Frank T. McAndrew, Ph.D.
Social Psychologist & Essayist
Psychology 100
Introduction to Psychology
Fall, 2024
Professor Frank McAndrew
Office Phone: 309-341-7525
email: fmcandre@knox.edu
Office Location: E-131 SMC (Science-Math)
Time & Place:
LECTURE: 5th or 6th period MWF, Room E-117 SMAC.
LAB: Thursdays, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, or 6th period, Room as assigned.
Office Hours:
I will be available in my office on Tuesdays & Thursdays during 6th period and MWF during 5th Period. I will also be glad to schedule one-on-one meetings or video conferences with you if my office hours do not line up with your schedule - just send me an email and we will set something up.
PLEASE GET IN THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR EMAIL DAILY! - This is the primary way in which I will communicate with you.
The Textbook:
Introduction to Psychology (12th edition) by James W. Kalat
(ISBN: 978-0-357-37272-2 (regular student edition); 978-0-357-37279-1 (loose leaf edition)
Using the 10th or 11th edition of this book is also acceptable.
Lab Assistants:
Manuel Espitia, Daeun Kim, Evan Morris, Sania Shetty, Aaron Shinefield, Kylie Thomson
DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE SYLLABUS
PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT WEB PAGE
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Goals of the Course
Welcome to Psychology 100! I sincerely hope that you have a good experience this term and that at the end you think it was time well spent, whether this is the only psychology course that you will take or just the first of many. There are a number of goals that I have for this course.
I would like you to become a more sophisticated observer of human behavior. By this I mean that you will learn to think about humans scientifically, relying on data and evidence for your beliefs as you come to understand the limitations and pitfalls of intuition. In other words, I would like you to become more skeptical in almost all ways. In your life you will be regularly exposed to outrageous, unsubstantiated claims about products, health remedies, and various other phenomena, and I hope that as a result of taking this course you will be at least a little bit better at evaluating the quality of evidence used in support of such arguments.
In addition to my informal goals, every course that you take is designed to help you acquire formal knowledge and skills.I would like you to become a more sophisticated observer of human behavior by learning to think about humans scientifically by understanding the limitations and pitfalls of intuition.
The course will help you achieve the following psychology department learning goals:
1. Apply the scientific method to studying the mind, the brain, and behavior.
2. Understand the basic theoretical approaches and classic empirical findings of psychology.
3. Effectively communicate through grammatically correct writing.
Your progress toward the learning goals will be assessed by written lab reports and tests based upon textbook readings and other information presented in the class.
TOPICS & CLASS SCHEDULE READINGS
Monday, September 9 – First Day of Class; Introduction to the Course -
Wednesday, September 11 - Introduction to the Field of Psychology Chapter 1
Thursday, September 12 – Lab Sections Meet and Get Organized
Friday, September 13 – Scientific Methods in Psychology Chapter 2
Monday, September 16 – Scientific Methods in Psychology Chapter 2
Wednesday, September 28 – Biological Psychology Chapter 3
Thursday, September 19 - LAB #1 –
Drawing Conclusions from Experimental Data: A Mirror Drawing Experiment.
TEST #1 (Friday, September 20) CHAPTERS 1 & 2
Monday, September 23 – Biological Psychology Chapter 3
Wednesday, September 25 – Biological Psychology Chapter 3
Thursday, September 26 - LAB #2 – Using PsycInfo to Find Psychology Research Articles
- Click HERE to download the instructions for this lab.
Friday, September 27 – Learning: Operant & Classical Conditioning Chapter 6
TEST #2 (Monday, September 30) CHAPTER 3
Wednesday, October 2 – Learning: Operant & Classical Conditioning Chapter 6
Thursday, October 3 - LAB #3 – Sniffy the Virtual Rat
Friday, October 4 - Learning: Operant & Classical Conditioning Chapter 6
Monday, October 7 – Intro to Cognitive Psychology & Perception Module 4.3 (pp. 121-135)
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Wednesday, October 9 - Perception, Attention, & Pattern Recognition pp. 245 - 250
Thursday, October 10 - LAB #4 – The Stroop Effect
- Click HERE FIRST for a brief video introduction to the Stroop Effect
​- Click HERE to download the instructions for conducting this lab experiment (the Stroop Effect)
​- Click HERE to access the website needed to conduct this lab exercise.
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Friday, October 11 - Memory Chapter 7
Monday, October 14 - Memory Chapter 7
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16 – FALL INSTITUTE DAY – NO CLASSES
Thursday, October 17 - LAB #5 – Comparing Strategies of Memory Retrieval
- Click HERE to download the instructions for conducting this lab experiment
(Cued versus Free Recall in Memory Retrieval)
​- Click HERE to access the website where the online lab will take place.
(make sure that the "caps lock" key is not on when you do this experiment!)
Friday, October 18 – Consciousness Chapter 10
TEST # 3 (Monday, October 21) Chapters 6 & 7; & pp. 121-135 & pp. 245-250
Wednesday, October 23 - Consciousness Chapter 10
Thursday, October 24 - LAB # 6 – Nonverbal Communication
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Chapter 5
(Please Note! I will not be lecturing on Chapter 5 – Human Development – but you still need to study it as it will be on the next test)
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Friday, October 25 – Social Psychology Chapter 13
Monday, October 28 - Emotion Chapter 12
Wednesday, October 30 – Personality Chapter 14
Thursday, October 31 – LAB #7 – The Dark Triad Personality
-Click HERE FIRST for more background information about the Dark Triad personality traits.
