Introductory Psychology – PSY 1010

Fall 2018
TTh: 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM

Instructor: Dr. Richard Slatcher, Ph.D.

Location: General Lectures 100
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (313) 577-9091 (but email is usually the quickest and best way to reach me)
Office: Department of Psychology, 5057 Woodward, Rm. 8405.2 (eighth floor)
(This is the tall building, just North of Warren with large antenna on roof. Also
known as the Maccabees Building)

Office: Thursdays from 3-5 or by appointment in my office (see office information above)
Hours

TAs: Lama Ayoub, Christina Dandar, Shay Excell, Kylie Kadey, Liyah Marshall,
Danny Mulligan

I. Course Overview

Welcome to Introductory Psychology. This is one of my favorite courses to teach. As you will
soon learn, psychology is a relatively young discipline that examines how we think, feel, and
behave. We will cover most of the basic concepts of psychology: biological bases of behavior,
learning, memory, intelligence, development, personality, motivation, social psychology,
emotion, stress, psychological disorders, treatment, and positive psychology.

I think you will find this course both fun and interesting. But I want to emphasize off the bat that
psychology is a science based heavily on research. My aim as your professor is to get you excited
not only about everyday psychology, but about psychological research as well. Throughout this
course, we will weave through a number of real-world examples illustrating psychological
research in action and we will have a number of in-class demonstrations, experiments, and video
clips.

If there is one thing that I want you to get out of this course, it is for you to start thinking like a
research psychologist. In your daily interactions with your friends, family, romantic partners,
acquaintances and others, start thinking about why it is that other people think and behave in
the ways they do. And why it is that you think and behave in the ways that you do. By the end of
the semester, you should be coming up with testable hypotheses…and then be able go and test
them.

Learning Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
• Identify and describe the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and
historical trends in psychology.

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 • Apply basic research methods in psychology, including research design, data analysis, and
interpretation.
• Apply scientific reasoning and skepticism concerning psychological and behavioral
concepts and issues.
• Describe the connection of Psychology with other life and physical sciences.
• Understand and apply psychological principles to personal, social, cultural, and
organizational issues.
• Understand the nature of a career in the different sub-disciplines of Psychology, and
curriculum options available in the Psychology department.

II. Course Materials and Learning Resources

A. Required materials:
1. R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba Textbook Series: Discover Psychology 2.0 – A
Brief Introductory Text. Champaign, IL: DEF Publishers. DOI: nobaproject.com. (NOTE: This
is a FREE online text, which has been posted on Canvas).
2. Supplementary readings posted on Canvas.
3. Lab Manual for Introductory Psychology. Wayne State University Psychology Department.
4. An i>clicker response device (“clicker”). This is ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED. The clicker can be
sold back to the bookstore at the end of the semester, just like a textbook. (See below for
information on the original i>clicker vs. the i>clicker2.)
5. Scantron forms, F-14501 (the orange ones, available at the bookstore on campus) for
exams.
B. Internet site:

Wayne State University relies on Canvas as our Learning Management System. Canvas has a
system of automatic notifications to students for things like changes in due dates for
assignments, meeting times, announcements from faculty, etc. Students are responsible for
ensuring that the settings in their Canvas account allow them to receive announcements and
other notifications from within Canvas. Instructors are not responsible for ensuring that students
receive notification through systems other than Canvas. It is up to the student to ensure that
they are able to receive course information from instructors through Canvas.

There will be two web sites for this course on Canvas. The “Lecture site” is maintained by Prof.
Slatcher for course readings, lecture materials, i>clicker grades, and resources. For exam grades
and laboratory grades and information, use the laboratory section site maintained by your TA.
Emails sent to the entire class will also be sent through Canvas. If you are having difficulty using
Canvas, please seek advice from your TA during office hours or make an appointment.

C. Lecture Resources: Lecture slides are available on the lecture Canvas site. I will usually post
them by the evening before the lecture.

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D. Textbook: I will post a PDF of the textbook on the lecture Canvas site. I will also post
supplementary chapters for certain topics there as well.

