Psychology 1002A 200
Psychology as a Natural Science
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON CANADA
Department of Psychology
2022-2023
Psychology 1002A Section 200
Psychology as a Natural Science
- CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
An introductory survey of the methods and findings within modern scientific psychology. This course focuses on the biological aspects of human behaviour. The following topics will be covered: history and methodology, biological psychology, sensation and perception, learning and motivation, and verbal and cognitive processes.
Antirequisites : Psychology 1000, Psychology 1000W/X, Psychology 1010A/B, Psychology 1100E.
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. If you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
2 lecture hours; 1 tutorial hour, 0.5 course
Prerequisites: n/a
Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructors : Dr. Mike Atkinson Room 6316, SSC psyc1002@uwo.ca
Dr. Laura Fazekas-DeHoog
Lecture : Online Asynchronous
Tutorial : In Person & Online Synchronous
(depending on which section you are registered in)
Office Hours : Dr. Mike: Wed. 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. EST
Dr. Laura: TBA
Teaching Assistants: TBA
This course uses a blended instruction model in which students must review and learn the main course material asynchronously, as well as to participate in synchronous discussion/tutorial activities via Zoom or In-Person.
Teaching Staff
In addition to Dr. Atkinson, there are a number of Graduate Teaching Assistants assigned to Psych 1002a. The graduate students have been part of the Department of Psychology from 1 to 6 years. Teaching assistants will run the tutorials. Please feel free to address any questions about the lectures, the program, or psychology in general to them as well as to Dr. Atkinson or Dr. Fazekas-DeHoog.
Psych 1002 Web Site
The course website is located at: http://owl.uwo.ca
Here you will find class information, study suggestions, links to other resources, etc. Please check it often.
Questions
Asking questions during tutorial or about the online content is an extremely important part of learning. I strongly encourage you to ask a question whenever you require clarification on an issue, or have an observation to make yourself. If you wish to ask a question directly to Dr. Mike or Dr. Laura, please post your question to the “Questions and Office Hours” discussion in the Forums. Note : Routine questions such as ―When is the exam? What chapters are covered for the exam?, etc., may already be addressed on the FAQ portion of the course website.
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness @Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also contact Accessible Education at aew@uwo.ca or 519-661-2147.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Required Text : Passer, M.W., Smith, R.E., Atkinson, M.L., & Mitchell, J.B., (2020).
Psychology: Frontiers and Applications. Seventh Canadian Edition. Toronto:
McGraw Hill Ryerson.
Note: this text comes shrink-wrapped with a passkey for the CONNECT website.
Also, it is important to purchase the 7th edition—it has content that is not available in earlier editions and you will need the CONNECT code.
Recommended Text: Ellis, Toft & Dawson (2012). Becoming a Master Student . Nelson
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES
This course is an introductory level survey of the methods and findings related to the biological and methodological elements of modern scientific psychology. The goal is to provide students with an overview of various topic domains within this realm of psychology. As such, students will be exposed to diverse theoretical viewpoints and various methods and procedures for the scientific investigation of psychological issues. Note : Modern psychology is scientific in nature. Consequently, we will spend a lot of time discussing science-related topics such as research design, neural functioning, sensory mechanisms, brain structure, etc.
Each chapter in the text covers a major interest area in psychology. By the end of this course, the successful student will be able to:
|
Learning Outcome |
Learning Activity |
Assessment |
|
Knowledge Acquisition Identify major concepts, theories, and topics in Psychology |
Reading & watching lectures, + CONNECT & tutorials |
Multiple choice exam & participation |
|
Critical Thinking Distinguish between and identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of various theories in Psychology |
Reading & watching lectures, + CONNECT & tutorials, discussions |
Multiple choice exam & participation, quality of discussion posts |
|
Problem Solving; Inquiry and Analysis) Apply concepts and theories from Psychology to everyday problems |
Reading & watching lectures, + CONNECT, discussion posts & tutorial |
Multiple choice exam, participation, quality of discussion posts |
|
Communication Ask questions about topics in Psychology |
Online discussions & tutorial |
Quality of posted/answered questions |
|
Critical Thinking; Problem Solving Interpret statistical information presented in tables or graphs |
Reading & watching lectures, + CONNECT |
Multiple choice exam, participation |
|
Knowledge Acquisition; Inquiry and Analysis Identify common research designs used in Psychology |
Reading & watching lectures, + CONNECT & tutorials |
Multiple choice exam, participation |
5.0 EVALUATION
There will one exam during the course, plus discussion posts, CONNECT work, tutorial participation and required research credit participation. The exam will be scheduled during the final exam period (Dec. 10 – 22, 2022) and is worth 50%.
