"I'm addicted to placebos.  I could kick the habit, but it wouldn't matter." - comedian Steven Wright

Textbooks
Myers, Psychology (almost spanking new 8th edition!!!)
Straub, Discovering Psychology (study guide) (S)
Barron’s Review Guide (B)
Sacks, The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat (H)
Zillions of Xeroxes (X)

TOPICS RELATED READINGS

1) Introducing Psychology

M, Intro and Ch. 1
S, Ch. 1
Shaping Behavior (X)
The Town B. F. Skinner Boxed (X)
Ratting on Psychologists (X)
Research Through Deception (X)
H, "The Twins", pp. 195-215

Related Activities: Experiments : I Knew it All Along, Introspection, Reaction Time, Rumor, Experimental Method; Films : Past, Present, and Future; Understanding Research; Projects : What's a Psychologist?, Correlation and Causation, Consumer Safety, Computer Modules: Psychology's Timeline (Psychsim5),Descriptive Statistics (5), Correlation  (4)

2) Neuroscience and Behavior

M, Ch. 2
S, Ch. 2
Secrets of the Brain (X)
Revealing the Brain's Secrets (X)
H, "The Man Who Fell Out of Bed", pp. 55-58

Related Activities: Films : The Two Brains, The Behaving Brain, The Responsive Brain; Projects: Computer Modules Neural Messages (4), Hemispheric Specialization (5)

3) Nature and Nurture

M, Ch. 3 S, Ch. 3 Nature or Nurture (X)
Twins (X)
Keys to the Kingdom (X))
New Social Darwinists (X)
Up From Gorilla Land (X)
Man's World, Woman's World (X)
Born Gay (X)
Eugenics Revisited (X)

Related Activities : Med School Story Completion; Computer simulation: Mind-reading Monkeys

4) The Developing Person

 M, Ch. 4
S., Ch. 4
Etiology & Treatment of Childhood (X)
Childhood (X)
The Hurried Child (X)
Father's Time (X)
How Kids Learn (X)
Your Child's Brain (X)
Am I an Adult Yet? (X)
Don't Act Your Age (X)
The Vintage Years (X)
The Solace of Patterns (X
Can We Stay Young? (X)
H, "Cupid’s Dreams", pp. 102-107
H, "The Man Who Mistook his Wife For a Hat", pp. 8-22

Related Activities: Films : Development, The Developing Child, Everyone Rides the Carousel; Aging Inside the Teenage Brain; Projects: Computer Module Cognitive Development (5); Piaget Meets Santa Claus, Your Cheatin' Heart; Age and Ability Research; Perspectives on the Life Cycle, Identity, On Death and Dying

5) Sensation

M, Ch. 5
S, Ch. 5
The Senses (X)
Whiff of Things to Come (X)
Are We Led By the Nose? (X)
Touching the Phantom (X)
H, "On the Level", pp. 71-76
H, "Phantoms", pp. 66-70
H, "Dog Beneath the Skin", pp. 156-160
H, "The Disembodied Lady", pp. 43-54

Related Activities: Experiments: Weber's Law, Sound Localization, Balance Sensitivity, Visual Accommodation, Blind Spot in Vision, Balance Sensitivity, Tongue Mapping, Tasters, Non-Tasters, and Supertasters, Sensory Interaction; Films: Sensation and Perception; Projects: Occupational Design, Backmasking; Computer Module: Auditory System  (5)

6) Perception
M, Ch. 6
S, Ch. 6
Research Probes (X)
Does ESP Exist? (X)
H, "Hands", pp. 59-66

Related Activities: Film: The Art of Seeing; Experiments: HV Illusion, Stroop Effect, Pulfrich Pendulum; Projects: Headliner, The Case vs. ESP; Computer Module: Visual Illusions (5)

7) States of Consciousness
 M. Ch. 7
S, Ch. 7
The Pace of Life (X)
The Rhythm Method (X)
No Simple Slumber (X)
What Dreams are Made Of (X)
Dreams of a Rat (X)
Mysteries of Sleep (X)
Language of the Night (X)
Dream Catchers (X)
Bright Lights (X)
H, "Reminiscence", pp. 132-149

Related Activities: Films: The Mind Awake and Asleep; The Mind Hidden and Divided; Addiction Projects: Suggestibility, Dream Logs, Dichotic Listening; Computer Module: EEG and Sleep Stages (5), Your Mind on Drugs (5)

8) Learning

M, Ch. 8
S, Ch. 8
A Clockwork Orange (X)
Little Brother (X)
Appropriate Punishment (X)

Related Activities: Experiments: Poem Learning, Alphabet Learning, Distributed vs. Massed Practice, Knowledge of Results; Projects: Patti; Computer Modules: Classical Conditioning (4), Operant Conditioning (5), Maze Learning (5); Films: Learning and Memory, Learning

