COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS

Purpose: Psychology 101 will provide you with a broad, general introduction to the scientific discipline that attempts to understand human and animal behavior. The course will cover Psychology's basic subject matter, its approaches to gathering and evaluating evidence about the correlates and causes of behavior, and also the means by which psychological knowledge is (or can be) applied to improve the quality of individual and communal life. Psychology 101 is the typical gateway to more advanced courses in the Department of Psychology, which develop in greater breadth and depth topics covered in the lectures and readings in this basic course. I, and any of the course staff, will be happy to describe these advanced offerings to you, as well as the psychology major and possible career opportunities. Throughout the term we will discuss the relevance of psychology background to careers in law, medicine, social work, psychiatry, education, business, and child care. I'd like you to consider taking advanced courses in the field and hope that your Psychology 101 venture will stimulate you to do so.

Objectives

1. Knowledge of Psychology. This is the primary goal we attempt to evaluate directly by examinations. It includes (a) awareness of major psychological approaches to the study of the behavior of organisms; (b) awareness of the major problems of psychology (c) knowledge of its origins and important contributors;(d) knowledge of research findings, concepts, and basic terminology; (e) understanding of its methodology and its limitations.

2. Development of Scientific Values and Skills.
Some of these goals are testable; others will evolvemore slowly, perhaps not completely during the semester. Included are (a) stimulation of intellectual curiosity about human and animal behavior; (b) appreciation of the scientific method; (c) recognition of the operation of individual bias in experimentation, observation, and reporting of what has been observed and/or measured;and (d) a critical attitude toward all generalizations,and an ability to evaluate them on the basis of the evidence upon which they claim to be based.

3. Personal Development. Only you can be the judge of whether this goal has been attained, and the evidence might not be manifest for some time.Ideally, contact with psychological knowledge should: (a) increase your understanding and tolerance of your own behavior and that of others, especially a greater acceptance of what is labeled "deviant," "abnormal," "pathological," "crazy," or "different";(b) provide a better understanding of the forces acting upon you to limit or prevent your freedom of choice or action--those in your past (guilt, traumatic memories, obligations, bad contracts, unrewarded experiences, punishment, low self-esteem, shyness, and others);those in the present (social pressures to conform, comply, obey, perform, to do what others reward you for, and personal pressures to be recognized, approved of, accepted and loved); and those in the future ( your unrealistic expectations, aspirations, concern for liabilities and responsibilities, security and death, among others); (c) stimulate your curiosity to explain why people (and you) behave as they (and you) do; (d) help you develop an intelligent skepticism about accepting unwarranted truths,"psychology in everyday life" conclusions made in the mass media, as well as those made by "authorities."