Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Grading

I am working on grading, having collected the work that was submitted on campus by last Friday (if anyone turned in a paper after that, I have not seen it, as I have not been on campus this week.). I also recieved the papers that were submitted via e-mail.

Here is the breakdown of how many points you need to achieve an A, A-, B+, and so forth:

A:   190 to 200 points
A-:  180 to 189 points
B+:  174 to 179
B:    166 to 173
B-:   160 to 165
C+:  154 to 159
C:    140 to 153
F:     139 and below

Please be aware that if you failed to submit the 30 point paper at all, then perfect scores on everything else would get you 170 points, which is a B. If you already lost points on quizzes, the final exam, or mini-papers, your grade can drop from there pretty quickly.

If you have missed any assignments, you are strongly encouraged to turn them in so that you can receive at least partial credit.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

(Further) focusing your study

I just know some of you out there will be screaming at your monitors asking "Why didn't she give us this before??" Well, it's because she (I) didn't finish putting together the final exam until today. Also, this was NOT an easy or straightforward thing to figure out how to do.

What you see here is the same notes you had earlier, but I have put a red rectangle around the slides that are most important for answering questions on the final exam. Here is part 1--chapters 5 to 13.

I recommend that you look at this document alongside the notes I already gave you, and circle or otherwise mark the slides I have indicated as important. Part 2 will be posted as soon as I have it ready for you.

9:00 p.m. update: Part 2--Chapters 16 to Epilogue

Second update as of May 15 at 8:50 p.m. Apparently the part 2 file I uploaded yesterday was corrupted or distorted, so I'm breaking it into two parts to see if that works better. Here is chapter 16 to 21.

9:15 This is utterly absurd--it still looks hideous.  I'm going to try one more thing before I give up. Either way, I still plan to go over this with you before the exam tomorow.

Part 2 of the final exam notes

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15

Homework (10 point papers) revisited

Here is the handout about homework that I provided on the first day of class. In this post, I will provide information about which articles and videos are appropriate for these 6 one-page papers.

I have a few specific articles that I can link you to (I will create a new post to share those with you), but you can also find articles on your own by going to the American Psychological Association web site, to “psychology topics”. Click on a subject that interests you—for example, ADHD. Scroll down the page past the first couple sections to the one labeled “News”.  Any of the news articles (on any of the psychology topics) is acceptable for your 10 point papers. Below the news links, there should be the heading “Monitor on Psychology Articles”.  Those are also acceptable for 10 point papers.

Here are some approved videos.
 
Videos
Since some people have said they had difficulty making out the video I posted, I will just mention some of the most important points here.

Papers should be at least a full page typed, double-spaced. You should not just do an overall summary of one of the Psychology Topics...once you click on a topic that interests you, you should then scroll down and find an article on that topic. The article be listed under News or Monitor on Psychology Articles. I did not require APA format on the 10 point papers, but it would be a good idea to identify the title of the article or video somewhere in your paper.

30 point growth and development paper

Here is a link to the instructions, in case you can't find your copy.

Monday, May 14, 2012

For the Growth and Development Final

Update as of 5 p.m., Monday, May 14. The final is now ready to print, is the list of terms.

The final exam is not written yet, but I will be sharing some links and information here that addresses issues that I am very likely to include in the exam in some way. You have been provided handouts that address final exam concepts--the ones that appear on your lists of terms (Page 1 and Page 2). These include some minor updates, and I just uploaded them within the past 15 minutes.


At the time of Tuesday's class, the pared down handout for chapters 5 through 13 was not yet prepared. I will bring extra copies of that handout at the time of the final, but if at all possible, you should try to print a copy for yourself before that, so that you can take notes on it, add examples, and so forth.

Here is the handout for Chapter 16 through the end of the book.

Infants' Social and Emotional Development (the fifth page of this handout has a nice summary of the different temperament styles seen in infants.) There is also a whole web site about temperament (including how to discover your own temperament, in case you're interested in learning more about this subject.