E. Old Exams. I will post old exams from previous years for this course on Canvas. Note that
different editions of textbooks were used in previous times that I have taught this course. In
addition, each class was organized differently. Study the tests closely but don't bother
memorizing things. Perhaps a small group of old test items will be used on this semester's exams,
but perhaps not.

III. Lecture Schedule

Any modifications or changes to this schedule will be posted on the lecture Canvas site.

Date Topic Reading/Assignment

Thursday Aug 30 Psychology: What makes us tick?
Tuesday Sept 4 Using psychological science to Ch 1: Why Science? (pp. 5
understand the human mind – 15)
Thursday Sept 6 Research methods in psychology Ch 2: Research Designs
(pp. 17 – 32)
Ch 3: Conducting
Psychology Research in
the Real World (pp. 33 –
50)
Your i<clicker must be
purchased and registered
by today!
Tuesday Sept 11 Brain & Behavior I: Neurons Ch. 4: The Brain and
Nervous System (pp. 52 –
66)
Thursday Sept 13 Brain & Behavior II: The Brain Ch. 4: The Brain and
Nervous System (pp. 52 –
66)
Tuesday Sept 18 Learning: How to get those rodents in Ch. 13: Conditioning and
your dorm room to play soccer and Learning (pp. 204 – 229)
salivate when they win
Guest Lecturer: Christina Dandar
Thursday Sept 20 Exam 1
Tuesday Sept 25 Memory encoding and storage Ch. 14: Memory (pp. 231
– 253)
Thursday Sept 27 Memory retrieval and forgetting: Why Ch. 15: Eyewitness
getting excited about your courses helps Testimony and Memory
you get better grades Biases (pp. 254 – 266)
Guest Lecturer: Kylie Kadey
Tuesday Oct 2 Cognitive development across the Ch. 8: Cognitive
lifespan: Why infants love to play peek-a- Development in

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 boo but toddlers don’t Childhood (pp. 108 – 122)
Thursday Oct 4 Social and moral development Ch. 9: Social and
Guest Lecturer: Lama Ayoub Personality Development
in Childhood (pp. 123 –
138)
Tuesday Oct 9 Nature vs. Nurture: Do we act the way we Ch. 5: Evolutionary
do because it’s in our genes or because of Theories in Psychology
how our parents raised us? (pp. 67 – 81)
Guest Lecturer: Danny Mulligan Ch. 6: The Nature-Nurture
Question (pp. 82 – 94)
Thursday Oct 11 Intelligence Ch. 18: (pp. 297 - 310)
Tuesday Oct 16 Exam 2
Thursday Oct 18 Freud and personality: Can we control Supplementary Reading 1:
our drives for sex, drugs and rock n’ roll? “The Psychodynamic
Perspective”
Tuesday Oct 23 Personality traits and assessment: Why Ch. 22: Personality Traits
having your roommate take a personality (pp. 367 – 383)
test before coming to college might have Ch. 23: Personality
been a good idea Assessment (pp. 384 –
403)
Thursday Oct 25 Thinking and Language: How mental Ch. 16: Judgment and
shortcuts can lead to mental mistakes Decision Making (pp. 268
– 281)
Ch. 17: Language and
Language Use (pp. 282 –
296)
Tuesday Oct 30 Motivation: You can’t always get what Ch. 19: Drive States (pp.
you want, but if you try sometimes, you 312 – 324)
get what you need Ch. 21: Motives and Goals
(pp. 349 – 365)
Thursday Nov 1 Emotion Ch. 20: Culture and
Emotion (pp. 325 – 348)
Tuesday Nov 6 Stress and health: Why you often catch a Ch. 36: The Healthy Life
cold after finals (pp. 625 – 629)
Guest Lecturer: Liyah Marshall
Thursday Nov 8 Coping with stress Ch. 36: The Healthy Life
(pp. 629 – 644)
Tuesday Nov 13 Exam 3
Thursday Nov 15 Psychological disorders I Ch. 25: Anxiety and
Guest Lecturer: Shay Excell Related Disorders (pp. 423
– 442)
Ch. 26: Mood Disorders
(p. 443 – 464)
Tuesday Nov 20 Psychological disorders II Ch. 27: Schizophrenia
Spectrum Disorders (pp.

