Introduction to Psychology 1/IPSY100 OERu course specification

=Part A: Course specification=

Metadata

 * OERu course name: Introduction to psychology 1
 * Level: 1st year Bachelor's degree
 * Notional learning hours: 120
 * Micro-courses (Three micro-courses of 40 hours each)
 * Foundations of Psychological Science (IPSY101)
 * Thinking learning and memory (IPSY102)
 * Evolution perception and consciousness (IPSY103)
 * OERu course codes: IPSY101, IPSY102 and IPSY103
 * OERu assessing institutions: Kwantlen Polytechnic University
 * Micro-credential options: No
 * OERu mode of study: Self-directed study or cohort-based independent study with peer-learning support.

Course aim
To become familiar with the history and research methods of psychology and to critically examine topics related to basic psychological processes.

Learning outcomes

 * 1) Explain and critically evaluate current topics and research in the field of psychology
 * 2) Describe basic psychological processes
 * 3) Describe and apply rudimentary research and statistical methods
 * 4) Access and comprehend current research
 * 5) Utilize effective writing skills in examinations
 * 6) Use critical thinking skills through discussion and analysis of psychological issues

Indicative content

 * 1) History of Psychology
 * 2) Research methods
 * 3) Biological bases of behaviour
 * 4) Learning
 * 5) Memory
 * 6) Thinking & Intelligence
 * 7) Nature, Nurture & Evolution
 * 8) Sensation & Perception
 * 9) States of Consciousness

Pre-requisites
Students must meet the English proficiency requirement of the Faculty of Arts at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. This may be satisfied in any one of the following ways:

1. Testing Options 2. High School Courses 3. Undergraduate Courses 4. Courses at Kwantlen Polytechnic University
 * KPU English Placement Test (EPT) with placement into ENGL 1100
 * International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic Test: overall band of 6.5 or higher, with a minimum 6.0 in each band, taken within the last two years
 * Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): iBT 88 or higher, with no sub score less than 20, taken within the last two years
 * Canadian Academic English Language Assessment (CAEL): Score of 70 or higher with no sub score less than 60, taken within the last two years
 * Pearson Test of English (PTE): Score of 61 or higher, taken within the last two years
 * Language Proficiency Index (LPI): Level 5 with an essay score of 30 or higher, taken within the last two years
 * Completion of BC English 12 or English Literature 12 or English First Peoples 12 with a minimum grade of C+ or Communications 12 with a minimum grade of A (or equivalents)
 * As part of the Adult Dogwood Diploma, completion of English 12 with a minimum grade of C+ or completion of Communications 12 with a minimum grade of A
 * Completion of IB (International Baccalaureate) English A1/A2 (HL or SL) with a minimum grade of 3 (or C+)
 * Completion of AP (Advanced Placement) English Language and Composition or AP English Literature and Composition with a minimum grade of 2 (or C+)
 * Completion of 3 credits of undergraduate English (ENGL) with a minimum grade of C- from a recognized post-secondary institution where English is the primary language of instruction
 * Graduation from a baccalaureate degree, or two-year diploma program, or successful completion of two years of study (60 credits) at the undergraduate level, with a minimum CGPA of 2.0, at a recognized post-secondary institution where English is the primary language of instruction
 * Completion of ELST 0381 and ELST 0383 (or equivalents) with a minimum grade of B in both or ELST 0381 with a minimum grade of B and a KPU placement score higher than ELST 0383 level
 * Completion of ENGQ 1091, ENGQ 1092 or ENGQ 1099 (or equivalents) with a minimum grade of C

=Part B: Detailed objectives=

Micro-course structure
Learners are required to complete three micro-courses for academic credit.

Learning objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:

What is psychology

 * Provide both the historical and modern scientific definitions of psychology
 * Describe the merits of an education in psychology

History of psychology
 * Describe how Wundt’s Structuralism and James’s Functionalism led to the birth of scientific psychology
 * Describe major developments in the history of psychology including Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory, Gestalt Psychology, and Behaviourism
 * Explain what view humanism rejected and what view it proposed instead
 * Explain why the cognitive revolution shifted psychology’s focus back to the mind

Contemporary psychology
 * Explain how the American Psychological Association reflects the diversity of psychology
 * Summarize each of the major subdisciplines of psychology

Careers in pyschology
 * Specify the requirements of a PhD in psychology
 * Compare the employment sectors for graduates with a BA in Psychology vs. graduates with a PhD in psychology.
 * Contrast the differences between the PhD, PsyD, and MD degrees.

Why is research important?
 * Explain how the scientific approach can address questions about behaviour
 * Diagram the scientific method
 * Define the term scientific hypothesis and explain why they need to be falsifiable
 * Explain how scientific research can guide both public policy and personal decisions

Approaches to research
 * Describe the different research methods used by psychologists
 * Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of case studies, naturalistic observation, surveys, and archival research
 * Compare longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches to research

Analyzing findings
 * Define the terms correlation coefficient and illusory correlation
 * Explain why a correlation does not indicate a cause-and-effect relationship between variables
 * Explain random sampling and random assignment of participants into experimental and control groups
 * Discuss how experimenter or participant bias could affect the results of an experiment
 * Identify independent and dependent variables in a research design
 * Define the concepts of reliability and validity

Ethics
 * Discuss how research involving human subjects is regulated
 * Summarize the processes of informed consent and debriefing

Cells of the nervous system
 * Identify the basic parts of a neuron
 * Describe how neurons communicate with each other
 * Explain how drugs act as agonists or antagonists for a given neurotransmitter system

