Fall Semester 2002
Instructor:  Jeffrey Reber, Ph.D.

Office:  Melson 125
Phone:  838-3037
e-mail:  jreber@westga.edu
Office Hours:  MW 1-2:00, 3:40-5:30; TTH 1-2:00, 5-5:30 (or by appointment)
 

Required Text:
Slife, B. D., & Williams, R. N.  (1995).  What’s behind the research?  Discovering hidden assumptions in the behavioral sciences.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage Publications.
 

Course Objectives
· Enhance students’ understanding of contemporary psychological issues through the study of psychology’s history.
· Increase students’ awareness and recognition of implicit assumptions underlying the many theories and explanations of psychology.
· Increase students’ ability to identify and evaluate the historical and philosophical underpinnings of psychological theorizing.
· Self-understanding and understanding of others
· Ability to analyze and synthesize issues in a psychological context

Because this is a Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) course it is writing intensive.  Some of the assignments are designed to help you learn through writing, while other assignments provide you opportunities to communicate your ideas to others through formal writing.  All graded and non-graded assignments in this course will entail one or both of these writing objectives.
 

Course Requirements

 Writing to Learn

· Quizzes  Reading plays a central role in class activities and the learning process.  To provide students with incentive to read and participate in class a quiz on each reading assignment will be given at the beginning of each class session for which a chapter is assigned.  Our class discussions may not always follow the class schedule (listed below), but the quizzes will always follow this schedule, so have the assigned reading completed.  No makeup quizzes are given.  The format of the quiz will typically be a two-minute written summary and evaluation of the reading.

· Small-Group Discussions  There will be five small-group discussion topics assigned during the course.  Discussions will center on a contemporary psychological issue (e.g., drug therapy).  Discussions will take place online and will be facilitated by a graduate student group leader.  The online discussion should focus on the hidden assumptions that play into the issue and the implications of those assumptions for understanding and improving the quality of human life.

Writing to Communicate

· Paper Assignments  There will be three paper assignments in the course.  Each paper will address one or more “hidden” assumptions of psychology (e.g., determinism, reductionism).  In the paper, students will identify the hidden assumptions, show how they are manifested in one or more contemporary psychological theories, discuss their historical origins, and clearly delineate their consequences for a study of human being.  Students will submit a draft of their paper via e-mail to the members of their small group for feedback.  Each group member will proofread, edit, suggest changes, and help the student revise and improve the paper.  The graduate student group leader will collect each draft and the feedback from each group member and give a final review of the paper with a list of specific suggestions for revision.  After revising the paper the student will submit a final draft to me.  Papers will be 2-3 pages long and must be no longer than 3 pages.
 

Course Grading
Quizzes     40 points (5 points each)
Small Group Discussions   25 points (5 points each)
Paper Assignments    75 points (25 points each)
Total    140 points

 
Tentative Fall 2002 Schedule

Date:    Topic    Reading Assignment

Aug 19   Course Introduction   Syllabus
        21  Obstructions to Hidden  Slife & Williams:  Chapter 1
Assumptions

Aug 26,28  Science and Human Behavior  Slife & Williams:  Chapter 6
Sept 2   Labor Day Holiday, no class
Sept 4,9

Sept 11,16  Human Images   Slife & Williams:  Chapter 2

Sept 18,23,25,30 Reductionism    Slife & Williams:  Chapter 5

Oct 2,7,9,14  Determinism    Slife & Williams:  Chapter 4

Oct 16,21,23,28 Naturalism    Handouts

Oct 30   Individualism    Handouts
Nov 4,6,11

Nov 13,18,20,25 Ways of Knowing   Slife & Williams:  Chapter 3

Nov 27-29  Thanksgiving Holiday, no class

Dec. 2,4  Where can we go from here?  Slife & Williams 7