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 465 – 486)
Ch. 28: Personality
Disorders (pp. 487 – 501)

Thursday Nov 22 NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING

Tuesday Nov 27 Treatment of psychological disorders Ch. 29: Therapeutic
Orientations (pp. 503 –
521)
Ch. 30:
Psychopharmacology (pp.
522 – 535)
Thursday Nov 29 Social psychology: When and why do Ch. 31: Social Cognition
people act naughty or nice? and Attitudes (pp. 538 –
557)
Ch. 32: Conformity and
Obedience (pp. 558 – 570)
Ch. 34: Prejudice,
Discrimination and
Stereotyping (pp. 591 –
606)
Tuesday Dec 4 Attraction, love, and relationships Supplementary Readings
2, 3 and 4: “Attraction and
Beauty,” “Love, Friendship
and Social Support” and
“Positive Relationships”
Thursday Dec 6 Happiness and well-being Ch. 35: Happiness – The
Science of Subjective
Well-Being (pp. 608 – 624)
Tuesday Dec 18 FINAL EXAM, 10:15 am – 12:15 pm General Lectures 100

IV. Exams

There will be four exams in this course. Each exam is worth 200 points and will be comprised of
50 multiple-choice questions worth 4 points each. The final exam (4th exam), which is during the
final exam period, is non-cumulative.

Exams will cover material from lectures, the text, and supplementary article readings. This is an
idea class as opposed to a fact class. I am more concerned with what Freud or Skinner thought
than with their birthdays or favorite colors. All of the tests will emphasize psychological concepts
and their relationships to other concepts and to real-world examples. From my experience, the
best way to be prepared for tests is to read all of the material and attend all lectures. Afterwards,
talk with others in the class about the topics we’ve covered. Actively talking with others about
theories and ideas of the course helps to organize them in your mind. Indeed, we will discuss
research evidence that supports this strategy.

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YOU MUST BRING AN ORANGE SCANTRON FORM AND #2 PENCIL FOR EACH EXAM; THESE
CANNOT BE PROVIDED FOR YOU.

YOU MUST BRING YOUR UNIVERSITY ID (ONE CARD) TO THE EXAM; YOUR IDENTITY MAY BE
CHECKED BEFORE YOU ARE ALLOWED TO TURN IN THE EXAM.

All exams will start promptly at 11:30 AM. You are expected to show up on time and prepared to
take the test. In the interest of test security, once the first student completes the exam and
leaves the room, no student will be allowed to start the exam.

You must have a University-approved excuse to miss an exam. If you miss an exam and do not
have a University-approved excuse, you will receive a zero for that exam.

University-approved excuses for missing an exam:

1) Participating in a University-approved athletic event or performance (music, dance, debate,

etc.) which occurs at the time of the exam. You must let me know of the event at least one
week before the exam, and you must provide documentation of the function from the coach,
coordinator, etc.

2) You have a religious holiday that requires that you not attend class at the time of the exam.
You must let me know of the holiday at least one week before the exam to be excused. (Please
review the dates of exams now if this could pose a conflict for you.)

3) You are ill, and can prove it. You must bring me a doctor’s note dated the day of the exam.
You must also let me know of the illness no later than the start of the exam (11:30am).

4) Attendance of a funeral within one week of the exam. You must bring a note from the funeral
home indicating your attendance at the funeral.

5) Your have transportation issues and can prove it with documentation (e.g. police report,
towing receipt, car repair bill). Traffic issues will not be considered, so you need to allow plenty
of time to reach campus.

Failure to meet these requirements will result in a zero for the exam. If you do meet one of the
requirements to take a make-up exam, the make-up exam may be either a multiple choice/short
answer exam or an essay exam, at the instructor’s discretion. To schedule a University-approved
makeup exam, email your TA and be sure to do so within 24 hours of the originally scheduled
exam.