Diana Baumrind's Parenting Styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive)More to come...

Friday, May 11, 2012

10 point paper instructions--a review

Update Number Two:  I posted this video for you all at the beginning of April, but based on some of the papers I have seen, I thought some of you might benefit from a reminder. I will accept one page papers on the day of the final exam, so if you are one of those students who, for example, described a disorder rather than summarizing an approved article about that disorder, there is still time for you to make some changes to your paper to bring it in line with the requirements.

I will say this next part in bold so that you don't miss it--the only material in the video below that is outdated/incorrect is the part that refers to the number of papers. You do need to write 6 one-page papers in addition to your 30 point paper. But you should listen carefully to everything else in the video, because it is still accurate and is important.


4/3/12 Update: I created this video at the end of winter quarter in response to some common mistakes that were showing up in the 10 point papers as I began to grade them. At some point in the video I made reference to the fact that one class needed to write 6 of these papers, while the other class only needed to write 4. This quarter, all of my classes will be writing 6 of these papers. But everything else in the video remains accurate, and it should be helpful to watch if you are confused at all about the 10 point homework papers.

Based on some issues I've seen while grading the 10 point "mini-papers", I decided to put together this PowerPoint video to remind everyone of the instructions. I will not be giving anyone who actually turned in a paper a zero, but you should not expect to receive full credit for a paper if you did not follow the guidelines described here.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Possible Links of Interest

I am working on grading, as well as preparing the final lecture for Human Growth and Development before next week's final exam--you know, picking out the really important material that shouldn't be left out of a course like this. And, of course, making sure that the final exam reflects that focus. (Note to my Intro students--you all did an outstanding job on the final exam, so no worries there!)


Anyway, while I was looking through the folders on my desktop, I came across some pages of "web resources" that I found on one of the textbook companion sites (instructor edition). Nothing here is required reading, but I thought it would be remiss to end the quarter without passing these along.  You may wish to take a quick peek at the links and see if any of them might be useful to you at some point in the future...either professionally or personally...and bookmark those for later reading.

First and foremost--I promised a student that I would look into this, and then it slipped my mind. Better late than never, I hope...?

Morning Sickness

Morning Sickness Protects Mothers and Unborn

The Biology of Morning Sickness (from Discover Magazine)

Morning Sickness Regulates Diet (from BBC News)



More LinksThe Nurture Assumption Home Page


The Preventative Ounce (about temperament)


The Darwin Awards (just for fun and NOT to be taken seriously!)


The Brain And Nervous System

Neuroscience for Kids (NOT as simplistic as it sounds!)

Neuropsychology Central

Comparative Mamalian Brain Collections

The Whole Brain Atlas


Consciousness

National Sleep Foundation

Facts on Tap (alcohol)

Straight Talk on Alcohol and Other Drugs

International Association for the Study of Dreams


Perception


Bad Human Factor Designs


Impossible Figures in Perceptual Psychology

Blindsight: Seeing What You Don't See

Illlusion Works

Magic Eye Site

Gallery of Illusions

The Invisible Gorilla


To be continued (and feel free to add any of your favorite "safe for work" links in the comments).

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Chapter notes (pdf)

Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Epilogue

Frontline Video

Inside the Teenage Brain

Bobo Doll Experiment

Bobo experiment video
Rorschach Test

The Stanford Prison Experiment

Albert Ellis Therapy Video


Fritz Perls Therapy Video

Carl Rogers video part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4

Final Exam Review

This is "part 1". I don't know if there will be time to record part 2, but at least watching this will give you a good idea of how to approach the final exam.

Daniel Tammet video

The Boy With the Incredible Brain

Introductory Psychology Notes


PowerPoints

Chapter 7 part 1
Chapter 7 part 2
Chapter 8 part 1
Chapter 8 part 2
Chapter 9 part 1
Chapter 9 part 2
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12 part 1
Chapter 12 part 2
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16

Our new addition

This handsome young fellow came home with me last night. Cat Girl is most displeased.


