Psychology 2035A-001 (Online for 2020-21)

Understanding Yourself and Others

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

1.0    CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

This course examines ways in which recent research findings in psychology may be applied in the individual's life. Emphasis on psychology as an empirical science and on avenues of self- understanding and personal growth. Topics include: personality, stress and coping, person perception, interpersonal communication, friendship and love, sexuality, vocational development. 

ANTIREQUISITE: Psychology 2050 

Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.

3 lecture hours, 0.5 course 

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor:                Dr. John Campbell               

       Office and Phone Number:  SSC 7405          

       Office Hours:    By appointment via OWL      

       Email:               jcampb7@uwo.ca                

 

       Teaching Assistant: Vanessa Sinclair            

       Office:                                                        

       Office Hours:    TBA                                    

       Email:               vsincla2@uwo.ca                 

 

            Time and Location of Classes:   Asynchronous online lectures will be recorded and posted on OWL                                                              Tuesdays and Thursdays                                                                                   

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western

http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Student Accessibility Services (formerly known as Services for Students with Disabilities) at 519-661-2147.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century, 12th Edition

Wayne Weiten | Dana S. Dunn | Elizabeth Yost Hammer

 

ISBN-13: 9781305968479

2018 

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course examines ways in which recent research findings in psychology may be applied in the individual's life. Emphasis on psychology as an empirical science and on avenues of self- understanding and personal growth. Topics include: personality, stress and coping, person perception, interpersonal communication, friendship and love, sexuality, vocational development

   4.1    STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES 

Learning Outcome

Learning Activity

Assessment

Depth and Breadth of Knowledge.

Identify and recognize recent psychological findings related to a greater understanding the behaviours of yourself and individuals around you.

Online lectures, Ted talks and other videos, online demonstrations

Midterm exams and final exams

Knowledge of Methodologies.

Understanding the methods used to achieve the results that are related to our greater knowledge of why we and others behave as we do.

Online lectures, Ted talks and other videos, online demonstrations and activities

Midterm exams and final exams

Application of Knowledge.

Identifying how this knowledge can be utilized to change our behaviours and how we interact with others.

Online demonstrations and activities

Midterm exams and final exams

Communication Skills.

Increasing our ability to communicate with others by having a great knowledge of topics such as interpersonal communications.

Online lectures, videos, activities

Midterm exams and final exams

Awareness of Limits of Knowledge.

Recognizing the limitations of research in the field of Psychology over the years and questions that remain on the topics covered.

Online lectures, videos, activities

Midterm exams and final exams

Autonomy and Professional Capacity.

Developing a greater self-awareness and using that to relate more closely and clearly with others in society and in their personal lives.

Online lectures, videos, activities

Midterm exams and final exams

 

5.0     EVALUATION

 

Grades in this course will be based on three open book multiple-choice online asynchronous exams.  Students are responsible for material assigned in the textbook, as well as material covered in lectures.  The First Exam (October 8), worth 25% of the final grade, will cover material from September 10 through Oct 1.  The Second Exam (November 12), worth 35% of the final grade, will cover material from October 15 - 29.  The Final Exam (during the Midyear Exam period in December), worth 40% of the final grade, will cover material from November 19 through December 3.

 

All exams will be online via OWL and the questions will be randomized as well as the answer choices. All of the exams will be “linear” in nature, meaning you can NOT return to questions you have already answered. This is done to try and limit collaboration between students during the exams. Online exam tools will be used to analyse response patterns to monitor potential inappropriate student collaboration during the exams.

 

If you miss an exam and have an excuse documented by either a Self-Reported Absence (Exam 1 only), or another accommodation approved by the academic counselling office in your home faculty, you will be offered a make-up exam time. Please note that make-up exams may consist, in part or exclusively, of essay, short-answer, fill-in-the-blank, and/or multiple-choice items.  

 

Grades will be posted to the course web site as soon as possible after each exam.

 

Grades will be rounded only to the nearest whole number, that is, marks ending in a 4 or a 9 (e.g., 74 and 79) will not be rounded up a mark. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade, nor will any requests be considered for additional marks because they are needed for a grad/law/med school application, etc. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every component during the course.

Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:

70%     1000-level and 2000-level courses
72%     2190-2990 level courses
75%     3000-level courses
80%     4000-level courses
   
The Psychology Department follows Western's grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf):

A+  90-100      One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A    80-89        Superior work that is clearly above average
B    70-79        Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C    60-69        Competent work, meeting requirements
D    50-59        Fair work, minimally acceptable
F    below 50    Fail


6.0  ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE


Date

% of final grade

Material covered

 

Exam 1

October 8

25%

September 10 through October 1

Exam 2

November 12

35%

October 12 through October 29

Exam 3

TBA

40%

November 19 through December 3

                                                                                                                                              

You will receive the grade calculated based on the assignment weightings described in 5.0. Grades will be rounded to the nearest whole number, however no further rounding will be done (e.g., marks of 84 and 89 will NOT be bumped up to 85 and 90). No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade, nor will any requests be considered for additional marks because they are needed for a grad/law/med school application, etc. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assignment during the course. 

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

Week

Date

Topic(s) to be covered

Reading (s)

1

Sept 10

Introduction

Ch 1 (pp. 1-15)

2

Sept 17

Theories Of Personality

Ch 2

3

Sept 24

The Self

Social Thinking and Social Influence

Ch 6

Ch 7

 4

Oct. 1

Social Thinking and Social Influence

Ch 7

 

Oct 8

EXAM 1 (25%)

Sept 10 – Oct. 1

4

Oct 15

Interpersonal Communication

Friendship and Love

Ch 8

Ch 9

5

Oct 22

Friendship and Love (cont’d)

Marriage and Intimate Relationships

Ch 9

Ch 10

6

Oct 29

Gender and Behavior

Development and Expression of Sexuality

Ch 11

Ch 12

 

NOV 2-6

 Fall Reading Week – No Classes

 

 

Nov 12

EXAM 2 (35%)

Oct 7 - Oct 28

7

Nov 19

Stress and Its Effects

Coping Processes

Ch 3

Ch 4

8

Nov 26

Psychology and Physical Health

Psychological Disorders

Ch 5

Ch 14

10

Dec 3

Careers and Work

Positive Psychology

Ch 13

Ch 16

 

TBA

FINAL EXAM  (40%)

Date and Time to be announced

Nov 19 – Dec 3

8.0     STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link:  http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams may be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.

Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.



9.0    POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12

 

The full policy for consideration for absences can be accessed at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/Academic_Consideration_for_absences.pdf


Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html

 

If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:

  1. Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
  2. For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;

For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation. The self-reported absence form may NOT be used for absences longer than 48 hours; coursework/tests/exams/etc., worth more than 30% of the final grade; or exams scheduled in the December or April final-exam periods: http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html

Students seeking academic consideration:

  • are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;  
  • are encouraged to make appropriate decisions based on their specific circumstances, recognizing that minor ailments (upset stomach) or upsets (argument with a friend) are not normally an appropriate basis for a self-reported absence;

must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hours after the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence



10.0        OTHER INFORMATION

Office of the Registrar web site:  http://registrar.uwo.ca

Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca

Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:

    http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html

- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2020-2021 Calendar References

No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.

Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute lecture notes, wiki material, and other course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.