The final exam:

The final exam is on Tuesday, DECEMBER 18th, in the regular classroom, from 10:15 am – 12:15
pm. Please do not plan holiday travel for before this date –students may NOT take the final at
an earlier date to accommodate holiday travel.

To reiterate, the final is simply the 4th exam and non-cumulative.

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According to Wayne State University policy for final exams, “Students are not required to take
more than two exams in one day. A student with more than two scheduled final exams on one
day may (not must) petition to the instructor of the course with the lowest number students
enrolled, to arrange an alternate time for the final exam. Such petitions must be made at least
one week prior to the scheduled date of the final exam.”

Since PSY 1010 is one of the larger classes offered at Wayne State, students seeking to take
advantage of this policy will in all likelihood need to re-schedule the final exam from one of their
other courses (other than MAT 0993).

V. Peer Instruction/Participation using the i>clicker

An i>clicker remote is required for in-class participation and voting in this course. For this class,
you have the option of purchasing an i>clicker2 remote from the Campus Bookstore. Instructions
for using both remotes are on the back of the remote.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION BEFORE PURCHASING YOUR I>CLICKER:

Registering your i>clicker on time

We will be using a Classroom Response System called i>clicker. You MUST have an i>clicker
purchased and registered online by Thursday of the second week of class (Sept. 6). To register
the i>clicker, log into our course on Canvas, and click on the “Register your clicker” button. If you
have not properly registered your i>clicker online prior to class on September 6 when we first
use the i>clickers, you will not be able to earn any i>clicker points.

Purchasing your i>clicker

When purchasing your clicker, be sure to consider whether any of your other courses may
specifically require an i>clicker2 remote. While I will only ask Multiple Choice questions in class,
you may need an i>clicker2 remote for answering numeric/alphanumeric questions in another
course, in which case you’d want to get an i>clicker2.

Daily Participation and Peer Instruction (PI) Points with the i>clicker

Attendance is not compulsory for this course – you do not receive any points simply for attending
class. However, if you do not attend, you will not be able to earn that day’s Peer Instruction (PI)
and/or Participation points. Thus, though it is not required, attendance is rewarded.

Sometimes I will ask questions in class to see if people understand the material presented, or to
gather the opinions of students on a particular topic. These questions will count towards daily
participation.

Peer Instruction is a process I will use in lecture to present questions in class that require you to
apply what you have learned, and to reason your way through to the correct answer. You’ll first

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be asked to answer each question independently using your i>clicker, and then there will time for
class members to discuss the question with each other and answer a second time. Thus, even if
you miss the question the first time, you’ll still have a chance to earn a point based on what you
learn in the discussion with your classmates. There will generally be two or three Peer Instruction
opportunities each lecture, though on occasion I will not get to all of them – unfortunately, that
can’t be helped, so some days may have one PI opportunities, and others will have three. PI
opportunities are NOT extra credit – they are part of the total points possible for the class.

YOU ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE THE PEER INSTRUCTION QUESTIONS YOURSELF – HAVING
SOMEONE ELSE “CLICK IN” FOR YOU IS A VIOLATION OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY, AND WILL BE
TREATED AS SUCH. AT A MINIMUM, YOU WILL LOSE ALL CLICKER POINTS FOR THE SEMESTER.

On days in which we do not get to all of the PI items, the remaining points for that day will be
earned based on Participation. Between Peer Instruction and Participation items, there will be
five (5) points available each day in class. Students participate simply by clicking in with their
i>clickers to 80% of that day’s i>clicker opportunities. Thus, for example, if there are two PI
opportunities in class on a given day, and six other questions using the i>clickers, then there
would be four points available through PI (two points for each PI opportunity), and one point
available for participation. Students who clicked in (with any answer) on 8 of the 10 total
opportunities that day would earn that participation point.