This was his description on the shelter web site:

Perkins story is one of those "tear-jerkers"- his owner passed away & no one else had room for this big, lovable teddy bear. So he came to us, & as is true for most dogs, he's very glad for every Volunteer who comes in to take him out for a walk or just sits in his cage & hangs out with him. But he would be happiest with a home of his own where he can lay on the couch(or on the floor) & watch basketball games or car racing. And a dog biscuit every now & then would make him ecstatic.

From the description, it sounds like he could actually be a bit of a "couch potato", but during the early adjustment period, things can be a bit chaotic. But I think this is really going to turn out to be a Very Good Thing.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Homework

Here is the handout about homework that I provided on the first day of class. In this post, I will provide information about which articles and videos are appropriate for these 6 one-page papers.

I have a few specific articles that I can link you to (I will create a new post to share those with you), but you can also find articles on your own by going to the American Psychological Association web site, to “psychology topics”. Click on a subject that interests you—for example, ADHD. Scroll down the page past the first couple sections to the one labeled “News”.  Any of the news articles (on any of the psychology topics) is acceptable for your 10 point papers. Below the news links, there should be the heading “Monitor on Psychology Articles”.  Those are also acceptable for 10 point papers.

Here are some approved videos.
 
Videos

I will also go over this in class, but am providing the information online now for anyone who wishes to get started on these papers. I would recommend trying to submit one paper per week so that work doesn't pile up and become unmanageable, but there is some flexibility here. I do strongly urge you to submit your first paper as soon as you are able, so that I can make sure you are on the right track.

Development PowerPoints

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8

Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13

The Secret of the Wild Child

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Finding articles using PubMed

For both Introductory Psychology and Psychology of Growth and Development, there is a 30 point paper due at the end of the quarter. The specifics of the assignments are different, but both require at least one scholarly/empirical article as a reference. The instructions below are designed to explain how to find such an article for your paper.

  This guide to finding articles using PubMed is available at the library. This link takes you to the library page on the AIAM web site (found under "Resources"). If you have a Columbus (or Worthington, or Westerville...) library card, you can access premium resources, like EBSCO. Whether you are using PubMed or one of the premium services, be sure to click the "full text articles" box when doing your search.

Piaget

explanation

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Some notes about development

Theoretical Issues: Ongoing Debates



  • Nature versus Nurture
  • Continuity versus Stages
  • Stability versus Change








Prenatal development
  • Germinal period
  • Embryonic period
Fetal period


Early motor development


Cognitive Development

Schema –cognitive structures or patterns consisting of a number of organized ideas that grow and differentiate with experience

Assimilation – absorbing new information into existing schemas

Accommodation – adjusting old schemas or developing new ones to better fit with new information




Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor stage

Birth to about age 2
Child relies heavily on innate motor responses to stimuli
Mental representations


Object permanence

Preoperational stage

--About age 2 to age 6 or 7
--Marked by well-developed mental representation and the use of language

Egocentrism (video)




Animistic thinking




Concrete Operational Stage
--About age 7 to about age 11
--Child understands conservation but is incapable of abstract thought


Conservation

Formal Operational Stage

--From about age 12 on
--Abstract thought appears


Theory of Mind

Imprinting (Konrad Lorenz)
Harlow's attachment study
Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation

Temperament –An individual’s characteristic manner of behavior or reaction
Socialization –The lifelong process of shaping an individual’s behavior patterns, values, standards, skills, attitudes and motives to conform to those regarded as desirable in a particular society
Most approaches to child rearing fall into one of the following four styles:
Authoritarian parents: parenting style emphasizing control and obedience
Authoritative parents: parenting style blending respect for a child's individuality with an effort to instill social values
Permissive parents: parenting style emphasizing self-expression and self-regulation

Uninvolved parents
Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages (see handout)
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning
I. Preconventional morality
II. Conventional morality
III. Postconventional (principled) morality


Chapter 5 part 1
Chapter 5 part 2
Chapter 6 part 1
Chapter 6 part 2
Chapter 6 part 3
Chapter 7 part 1

Introduction to Psychology PowerPoints

Chapter 3 Part 1
Chapter 7 Part 2

Handouts

Chapter 7

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Newborn Videos


Apgar Score


Moro Reflex

Tonic Neck Reflex

Rooting reflex

Stepping reflex

Life's Greatest Miracle Assignment

These are the instructions you should follow if you wish to use the Life's Greatest Miracle video as the basis for one of your 10 point homework papers.