Parts of the nervous system
 * Differentiate between the central and peripheral nervous systems
 * Explain the difference between the somatic and autonomic nervous systems
 * Differentiate between the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system

The brain and spinal cord
 * Explain the functions of the spinal cord
 * Identify the hemispheres and lobes of the brain
 * Describe the types of techniques available to clinicians and researchers to image or scan the brain

The endocrine system
 * Identify the major glands of the endocrine system, the hormones they secrete, and their functional roles

Learning objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:

What is cognition?
 * Define cognitive psychology
 * Distinguish concepts and prototypes
 * Explain the difference between natural and artificial concepts
 * Explain the difference between role schema and event schema

Language
 * Define language and describe the components of language
 * Create a table describing the stages of language development
 * Explain the relationship between language and thinking

Problem-solving
 * Describe problem-solving strategies
 * Define algorithm and heuristic
 * Explain some common roadblocks to effective problem solving including 5 types of decision bias

What are intelligence and creativity?
 * Define intelligence
 * Explain the triarchic theory of intelligence
 * Identify the difference between intelligence theories
 * Identify a representative career for each of the 8 types of multiple intelligences

Measures of intelligence
 * Explain how intelligence tests are developed
 * Describe the history of the use of IQ tests
 * Describe the purposes and benefits of intelligence testing

The source of intelligence
 * Describe how genetics and environment affect intelligence
 * Explain the relationship between IQ scores and socioeconomic status
 * Describe the difference between a learning disability and a developmental disorder

What is learning?
 * Explain how learned behaviours are different from instincts and reflexes
 * Define learning
 * Recognize and define three basic forms of learning: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning

Classical conditioning
 * Explain how classical conditioning occurs
 * Summarize the processes of acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination

Operant conditioning
 * Explain the difference between reinforcement and punishment
 * Distinguish between reinforcement schedules

Observational learning (modelling)
 * Define observational learning
 * Discuss the steps in the modeling process
 * Explain the prosocial and antisocial effects of observational learning

How memory functions
 * Discuss the three basic functions of memory
 * Describe the three stages of memory storage
 * Describe and distinguish between procedural and declarative memory and semantic and episodic memory

Parts of the brain Involved in memory
 * Explain the brain functions involved in memory
 * Recognize the roles of the hippocampus, amygdala, and cerebellum

Problems with memory
 * Compare and contrast the two types of amnesia
 * Discuss the unreliability of eyewitness testimony
 * Discuss encoding failure
 * Discuss the various memory errors
 * Compare and contrast the two types of interference

Ways to enhance memory
 * Recognize and apply memory-enhancing strategies
 * Recognize and apply effective study techniques

Learning objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, learners will be able to: Evolutionary psychology
 * Define "evolution"
 * Explain the basic principles of the theory of evolution by natural selection
 * Describe the differences between genotype and phenotype
 * Discuss how gene-environment interactions are critical for expression of physical and psychological characteristics
 * Define sexual selection and its two primary processes
 * Define gene selection theory
 * Give an example of a psychological adaptation
 * Identify the core premises of sexual strategies theory
 * Identify the core premises of error management theory
 * Provide two empirical examples of adaptive cognitive biases.

Sensation and perception
 * Distinguish between sensation and perception
 * Describe the concepts of absolute threshold and difference threshold
 * Discuss the roles attention, motivation, and sensory adaptation play in perception

Waves and wavelengths
 * Draw a wave and describe the peak, trough, wavelength, amplitude, and frequency
 * Show how physical properties of light waves are associated with perceptual experience
 * Show how physical properties of sound waves are associated with perceptual experience

Vision
 * Describe the basic anatomy of the visual system
 * Discuss how rods and cones contribute to different aspects of vision
 * Describe how monocular and binocular cues are used in the perception of depth

Hearing
 * Describe the basic anatomy and function of the auditory system
 * Explain how we encode and perceive pitch
 * Discuss how we localize sound

The other senses
 * Describe the basic functions of the chemical senses
 * Explain the basic functions of the somatosensory, nociceptive, and thermoceptive sensory systems
 * Describe the basic functions of the vestibular, proprioceptive, and kinesthetic sensory systems

What is consciousness?
 * Define consciousness
 * Explain how circadian rhythms are involved in regulating the sleep-wake cycle, and how circadian cycles can be disrupted
 * Discuss the concept of sleep debt

Sleep and why we sleep
 * Describe areas of the brain involved in sleep
 * Identify the hormone secretions associated with sleep
 * Describe several theories aimed at explaining the function of sleep

Stages of sleep
 * Differentiate between REM and non-REM sleep
 * Describe the differences between the four stages of non-REM sleep
 * Describe the role that REM and non-REM sleep play in learning and memory

Sleep problems and disorders
 * Describe the symptoms and treatments of insomnia
 * Describe the symptoms of several parasomnias
 * Describe the symptoms and treatments for sleep apnea
 * Identify risk factors associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and steps to prevent it
 * Describe the symptoms and treatments for narcolepsy

Substance use and abuse
 * Describe the diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders
 * Identify the neurotransmitter systems affected by various categories of drugs
 * Describe how different categories of drugs affect behaviour and experience

Other states of consciousness
 * Define hypnosis and meditation
 * Describe the similarities and differences of hypnosis and meditation

Course links (if available)

 * Planning page
 * Course materials
 * IPSY101 (Foundations of Psychological Science) --- IPSY101 Wordpress site
 * IPSY102 (Thinking learning and memory) --- IPSY102 Wordpress site
 * IPSY103 (Evolution perception and consciousness) --- IPSY103 Wordpress site