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Introduction to Psychology
Prof. William M. Trochim

Description

This course provides an overview of the field of psychology, which is at the heart of trying to understand who we are as human beings. Psychology touches all aspects of human consciousness and behavior and consequently is related to many other areas of study. The field can roughly be divided into five broad domains: biopsychology; cognitive psychology; developmental psychology; social & personality psychology and clinical psychology. While psychology has many distinct subspecialties, all areas share a common approach that uses scientific methods to study different aspects of human behavior. This course will introduce and briefly summarize the major domains of psychology including: the relationship of psychology to our physical selves (biopsychology); how we perceive the world around us (the psychology of perception); human consciousness and memory (cognitive psychology); what motivates people (motivational psychology); how people learn (learning psychology); how we develop over the course of our lives (developmental psychology); human feelings and emotions (the psychology of emotion); how we behave in groups (social psychology); how human behavior evolves (evolutionary psychology); what is considered mental “illness” (abnormal psychology); and how we can enhance mental health (clinical psychology). The major figures involved in the history of psychology will be introduced, including Sigmund Freud, William James, Jean Piaget, Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, B.F. Skinner, Carl Rogers, and Abraham Maslow. Students will come away from this course with an appreciation of the richness of the field of psychology and some sense of which aspects of psychology they find most interesting to them.

Learning Objectives

 

Assignment

Each student will produce a brief essay (<1500 words or <6 pages, double-spaced) that describes a topic or issue of interest to them that is related to what has been discussed in this course on psychology. Students are free to select their own topic. The outline should address:

 

Recommended Readings

There is no required text for this course – course content will be presented through in-class presentations/lectures. However, students may benefit by the suggested reading materials provided for each class session. Reading one or more of the suggested readings before each class will enhance the student’s understanding of the material. All of these suggested readings are available through:

Lumen Learning: Introduction to Psychology. Accessed at: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-psychology/, December, 2021. 

Course Schedule

Lecture

Topics

Lecture 1: Foundations of Psychology & Biopsychology

Summary:
This class introduces the history and major schools of thought in the field of psychology. It also describes the five major domains of the field (which will constitute the five remaining classes of this course). Finally, it describes the idea of research in psychology and the major psychological research methods. 

With respect to biopsychology, students learn: how to: identify the basic structures of a neuron, the function of each structure, and how messages travel through the neuron; describe the role of the nervous system and endocrine systems; identify and describe the parts of the brain; and, explain how nature, nurture, and epigenetics influence personality and behavior.

Outline & Suggested Readings:

Psychological Foundations

Psychological Research

Biopsychology

  • Introductions
  • Overview of course (review of syllabus)
  • Total Lecture time is 77 minutes 43 seconds + an 8 minute 9 second enrichment video

 

  • Quick Brainstorm – Give 20 seconds to write down the names of as many “famous” psychologists as they know of – enter the results in chat box – discuss implications

[Break]

  • Breakout Group Question: Q1-03 Biopsychology
  • Discussion

Lecture 2: Perception & Cognitive Psychology

Summary:
In this class, students learn about sensation and perception and about the field of cognitive psychology.

With respect to sensation and perception, students learn to: differentiate between sensation and perception; explain the process of vision and how people see color and depth
explain the basics of hearing; describe the basic anatomy and functions of taste, smell, touch, pain, and the vestibular sense; and, define perception and give examples of gestalt principles and multimodal perception.

The other topic in this class is the general domain of cognitive psychology including the topics of thinking and intelligence, and of memory. 

With respect to thinking and intelligence, students will learn to: describe cognition and problem-solving strategies; describe language acquisition and the role language plays in communication and thought; and, describe intelligence theories and intelligence testing.

With respect to memory, students will learn to: explain the process of memory; explain and give examples of forgetting and memory failure; and, recognize and apply memory-enhancing strategies.

Outline & Suggested Readings

Thinking & Intelligence

Memory

  • Total Lecture time is 76 minutes 0 seconds + a 3 minute 37 second enrichment video

[Break]

Lecture 3: Developmental Psychology & Motivational Psychology

Summary:
This class deals with the two major areas of development: learning, lifespan development and motivation.

With respect to the psychology of learning students will learn to: explain learning and the process of classical conditioning; explain operant conditioning, reinforcement, and punishment; and, describe latent learning and observational learning.

With respect to lifecourse development, students will learn to: compare and contrast theories lifespan development theories; explain the physical, cognitive, and emotional development that occurs from infancy through childhood; and, describe physical, cognitive, and emotional development in adolescence and adulthood.

With respect to motivation, students will learn to: explain motivation, how it is influenced, and major theories about motivation; describe hunger and eating in relation to motivation, obesity, anorexia, and bulimia; and, explain theories of emotion and how we express and recognize emotion.

Outline & Suggested Readings

Learning
What Is Learning?

Lifespan Development

Motivation and Emotion

  • Total Lecture time is 82 minutes 27 seconds + 10 minutes 44 seconds optional enrichment

 

Lecture 4: Personality & Social Psychology

Summary:
This class focuses on the topics of personality and social psychology.

With respect to personality psychology, students will learn to: define personality and the contributions of Freud and neo-Freudians to personality theory; describe and differentiate between personality theories; and, explain the use and purpose of common personality tests.

With respect to social psychology, students will learn to: recognize aspects of social psychology, including the fundamental attribution error, biases, social roles, and social norms, in your daily life; describe how attitudes can be changed through cognitive dissonance and persuasion; explain how conformity, obedience, groupthink, social facilitation, social loafing, and altruism relate to group behavior; and, explain prejudice, discrimination, and aggression.

Outline & Suggested Readings

Personality

Social Psychology

  • Total Lecture time is 77 minutes 48 seconds + 6 minutes 27 seconds enrichment

Video: Stanford Prison Experiment: https://youtu.be/GePFFf5gRKo (2:07)

Video: The Asch Experiment: https://youtu.be/6AUqTwGV3GQ (2:03)

Video: The Milgram Experiment: https://youtu.be/Kzd6Ew3TraA (2:17)

 

Lecture 5: Mental Health and Psychological Disorders

Summary:
This class focuses on the topics of psychological disorders in mental health.

With respect to psychological disorders, students will learn to: define psychological disorders and explain how they are classified; describe the features and characteristic symptoms of anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias), obsessive-compulsive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder; differentiate these anxiety disorders from each other; describe the characteristic symptoms and risk factors of mood disorders, including major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder; explain symptoms and potential causes of schizophrenic and dissociative disorders; define personality disorders and distinguish between the three clusters of personality disorders; and, explain common childhood disorders, including attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.

Psychological Disorders

  • Total Lecture time is 52 minutes + 1 minute 40 seconds enrichment

 

Lecture 6: Clinical Psychology

Summary:
This class focuses on therapy and treatment in clinical psychology.

With respect to therapy and treatment, students will learn to: describe the treatment of mental health disorders over time; identify and explain the basic characteristics of various types of therapy; and, explain and compare treatment modalities.

Outline & Suggested Readings

Therapy and Treatment

  • Total Lecture time is 47 minutes 59 seconds

 

[Break]

  • Introduce the DSM-5 and discuss Schizophrenia (in PDF, Schizophrenia starts on page 87 – page 125 in pdf pages)