The final exam covers chapters 1 – 8, plus the Appendix and will consist of 100 multiple choice questions from both the text and lecture material.
Exams will be written in the following manner: During the exam periods, you will be directed to log into OWL. Once, you are in OWL, you will receive a randomized test from the test bank. Each student will receive a different exam. Each exam will be the same level of difficulty and covers the same chapters. Questions will be answered in a strict linear fashion. Once you move from question 1 to question 2, you cannot go back to question 1. So you should answer each question as it appears. To get through all the questions in the time period allowed, you should spend no more than 90 - 120 seconds on each question. NOTE: ProctorTrack will be used for the exam.
In addition to the exam you must complete a series of quizzes on the CONNECT site (one quiz per chapter). The total value for the quizzes is 3%.
Discussions and tutorial participation also count towards your final grade. Discussions (2) are worth 24% (12% each) and conducted in the Forums section of OWL. Details about the format and a grading scheme will be posted on Owl. NOTE: Discussions will open two weeks before the closing date.
Weekly tutorials count for 20% of your grade (2% per tutorial for your best 10). For each tutorial, you will be asked to discuss topics related to the chapter we are currently covering in the text. The grading scheme will be posted on OWL.
Finally, there is a research participation requirement (see details on the Owl site). You will be asked to participate in 3 research studies during the term. Each study is worth 1% of your grade.
The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning
objectives as listed in section 4.0 and are considered necessary for meeting these learning
objectives.
5.1 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK
If you miss the exam for a legitimate reason (legitimate reasons are those approved by academic counselling in your home faculty), you will be allowed to write a makeup. The makeup exam will be January 12 @2pm. NOTE: in order to receive credit for this course, you must write the exam.
If you miss a Forum Discussion for a legitimate reason, you will still have to post your discussion within 24 hours of the academic consideration end date.
Missed tutorials will receive a grade of zero. For tutorials, you are allowed to miss one without penalty.
For CONNECT there is ample time to complete the quizzes.
Research credits MUST be completed by Dec. 8, 2022. The participation pool will be closed on that date and NO late submissions will be accepted.
5.1a. Policy on Appealing Tutorial Grades
Tutorials are grading in real time each week. Your grade is determined by the tutorial leader, based on your participation and answers to questions. If you believe that a grade assigned for any given tutorial is not justified, you must address this with the tutorial leader within one week of the grade posting. It is not feasible for us to assess your tutorial performance after the course has ended.
The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses
72% 2100-2999-level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines, which are as follows (see: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
Note that in the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.
Policy on Grade Rounding: Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course.
6.0 ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
|
Final exam: |
50% |
Final Exam Period (Dec. 10 - 22, 2022) |
|
Discussion: |
12% |
Discussion 1 due by Fri. Oct. 14, 2022 |
|
12% |
Discussion 2 due by Fri. Dec. 2, 2022 |
|
|
Quizzes: |
1.5% |
Chapter 1 – 4 due by Oct. 28, 2022 |
|
1.5% |
Chapter 5 – 8 due by Dec. 5, 2022 |
|
|
Tutorials: Research Studies
|
20% 3% |
Graded weekly Due by Dec 8, 2022 |
|
Total: |
100% |
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Topics will be covered in the following order during the year. Approximate lecture dates are given so that you can keep up with the readings and video lectures. Tutorials are synched to the Lecture topics. Lectures are intended to highlight certain areas of each topic -- there is not enough time available to us to cover all the material. However, you are responsible for all the material in the text.
Please note that there is a fairly heavy reading load in this course -- we cover approximately one chapter every week and half. Thus, it is important for you to keep up with the readings. Classes start on Sept. 8, so you can start reading Chapter 1. Tutorials start the week of Sept. 13.