In your paper, please summarize (in your own words) two or three new things you learned, and include (briefly) any reactions you had to the material. Was there anything that surprised you, or found especially interesting? Explain.

A point of clarification--you are not required to write a paper about this video. But if you do, please make sure your paper tells me some things you learned specifically from this video--and not just general information about pregnancy and childbirth.

 
Here is the link to the program's web site.

Hopefully you were taking notes as you watched the video, but there is also a transcript available on this web page--click the word "Transcript" to see it.




Remember, it is NOT okay to copy and paste parts of the transcript to include in your paper. You need to summarize the findings/new information in your own words. But using the transcript and scanning for the parts that interested you could save you time compared to watching the video to find the right spot.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Can you see the cow?





Here it is...

Parts of the Brain (Psych Files)

Here's a link to the video we watched in class about memorizing the parts of the brain. As I said in class, the first quiz will cover chapters 1 and 2. I do not have the list of concepts ready yet, but will post that as soon  as I can.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Update from Renee

First of all, a word of reassurance--there is no homework that needs to be turned in during week two. You are welcome to turn in a 10 point paper--and it is best to start turning those in sooner rather than later--but it is not required. Everyone who attended the first day of class should have received a handout about homework, but what you don't have (yet) is a list of approved articles and videos. I'm going to be adding those as soon as possible--certainly in plenty of time for you to submit a paper next week if you chose to.


In the sidebar, I will be adding links to important documents and resources. Important note to my Tuesday class--the syllabus has been updated and now includes quiz dates...


...and, to answer the inevitable question, I will be telling you more about what to expect on the first quiz. You will receive a handout of terms/concepts on which you should focus your study. Students often say that they want a "study guide". I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I'm pretty sure different students have different expectations of what a study guide would entail.


My advice:


  • read the assigned chapters
  • ask questions about anything you read and didn't understand
  • pay close attention to the lecture. I assure you it will give you some clues as to what to expect on an upcoming quiz
And I have been known to give really blatant hints about at least a few of the items you will see on the quiz. It's "how I roll". ;-)


Bottom line: trust me. I do indeed have a plan. And please don't interrupt class to ask "what will be on the quiz"? That could throw off my concentration, and I might forget to drop one of those blatant hints. So, most importantly...







Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Sherwin Nuland describes his experience with ECT

I wish I had remembered to share this video in class. It's a pretty amazing story.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

On the home front

My collie, Brady, is at least 13 years old (he was a rescue, so we don't know exactly), and for the past 4 or 5 years has been showing signs of something called degenerative myelopathy. Given everything that I've read about the disorder, I'm thankful that he is still able to walk Getting up, however, is increasingly a struggle for him, and usually requires my assistance. 


Unattended for even a few minutes, he can get himself into a predicament. Yesterday, as the rain was starting, I put him in the yard for a bit in case he needed a potty break before the rain got really bad. When I went outside to get him, I found him lying in the mud.




That is the dirtiest he has ever been--his entire left side was covered in mud. 




He also hates baths, and fights them quite vigorously for an old dog with muscle weakness. I couldn't even get him completely clean, because his breathing started sounding distressed, so I decided I had better stop.


Anyway, this is the sort of thing that interrupts me while I'm in the middle of creating quizzes, grading, preparing lectures, and it's one of the things that makes it pretty difficult to predict how long it will take me to do something. Your patience is/will be appreciated. And also, since I am very aware that "things happen", I am more than willing to be flexible and understanding with all of you when life throws an additional stumbling block in your path.