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SENIOR SEMINAR: A CAPSTONE
EXPERIENCE
(Fall 2008, section 1)
Catalog course
description: Integrative
review of psychology focusing on the history of the field or a broad issue
within the discipline. Format emphasizes class discussion, oral presentation,
and written reports. A capstone experience. Prereq: Senior Standing. Must be
taken during final year of coursework or IA.
Instructor: David
Campbell
Office:
444 BSS
Phone:
826-3721
Office
Hours: Continuous (by e-mail) & by appointment. Note: I am
usually in my office Wed & Thurs mornings for drop-in visits.
E-mail:
dec1@humboldt.edu
Web site:
www.humboldt.edu/~campbell/psyc.htm
Required texts:
Be sure to purchase the correct edition!
Hothersall, D. (2004). History of psychology. NY: McGraw-Hill. (ISBN:
0-07-284965-7)
Benjamin, L. T. Jr., & Baker, D. B. (2004). From séance to science: A
history of the profession of psychology in America.
Overview
& Goals This course is designed to be the capstone course in the
major. It provides you with an intellectual appreciation of significant
issues in contemporary psychology. We achieve this through study of how psychology
has evolved from its scientific precursors in ancient Greece to modern
times. You will learn the stories of the people who shaped this
discipline and how they were influenced (and had influence upon) their
times. By the end of the semester, you will have developed an overall
perspective of psychology with its various systems of thought. In short, this
course provides you with a "look back" at where the discipline has
been and a "look forward" at where it appears to be headed.
Class Procedure We use an on-line seminar
format. Instead of lectures, we will emphasize discussion and debate over
ideas presented in your reading on an internet discussion board. You must
do the assigned reading on your own and send in homework assignments (really
discussion questions over the reading) as you would in a traditional
class. And you will have several exams over the course material—all
completed over the web. The way it works is you do your reading and
homework preparation over the weekend or at the beginning of the week.
Your homework is submitted via the Moodle site. Then frequently during
the week, you are expected to logon to Moodle and contribute to the discussion
using a bulletin board format. This will require a fair amount of your
time, but if done conscientiously, you will find that the class discussion is
one of the most interesting parts of the whole course. The expectation
is that you will spend a total of 4 hours each week participating in class
discussion (note that we are using the 4 hours you would normally spend
traveling to, waiting for, and attending lectures each week).
Homework
Assignments
Reactions and
thoughts related to your reading assignments (including at a minimum your
responses to the
study questions that your instructor has prepared) will constitute the
homework for this class. The goal of these assignments is to encourage
active engagement with the material in your reading. Passive reading
identifies the weak student; thoughtful and critical reaction to the reading is
the mark of a true scholar.
Term paper
Details for this
writing assignment are provided on Moodle. It is suggested that you begin
preparing this paper early in the semester.
Grading
(approximate weighting) Note:
Details on the grading of each course component are provided on our Moodle
site.
15%
Homework assignments (notes on reading) Due Monday evenings by
midnight.
Graded as done/not done. You are expected to
prepare thoughtful discussion notes, prompted in part
by the study questions. Incomplete, late,
missing, or minimally-prepared notes will lower your grade.
45%
3 midterm exams over material from the reading assignments. These are generally
made up of multiple-choice and short essay items.
To help you prepare for these tests, there
is a student study guide on the publisher’s web site at http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072849657/student_view0/
20%
Term paper.
Graded on clarity of thought, organization of ideas,
and quality of writing. See general grading criteria at http://www.humboldt.edu/~campbell/Grading_Term_Papers.htm
20%
Class participation
This is a discussion class based on readings.
Hence, thoughtful and frequent contributions to the virtual class
discussion will earn you a high grade. Expect a
lower grade if you post contributions to the discussion board only once a week,
make short
posts that show little thought, fail to address ideas in previous posts, or
provide confused and poorly-thought out
contributions. Strive for frequent, high-quality, thought-provoking
contributions to our discussion board
and you should do fine with this part of the course.
Extra Credit:
You can earn extra credit in this course by participating in one or two hours
of research as a participant (subject). To sign up for experiments, you
need to first create an account in the participation pool system.
Instructions are available at http://www.humboldt.edu/~cla18/partpool.htm
No specific point values are associated with extra credit work. However, such
activities will be considered when course grades are determined and may be
useful when students are near the border between two letter grades. Note:
research participation appointments are taken seriously. While 2-3 hours of
participation credits can improve your grade in borderline situations, failing
to show up for scheduled research can lower your grade.
Student
Responsibilities:
You are expected to tackle this course in a constructive and mature
manner. Your instructor expects you to make your work in this course a
high priority, keeping up with reading, and completing all assignments on
time. Exams, in particular, must be taken when scheduled. There are no
make-up exams in this course. Also, be sure to review the HSU policy on academic honesty.
You need to be aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism (e.g., is it
OK to turn in essentially the same paper in two classes with similar
assignments, or is it OK to make use of quizzes provided by your roommate from
the same class last semester?).
Brief Schedule
of Topics and Reading Assignments
|
Wk # |
Week
|
Topic |
“H” = Hothersall
text; “B” = Benjamin text |
|
1 |
Aug 25-29 |
Orientation to
the course (An orientation session is
scheduled at 5:00 on Tues in BSS 166) |
Get started on
reading |
|
2 |
Sept 1-5 |
Beginnings of
Applied Psychology; Clinical Psychology |
B: Chapters 1, 2 |
|
3 |
Sept 8-12 |
School
Psychology; Industrial-Organizational Psychology |
B: Chapters 3, 4 |
|
4 |
Sept 15-19 |
Counseling
Psychology; The Profession in the 21st Century |
B: Chapters 5, 6 |
|
5 |
Sept 22-26 |
Psychology and
the Ancients; Philosophical & Scientific Antecedents of Psychology |
Psychology and
the Ancients; Philosophical & Scientific Antecedents of PsychologyH:
Chapters 1, 2. Note the publisher’s website for this text: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072849657/student_view0/
|
|
6 |
Sept 29-Oct 3 |
Early Studies of
the Central Nervous System |
H: Chapter 3 |
|
7 |
Oct 6-10 |
Wilhelm Wundt
and the Founding of Psychology; Edward Titchener and Hugo Munsterberg |
H: Chapters 4, 5 |
|
8 |
Oct 13-17 |
German
Psychologists of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries |
H: Chapter 6 |
|
9 |
Oct 20-24 |
Gestalt
Psychology in |
H: Chapter 7 |
|
10 |
Oct 27-31 |
History of
Clinical Psychology and the Development of Psychoanalysis |
H: Chapter 8 |
|
11 |
Nov 3-7 |
Darwin, Galton,
Cattell, James, and Hall |
H: Chapter 9 |
|
12 |
Nov 10-14 |
Functionalism |
H: Chapter 10 |
|
13 |
Nov 17-21 |
Historical Uses
and Abuses of Intelligence Testing |
Chapter 11 |
|
Nov 24-28 |
Vacation |
-- |
|
|
14 |
Dec 1-5 |
Behaviorism of
John B. Watson and the Work of Ivan Pavlov |
Chapter 12 |
|
15 |
Dec 8-12 |
Neobehaviorist
Psychologists |
Chapter 13 |
|
-- |
Dec 15-19 |
Epilogue &
Intro |
Epilogue &
Introduction sections |