VI. Other Requirements

1. Laboratory.
You must attend the laboratory section of this course, which represents 25% of the total course
points. Partial completion of laboratory assignments will significantly decrease your grade. It is
therefore critical to attend each lab session and complete all of the assigned work. Grading scales
and policies for the lab sections will be fully explained by your TA at the first lab meeting. The
laboratory meets apart from the lecture, and a separate syllabus will be distributed during the
first meeting of the laboratory, which will be the second week of class. Your lab section meets
once per week.

While the lab sections and lecture are separate, there is considerable overlap in the material that
is covered. The timing of the presentation of topics is not always synchronized between lecture
and lab. However, there will be times where I will refer you to information presented in the lab
that you will be responsible for on lecture exams.

Three hundred (300) points (25%) of your final grade come from the weekly laboratory sessions
that accompany the lecture sessions. Your TA will tell you how your lab grade is determined
during the first week of the lab sessions. It is essential that you attend and participate actively
in the lab. Attendance is required for the weekly laboratory sessions. Attendance at lab is
recorded, and a portion of your laboratory grade is based on attendance. The syllabus for the
laboratory session will give more details on this.

You must understand that the lecture component of class and the laboratory component of class
may not always be covering the same topics. I make every effort to keep them as closely aligned
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as possible, but there are times (especially towards the end of the semester) when the lab will be
ahead of the lecture.

2. Research Requirement: You are required to earn a total of 3 credits for research
participation.

You can fulfill this requirement in one of three ways:

1. Option 1: Participate as a subject in a research experiment conducted by a faculty
member of the department of Psychology. Typically, one hour of participation = 1 credit;
these values are assigned by the directors of the research experiments, not your
instructor. The Psychology Department utilizes an online system (called the SONA
system) for signing-up for research participation, and for the tracking and assignment of
research credits. A detailed description of how to access and use this system is below and
also posted in the Course Information section of the lecture Canvas site.

How to Sign up for Experiments: All Wayne State University psychology research experiments
are set-up via an online system. You MUST access this system if you wish to be able to participate
in psychological research. To access this research system, and to enroll yourself as a user for this
system, go to http://clasweb.clas.wayne.edu/psychology/ResearchParticipationSystem(SONA).
From there, click the link that takes you to the SONA homepage and then click on “Request an
account here” located in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. You will then be prompted to
enter some basic information about yourself. You will also be asked to submit an
“[email protected]” email address. You MUST use your WSU access ID (e.g., af0000) email
address for this. If you have not yet activated your access ID, you will need to do so (everyone
is automatically issued one of these, but you must log on to activate it BEFORE requesting an
account from SONA system). Once completed, you will be able to access the site.

After you have logged in the first time, you will be prompted to participate in an online
experiment titled “Mass Screening.” You will receive 0.5 credit for participation in this online
survey. You can opt out of this survey, but very few experiments will be available to you if you
do. If you choose to participate, then you must participate in the mass screening no later than
Monday, September 25th, by 11:59 pm.

Please visit the department homepage http://www.clas.wayne.edu/psychology and then under

“Research” click "Research Participation System.” This will take you to an FAQ page. It is
important that you read the Participant FAQ page now and refer to it during the course of the
semester if you have any questions regarding SONA.

When you are looking at the full list of experiments that you are eligible for, simply click an
experiment, and information will be displayed about the length of the study, what the study
entails, and where you meet at for this study. You will also need to decide which class you want
the extra credit to count for. WARNING: THERE ARE OTHER PSY1010 CLASSES BEING OFFERED
THIS SEMESTER SO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ASSIGN YOUR CREDITS TO THE CORRECT CLASS! YOU
MUST BE SURE THAT YOU ALLOCATE YOUR RESEARCH CREDITS TO YOUR LAB SECTION, WITH
YOUR TEACHING ASSISTANT’S NAME. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CHOOSE THE CORRECT
CLASS OTHERWISE YOUR CREDITS WILL NOT COUNT. If you choose to participate YOU MUST

