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• Psychology 2035A-650

Psychology 2035A-650

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 this course has an antirequisite that you have previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in this one.

0.5 course

2.0    COURSE INFORMATION

Instructor:  Dr. Kelly Barnes

Office and Phone Number: SSC 7400

Office Hours: By appointment only

Email: kbarne2@uwo.ca

If you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you.  Please visit:  http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.

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 Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.

3.0  TEXTBOOK

Required: Weiten, W., Lloyd, M., Dunn D. S., & Hammer, E. Y. (11th ed., 2014). Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

4.0    COURSE OBJECTIVES

5.0     EVALUATION

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 the University of Western Ontario 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

Student evaluation will be based on two exams and quality of participation in discussions.

Component	Percent of Final Mark
Midterm	35%
Final	40%
Discussions	25%
Total	100%

Exams: The midterm exam will last for 90 minutes and will contain approximately 80 multiple choice questions. The final exam will last for 2 hours and will contain approximately 100 multiple choice questions. All exams will test your knowledge of the course readings (textbook and additional readings). All exams will be closed book – no books, notes, calculators, electronic dictionaries, or aids of any type will be allowed. All students are expected to complete exams on the scheduled dates.

Discussions (25% of final grade): There will be 5 online discussions and 1 bonus discussion. Each discussion will be graded out of 5 marks. Students are required to post one original response and

two replies to other students for each discussion. Additionally, you are strongly encouraged to respond to other students’ responses to your post. Receiving a good mark will require creative, insightful posts that show accurate knowledge of the material, elaborate on information posted earlier in the discussion, and involve a meaningful dialogue with classmates. More information about the discussions will be available on the course website.

6.0  TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE

Exam	% of Final Grade	Date
Midterm	35%	June 18, 2016 (exact time is TBD)
Final	40%	August 2-5, 2016 (exact time and date are TBD)

7.0   CLASS SCHEDULE

Week	Date	Topic	Assignments
Week 1	May 9, 2016	Introduction and Overview	Chapter 1
Week 2	May 16, 2016	Theories of Personality	Chapter 2
Week 3	May 23, 2016	Stress and Its Effects	Chapter 3   Discussion 1
Week 4	May 30, 2016	Coping Processes	Chapter 4
Week 5	June 6, 2016	Psychology and Physical Health         The Self	Chapter 5   (pp. 130-137 only) Chapter 6 Discussion 2
Week 6	June 13, 2016	Social Thinking and Social Influence	Chapter 7
Midterm			June 18, 2016   Exact time is TBD
Week 7	June 20, 2016	Interpersonal Communication	Chapter 8
Week 8	June 27, 2016	Friendship and Love   Marriage and Intimate Relationships Development and Expression of Sexuality	Chapter 9   Chapter 10   Chapter 12   (pp. 353-365 only)   Discussion 3

Week 9	July 4, 2016	Gender and Behaviour	Chapter 11   Discussion 4
Week 10	July 11, 2016	Careers and Work	Chapter 13
Week 11	July 18, 2016	Psychological Disorders   Psychotherapy	Chapter 14   Chapter 15   Discussion 5
Week 12	July 25, 2016	Prepare for Exam	Bonus Discussion
Final Exam			August 2-5, 2016   Exact Date/Time of   Exam TBD

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

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

The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/pg117.html

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


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
- 2015 Calendar References

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