Principles of Psychology:
Psychology 110-03 Syllabus (Fall 2003)

Organization and Requirements:

Psychology 110-03 is a survey course covering major topics in psychology. The course meets for lecture and discussion on Monday and Wednesday and for presentations, research projects, and discussion on Friday. We meet usually in Olin 102 from 9:50-11:00 on Mondays and Wednesdays, and from 9:40-10:40 on Fridays.

The schedule below lists the topics and readings we will be covering. Readings should be completed prior to the class meeting for which they are listed. I recommend that you then review those readings and your notes after each class session. I will not lecture on every topic in the text nor will the text cover all topics presented in class. However, the reading assignments provide useful and often necessary background for lecture and discussion, and should be completed before scheduled class meetings.

Three examinations will be given in this course. Note that the final examination is scheduled for Saturday, November 22. You should also expect to complete two class research modules (and associated short reports) and a final project. Grading will be based on the following approximate weights: research report (15% for each module), final project (10%), in-term examinations (40%), final examination (20%). Each exam must be taken at its scheduled time; each assignment must be completed for class on the date it is due. Any exceptions to either expectation must be arranged with the instructor prior to a due date.

The text for this course is Psychology (6th Edition) by Henry Gleitman, Alan Fridlund, and Daniel Reisberg. You may also want to buy the text study guide, which some past students have found useful. In addition, you ought to purchase The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks, and Darkness Visible by William Styron. Additional assigned readings will be placed on closed reserve in the main Carleton Library. Extra copies of reserve readings will also be available in the file cabinet in the Psychology Department reading area (Olin 110). Olin 110 also has copies of and computer access to materials you might want to explore if you are now or later become interested in psychology. These include sources on the psychology major at Carleton, graduate programs in psychology, and careers in psychology.

Special help sessions for course projects, computer work, and exam preparation will be scheduled during the term by the course assistant, Robin Weber (x7509, weberr). I also encourage you to visit my office to discuss psychology and course-related questions and ideas during the open course office hour on Thursday, 8:30-9:30. I am often available in my office at other times; please stop by or call the Psychology Department secretary (x4380).

• M 9/15 (9:30-10:20) Introduction to Psychological Science.
  
  
  
• W 9/17 Personality in the Measurement Tradition; Research Module I: Personality.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 588-606.
  
  http://www.acad.carleton.edu/curricular/PSYC/classes/psych110_Lutsky/RMI/
  
  
  
• F 9/19 (9:50-11:00); Personality in the Clinical Tradition; Research Module I, continued.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 611-628.
  
  DeNeve, Happy as an extraverted clam? pp. 141-144.
  
  
  

• M 9/22 Social Behavior and Immediate Social Influence.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 387-407.
  
• W 9/24 Social (and Biological) Influences on Extended Social Behaviors.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 416-429, 437-446.
  
• F 9/26 Obedience and the Holocaust.
  
  Sabini & Silver, On destroying the innocent with a clear conscience. Moralities of
  Everyday Life, pp. 55-87.
  
  
  

• M 9/29 Basic Models of Learning. Guest Presentation by Gretchen Gotthard, Ph.D.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 122-142.
  
  
  
• W 10/1 Cognitive Learning.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 143-154, 156-160.
  
  
  
• F 10/3 Applied Behaviorism; Research Module I due.
  
  Skinner, Why we are not acting to save the world, pp. 1-8.
  

• M 10/6 Examination: Personality, Social Psychology, and Learning.
  

• W 10/8 Neuropsychology. Guest Presentation by Larry Wichlinski, Ph.D.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 42-82.
  
  
  
• F 10/10 Brain, Mind, and Self.
  
  Sacks, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, pp. 8-22, 77-84, 92-101.
  
  
  

• M 10/13 Psychopathology.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 642-681.
  
  

• W 10/15 Psychotherapy and its Evaluation.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 686-715.
  
  

• F 10/17 Counseling. Guest Presentation by Linda Hellmich, Ph.D.
  

• Sat 10/18 (Morning, tba) Open House for Parents.

• M 10/20 Midterm Break.
  

• W 10/22 Accounts of Depression.
  
  Styron, Darkness Visible, pp. 1-84.
  
  

• F 10/24 (3:30-4:30, Olin 141) Positive Psychology. Guest Presentation by
  • University of Michigan Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D.

Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 628-632.

• M 10/27 Examination: Psychopathology, Biological Psychology, and Psychotherapy.
  
  
  
• W 10/29 Thinking and Decision-making.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 278-315.
  
  
  
• F 10/31 Research Module II: An Experimental Study of Cognition.
  
  http://www.acad.carleton.edu/curricular/PSYC/classes/psych110_Lutsky/RMII/
  
  
  
  
  
• M 11/3 Social Cognition.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 370-387, 407-410.
  

  Norenzayan & Nisbett, Culture and causal cognition, pp. 132-135.
  
  

• W 11/5 Memory. Guest Presentation by Mija Van Der Wege, Ph.D.
  
  Gleitman et al., Psychology, pp. 242-273.
  
  
  
• F 11/7 Memory Research; Research Module II, continued.
  
  Neisser, John Dean's memory, pp. 139-159.