PSYC 250 Outline

THE KING'S UNIVERSITY

COURSE NUMBER:

PSYC 250

COURSE TITLE:

Basic Psychological Processes

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR:

Dr Leanne Willson, Dr Heather Looy

CREDIT WEIGHT AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION:

credits 3 (hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 0 - hrs lab 0)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Principles and development of perception, motivation, learning and thinking and their relationship to the psychic functioning of the person. Initial attempt to evaluate various approaches to psychology.

Students with credit in PSYC 255 cannot receive credit in PSYC 250.

Who am I? What does it mean to be human? Why do we persistently do incredibly beautiful, loving, terrible, or stupid things?

In this course we’ll start to explore the unique and varied ways in which psychologists try to answer those questions.

We’ll look at the human condition: How do we perceive, think, feel, learn and act? We’ll also look at the ways that psychologists learn about these processes: the assumptions they make, the methods they use, and how they create theories and ideas about what makes us tick.

You’ll be challenged to articulate what you assume and believe about human nature, and to critically engage what you learn from the perspective of your faith or worldview. (In the companion course, PSYC 251, you’ll explore related questions of how we change over time, our social nature, our individual differences, and our psychological pain.)

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Myers, D. G. (2014). Exploring psychology, 9th edition. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Other required readings will be posted on Moodle throughout the semester.

MARK DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT:


Assignment 1: Opportunities Fair: must be present on Sept 14	2%
Three chapter/unit assignments	18%
Midterm 1	19%
Midterm 2	25%
Final Exam	36%

	100%

COURSE OUTLINE:

Sept 5-28: Foundations & Methods
Oct 5 - 17: Memory
Oct 19-31: Neuroscience
Nov 2 - 21: Learning
Nov 23 - Dec 5: Sensation and Perception
Dec 7: Reflecting on Psychology

Required texts, assignments, and grade distributions may vary from one offering of this course to the next. Please consult the course instructor for up to date details.