General Psychology s2

INTRODUCTION TO:

GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY

BASIC TEXT

Smith, E.E., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Fredrickson, B., Loftus, G.R. (2003). Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology, 14th ed. Belmont, CA.; Thomson Wadsworth (ISBN 0-15-505069-9)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Psychology is concerned with the study of human behavior. This course will look at what psychologists do, how they investigate human behavior, and what is known about the kind of creatures we are. Topics covered include how our biology influences our behavior, how we perceive the world, different states of consciousness, the ways in which we communicate with each other, and the possibilities for changing our behavior by means of learning experiences. Also considered will be issues of development and various perspectives on personality, abnormal behavior, and current therapies for effecting change in ourselves and our relationships with others.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1.Describe the major perspectives and research methods in contemporary psychology. 2.Describe physiological and psychological development. 3.Discuss current findings in the areas of perception, learning, and consciousness. 4.Discuss the concepts of motivation and emotions and current research. 5.Describe the theory behind mental and personality measurement and the different approaches to the study of intelligence and personality. 6.Identify different types of causal factors leading to abnormal behavior, and understand the basics of the current classification system for psychological disorders 7.Discuss how social processes influence our behavior and factors influencing group performance. INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

Curiosity about who we are, what we are, and why we do the things we do is as old as…well, as old as our self-awareness. The earliest philosophical, religious, mythological and political writings in all cultures concern the nature of the world and our place in it, how we are different from other organisms, how we gain knowledge, and how we ought to live together. Answers to these questions have changed as cultures and societies have evolved historically.

In modern times we have witnessed a tremendous investment of resources in trying to come to terms with these questions. The field of psychology has become an important institution in many countries.

In this course we will survey the various branches of the field of psychology and come to understand what psychologists do, what kinds of questions they ask, and what we know about ourselves as human beings. We will see that there are many different perspectives used by psychologists, and many different kinds of professional activities.

In the first section of the course we will look at the history of psychology as a formal discipline, which is only about 140 years old. We will see that at the beginnings of the discipline, there were various ideas about how we should approach the study of human beings. One thing that these perspectives had in common was that the methods ought to be those of science.

Lesson Two looks at our characteristics as an organism, with particular emphasis on the most complex structure we know of in the universe – our nervous system and brain. We will also see that the nervous system is not the only system of communication in our bodies. The endocrine system and the production of hormones effect our behavior. Finally, we will learn the basics of how genes work and their role in human evolution.

The third section will consider psychological development. What capacities do we have at birth? What can babies see, hear, taste? How does our mind and ability to solve problems develop? What are the origins of personality, and what is the importance of social relations in making us human? How did we get to be the person we are?

During Lesson Four we will be examining some areas of psychology that always fascinate students. They all have to do with consciousness and its different states. Consciousness is our self-awareness, it is the continual talk going on inside your head, it is the way you attend to aspects of your environment. What changes occur in consciousness when we sleep and dream, or meditate? What does the phenomenon of hypnosis tell us about ourselves and our “unconscious?” What are the effects of drugs on our mind? Do any forms of Extrasensory Perception (ESP), like telepathy, really exist? As you can see, there are some very interesting topics here.

From here we will go on to consider what psychologists know about the activity you are engaged in right now – learning. For over half of the 20th century the study of learning occupied a central place in the research of psychologists. By studying learning, we should be able to improve our study habits and do better in our courses! In Lesson Five we will also consider something very important for learning – memory.

Have you ever tried to lose weight or stop smoking? Have you ever wondered about what it means for you to be a male or female? In the sixth section we will look at processes of motivation. What causes you to strive for a goal, or change your life in some way? Why are we motivated to achieve certain things in our lives and not others? How do we motivate others to work harder? These are central issues for us in many areas of life.

Related to the study of motivation are our emotions. Before we are thinking beings, we are emotional beings. Humans differ from other animals in the degree to which we are able to exert control over our emotions. This is a primary developmental task for all of us, one that is necessary for the subsequent development of logical thinking. Have you ever had difficulties controlling your emotions? Or expressing your emotions? How many different emotions are there, anyway? How are our emotions expressed? Would we want to say that aggression is innate? These are some of the questions we will be asking in Lesson Seven.

And speaking of logical thinking, in the eighth section of the course we will be examining intelligence. Have you ever taken an intelligence test? What kinds of abilities are measured with these tests? Does our score on an intelligence test reflect an innate ability that we have? We will examine various ideas about what intelligence is, and look at how intelligence tests are made. We will also be asking the question, “do intelligence tests predict whether we will be a success in life?”

Another area where we develop many kinds of tests is the area of personality, to be covered in Lesson Nine. We all know that each of us is unique, and that we show consistent patterns of behavior. In the study of personality, our goal is to try to characterize that consistency. If we can do that, we may be able to predict such things as whether someone will perform well in a certain kind of job or be successful in their interpersonal relationships.

An area of special interest to students is the study of psychological problems and Lessons Ten, Eleven, and Twelve will be concerned with psychological health and mental disorders. In Lesson Ten, we will consider something we all experience in our lives – stress. We will look at the relationship between stress and health, as well as coping strategies we can employ when experiencing stress. We will go on from there to psychological disorders in Lesson Eleven and techniques of therapy in Lesson Twelve. Upon finishing these topics the student will be able to recognize, define and specify the appropriate treatment for disorders.

Finally, in the last lesson, Thirteen, we will be considering how our behavior relates to other people. Our behavior changes when we are with different people, and we may act quite differently when alone. How do other people influence us? When are we more likely to comply with others? Obey others? How do groups form and how do they constrain or liberate our behavior? These topics are studied in the area of social psychology.

I think you will agree that psychologists study some interesting things. When one thinks about it, we are engaged in a very strange endeavor. We are the only organisms that study ourselves. Psychology is a self-reflexive enterprise and this makes it unique among the sciences.

Laurence E. Heglar, PhD