PSY270 The Introduction to Psychology: Selected Issues

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2011
Extent and Intensity
1/1. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Michaela Porubanová (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Michaela Porubanová
Department of Psychology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Mgr. Michaela Porubanová
Timetable
Wed 18:00–19:30 P31 Posluchárna A. I. Bláhy
Prerequisites
The class is designed ONLY for foreign students.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 30 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
-to become familiar with fundamental topics and basic subfields of psychology -to be able to apply knowledge in everyday life -to be able to critically think in terms of psychology topics
Syllabus
  • Topics covered: The class is focused on introductory topics in psychology, more concretely on topics in cognition and mind. How do we process information, manipulate and transform into a meaningful, coherent entity? How do we retrieve information retained in our memory? What are some memory biases? How does brain relate to mind (mind-body problem)? How does brain give rise to consciousness? Those, but more questions will be answered in the class. Introduction to Cognition. Philosophical and psychological underpinnings of study of mind and human cognitive faculties (Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, gestalt); research methods in cognitive psychology. Perception and Vision. Bottom-Up and Top-Down Processing in Perception. Object recognition. Perceptual organization. Color perception. Optical illusions. Attention. Broadbent´s theory. Treisman´s theory. Selective attention. Divided attention. Stroop´s attention. Automatic processing. Inattentional blindness. Memory. Short-term memory vs Long term memory. Working memory. Eye witness testimony. Theories of forgetting. Theories of recall. Consciousness. Theories of consciousness. Current approches to understanding consciousness (Chalmers, Noe, Ramachandran, Logothesis etc.). Consciousness versus attention. Language. Language production vs. language comprehrension. Speech perception and reading. Thinking and Reasoning. Theoretical approaches to reasoning. Deductive vs inductive reasoning. Theories of emotional processing. Judgment and Decision Making. Theories of decision making. Representativeness heuristic. Availability heuristics. Support theory. Cognition and emotion. Emotions and their influence on cognitive processing. Emotions versus memory. Emotion, attention and perception. Free will. Perspective from philosophy of mind.
Literature
  • Literature: will be provided in the class.
  • Literature: will be provided in the class.
Teaching methods
lecture, seminar, class discussion, 1 individual class project
Assessment methods
CLASS POLICY: Students’ participation in the class is required. Students can miss only 2 classes (if more classes are missed, students’ grade suffers one grade down with every other class missed). Each essay (each one approx. 1000 words; Times New Roman; 12; 1,5 spaced) must be turned on the designated day (every late day means lowering 5 points). Each essay sums up to maximum 30 points. Each essay will be a discussion based on the topics covered in the class. Students’ task is to propose a problem- discussion theme and pose an argument finding evidence pro- argument as well as against argument in the literature. Graded is: how elaborate is the essay, if the argument is well-evidenced by the literature, citation style, number and quality of papers cited (not introductory books solely) Essays (1+2) =30 points Class presentation= 15 points Pop quizzes (3)= 15 points Final Exam= 40 points Bonus= 10 points for class participation Maximum= 100 points (10 bonus points will be added if the maximum will not be reached) Grading: 100-93 = A 92-85= B 84-77= C 76- 69= D 68- 61=E below 60= F READINGS will be posted on IS. Students must read every reading prior to the class. This will not only enhance their understanding of topic covered, but also because any pop quiz might occur during class.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught each semester.
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