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click on “view available time slots”, and register for a timeslot that fits in your schedule. You
cannot simply show up at a time without having registered for that timeslot. If you need to
cancel the time you have signed up for, you must login to the system and cancel your time as
many hours in advance as required by the particular experiment (often it is 24 hours but this
time can differ by experiment so make sure to note this information when signing up). Failure to
do so will be counted as a “no show”. WHEN THE SYSTEM RECORDS YOUR SECOND “NO SHOW”,
YOU WILL BE BLOCKED FROM ACCESSING THE SYSTEM, AND YOU WILL NOT ABLE TO
PARTICIPATE IN ANY FURTHER EXPERIMENTS FOR THE REST OF THE SEMESTER. When you sign
up for an experiment, write down the date, time, and place of the experiment and the
experimenter's name and telephone number (including a telephone number where messages
can be left for the experimenter). The staff in the Psychology Department do not keep track of
experiment times and places, so you cannot call them to get this information if you forget to
write it down.

Please note that you will be locked out of SONA at noon on Study Day, Tuesday, December
11th. This means that you will NOT be able to login to SONA to check your credits or to reassign
SONA credits from one class to another after this date and time. Be sure to check and assign your
SONA credits to the correct course and section of that course prior to this date and time.

2. Option 2: Read a research article in a journal, and answer questions on it.

3. Option 3: Write a paper on a newspaper or magazine story dealing with an issue in
Psychology.

Specific instructions for completing options #2 and #3 are posted under Research Requirements
Information on the lecture Canvas site. You must fully adhere to these instructions to receive
credit. Successful completion of one paper counts as one research credit.

For each credit of required research that is not completed, 10 points will be removed from your
total score. A total of 30 points can be deducted.

3. Extra credit
You can obtain additional points for research participation after you have completed the
requirements listed above. You will receive 10 points for each additional completion of one
credit hour of research participation, or 10 points for the completion of additional written
options, up to a total of 40 points maximum.

Early Bird Bonus for Research Participation

In addition to the maximum of 40 Extra Credit points, you may earn 10 more Research
Participation Early Bird Bonus points if you have earned at least 2.0 SONA credits no later than
11:59 pm on Tuesday, October 2nd.

ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE COMPLETED BY 5 PM OF THE DAY OF THE LAST LECTURE

(12/6/17).

VII. Grading
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Your grade is determined by the total number of points you earn, and is based upon a total of
1200 points:

Your final grade will be determined solely by the total points accumulated, and will be assigned
as follows. There will be no exceptions to this grading scale. Please do not ask.

To earn: You need to earn at least this amount of points:

A 1116
A- 1080
B+ 1044
B 996
B- 960
C+ 924
C 876
C- 840
D+ 804
D 780
D- 720
F under 720

Sources of points in the course:

Source Points per Occurrences Total per source

1. Peer Instruction/Participation 5 23 (drop 3, so 20) 100
2. Exams 200 4 800
3. Lab attendance/assignments* 300 N/A 300
TOTAL 1200

*Details provided on lab syllabus, distributed by your Graduate Teaching Assistant (TA) in lab
and on Canvas.

VIII. Attendance

I strongly recommended that you attend all classes. This class will include discussions, lecture
material, video presentations, and live demonstrations that are not mentioned in the book and
will be fair game for tests. Missed classes will be very costly to both i>clicker points and test
performance.

IX. Policies

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You will find that your instructor is very nice and runs a democratic classroom. You may peg him
as a pushover. Do this at your peril. It is your responsibility to make sure you are in class for the
exams. Complaints about the grading of particular items on the exams must be submitted in
writing on paper (not email) within 7 days of the date exam scores became available.

