Tentative Syllabus

Textbook: Exploring Psychology (7^th Edition) by David G. Myers (Worth Publishers, 2008) -- available at the UT Bookstore or, for the digital version ($39), go to: http://www.coursesmart.com/9780716771401 or go to www.coursesmart.com and search for “Myers” in the search field

DATE	Lecture Topic	Chapter Readings
Aug 28	Psychology: What makes us tick?
Sept 2	The nature of scientific understanding, or how we go about understanding the mind	Chapter 1
Sept 4	Neurons, neurotransmitters, and scurrilous liars	Chapter 2
Sept 9	The brain: Don’t leave home without it
Sept 11	Genetics and early experience	Chapter 3
Sept 16	Babies, little children, development, and the cruel world ***1st writing assignment due***	Chapter 4
Sept 18	TEST 1
Sept 23	Sensation and perception	Chapter 5
Sept 25	Sleeping, dreaming, and consciousness	Chapter 6
Sept 30	Learning, forgetting, and the nature of history	Chapter 7
Oct 2	Memories: Shopping lists, the magic number, and other nonsense	Chapter 8
Oct 7	Let’s talk: How the words we use reflect who we are	Chapter 9
Oct 9	Snooping around ***2nd writing assignment due***
Oct 14	TEST 2
Oct 16	Sex. Need we say more?	Chapter 10
Oct 21	Stress, illness, and emotional disclosure	Chapter 11
Oct 23	Freud and personality: Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll?	Chapter 12
Oct 28	Who do you think you are?
Oct 30	Personality in animals
Nov 4	African American Psychology: Exploring culture, race, and ethnicity. Dr. Kevin Cokley, guest lecture ***3rd writing assignment due***
Nov 6	TEST 3
Nov 11	Mental disorders	Chapter 13
Nov 13	Psychotherapy: When and how does it work?	Chapter 14
Nov 18	Social Physics: Birds and cocktail parties	Chapter 15
Nov 20	Social behavior in Jericho, Guyana, & Queens, NY.
Nov 25	Social psychology and the meaning of life ***4th writing assignment due***
Nov 27	THANKSGIVING
Dec 2	TEST 4
Dec 4	Make-up exams

*All writing assignments must be completed and submitted by 11:59 PM on the assigned day.

Web Site Information. The syllabus, old tests, grades, personality feedback, and even a direct route to the experiments and prescreening page can be accessed by opening the following address:

www.psy.utexas.edu/jp301

Writing requirement information. Writing assignments must be submitted on the web through the internet address noted above. The writing assignments should be finished by September 16 (for assignment #1), October 9 (#2), November 4 (#3), and November 25 (#4) at 11:59 PM. Late submission = no credit. No excuses. Assignment 1 deals with a stream of consciousness experience; later assignments will deal with the course material at the time. Questions about the writing assignments should be directed to Meg Cason.