Instructor: Mandy Moreno
Email: ahmoreno@rci.rutgers.edu
Office: Tillett Hall 531
Office hours: By appointment only

Course Materials: The textbook is Wade, C., & Tavris, C. (2006). Psychology (8th ed.). Prentice Hall.   
                                                                                               
Course Website: PowerPoint slides, study guides, and other pertinent information is found at http://rci.rutgers.edu/~ahmoreno/psych101.htm.
Make sure to check this website on a regular basis for new information and important announcements. Important announcements may also take the form of group emails to the class, so make sure that your email address on file with the registrar is updated and accepts emails from the rci/eden.rutgers.edu domains.  

Course Objectives:
1) To gain a basic understanding of the major theories and principles of several subfields of psychology.
2) To learn how to apply these theories and principles to real-life situations.
3) To learn how to think critically about psychology-related issues.

Course Policies

Contacting the Instructor: I am your first contact person with questions regarding this course. Email is the best way to contact me, but please allow a minimum of 48 hours for a reply to your email. I have multiple responsibilities and may not be able to reply immediately; thus, keep in mind that if you email me with questions the night before or on the day of an exam, I may not be able to get a reply out to you before class time. Also, to make sure that your email reaches my inbox and is not accidentally filtered as spam, please indicate in your subject line the course you are writing in regards to (e.g., “Psych 101”, “General Psychology”).  Please do not write just “Psychology” or “Student question” as a subject line because a) it often gets filtered as spam, and b) I teach multiple classes and may not immediately recognize which one you are in. My office hours during the summer are by appointment only, but my schedule is quite flexible and you need only email me or speak to me for an appointment. If you email me for an appointment, please allow 24 hours notice before your preferred meeting time.

Please note that due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), grades cannot be discussed over email. If you have a concern about your grade, please make an appointment to come see me.

Classroom Etiquette and Attendance: Cell phones must be turned OFF when in the classroom. Do not put them on vibrate, as they will still make noise. Please refrain from reading newspapers, chatting, texting, or engaging in other potentially disruptive and disrespectful activities during lecture. Please note that part of your grade depends on class attendance. This portion of your grade is extremely easy to earn. You will earn 1 point for each class attended. A roster will be passed around at the beginning of class for you to initial. Please note that an important part of class attendance is being ON TIME. If you arrive late to class and miss the roster signing, you forfeit the point for that day.

You need to become acquainted with at least one other member of the class. This person is your “class partner”, and you should have his/her phone number and email address so that you may contact him/her outside of class. If you miss a class, check with your class partner to get the notes that you missed. Class partners will also be helpful if you are having problems clarifying a difficult concept or need a study partner. Class partners, however, are not substitutes for doing your own studying and taking your own notes. Please be kind and do not take advantage of your partner.

Participation in class is welcomed and encouraged. Feel free to ask questions as they arise. Some questions may require a more in-depth review than I can give during lecture; for such questions please make an appointment to come see me. Also, remember that some topics are sensitive and may personally affect persons present in the classroom. Please keep this in mind when formulating your questions and/or comments.

Grading: The final course grade is based on performance on three exams. I calculate grades through a simple percentage: [(Exam I points + Exam II points + Exam III points + Attendance points + Extra credit points)/Total possible points] x 100 = Final grade. A final grade of 90 and above is an A, 80-89 is a B, 70-79 is a C, 60-69 is a D, and 59 and below is an F. Plus modifiers are used on the final grade (not exam grades) where applicable. For example, a final grade of 87-89 is a B+.

Grades are changed only at the discretion of the instructor and will not be “curved” under any circumstances. Exam grades are posted on SAS gradebook, found at http://gradebook.rutgers.edu. Every effort will be made to make sure that your exam grades will be posted within one week of the exam date.

You should be thinking about your final grade in this class from the very beginning. If you wait until the end of the class session to discuss your concerns about your grade with me, it is too late. Do not hesitate to come speak to me about your grade if you are dissatisfied; however, I do not give individual assignments for people to “pull up” their grades if they are not satisfied with their performance. It is not fair to other students in the class to ask for extra assignments, and such requests will not be honored.

Exams: The exams are multiple-choice format and NOT cumulative. It is imperative that you are on time for the exams. No multiple-choice exams will be given after the first person is done and has left the classroom. Instead, an essay exam will be given to latecomers. Makeup exams are given only when the absence is excused by a note from the dean within a week from the absence. Makeups not scheduled with me before the exam will be given in essay format. Makeup exams must be completed before the next scheduled exam, or the points will be forfeited. If you schedule a makeup and miss that time without an excuse from the dean, you will take an essay makeup at the next available opportunity or forfeit your right to take the exam. The choice will be made at the instructor’s discretion.  

Individuals with disabilities that may impact their performance on the exam and need accommodations such as a reader or extra time must let me know IMMEDIATELY so that proctoring arrangements can be made with the Rutgers Learning Centers. You must ensure that I receive proper documentation from the Office of Disability Services regarding your situation at least one week before the first exam.

Extra Credit: Extra credit opportunities will be made available in class, and ONLY in class, throughout the semester. You must be present on the day of the opportunity as makeups are not permitted for extra credit opportunities. These opportunities will require your presence in class and may require prior knowledge of the material to be discussed that day. Thus, it is to your great advantage to come to class as often as possible having read the required book chapter(s) for that day. In addition, there will be several opportunities to participate in research as a subject in order to earn points. Point values will vary by experiment based on the time commitment involved. Researchers will be present in class on specified days to recruit and make appointments with you for participation outside of class. Even if you do not think you will need extra credit, DO IT. It can only help and not hurt your grade, and it will factor into any decisions about “borderline” grades. No requests for personal extra credit assignments will be honored.

Academic Integrity: All students are expected to adhere to the University’s Academic Integrity Code, which can be found at http://teachx.rutgers.edu/integrity/policy.html. I take this code very seriously, and you should too. Cheating and other instances of academic dishonesty will be punished according to the policy outlined by the University.

4 Steps to Success: Getting the most benefit from this class is dependent on four things: 1) Reading the assigned book chapters prior to coming to class; 2) Attending class and taking good notes; 3) Asking questions or meeting with the instructor to clarify points that are not easily understood; and 4) Doing well on the exams. Step 4 will be much easier to accomplish if you do Steps 1 through 3. Your textbook provides many helpful resources such as questions at the beginning of each section, exercises, and short quizzes. Being able to answer the chapter questions, doing the exercises, and completing the quizzes (and reviewing items you missed) are all great ways to study. I also recommend reviewing your notes and the textbook together and making use of the textbook website, found at http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_wade_psychology_8.

Class Schedule
Please note: This schedule is flexible and subject to change.

Dates	Chapters	Topic(s)	Notes
7/9, 7/11	1,2, and Appendix pages 647-648 & 652 (measuring central tendency and variability, statistical significance) 3 (pp.68-77), 4	Course overview & introduction; What is psychology? Scientific methods of research; genetics and biology in psychology
7/16	4, 6	The biology of psychology (cont’d), sensation and perception
7/18	6, 5	Sensation and perception, states of consciousness
7/23	5, 14	States of consciousness, developmental psychology	Exam I during second half of class 7/23
7/25	14, 7	Developmental psychology (cont’d), principles of learning
7/30	7, 10, 12	Principles of learning, memory, motivation
8/1	11, 9, 15	Emotion, thinking and intelligence, stress and health	Exam II during second half of class 8/1
8/6	15, 13	Stress and health, personality
8/8	8	Social psychology
8/13	16	Psychological disorders
8/15	17	Therapies and treatment	Exam III during second half of class 8/15