Student Disability Accommodations

If you have a documented disability that requires accommodations, you will need to register
with Student Disability Services for coordination of your academic accommodations. The Student
Disability Services (SDS) office is located at 1600 David Adamany Undergraduate Library in the
Student Academic Success Services department. The SDS telephone number is 313-577-1851 or
313-202-4216 for videophone use. Once you have your accommodations in place, I will be glad to
meet with you privately during my office hours to discuss your special needs. Student Disability
Services’ mission is to assist the university in creating an accessible community where students
with disabilities have an equal opportunity to fully participate in their educational experience at
Wayne State University. You can learn more about the disability office at
www.studentdisability.wayne.edu

To register with Student Disability Services, complete the online registration form at:
https://wayne-accommodate.symplicity.com/public_accommodation/

Academic Dishonesty
I do not tolerate cheating. This includes cheating on the exams or on assignments, both of which
constitute violations or attempted violations of academic honesty. The Department of
Psychology views all acts of academic dishonesty, including cheating and plagiarism, as gross
violations of appropriate student conduct and supports the use of disciplinary actions in response
to all acts of dishonesty. The complete version of the Departmental policy statement can be
found online at the following address: http://www.clas.wayne.edu/psychology/. Click on
“Undergraduate Program”, then on “Current Undergraduate Students”, then on “Policy on
Academic Dishonesty.” A summary of the policy is also included as an attachment to this
syllabus.

It is important to emphasize that the use of the i>clicker system falls under the same rules for
Academic Integrity as any other component of the course. Thus, using another student’s
i>clicker when they are absent from class, or looking at the quiz responses another student
enters, or any other usage of the i>clicker to assist another student to earn points or to receive
illegitimately earned points yourself, are all violations of the Academic Integrity Policy, and at a
minimum will result in the loss of all clicker points for the semester.

As noted in the policy, instructors have a wide range of options when cheating or other academic
integrity violations are discovered. At a minimum, the quiz, exam, or paper in question will be
counted as a zero, and automatic failure for the course is a likely outcome. Other possible
consequences include academic probation, a notation of cheating on your university transcript,
or dismissal from the university. If you are found to have committed any act of academic
dishonesty in this course, you will lose your opportunity to drop this class – requests to drop
the class will be rejected.

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Incompletes
A grade of incomplete will be given in this course in only the most extreme and compelling of
circumstances. Work not done or submitted too late will be graded as zero toward course
grades. You are not allowed to take an incomplete in the course as a way to avoid failing the
course, nor can you take an incomplete as a way to take the course over in a future semester
without paying for it. Any incompletes will be structured in accord with the university’s
guidelines on incompletes, available online at
http://reg.wayne.edu/faculty/incomplete_contract.php.

Requests for reconsidering a grade

If you feel that a paper or other work you submitted was improperly evaluated, you can ask to
have it reviewed and the grade reconsidered. To do this, prepare a written statement (one or
two paragraphs) explaining what you believe to be erroneous about the grade, including
evidence (for example, a statement from the textbook that supports your position) to support
your argument. While I am decidedly unreceptive to being asked to review work simply because
a poor grade was received, I truly appreciate the opportunity to correct a mistake. Please
recognize that a new grade based on a re-evaluation of an answer could be lower or higher than
the original grade.

Office hours
Regular office hours are Thursdays from 3-5 or by appointment. E-mail is generally the best way
to get in touch with me.

Policies regarding classroom behavior

Some basic guidelines for courtesy in the classroom will help everyone, myself included, benefit
from the classroom experience.

1) Turn off cell phones, pagers, PDAs, Blackberries, etc., prior to class. If you are awaiting a phone
call related to some particular emergency (e.g., a relative is in the hospital going through surgery)
and you need to take a call during class, let me know prior to class, set the phone to vibrate or
the softest ring volume possible, and sit close to a door, so that you can immediately step
outside when it rings. Otherwise, there should not be any phones ringing in class. Should you
forget to turn off your phone and it does ring in class, turn the ringer off quickly, and either step
outside to take the call, or (better) do not answer it.

2) Children are welcome in class, provided that they are quiet and not disruptive to those around
them. Recognize that there are topics in Psychology that require mature discussion of sensitive
issues (e.g., human sexuality), and some of these topics may not be appropriate for children.
Additionally, children are not allowed to attend class on the days of exams, as the risk of
disruption to the parent/guardian or to other students is too great.

3) There will be several points during the semester when we have discussions in small groups. In
a class of this size, and with the diversity of background that will exist in the class, there will
undoubtedly be differences of opinion and perspective. You are not required to agree with your

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classmates. However, you are required to treat your classmates and instructor with respect and
courtesy, even when they advocate positions with which you strongly disagree.