​- Click HERE to download the instructions for conducting this lab exercise.
​- Click HERE to access the website where you will fill out the Dark Triad Personality Scale.
Friday, November 1 – Personality Chapter 14
TEST # 4 (Monday, November 4) Chapters 5, 10, 13
Wednesday, November 6 - Abnormal Psychology: Disorders & Treatment Chapter 15
Thursday, November 7 – LAB #8 – A Case Study in Schizophrenia
- Click HERE to download the instructions for conducting this lab exercise (A Case Study of Schizophrenia)
​- Click HERE to access the video needed to conduct this lab exercise.
Friday, November 8 - Abnormal Psychology: Disorders & Treatment Chapter 15
Monday, November 11 - Abnormal Psychology: Disorders & Treatment Chapter 15
TEST #5 (During Scheduled Final Exam Time – Chapters 12, 14, & 15)
GRADING
Your grade will be based upon the average percentage score of your FOUR best test scores and your SIX highest lab report scores. In other words, I will drop your lowest test score and also your TWO lowest lab report scores. I will be translating lab report grades into scores that will get averaged in with the test scores, and collectively the six lab reports will carry the same weight as two tests.
Here are the grade cutoffs: A = 93%; A- = 90%; B+ = 88%; B = 83%; B- = 80%; C+ = 78%; C = 73%; C- = 70%; D+ = 68%; D = 63%; D- = 60%; F < 60%.
THE TESTS
Most of the students in Psyc 100 this term are first-year students, and most of these students did not have a normal four years of high school. Consequently, I do not want the tests to be unnecessarily stressful, so I am making some accommodations that you should find helpful. So, here is the deal with the tests.
*There will be five tests, and I will be dropping your lowest test score.
*All tests will be multiple choice.
*To help you get used to how it all works, I will ease you into the testing by having the first two tests
be shorter and cover less material than the later tests.
*The tests will NOT be open-book/open-note tests, so be sure to study well in advance!
You must take the test in the Science-Math Center during the regular class period. You cannot communicate or collaborate with other students or use any electronic devices while you are taking a test -- I will consider these things to be Honor Code Violations.
The tests will be based primarily on the textbook, but I will also include information from my class lectures that may not be in the textbook.
THE LABS
Every Thursday you will attend a laboratory section led by an upper-class student. YOU MUST ATTEND THE LAB SECTION THAT YOU ARE REGISTERED FOR. During each session, you will engage in a brief demonstration or experiment. The experiment will provide the data needed to write up the lab report for that week, and it will be due on the following Thursday. There will be eight lab experiments. All reports will be typed, double spaced, and written in the appropriate format. The quality of your writing WILL be a contributing factor in the grade that you receive.
While the length and format will differ a bit from week to week, the average report will only be about two or three pages in length.
LAB REPORTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED LATE. If you do not hand in a report on the Thursday that it is due, you will receive a score of zero, so be sure to pay close attention to the date on which each report is due. EACH LAB REPORT will be graded on a ten-point scale, and the average percentage on your lab reports will be weighted the same as TWO test scores in your final grade. I will drop your TWO LOWEST LAB REPORT GRADES so that only six lab grades will be figured into your final grade in the course.
How will you submit the lab reports?
There are eight lab assistants who are helping me to manage the labs for this class. Each one of these individuals is a bright, upper-level psychology student. They will be helping me manage and grade the lab exercises and reports. You will submit a paper copy of your lab report directly to the TA to whom you have been assigned. To figure out who your Lab TA is, check the Psyc 100L lab section that you are enrolled in and find your teaching assistant's name and email address below:
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Psyc 100L (Section A, 2nd period) – Sania Shetty (svshetty@knox.edu)
Psyc 100L (Section B, 3rd period) – Daeun Kim (dakim@knox.edu)
Psyc 100L (Section E, 3rd Period) – Aaron Shinefield (ashinefield@knox.edu)
Psyc 100L (Section C, 5th period) – Kylie Thomson (kmthomson@knox.edu)
Psyc 100L (Section F, 5th period) – Manuel Espitia (mcespitia@knox.edu)
Psyc 100L (Section D, 6th period) – Evan Morris (eemorris@knox.edu)
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BONUS POINTS FOR LAB ATTENDANCE:
Each week, your TA will be taking attendance at the beginning of your lab period. If you have perfect attendance at the lab sessions this term, you will receive bonus points in the form of 5% being added onto the grade of the lowest test score that I am counting toward your final grade. The lab meeting during the first week of the term will NOT count, as many students may have added the course late.
Participation in Psychological Research (extra credit opportunity)
By participating in research projects being conducted in our department, you can earn bonus points (extra credit). You are free to participate in as many studies as you like, and you will earn one point for each half-hour of research that is an online survey and two points for each half hour of research that requires showing up at a laboratory. However, no one will earn more than 8 points through research participation. If you volunteer to participate in an experiment and fail to show up, you will no longer be eligible to participate in research for extra credit.
When such opportunities arise, I will forward a link to studies for you to participate in.
