PSYC 210: Introduction to Psychology
This
course surveys a variety of topics in psychology including: biological bases of
behavior; sensation and perception; research in psychology; human development; social
influences on behavior; learning; health and stress; abnormal psychology’
personality; memory; motivation; and consciousness. All topics are organized within three broad
units. As part of this exploration,
students will learn critical thinking skills for evaluating evidence in
psychology. Additionally, this course
meets the requirement for the Analyzing Arguments, Reasons, and Values
MOI. Thus, as an AARV course, there will
be an examination of some of the fundamental ethical or value-laden issues that
arise when discussing the study of human behavior. Specifically, five important ethical or
value-laden issues will be addressed via assigned readings, film,
demonstrations, and in-class discussions.
Stated in the form of questions, these issues are:
1.
How do values
shape the conduct and interpretation of research in psychology? In other words,
what is the effect of humans studying humans?
2.
Is there a need
for ethical guidelines to guide psychological research, and if so, what should
the nature of these guidelines be?
3.
What are the
trade-offs in making value-laden decisions with regard to human behavior?
4.
Should research
results be used to prescribe moral behavior?
5.
How should we
evaluate the tension that exists between behaviors that are good for an individual
vs. behaviors that are for the common good?
These
questions will resurface in various formats throughout the semester, and
students are strongly encouraged to think about and engage these questions as
they complete the readings.
Please click on the link below to view
the most recent course syllabus.