4) If you arrive late, or need to leave class early, sit at the end of a row near a door, so that you
may do so quietly.

5) I’ll ask lots of questions to the class. You’ll be better able to answer, and better able to
participate in and benefit from classroom discussions, if you have read the assigned readings
before class. Additionally, you’ll be better able to hear and to participate if you sit closer to the
front, rather than sitting at the far back part of the lecture hall.

6) I will not be doing things unrelated to our class during class time. Class time is important time,
and I believe that it deserves my full attention, and yours. Please don’t text message, play
solitaire on your laptop, use Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, check email, carry on conversations,
etc., while class is going on. If you are engaging in one of those activities on your computer
during class, it is likely that you will be asked to leave. Everyone will benefit when we make the
best possible use of our class time together. I also tend to get grumpy when I can’t concentrate
on the lecture because of unrelated conversation going on in the classroom. If you need to have
a conversation with someone, please step outside of the classroom to do so.

Psychology is really about what people do, and why they do it. This is fascinating stuff, even
though there may be times when you don’t immediately see the fascinating part of it. You will
enjoy the class more, and studies have shown you will do better in class, if you try to think about
how the day’s material relates to your life, or the lives of people you know. Try it – you’ll find
that the material takes on a whole new level of meaning.

Dropping the class

If you decide to drop this course for any reason, you are allowed to do so up until November 11,
with a few exceptions. To drop the class, in Academica: select "Course Withdrawal" from the
Registration Menu under Student Resources; SMART Check is required. The table below shows
different university policies that apply, depending on when you drop the course. If there is an
error in this table, university policy shall apply. This table is for information only, and does not
replace university policy.

If you request to drop Tuition Grade appears on Has to be approved

the class between: reimbursed? your transcript? by Professor?
Aug. 29 and Sept. 12 Yes No No
Sept. 13 and Nov. 11 No Yes Yes
Nov. 12 and later Cannot request to drop the course

If the drop request occurs after September 12th, the request will be forwarded to me by email,
and I will either approve or deny it. In general, I will approve requests to drop the course, except
under extraordinary circumstances (for example, I will NOT allow students who violate the
Academic Integrity policy in any way to drop the course under any circumstance).

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If you drop the course after September 12th, then a grade of either “WP” (Withdrawn while
Passing), “WF” (Withdrawn while Failing), or “WN” (Withdrawn, never attended) will appear on
your transcript. A student who has earned 60% or more of the possible points at the time of the
withdraw request will receive a WP. A student who has earned less than 60% of the possible
points at the time of the withdraw request will receive a WF. The only students who will receive
notations of WN are those who have not taken any exams and attended no more than one
laboratory section meeting.

IX. Study habits and additional help

A. Study Habits:
It will be to your advantage to keep up with your reading assignments; you should have read the
assigned reading at least once before lecture. Additionally, you will find it immensely helpful to
review your lecture notes prior to the following lecture. If there is something you don't
understand, feel free to ask questions. It is likely that others may have the same question, and
they will be thankful (as I will be) that you spoke up to clarify a point. I will allow a few minutes
before each lecture to answer questions on previous material.

Copies of lectures will be posted on the course web site prior to lecture. They are provided in
order to help you follow lectures, and to help you organize your notes. It is the student's
responsibility for downloading these files and acquiring the necessary software for viewing them.
Lectures provided on the course web site are not a substitute for attending lecture. There will
be a good deal of information added to this content during lecture. Le me stress that if you want
to do well in this class, you must attend class. Attending all classes and talking good notes is the
best way to do well in this course.

B. Additional help
If you would like individual help on the material, please let me know (at least 2 days in advance)
and I (or your lab TA) would be very happy to meet with you. Your Teaching Assistant holds
regularly scheduled office hours (your TA will provide you this information at your first lab
meeting). Take advantage of these opportunities! Your instructors should be viewed as an
important resource in the learning process, and it is to your benefit to use this resource to your
best advantage.

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