Office Hours: By appointment only at VNR 2017!
8 Chapters + Prologue (12-15 PGS)
CHAPTER 1: Thinking Critically With Psychological Science
CHAPTER 2: The Biology Of Mind (“Everything Psychological is Biological”)
CHAPTER 6: Sensation & Perception
CHAPTER 3: Consciousness & the 2 Track Mind
CHAPTER 7: Learning
CHAPTER 11: Motivation and Work
CHAPTER 12: Emotions
CHAPTER 8: Memory
Books: “Psychology” by Myers (10TH edition)
Evaluation and Exam Dates (4 components)
2 Midterms
October 1 – chapters 1-2 &6, multiple choice and true or false – 25.5% of final mark
November 13 – chapters 3 & 6, 7, multiple choice and true or false – 25.% of final mark
1 Final unknown – cumulative (all chapters + prologue equally weighted) – 45% of final mark
1 ISPR deadline = December 3 – participation in psychology research - 4% of final mark!
ALERT
Absence from exams MUST be properly documented.
Student card is mandatory!
Must arrive on time! Otherwise, penalties will apply.
What is Psychology?
A science which studies cognitive, emotional and motivational processes and behaviors.
What is the scope of psychology?
Psychology is used for numerous purposes, not only psychological therapy.
Why do we need psychological science?
Limits of Intuition
While intuition can be important and accurate, we cannot rely on it as it can also be wrong, misleading and lead us astray.
Limits of Common Sense
We cannot rely on common sense as it does not generate new knowledge; it comes after an experience – not before!
Common sense itself is the result of experience, learning and having acquired knowledge.
Hindsight bias – “I knew it all along” phenomenon – we have a tendency to overestimate and over-exaggerate our abilities (“I told you so!”).
Overconfidence
We tend to overestimate how accurate our knowledge is.
Tetlock: Psychologist who studies the accuracy of experts’ statements (were they right