Course

An Introduction to Psychology (II)

Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Department
Psychology
Course Code
PSYC 1200
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
35
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Typically Offered
To be determined

Overview

Course Description
Psychology 1200 provides an introduction to selected areas in the field of psychology. The focus of the course is on the investigation of major psychological processes such as emotion, motivation, personality, psychological disorders, therapy and social behaviour. Emphasis is placed on psychology as a natural science (theories, methodology, statistics).
Course Content
  1. Thinking and Language
    • Concept formation.
    • Problem solving and reasoning.
    • Language structure and development.
    • Animals and language.
  2. Intelligence
    • The measurement and assessment of intelligence.
    • Principles of test construction.
    • Biological and environmental influences on intelligence.
  3. Motivation and Work
    • Concepts of motivation.
    • Motivation for hunger, sex, and to belong.
    • Achievement motivation.
    • Motivation at work.
  4. Emotions, Stress, and Health
    • Theories of emotion.
    • The expression and experience of emotion.
    •  The relationship between stress and health.
    •  Stress management and promotion of health
  5. Personality
    • Theories and perspectives of personality development: psychoanalytic, humanistic, trait, and social-cognitive.
    • The self
  6. Psychological Disorders and Therapy
    • Defining and diagnosing psychological illnesses.
    • Classification of psychological disorders.
      • anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, dissociative disorders, affective disorders, schizophrenic disorders, personality disorders.
    • Therapies.
      • Psychological therapies
      • Biomedical therapies
      • Evaluating types of therapies.
  7. Social Behaviour
    • Social thinking (attitudes)
    • Social influence
      • Conformity, obedience, group dynamics.
    • Social relations
      • Prejudice, aggression, attraction, altruism, conflict and peacemaking
    • Social Psychology theories and applications.
Learning Activities

The primary method of instruction will be the lecture, but the course may involve various other methods of instruction such as small group activities, discussion groups, seminars, oral presentation, laboratory demonstrations, field trips, computer simulations, videos, film, or guest lecturers.

Means of Assessment

The course evaluation will be in accordance with Douglas College and Psychology Department policies. Evaluations will be based on the course objectives. The specific evaluation criteria will be provided by the instructor at the beginning of the semester.

 

An example of a possible evaluation scheme would be:

 

One example of an evaluation scheme

 

Four multiple choice tests at 15% each         60%
One written final exam  20%
Laboratory activities    5%
Attendance and participation    5%
APA-style written assignment  10%
Total 100%
Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course the student will be able to:

  1. Define psychology and give examples of the different kinds of phenomena that psychologists study (i.e. those related to PSYC1200 content).
  2. Define cognition and explain the role of concept formation, problem solving, reasoning and language in cognitive development.
  3. Describe how psychologists approach the study of intelligence, how intelligence is defined and measured, the problems associated with measurement and how heredity and environment affect intelligence.
  4. Explain how behaviour is energized and directed by the complex mixture of motives and emotions and describe the various theories that have been developed to explain motivation and emotion.
  5. Identify the various perspectives that are common in the area of personality psychology and critically evaluate each in terms of its explanatory and predictive power.
  6. List and describe the major psychological disorders.
  7. Identify the various psychological therapies, and critically evaluate each in terms of effectiveness.
  8. Discuss the issue of stress and its relationship to health and illness, and describe the various aspects of stress management.
  9. Explain the complex nature of social relations and social influence, (including conformity, compliance, persuasion, and group dynamics) and describe how psychologists investigate such phenomena as aggression, altruism, prejudice, attraction, conflict and peacemaking.
  10. Describe the experimental methodology and statistical approaches used in contemporary psychology.
  11. Write a report demonstrating basic knowledge of APA (American Psychological Association) style.
Textbook Materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students:

 

Textbook(s) such as the following, the list to be updated periodically:

Schacter, D. L., Gilbert, D. T., Wegner, D. M., Nock, M. K., & Johnsrude, I. (2015). Psychology (3rd Canadian ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers 

 

Note: The textbook choice will be used in both PSYC 1100 and PSYC 1200.