WEEK OF CHAPTER TOPIC
Monday Sept. 12 1 Introduction/History of Psychology
Monday Sept. 19 2/Appendix Methodology/Data Analysis/Statistics
Monday Sept. 26 3 Brain & Nervous System
Monday Oct. 03 3 Brain & Nervous System
Monday Oct. 10 4 Genetics & Evolution
Monday Oct. 17 5 Sensation/Perception
Monday Oct. 24 5 Sensation/Perception
Monday Oct. 31 - NO CLASS (FALL READING WEEK)
Monday Nov. 07 6 Consciousness
Monday Nov. 14 7 Learning
Monday Nov. 21 8 Memory
Monday Nov. 28 8 Memory
Monday Dec 5 Q & A
DECEMBER EXAM (TBD: Dec. 10 - 21)
8.0 Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.
With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.
9.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence are described at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offences. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).
Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.
Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
10.0 POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE
If a remote proctoring service is used, the service will require you to provide personal information (including some biometric data). The session will be recorded. In the event that in-person exams are unexpectedly canceled, you may only be given notice of the use of a proctoring service a short time in advance. More information about remote proctoring is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines. Please ensure you are familiar with any proctoring service’s technical requirements before the exam. Additional guidance is available at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf
* Please note that Zoom servers are located outside Canada. If you would prefer to use only your first name or a nickname to login to Zoom, please provide this information to the instructor in advance of the test or examination. See this link for technical requirements: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us
11.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
https://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:
- For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
- For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation.
https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html
Students seeking academic consideration:
- are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;
- must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hoursafter the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence
Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.
12.0 Contingency Plan for Return to Lockdown: IN-Person & Blended classes
In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence or any other event that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online, as determined by the course instructor.
13.0 STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE
In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette:
- please “arrive” to class on time
- please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet)
- please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material
- to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise
- In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak
- In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable
- Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting
The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following:
- If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question.
- Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking.
- Self-identify when speaking.
- Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise).
General considerations of “netiquette”:
- Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course.
- Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing.
- Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate.
- Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately.
Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct.
14.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca
If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf
Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).
Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor.
LEARNING INFORMATION EFFICIENTLY
You will be expected to know the assigned chapters VERY WELL!
Many of the multiple-choice questions in this course are based on material from the chapters that is not explicitly covered in lecture. To be able to answer these questions correctly you will need to know and understand each of the concepts and processes described in the assigned chapters.
This a major learning task and many students run into difficulties because they do not know how to handle this learning task efficiently.
Just reading the assigned chapters is NOT enough!
For most people the process of reading something, or even re-reading it, does not mean that they remember it. This is especially true for "heavy" course content such as that found in the
psychology text. If you wish to learn the material from the text efficiently, you will need to approach it in a different manner.
Learn the text chapters using ACTIVE reading/ learning strategies.
Strategies recommended for efficient learning of text material can be divided into three types: pre- reading, reading for comprehension, and post-reading.
- Pre- reading . Learn the headings and subheadings.
Instead of diving immediately into reading the chapter, spend a few minutes learning the headings and subheadings. The headings and subheadings tell you the important ideas that will be covered in the chapter. In the text they are laid out for you on the first few pages of the book in the table of contents. Look at these headings and subheadings, think how they have been ordered, try reciting them from memory, and then write them out on a separate sheet of paper.
- Reading for comprehension . Read a few pages and THEN summarize.
Don't try to read most of the chapter in one sitting. It is much easier to learn the material in small chunks. Read a few pages carefully and THEN make a summary of the important points. Continue doing this until you have summarized about 10 pages - then take a break. You can summarize by highlighting sparingly AND making marginal notes, or by making separate written notes.
Note that much of the information in psychology comes in the form of arguments. Here are some the important kinds of information that are crucial to knowing and understanding an argument: i) definitions of new terms, ii) essential explanations of the specific argument, iii) examples, iv) results of studies.
If you make separate summary notes, try using point form and keywords. This has 2 advantages: the notes are made more quickly and they are easier to read. As you record key terms and definitions ALWAYS relate them to the arguments of which they are a part.
- Post- reading . Test yourself.
After actively reading 10 or more pages in the manner described above, try reciting (i.e., recalling from memory) all the important points under each heading and subheading that you have studied. This will reinforce the ideas you know and identify those that you need to review. Doing the study guide questions and relevant old exam questions after you have finished the entire chapter can also be very helpful.
