SYLLABUS

Skinner's "radical behaviorism," operant conditioning,

Freud's psychoanalysis; Ego-psychology;

READING: Please do the assigned reading by the date shown and come to class prepared to discuss it. Where they are available, I strongly recommend reading the online lecture notes and summaries prior to class, so that you can use the class to think, ask questions, and make comments rather than for your first take on the information. Note that the course work is "front loaded." That is, because of the way the material hangs together, there is an usually heavy workload during the first five weeks, but it then eases off and is lighter than usual later in the semester just when some of your other courses are likely to be heavier. Please keep up at the beginning--you will find that much easier than trying to catch up if you fall behind.

• SUMMARY OF DUE DATES (changes may occur)
• SEPT. 8. - PAPER 1 DUE, on Greeks & early psychology (short paper: 2-4 pages)
• SEPT. 29. - MIDTERM. On Sept. 8-Sept. 29 topics
• OCT. 6. - PAPER 2 DUE. Behavioral intervention design, with baseline (3-6 pages)
• NOV. 17. - PAPER 3 DUE, OR EXAM. Oct 6-Oct. 17 topics (3-6 pages if paper)
• DEC. 15. - PAPER 4 DUE Fromm through end of semester (short paper)

• 10%
• 20%
• 20%
• 20%
• 15%
• 15%

• Paper 1
• Midterm
• Paper 2
• Paper 3 or Exam
• Paper 4
• Class participation and attendance

GUIDELINES FOR PAPERS. Strive for clear,writing that makes its point well. Avoid empty verbiage and padding (no "snow jobs," please). I like concise writing in which many points are made in little space. Start with your first substantive point, say what you have to say, and stop.Forget introductions and summations (unless they're very clever and your literary self insists I do like catchy leads and endings.).Exceeding the assigned lengths will not bring extra points, but take the space you need in order to say what you have to say. Find your own reconciliation of these elements. To be eligible for a "B" you must make specific reference to substantive points in the reading, with page numbers. To be eligible for an "A" you must make specific reference to relevant websites other than my own that you have visited. Please type.

What do I consider a poor paper? One that just parrots back material with no thoughtfulness attached. One that sounds just like everybody else's. One that puts me to sleep (yes, it happens). One that offers no interesting information about you or anyone else. One that was obviously tossed off in half an hour. One that's sufficiently vague that it's not clear that you know what you're talking about. One that does not refer to specific items that you have learned for this course.One that sounds like you wrote it for a different course.

GUIDELINES FOR EXAMS. In evaluating exams, I take the class performance as a whole into account, so 80% might end up being the highest score and a strong A. I do not use a "real" curve which assigns a specified percentate of As, of Bs, etc. I try to focus the items on the main concepts and ideas, and on which ideas are associated with which thinkers. It pleases me when many of you all do well, whether on an exam or a paper.

CLASS ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION. This includes both attendance & participation in the large class and attendance in the small group, if we have small groups.Please note:

I recognize that some people can speak out easily in class and others have a harder time doing so. Therefore I often use a discussion format in which we go up and down the rows, or around the circle, and each one of you simply reads out loud a brief passage that had an impact for you. I have found that even shy, quiet students are able to do this. It may be something you really liked, something you hated or disagreed with, or something you didn't quite understand.If you want to add a comment of your own, that's just fine, but not required. All I ask is that you read aloud. (Please mark several passages to choose from, in case someone else has already read one that you thought of reading.) We will use this procedure with many but not all of the reading selections, without forewarning, so you should be prepared to read aloud every week. When you do, I will put a dot by your name on my roster, and this will contribute to your class participation evaluation at the end. Many dots, high. Few dots, low.

Other questions, comments, and discussion are also encouraged. If you're shy about speaking out, please work on doing so more. If you tend to be a big talker, say your piece but also make space for quieter students to speak out. If I bypass your waving hand and call on a quieter student, it's to try to involve everyone.

If due to unavoidable life circumstances you have to stop coming to class, be sure you officially withdraw at the registrar's office. Then you would get a "W" which does not count against you. If you appear as still in the class on my final roster, I am required to give you a "U" (unauthorized withdrawal), which turns into an F on your record.

If you do not complete the course work on time, YOU MUST TURN IN A "REQUEST FOR INCOMPLETE" FORM TO ME BY FINALS DATE. Otherwise, depending on the circumstances, you will receive either a a final grade which counts the incompleted work as an F, which would surely lower your overall grade, or a "U" ("unauthorized withdrawal") for the course, which turns into an F on your records. I AM REQUIRED BY UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS TO GIVE YOU A "U" unless you turn in an incomplete form if you have not finished enough work to receive a grade in the course .

Whispering back and forth during lectures and discussions is a no-no (high school behavior). Pass notes instead. They're less disturbing.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is a history of psychology. It is the first of a two-semester sequence of courses. The emphasis is on modern psychology, with the first and part of the second class sessions devoted to older history from the Greeks through the Associationists. The rest of the course is devoted to twentieth century psychology, and particularly to those figures and traditions that are collectively viewed as particularly important by the faculty of the Psychology Department at Sonoma State University. Beyond that, I have personally emphasized some things more than others, as every teacher does. The central emphases are on the behavioral tradition from Pavlov through cognitive behavioral psychology, the Gestalt tradition from Stumpf through Lewin, and the psychoanalytic tradition from Freud through Fromm. Phenomenological, humanistic, existential, and transpersonal traditions are excluded because they are treated explicitly in Psychology 307, the course that follows this one.

Course Objectives:

1. To provide a common base of knowledge and abilities for advanced courses
2. To become familiar with central issues in psychology's present and past, and the arguments surrounding them.
3. To provide first - hand knowledge, through reading original sources, of principal figures in 20th century psychology, and their contributions.
4. To develop skills, along with the accompanying perspectives, useful both in professional work and everyday life.

Prerequisites:

1. Introduction to Psychology (250 or equivalent)
2. College composition (Eng 101 or equivalent)
3. Critical Thinking (Phil 101 or equivalent)
4. Status as a declared psychology major, unless empty seats are available

A final word

Grades reflect the overall quality of class members ' work, so that if many do good work, grades will be higher than if many do poor work. Please do help each other; it's not a zero-sum game. (On the other hand, I have zero tolerance for cheating on exams or having someone write a paper for you. Don't tempt fate.) And please remember that a grade reflects only your performance on the assignment or in the class, not your worth as a person.Have a good semester.

THE WEBSITE. This is a rich source of supplementary material. There are full lecture notes for some lectures, summaries of others, and links to other interesting related sites. I have pretty much stopped giving out paper/hardcopy summaries, and encourage you to use the website instead. If you forget the URL, put 'Victor Daniels Sonoma' into any search engine and my home page will be one of the top items to come up.Then click on "History of Psychology" link. If you need information about an assignment, click on the "NEWS" link on my home page and look for the Psychology 306 box.