Psychology 023

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Psychology 023 Winter Term
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Winter term topics

• Motivation
• Why do people do the things they do?
• Intelligence Reasoning
• Are some people smarter than others? Why? How
  can we measure intelligence? How do people solve
  problems and what common errors occur?
• Language Nonverbal Communication
• What rules do people use to communicate with and
  without words?
• Cognitive Development
• How do children learn to think?
• Social Development
• How do children learn to interact with others?
• Social Perception
• How do people understand their own behavior and
  the behavior of others? Why does prejudice and
  racism occur and how can it be minimized?
• Social Influence
• How can individuals, groups, governments and
  advertisers affect peoples behavior? Why do
  nice people sometimes behave in evil ways?
• Personality
• Why are people so different in their
  personalities? How can personality be measured?
  What drives behavior -- personality or situation?
• Mental Disorders Treatment
• What can go wrong with peoples mental health
  (anxiety mood disorders, schizophrenia,
  personality disorders, including psychopathy) and
  how can disorders be treated?
• Positive Psychology

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Is Psychology obvious?

• Is the fluffier side of psychology just the study
  of the obvious?
• How often is our intuitive psychology correct?

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Before and After 023 Questions
Answer these questions now based on your
intuition. Look at them again at the end of the
course.

• You are a parent and you want your child, aged
  10, to do well in school. Should you pay your
  child for getting good grades?
• Your friend gets a pet chimp and wants to teach
  it to communicate. How successful do you think
  he will be?
• You are a school teacher and have found that one
  particular ethic group in your class is being
  discriminated against by the other students.
  What could you do to reduce the problem?
• What is schizophrenia? What is a psychopath?
• Was Freud the most important psychologist who
  ever lived or was he just an overrated
  sex-obsessed anti-woman nutbar?
• You are at Masonville Mall and see a pickpocket
  pulling a wallet out of a guys pants. Would you
  stop him or keep walking?
• Adolf Eichmann was a Nazi who supervised the
  deportation of 6 million Jews to the gas
  chambers. Was he inherently evil?

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Winter Prof
Mrs. Culham (of Green Gables)
Dr. Culham/Jody (of Green Gables)

• aka Dr. Culham, Professor Culham, Jody, Dr. Jody,
  Ms. Culham, hey you
• any e-mails addressed to Mrs. Culham get
  forwarded to the professors mother
• jculham_at_uwo.ca
• include 023 at start of e-mail subject to make
  your e-mail spam-proof
• empty Subject lines from unknown names get
  deleted
• Office Hours
• make an appointment by e-mail
• Phone
• 661-2111 x85643

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Who should I ask?

• Fall semester content, exams or grades
• Ask Dr. Johnston
• kjohnst9_at_uwo.ca
• Research participation requirements
• Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen
  Harris
• Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen
  Harris
• Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen
  Harris
• Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen Harris Ask Helen
  Harris
• http//psyclone.psych.uwo.ca/intropsy/
• hmharris_at_uwo.ca
• Alternative to research participation requirement
• Ask T.A. Nick Cothros
• ncothros_at_uwo.ca
• Everything else

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Course Web Page

• http//instruct.uwo.ca/psychology/023/

• check announcements regularly
• check exam grades
• lecture outline and class info
• lecture notes will be available by 6 pm the
  evening before the next days class
• I recommend you print handouts and bring them to
  class to jot notes on
• if we dont get to everything, stopping point
  will be noted and you will be expected to bring
  previous days handout to class
• optional web sites and demos

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The Common Wisdom

• Do not read the textbook if you can learn it
  from the lectures. Textbooks are boring.
• Do not go to class if you can learn it from the
  textbook. Professors are boring.

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Wiser Wisdom Lectures

• Attend classes
• classes reinforce material covered in text
• classes include some material not in text
• professors are more enthusiastic when teaching
  material they find interesting
• videos, stories and demos give different
  perspective and may be more memorable
• opportunities for questions, clarification
  discussion

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How Much?!!!

• Textbook
• 104
• Lectures
• UWO tuition for Science student 5,078
• Tuition per 1-semester course 508
• Number of full lectures this semester 22
• Cost per lecture 23.09
• Note This cost is only a fraction (1/3 in
  Ontario) of the true cost of an education, with
  the remainder paid by taxpayers
• For comparison
• Cost of movie at Silver City 9.95

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Think!

• Even though slide handouts are available on the
  web site, they deliberately do not contain
  everything
• from the memory section, you may now realize that
  the likelihood of remembering something is
  related to the depth of processing (how deeply
  you think about it)
• take notes in margins
• fill in missing bits
• write down examples
• take notes on videos
• make sure you understand concepts and can apply
  them to new situations
• review lectures after class to reinforce material

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Wiser Wisdom Text

• Learn the text
• text can go into more detail than we have time
  for in class
• lots of material
• check Lectures page of web to see specific Focus
  Questions that will be tested
• study actively, not passively
• reading alone is not enough
• you must actively think about the material to
  digest it
• if you must use a highlighter, use it sparingly
• recommended method for reading text
• read a focus question section
• take point-form notes on the concepts, jargon,
  details
• answer the focus questions
• study guide is optional

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The 8-hour guideline

• Your education is a full-time job
• Assuming 40 hours of work per week, you should be
  spending 8 hours per course per week
• Sample Weekly Breakdown
• 3 hours in class
• 1 hour reviewing class notes
• 2 hours actively reading text
• 1 hour organizing information and studying

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Exam Question Breakdown
Lectures Only (includes videos) 20-25
Text Only 20-25
Overlap of Lectures and Text 50-60
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Tues. Thurs.

• Tuesday class
• 1200 - 1250
• Thursday class
• 1200 - 130 at the latest (except test days
  when you will have the full 1 hour, 50 mins if
  needed)
• more video clips
• usually clips rather than full videos to
  highlight important stuff without putting
  everybody to sleep

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Test Dates

• Term Test 3
• Thursday February 2, in class
• 40 multiple choice questions
• up to 1 hour, 50 minutes
• 10 of course grade
• all material from Jan 10-31 (Lectures 1-7)
• Term Test 4
• Thursday March 9, in class
• 40 multiple choice questions
• up to 1 hour, 50 minutes
• 10 of course grade
• all material from Feb 7 - Mar 7 (Lectures 8-14)
• Final examination
• To be scheduled by the registrar in Exam Period
  (April 13-30)
• 100 multiple choice questions
• up to 3 hours
• 30 of course grade

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Test Format

• multiple choice
• some factual/definitional questions
• more conceptual/analytical questions
• Test yourself sample questions
• will be given at start of each class so you have
  an idea what to expect
• a list of names you are expected to know will be
  provided
• dates of experiments will not be tested
• each days lecture will begin with a review of
  the highlights from the previous day

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Need Help?

• General help
• Learning Skills Services at the Student
  Development Centre offers clinics and one-on-one
  assistance. Rm. 210 UCC, http//www.sdc.uwo.ca/le
  arning/
• Psych 023 help
• Make an appointment with me
• Careers in Psychology
• See 023 web site for links
• talk to the Psych drop-in centre (SSC 3rd floor
  by Starbucks)