psy100 @ haverford college

Fall 2007 | MW 2:30 - 4:00pm | Hilles 109

This course is designed as an overview of the discipline of psychology. Topics including biological psychology, evolutionary approaches, cognition, social psychology, personality and individual differences, and psychopathology and health will be covered. In addition to these specific topic areas, overarching themes and theoretical issues within the field of psychology will be emphasized throughout the course, with particular attention given to empirical approaches.

PLEASE NOTE: Professor Le's section of PSY 100 is not offered in the 2008-09 school year, however four other sections of this course are being taught by other psychology faculty.

Instructor Information

Benjamin Le
Assistant Professor of Psychology
e-mail: ble@haverford.edu
Office: Sharpless 411b
Office Hours: Mondays 4:15-5:15pm; Tuesdays 11am-noon; and by appointment

Course Documents & Links

Course syllabus (PDF)

Paper assignment (PDF)
Journal articles to select from for the paper assignment:
(note: the login and password to access these papers is the same as for other course readings; they are also available on storage)

A Child's Guide to Freud (PDF file; 7.9mb)

Topics, Schedule, and Readings

	Date	Topic	Readings & Notes (click to access; login & password provided in the syllabus)
	Introduction to Psychology
Week 1	9/3	Course Introduction
	9/5	The Science of Psychology	Tavris (2003) Shaffer (2003)
Week 2	9/10	The History of Psychological Science	Gray (2002) ch. 1
	Biological & Evolutionary Approaches
	9/12	Evolution and Human Universals	Gray (2002) ch. 3 Johnston (1999) ch. 2 (pp. 21-37) Johnston (1999) ch. 5 Ohman & Mineka (2003)
Week 3	9/17	Neuroanatomy & Neurophysiology	Gray (2002) ch. 5 McEwen (1994) ch. 9
	9/19	Neural Activity & Communication	LeDoux (2002) ch. 3
Week 4	9/24	(continued)
	9/26	EXAM 1
	Cognition
Week 5	10/1	Introduction to Cognitive Psychology	Gray (2002) ch. 9
	10/3	Perception	Gray (2002) ch. 8 (pp. 297-321)
Week 6	10/8	Attention	Smith & Chamberlin (1992) Manhart (2004)
	10/10	Memory	Loftus (1997) Schacter (1999) Perfect & Askew (1994)
Week 7	10/15	No class: Fall Break
	10/17	No class: Fall Break
	Social Psychology
Week 8	10/22	Introduction to Social Psychology; Conformity	Baron et al. (1998) Aronson (2004) ch. 2
	10/24	Social Cognition	Krull & Erickson (1995) Fiske & Taylor (1999)
Week 9	10/29	Attitudes & Persuasion	Petty et al. (1983)
	10/31	Self-Justification	Aronson (2004) ch. 5
Week 10	11/5	Stereotyping, Prejudice, & Aggression	Allport (1954) Steele (1999) Bushman & Anderson (2001)
	11/7	EXAM 2
	Personality & Individual Differences
Week 11	11/12	Introduction to Personality Psychology; Traits	Gray (2002) ch. 15 Roberts et al. (2005) Furnham & Bradley (1997)
	11/14	Traits & Behavioral Genetics	Paulhus et al. (1999) Bouchard (1994) PAPER DUE
Week 12	11/19	Social Cognitive Approaches to Personality	Bushman & Anderson (2002)
	11/21	No class: Thanksgiving Break
Week 13	11/26	Psychodynamic & Humanistic Approaches to Personality	Adler et al. (2006) Kalb (2006) Rogers (1947)
	Mental & Physical Health
	11/28	Biological Approaches to Depression	Kosslyn & Rosenberg (2001)
Week 14	12/3	Social and Cognitive Approaches to Depression	Solomon (2001) Lyubomirksy et al. (1998)
	12/5	Health Psychology	Cohen & Pressman (2006) Sapolsky (2000)
Week 15	12/10	Health Psychology
	12/12	EXAM 3
Week 16		Finals week