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SENIOR SEMINAR:
A CAPSTONE
EXPERIENCE
(Fall 2009, 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! The bookstore should have your textbooks in stock. If they run out, you can purchase them in ebook format: Hothersall from http://www.coursesmart.com/students and Benjamin from http://www.cengage.com/highered/
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.
NOTE: You must have your textbooks at the beginning of the semester. Reading assignments and homework typically begin in the first week. If you cannot afford the required texts, ask about the emergency loan program at our Financial Aid Office.
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 at the beginning
of the week assigned on 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. You will have 24 hours in which to complete your test (timed test, usually about 50 minutes). There are no make-ups. You must make arrangements so that you have access to a computer on the test days. This applies to traveling athletes, students on field trips, those sick at home, visiting relatives, etc.
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
24-28 |
Orientation
to the course (You will be
sent notification of the time and place of our orientation session) |
Get
started on reading |
|
2 |
Aug
31 - Sept 4 |
Beginnings
of Applied Psychology; Clinical Psychology |
B:
Chapters 1, 2 (Homework always due
midnight Monday of the week assigned) |
|
3 |
Sept
7-11 |
School
Psychology; Industrial-Organizational Psychology |
B:
Chapters 3, 4 |
|
4 |
Sept
14-18 |
Counseling
Psychology; The Profession in the 21st Century |
B:
Chapters 5, 6 |
|
5 |
Sept
21-25 |
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
28 - Oct 2 |
Early
Studies of the Central Nervous System |
H:
Chapter 3 |
|
7 |
Oct
5-9 |
Wilhelm
Wundt and the Founding of Psychology; Edward Titchener and Hugo
Munsterberg |
H:
Chapters 4, 5 |
|
8 |
Oct
12-16 |
German
Psychologists of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries |
H:
Chapter 6 |
|
9 |
Oct
19-23 |
Gestalt
Psychology in |
H:
Chapter 7 |
|
10 |
Oct
26-30 |
History
of Clinical Psychology and the Development of Psychoanalysis |
H:
Chapter 8 |
|
11 |
Nov
2-6 |
Darwin,
Galton, Cattell, James, and Hall |
H:
Chapter 9 |
|
12 |
Nov
9-13 |
Functionalism |
H:
Chapter 10 |
|
13 |
Nov
16-20 |
Historical
Uses and Abuses of Intelligence Testing |
Chapter
11 |
| Nov 23-27 | Thanksgiving Break | ||
|
14 |
Nov
30 - Dec 4 |
Behaviorism
of John B. Watson and the Work of Ivan Pavlov |
Chapter
12 |
|
15 |
Dec
7-11 |
Neobehaviorist
Psychologists |
Chapter
13 |
|
-- |
Dec
14-18 |
Epilogue
& Intro |
Epilogue
& Introduction sections |