HSS 175 - Psychology: Brain, Mind, Behavior
TR 05:00PM - 06:15PM, Fall, 2009
Babbio 221
| Instructor |
Yasuaki Sakamoto
Assistant Professor, Howe School of Technology Management Office: Babbio 632 Office hours: By appointment Email: yasuaki.sakamoto@stevens.edu |
| Prerequisite |
None - all students are welcome.
|
| Course Description and Goal |
This course will introduce you to research in psychology. Psychology is the study of how people perceive, act, communicate, and reason. The overall goal of the course is to teach you some basic characteristics of human mind, and the scientific method psychologists use to examine human behavior.
|
| Grading |
Here is the breakdown for the grading purposes:
Assignments - 120 points total (28.6%)
|
| Required Text |
Henry Gleitman, Daniel Reisberg, and James Gross (2007). Psychology, Seventh Edition, W. W. Norton.
|
| Course Schedule |
Course schedule will be posted online (http://cog.mgnt.stevens-tech.edu/~yasu/courses/175/ and http://personal.stevens.edu/~ysakamot/175/). Make sure to regularly consult the web page for an updated schedule.
|
| Date | Topic | Reading | Assignment |
| September 1 | Course overview | Chapter 1 | |
| September 3 | What is psychology? | Chapter 1 | |
| September 8 | NO CLASS | ||
| September 10 | NO CLASS | ||
| September 15 | Research methods | Chapter 1 | |
| September 17 | Neuroscience [ left vs. right brain test ] |
Chapter 3 (Chapter 2 optional) | Body and mind (due next class) [ how to write response papers etc. ] |
| September 22 | Perception | Chapter 5 (Chapter 4 optional) | Try this experiment for extra credit |
| September 24 | Perception 2 [ airplane, chopper, bunny, ski, street corner, dinner, farm, harbor side, market, money, sailboats, tourists ] Motion illusion paper |
Chapter 5 (Chapter 4 optional) | |
| September 29 | Review for exam 1 [ study guide ] |
Chapter 5 (Chapter 4 optional) | |
| October 1 | EXAM 1 | Change detection (due next class) | |
| October 6 | Attention | Chapter 6 | |
| October 8 | Concepts and categories | Chapter 6 | |
| October 13 | NO CLASS | ||
| October 15 | Concepts and categories | Chapter 7 | Choking and free throws (due next class) |
| October 20 | Memory and knowledge representation | Chapter 7 | |
| October 22 | Review for EXAM 2 [ study guide ] |
These papers might give you some ideas for your research proposal: - If it's hard to read, it's hard to do: Processing fluency affects effort prediction and motivation - If it's difficult to pronounce, it must be risky: Fluency, familiarity, and risk perception - Measuring the crowd within: Probabilistic representations within individuals - Self-reports in consumer research: The challenge of comparing cohorts and cultures - Introspecting about reasons can reduce post-choice satisfaction - e-Perceptions: Personality impressions based on personal websites - A room with a cue: Personality judgments based on offices and bedrooms - Synchrony and coopearation - Why Distance Matters: Effects on Cooperation, Persuasion and Deception - Familiarity can increase stereotyping |
Email me your idea for your research proposal. |
| October 27 | EXAM 2 | ||
| October 29 | Problem solving | Chapter 8 | Equivalence of learning paths (due next class) |
| November 3 | Problem solving | Chapter 8 | |
| November 5 | Problem solving and Expertise | Chapter 8 Problem solving lecture notes contain information about how to write your research proposal. An example (doc) research paper |
|
| November 10 | Reasoning | Chapter 8 | |
| November 12 | Language and thought | Chapter 9 | The cost of anchoring (due next class) |
| November 17 | Review for EXAM 3 | ||
| November 19 | EXAM 3 | ||
| November 24 | NO CLASS | ||
| November 26 | NO CLASS | ||
| December 1 | Social influence and learning | Chapter 13 (Chapter 12 optional) | Judging romantic interest (due next class) |
| December 3 | Presentation | ||
| December 8 | Presentation | ||
| December 10 | EXAM 4 | Research proposal due December 18 |