting
regularly in the discussions. Here are a few ​
tips ​
to help you get the most out of the
experience:
a. Participate​
fully by engaging in the entire discussion
b. Demonstrate​
knowledge by making comments that are insightful and informed
c. Present ​
unique, insightful ideas and perspectives that help the class see something in
a new way and demonstrate your ability to see beyond the obvious
d. Provide​
relevant examples from your home, school, and community in addition to
resources such as useful websites, books, blogs, articles, etc. that support your
response
e. Pose ​
questions that are thought provoking and promote further discussion
f. Clarify​
what portion of your classmate's comment you are responding to and describe
how the classmate's contribution helped you specifically understand the topic or think
about the topic in a different way
g. Ask​
for clarification or help when needed and offer assistance to those who need
extra explanation on a topic
h. Contribute​
to a healthy and safe learning environment by being open to others'
comments and ideas and respecting different points-of-view without judgement or
prejudice
7. Grading Policy​
: There will be 12 graded assignments in this course. Those who want to obtain
a Certificate, must complete the weekly quizzes which contain between 5 and 7 multiple
choices questions, a submission of responses to the two final Free Response Questions (FRQs)
and a final exam which consists of 50 multiple choice questions.
a. Weekly Quizzes (40%)
b. Submission of FRQ responses (10%)
c. Final Exam (50%)
8. Schedule​
:
Week
Release Date
Topics
Readings
Assignments
Textbook pages
1
June 15
History and
approaches
MC Questions
Discussion Board
June 15
Research
Methods and
Statistics
Textbook pages
2
MC Questions
Discussion Board
Biology
Textbook pages
MC Questions
Discussion Board
Sensation,
perception and
consciousness
Textbook pages
MC Questions
Discussion Board
June 15
Learning and
Cognition
MC Questions
Discussion Board
June 15
Motivation and
Emotion
Textbook pages
Learning
Handout
Textbook pages
Textbook pages
7
June 15
Developmental
Psychology
June 15
Intelligence and
Personality
Textbook pages
8
MC Questions
Discussion Board
June 15
Abnormal
Behavior
Textbook pages
9
MC Questions
Discussion Board
Textbook pages
June 15
Social
Psychology
MC Questions
FINAL EXAM
FRQ SUBMISSION
3
June 15
4
June 15
5
6
10
Module 1 (Week 1 and 2)
Key Terms:
History, Approaches
and Research
Methods
structuralism, functionalism,
behaviorism, humanistic psychology,
applied research, basic research,
theory, hypothesis, case study, survey,
population, random sample,
correlation, scatterplot, experiment,,
mode, mean, standard deviation,
Module 2 (Week 3 and 4)
Neurons, dendrites, axons, myelin
sheath, action potential, threshold,
synapse, nervous system, endorphins,
endocrine system, hormones,
brainstem, MRI, brain structure,
genetics, environment, DNA, natural
selection, sensation, perception,
attention, gestalt, perceptual set,
consciousness, sleep, insomnia, apnea,
hypnosis, dreams, drugs, depressants
Biology, Sensation,
Perception and
Consciousness
MC Questions
Discussion Board
MC Questions
Discussion Board
Big Picture Objectives and
Questions:
-What is psychology?
-History of psychology
-What do psychologists study and how?
-How do psychologists share research
results?
-​
What are neurons and how do they
transfer information?
-How do neurotransmitters influence
behavior?
-What are the functions of brain
structures?
-To what extent can a damaged brain
reorganize itself?
-What are genes and what do they do?
Module 3 (Week 5 and 6)
Learning, Cognition,
motivation and
emotion
Module 4 (Week 7 and 8)
Developmental
Psychology,
Personality, Individual
Differences
Module 5 (Week 9 and 10)
Abnormal Behavior,
Treatment of
Abnormal Behavior,
Social Psychology
Learning, habituation, classical
conditioning, operant conditioning, law
of effect, extrinsic and intrinsic
motivation, working memory, encoding,
chunking, recall, recognition, heuristic,
cognition, insight, creativity, hierarchy
of needs, emotion, well-being, stress,
language, sexual orientation
Piaget’s stages of development,
maturation, schema, Kohlberg’s stages
of moral reasoning, Erikson’s
psychosocial stages, adolescence,
attachment, trust, temperament, ego,
intelligence, multiple intelligences,
emotional intelligence, IQ, aptitude
tests, achievement tests, normal curve,
reliability, validity, standardization
Psychological disorder, ADHD, anxiety,
panic, phobia, OCD, PTSD, DID,
Depression, Bipolar, schizophrenia,
psychotherapy, resistance,
transference, active listening, behavior
therapy, cognitive therapy, social
psychology, attribution theory, attitude,
conformity, groupthink, culture,
prejudice, stereotype, discrimination,
social loafing, the bystander effect,
altruism,
-What are dependence and addiction?
-How do perception and observation
work together?
-​
How does learning take place?
-What gets remembered and how do
we forget?
-How do we learn language?
-What are the components of an
emotion?
-What is motivation?
- How does a child’s mind develop?
-What are the effects of temperament
and parenting on attachment?
-What was Freud’s view development?
-How does morality change as we get
older?
-What is the nature of intelligence?
-What is the difference between
aptitude and intelligence tests?
-What do psychometrics measure?
-​
How do you draw the line between
normality and disorder?
-How do clinicians classify disorders?
-What are the different types of
therapy and do they work?
-How do we explain others’ behavior
and our own?
-Does what we think affect what we
do?
-Do we attribute others behavior to
internal or external causes?
-What is prejudice?