PSYC002 Introduction

Introduction to Psychological Science

Course Overview and Logistics

• Instructor: Amanda Sadri

• Contact Email: asadr001@ucr.edu

• Course Code: PSYC$002$

• Office Hours: Expected to be held weekly to assist students with conceptual clarity and assignment feedback.

• Objective: This course serves as an introduction to the social and developmental pillars of psychology, contrasting with the biological focus found in PSYC$001$.

Course Timeline and Planning

• Current Status: Introduction to Psychology and foundational definitions.

• Upcoming (Week 2):

  • History of Psychology: Exploration of structuralism, functionalism, and the evolution of psychological schools of thought.

  • Study Strategies: Evidence-based techniques such as retrieval practice and spaced repetition.

Assignments and Quizzes

• Weekly Quizzes:

  • Two foundational quizzes are due this upcoming Monday by $11:59$ PM.

  • Quiz #2 Prerequisite: Must be completed before attending next week’s lecture to ensure readiness for in-class activities.

  • Content focus: Module $2$ materials, including the history of the field.

• Preparation: Ensure all pre-lecture readings are finished to maximize performance on these assessments.

Class Structure and Student Expectations

• Active Learning Workflow:

  1. Pre-lecture: Complete assigned readings and associated quizzes.

  2. Lecture: Engaging with high-level applications of the concepts.

• Classroom Climate: Emphasis on academic integrity and fostering a respectful environment for diverse perspectives.

Syllabus Updates and Resources

• SONA Research Participation:

  • Students must participate in human subjects research to gain firsthand experience with the scientific method.

  • Only direct participation in approved studies counts; roles like research assistantships are excluded from this credit requirement.

• Required Literature: "$50$ Great Myths of Popular Psychology" (Lilienfeld et al.). Download this immediately for the upcoming section.

• Software Recommendations:

  • Zotero: A free, open-source tool for bibliography management and PDF storage.

  • ReadCube: A premium alternative ($30$ per year) for advanced paper organization and notation.

Important Dates and Milestones

• Week 1 & 2 Quizzes: Final deadline at $11:59$ PM of the second week.

• Add/Drop Deadline: January $18, 2026$. This is the final day to adjust your schedule without academic penalty.

• Final Exam: Saturday, March $14$, from $8:00$ AM to $11:00$ AM. The exam is remote via Canvas and covers cumulative material.

Student Questions and Comprehensive Answers

Administrative and Academic Policy

• Dual Enrollment: Students taking both PSYC$001$ and PSYC$002$ will earn a total of $8$ credits ($4$ per course).

• Non-Major Success Strategies:

  • Review lecture slides before reading the textbook.

  • Create personal, real-world examples for abstract theories.

  • Group study sessions should focus on testing each other rather than just re-reading.

Communication Protocols

• Response Time: Teaching assistants (TAs) and the professor aim for a response window of $72$ hours during the business week.

• Professionalism: All emails should include the course code PSYC$002$ in the subject line.

Active Practice Project: Module 1

Project Requirements

• Format: $2-3$ pages, double-spaced, strictly following APA formatting style.

• Required Components:

  1. Myth Summary: A concise explanation of the psychological myth chosen from the reading.

  2. Reflective Analysis: A description of your cognitive dissonance or confirmation regarding the myth before reading the evidence.

  3. Empirical Evidence: Identify and explain at least two scientific findings used by the author to debunk the myth.

  4. Application: Relate the myth’s prevalence to a personal anecdote or observed behavior in society.

Deep Dive: "50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology"

Myths and Reality Counters

1. Myth 1: Humans only use $10\%$ of their brain power.

   • Reality: Brain imaging (fMRI/PET) shows that nearly all parts of the brain are active at almost all times. Evolutionary biology suggests that a largely unused organ would not be maintained due to high metabolic costs.

2. Myth 2: Simplistic binary personality traits (e.g., Left-Brained vs. Right-Brained).

   • Reality: While lateralization of function exists (e.g., language processing), the two hemispheres are highly interconnected by the corpus callosum and work together in nearly every complex task.

3. Memory Accuracy: The myth that memory is like a video recorder.

   • Reality: Memory is reconstructive; every time we recall an event, we may inadvertently alter it based on new information or current emotions.

Learning Outcomes and Definitions

Core Mastery Goals

• Define Psychology: Moving beyond "common sense" to understand the scientific rigor of the field.

• Subfield Identification: Categorizing research questions into biological, cognitive, or social domains.

• Critical Thinking Application: Learning to distrust "intuitive" psychology in favor of empirical evidence.

Defining Psychology

• Science of Mind and Behavior:

  • Mind: Private inner experiences (perceptions, thoughts, memories).

  • Behavior: Observable actions of human and non-human animals.

• Etymology: Derived from the Greek "Psyche" (breath/soul) and "Logos" (reason/study).

Psychological Subfields and Research Scenarios

• Biological Psychology: Studies the link between biological processes and behavior.

  • Question: How do neurotransmitters like serotonin affect mood regulation?

• Cognitive Psychology: Investigates mental processes like reasoning and decision-making.

  • Question: What are the limits of working memory when multitasking?

• Developmental Psychology: Focuses on psychological change from infancy to old age.

  • Question*: At what age do children develop "Theory of Mind"?

• Social/Cultural Psychology: Analysis of individuals in a social context.

  • Question: How does the presence of others influence the likelihood of a bystander intervening in an emergency?

The Four Goals of Psychology

1. Description: What is happening? Observing a behavior and noting everything about it.

2. Explanation: Why is it happening? Forming theories to understand the cause of described behaviors.

3. Prediction: When will it happen again? Using theories to forecast future behavior ($H<em>0$ vs. $H</em>a$).

4. Control/Change: How can it be changed? Applying knowledge to influence behavior for beneficial outcomes.

Framework for Critical Thinking

• Summative: It is not about one "breakthrough" study; it evaluates the totality of evidence.

• Provisional: Today's "fact" may be tomorrow's debunked myth as science progres

- ex: bobo doll experiment

• Probabilistic: Findings describe what is likely for groups, not guaranteed for every specific individual.

• Critical Skepticism: Asking "What is the evidence for this?" and "Are there alternative explanations?" for every psychological claim.

• A change in brain chemistry (biological)

• A learned behavior (cognitive)

• An adaptive response (evolutionary)

• A product of unresolved feelings

(psychodynamic/clinical)

• Rooted in a dissatisfaction with oneself

(humanistic/emotional/positive)

An essential element of psychological literacy

• Three key critical-thinking questions:

o What SCIENTIFIC evidence supports this claim?

o Has this topic been studied EMPIRICALLY (using the

scientific method)?

o Am I listening to (or reading) someone else’s opinion, or is

this information based on facts that are accepted by

unbiased experts?