9) Memory

M. Ch. 9
S, Ch. 9
It's Magical... (X)
Fear of Forgetting (X)
Extraordinary People (X)
Gone But Not Forgotten (X)
Lies of the Mind (X)
H, "A Matter of Identity", pp. 108-115
H, "Incontinent Nostalgia", pp. 150-152

Related Activities : Films: Remembering and Forgetting; Projects: Seven Dwarfs; Computer Modules: Iconic Memory (5), Forgetting (4)

MIDTERM EXAM (same format as the real AP)

4

1) This is a college course, in both content and style. As such, you need to demonstrate a certain amount of responsibility for your own learning. You are expected to do your reading before each class and take notes on that reading (a minimum of 35 minutes each assignment seems about right). Class will assume you are somewhat (however hazily) informed. Do your textbook reading, on time, as we go - that way, you’ll understand class and will probably do better on tests which means your college choices expand…you get the picture. The other, more supplementary articles you will be able to skim for the main ideas - we might not even discuss them in class (unless you are inspired). Please use the study guide heavily, especially as a diagnostic tool before chapter tests. The Baron’s Guide is for your review purposes, for chapter tests, the midterm, the AP, etc. You never have to lug it to class. When you need help, ask. My door is almost always open (fire laws) – downstairs, across from the main office, diagonally across the hall from Mr. Philip and Mr. Brennan (thereby creating a power triangle...). You are in this class because you have done well. Simply keep it up.

2) Each unit has a test (mostly multiple choice, like the AP) and will take about five to seven days to complete (the unit, not the test). We'll be zooming, and the beauty of the course is that it is not particularly cumulative - it you don't like something or perform poorly at it (brain biochemistry, for example), you'll be on to a new topic in a week. If you fall behind, seek help immediately. I promise not to waste your precious time by telling you all of the important points about what you read that night. Therefore, as class will rarely duplicate reading, takes notes on class lectures or activities, (either with laptop or pen and paper, your choice) and strive at all times to integrate them into your ever-growing knowledge base - ask yourself every day: "Why did we do this? What were we supposed to learn?" Each unit will end with some controversial debate or application of the material and a philosophical foray into Oliver Sacks, which will test your understanding and demonstrate the relevance of psychology to the real world.

3) You will be assessed daily on your general preparation for class, level of contribution, and ability not to screw up experiments (there's one person every year). However, most of your grade (about 75%) will be determined by the aforementioned chapter tests, with the remainder coming from #4 below.

4) There will be frequent short papers/projects, usually experimental write-ups or case analyses or computer simulations. These are downgraded 5% per day late, but don't be late with them, as they tend to atone for poor test grades (it's hard to mess up a computer project significantly). But remember, no matter how late, a late paper gets more credit than no paper.  All papers, labs, etc. should be  submitted in hard copy - keep either a hard or soft copy for yourself, in case one of us foolishly loses your original. 

5) You may take a make-up for any chapter test you pooch. However, please be advised that the make-up is generally harder, and that I will average the two grades, no matter how you fare on the retest. Retests must be taken before the next chapter test.

6) In case no one told you, be advised that you must take the AP exam in May.

7) If you are absent

    a) Assume, that, however depressed we were by your absence, we fought back the tears and moved on

    b) Call a trusted, competent friend for your assignment

    c) Pick up a copy of all handouts, etc. from the rack file in Room 215 immediately upon your return.

d) You have as many days to make up a test as days you missed. Thereafter, 5% will be deducted from your score for each additional day. It is to your advantage not to let things drag on. Trust me.

8) Some specifics on academic integrity:

            a) You are encouraged to complete the computer labs with a friend.  However, your write-ups, whether you work alone or in tandem, should be in your own words (not those of your friend or the computer).

            b) All other work, unless otherwise indicated, must be yours and yours alone.  The most specific question you should ask of someone who has taken a given test is "How was the test?”   Realize that I may/will change tests from year to year, section to section, to ensure security.  So, if somebody wants to sell you last year's tests, consider, before investing, that they are probably not much more useful than your study guide.  In accordance with school and history department policies (all of which apply here), academic integrity is taken VERY seriously.

9) Your textbook has a website – http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/myers8e/default.asp

 – which is amazing.  Find it, register, add it to your favorites. It contains outlines, weblinks, flashcards, psych in the news, close-ups, thinking critically, practice quizzes, simulations, as well as the Psychsim labs and the supplemental Psychquest labs.  We’ll often be visiting this site in class, but I’ll try to warn you to bring your computer in advance of those occasions.  Once on the Myers website, it refers you to an AP prep site which you may also want to add to your favorites.