Requisites

Prerequisites

No prerequisite courses.

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer Details for PSYC 1200
Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX PSYC 102 (3)
BC Institute of Technology (BCIT) BCIT PSYC 1102 (3)
Camosun College (CAMO) CAMO PSYC 130 (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU PSYC 101 (3)
Coast Mountain College (CMTN) CMTN PSYC 102 (3)
College of New Caledonia (CNC) CNC PSYC 102 (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) COTR PSYC 102 (3)
Coquitlam College (COQU) COQU PSYC 102 (3)
Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) FDU PSYC 1201 (3)
Justice Institute of BC (JIBC) JIBC PSYC 1100 (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU PSYC 1200 (3)
Langara College (LANG) LANG PSYC 1215 (3)
North Island College (NIC) NIC PSY 131 (3)
Okanagan College (OC) DOUG PSYC 1100 (3) & DOUG PSYC 1200 (3) = OC PSYC 111 (3) & OC PSYC 121 (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU PSYC 102 (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU PSYC 1210 (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU PSYC 106 (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO PSYO_O 121 (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV PSYC_V 102 (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC PSYC 102 (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV PSYC 102 (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC PSYC 100B (1.5)
Vancouver Community College (VCC) VCC PSYC 1200 (3)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) VIU PSYC 112 (3)

Course Offerings

Summer 2024

CRN
Days
Dates
Start Date
End Date
Instructor
Status
CRN
22023
Tue
Start Date
-
End Date
Start Date
End Date
Instructor Last Name
Atwal
Instructor First Name
Sandeep
Course Status
Full
Max
Enrolled
Remaining
Waitlist
Max Seats Count
35
Actual Seats Count
35
0
Actual Wait Count
0
Days
Building
Room
Time
Tue
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N3419
Start Time
15:30
-
End Time
18:20
CRN
Days
Dates
Start Date
End Date
Instructor
Status
CRN
22040
Thu
Start Date
-
End Date
Start Date
End Date
Instructor Last Name
Atwal
Instructor First Name
Sandeep
Course Status
Full
Max
Enrolled
Remaining
Waitlist
Max Seats Count
35
Actual Seats Count
35
0
Actual Wait Count
0
Days
Building
Room
Time
Thu
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N3419
Start Time
15:30
-
End Time
18:20
CRN
Days
Dates
Start Date
End Date
Instructor
Status
CRN
22220
Wed
Start Date
-
End Date
Start Date
End Date
Instructor Last Name
Parhar
Instructor First Name
Karen
Course Status
Waitlist
Max
Enrolled
Remaining
Waitlist
Max Seats Count
35
Actual Seats Count
34
1
Actual Wait Count
3
Days
Building
Room
Time
Wed
Building
New Westminster - South Bldg.
Room
S1715
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
15:20
CRN
Days
Dates
Start Date
End Date
Instructor
Status
CRN
22240
Fri
Start Date
-
End Date
Start Date
End Date
Instructor Last Name
Parhar
Instructor First Name
Karen
Course Status
Waitlist
Max
Enrolled
Remaining
Waitlist
Max Seats Count
35
Actual Seats Count
34
1
Actual Wait Count
5
Days
Building
Room
Time
Fri
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N3412
Start Time
11:30
-
End Time
14:20
CRN
Days
Dates
Start Date
End Date
Instructor
Status
CRN
22241
Wed
Start Date
-
End Date
Start Date
End Date
Instructor Last Name
Froc
Instructor First Name
David
Course Status
Open
Max
Enrolled
Remaining
Waitlist
Max Seats Count
35
Actual Seats Count
20
15
Actual Wait Count
0
Days
Building
Room
Time
Wed
Building
Coquitlam - Bldg. C
Room
C1007
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
15:20