Syllabus

Psy 361 History & Systems in Psychology     Fall Quarter 2001    MWF 9:40-10:40

Discussion Group

Instructor: Dr. George F. Michel                         Office Hours: MWF 2:20-4:30
Office: 507 Bryne                                                  Telephone: 325-4246
E-Mail: gmichel@condor.depaul.edu

Text: Schultz & Schultz: A History of Modern Psychology (7th Ed.) New York: Harcourt/Brace

Course Format: Each day I will lecture on the assigned topic and allow about 15-20 minutes for your questions and discussion of weekly topic questions. I depend upon you for letting me know what parts of the text and/or lectures need clarification. Therefore, the first day for which a chapter reading assignment is scheduled, there will be a 10 minute quiz composed of multiple choice questions about that week's topic.

Grading: Your grade will be based upon your contribution to class discussion, your written homework assignments, and your performance on the weekly (Monday) quizzes and a final examination. Homework assignments will be given for each chapter (see enclosed page). The homework is due on the first day for which the chapter is assigned.

COURSE OUTLINE

Date                                   Topic                                             Assignment

9/5-7                               Introduction                                          Ch 1
9/10-14                           Philosophical Influences                       Ch 2
9/17-21                           Physiological Influences                       Ch 3
9/24-28                           Psychology Becomes a Discipline        Ch 4, 5
10/1-5                             Functionalism                                         Ch 6, 7
10/8-12                           Applied Psychology                                Ch 8
10/15-19                         Behaviorism                                            Ch 9, 10
10/22-26                         Neobehaviorism & Gestalt Psychol.      Ch 11, 12
10/29-11/2                      Psychoanalysis                                        Ch 13, 14
11/5-12                           Humanism & Cognitive Psychol.            Ch 15
 

11/15 (Thursday) 8:45-11:00          FINAL EXAM

Homework Assignments: Each assignment is due the first day of class that the topic will be discussed. Please keep a copy of your homework for your own records and use.

Chapter 2: Discuss how notions from physics, chemistry, mechanism, and determinism
                    have been applied toward understanding human behavior.

Chapter 3: Describe the 19th-C German university system and relate this discription to
                    your understanding of DePaul University's College of Liberal Arts &
                    Sciences and the psychology department.

Chapters 4 & 5: a. Describe Wundt's goals for the new science of psychology and
                            enumerate his experimental conditions.
                           b. For Titchener, how was psychology similar to the other natural
                            sciences?

Chapters 6 & 7: a. Describe 5 contemporary examples of Galton's influence on
                              Psychology.
                            b. Discuss at least 3 ways in which functionalism expanded the field
                              and/or practice of psychology.

Chapter 8: Discuss how functionalism and pragmatism in America affected the
                    development of psychological testing, Industrial/Organization Psychology,
                    and Clinical Psychology.

Chapters 9 & 10: a. Compare Thorndike's law of effect and Pavlov's law of
                                reinforcement.
                              b. Discuss why America was ripe for an "outbreak of psychology".

Chapter 11 & 12: a. Discuss the points of agreement and disagreement between
                                neobehaviorists' systems and Watson's behaviorism.
                              b. Discuss the controversy between Koehler's "insight" learning and
                                Thorndike's Law of Effect.

Chapters 13 & 14: a. Discuss the initial response to Freud's theory of the seduction
                                   trauma and to the related controversies that surfaced on the 1980s.
                                b. Explain how Jung's system might be examples of the defense
                                    mechanisms of sublimation, intellectualization, and rationalization.

Chapter 15: a. Discuss the major distinctions between behaviorism and humanism,
                        cognitive psychology, and Gestalt psychology.