 10) There are always extra-credit type things you can do, but better not to need them, by getting the basics correct in the first place.  Realize also that you can't go from a D+ to a B- by the simple application of extra credit.  Sometimes, there will be extra credit opportunities on tests, but they will only be available to those who take the test on time.

 11) Please have some fun with this stuff, and question all your assumptions about why people act the way they do

 12) Even though we’ll flit from one psychological topic to another, there are some themes for the year, which we’ll begin to explore with the summer reading essay, and continue to examine until the AP exam.  Keep them in mind always, whether napping, in the shower, etc.  We’ll call them “essential questions”, and here they are.  Commit them to memory.

 a)      How much of what we think, feel and do, is determined by our experience, and how much is inborn?

 b)      How scientific is the psychological study of humans?

c)      How much do people really change?

 d)      How similar are people to one another?  To what extent is each of us unique?

 e)      How different are males from females?  Where do the existing differences come from?

 13) Enough rules.  Here is a brief history of Western thought, to help you gain the proper perspective:

             I am that I am  - JEHOVAH

             I yam what I yam - POPEYE

             I think, therefore I am - DESCARTES

             I think I can, I think I can - THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD      

  REMEMBER TO CHECK THE ASSIGNMENTS PART OF THE WEBSITE EVERY DAY; I CAN BE SOMEWHAT UNPREDICTABLE

BRUNSWICK HISTORY DEPARTMENT
 ACADEMIC INTEGRITY GUIDELINES

The community which makes up Brunswick School demands that all “young men grow in an atmosphere of trust, care, and mutual respect.”  All members of the department endeavor to instill the values of honesty and integrity in each and every student.  It is with these lofty goals in mind (and in conjunction with and ancillary to the Brunswick School Handbook.) that the History/Social Studies Department presents the following specific policies regarding academic integrity:

Cheating

The giving or receiving of any unfair advantage on any academic exercise not deemed group work by the instructor.  This includes tests and quizzes, essays, homework, projects and reading notes.

Plagiarism

The submission of work as one’s own any part of which is:
             -written or created by another.  (This includes term paper "mill" sites)
             -copied or paraphrased from any source without proper citation (i.e. cutting
              and pasting of web materials)
             -based upon an idea unique to another source without proper
              acknowledgement.

When in doubt, check with your particular instructor for clarification.

Dishonesty

The willful perversion of the truth with intent to deceive.  In particular, students tend to be dishonest with regards to homework, be it either written or read.  Unless a teacher specifically says a student can work with another student, written homework should not be shared or copied. And if you have not read, the department feels it is better just to be up front with your teacher instead of trying to "fake" your way through it during Q&A or a class discussion.  Worse yet, begging a classmate for the details is deceitful as well--remember your character and reputation are at stake!

 Test Taking

It is in the best interest of the student to take tests on the day they are scheduled.  Minor “sicknesses” and the postponement of tests only set students back in the long run.  However, if a student is sick, a makeup test will be offered.  Students must seek out their instructor first thing in the morning to schedule a time for the makeup.  All make-ups must be taken as soon as possible, preferably on the first day back unless there are extenuating circumstances which would not allow the student to take the make-up in the required 24 hour extension period.

All students should not discuss tests after a test has been taken.  Post-test discussion, even with students who have taken the exam, constitutes cheating.  Student often do not realize that “private” hallway conversations are often heard by others who have not yet taken the test on that day.  Play it safe—do not risk being accused of cheating.

The Internet (and the pilfering thereof)

The Internet is a wonderful resource that greatly lends itself to the study of history.  Still, there are some pitfalls that must be avoided at all cost.  First, the “surfing” of improper sites and/or sites not approved by your instructor during class time is a violation of school rules.  Second, avoid surfing to sites that offer term papers (often called paper "mill" sites) for downloading and sale—this is plagiarism. It is surprisingly easy for teachers to find these Web sites as well.  Third, there has been a great rise in the incidence of "cutting and pasting" of paragraphs from web sites into papers without proper citation—this also is an act of plagiarism. 

Finally, e-mail is a great way to communicate with your classmates but sometimes leads to the cutting and pasting of other’s written homework assignments, in complete violation of the Brunswick Handbook.  Use the Internet to accentuate your work--not to compromise your efforts.

Still, in order to "help" students not stray from the proper path, the department now uses technology developed by Turnitin.com to check all major written assignments.  Students are required to turn in both a digital and hard copy of all papers.  With the digital copy teachers can take the text and run a scan of the words via Turnitin.com's software.  This software searches over 10 billion web sites including those called "paper mill" sites which allow students to buy papers. 

Any details not specifically covered in these guidelines can be found in the Brunswick School Handbook.

                                                                                                            (Updated 9/2005)