PSYC1000D General Psychology

2016-2017 Term 1
Department of Psychology
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

1.

Course Description
This course aims to provide students with an overview of contemporary
psychological approaches to the study of human behaviors and its contribution to
our knowledge of human functioning. Emphasis will be placed on application of
theories in everyday life.

2.

Learning Approach
Lectures introduce major concepts and theories in psychology while tutorials
enhance your understanding of learnt materials. Both lectures and tutorials consist
of interactive activities (e.g., games, demonstrations, video viewing etc.) which
facilitate your learning of subject matters.

3.

Prerequisites
There is no prerequisite for this course.

4.

Teaching Members
Lecturer
Dr. Kitty Y. F. Fung
Office:

Sino Building 332

Phone:

3943-1182

Email:

kyffung@psy.cuhk.edu.hk

Lecture Time & Venue:

Wed 4:30 pm ~ 6:15 pm, FYB LT4

Consultation Hours:

by appointment
Teaching Assistants

Ms. Floria Chio

Ms. Liu Xiaoliu

Office:

FYB 304F

SB 326C

Phone:

3943-4189

3943-4378

Email:

floriachio@link.cuhk.edu.hk

xlliu@psy.cuhk.edu.hk

Tutorial Time
& Venue:

Mon 11:30 am ~ 12:15 pm,

YIA LT7

Mon 11:30 pm ~ 12:15 pm,

WMY 306

Consultation

Mon 2:00 pm ~ 4:00 pm

Mon 1:00 pm ~ 3:00 pm

Hours:
1

5.

Course Content

Topics

Contents

1. Introduction

What is Psychology?

2. Research Methods

What are basic research methods in psychology?

What do we need to consider when conduct research?

3. Sensation & Perception

How do we make sense of the world?

Can we believe what we see?

4. Memory

How can we remember? Why do we forget?

How can we improve our memory?

5. Brain & Behavior

What are the basic structures of human brain?

What is the relationship between brain and behavior?

6. Development

Which is more important, nature or nurture?

How does a child grow and develop?

7. Learning

How do we learn?
What factors contribute to behavior change?

8. Intelligence

What is IQ?
How do we measure intelligence?

9. Personality

What are the major approaches to personality?

What are the methods of personality assessment?

10. Social Psychology

How can we influence others?

In what ways we are influenced by others?

11. Motivation & Emotion

What motivate our behavior?

Why do we need emotion?

12. Psychological Disorders

What is abnormal?
What are the common psychological disorders?

6.

Expected Learning Goals

I. Understand major concepts and theories in psychology
II. Develop critical mind in analyzing issues from psychological perspective
III. Apply psychological concepts and theories to daily life
IV. Reflect on your life experience

7.

Expected Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, you will be expected to
I. Demonstrate a basic understanding in various areas of psychology
(matches with Learning Goal I)
II. Relate and apply major psychological concepts and theories in analyzing
real-life situations (matches with Learning Goal I, II, III)
III. Conceptualize, structure, and express personal views, both in written and
verbal formats, on various topics of psychology
(matches with Learning Goal I, II, III, IV)
IV. Develop insights about human behavior and mental processes
(matches with Learning Goal I, II, III, IV)

8.

Learning Activities

Time per week

Venue
No. of sessions
Attendance
Teaching member(s)
Matching with learning

Lecture

Tutorial

2 hours

1 hour

FYB LT4

YIA LT7/ WMY 306

13

11

Mandatory

Mandatory

Lecturer

Teaching Assistants

LG I, II, III

LG I, II, III, IV

LO I, II

LO I, II, III, IV

goals (LG)
Matching with learning
outcomes (LO)

Lectures
The lectures will present an overview of psychology-related theories, concepts, and
research findings. Various controversial issues in psychology will be discussed. You will
engage in interactive activities to consolidate your understanding in psychology.
Tutorials
The tutorials will reinforce the understanding of learnt theories, concepts, and their
applications through small-group discussions, demonstrations and exercises.
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9.

Assessment Scheme
Formative assessment
(measure what you have learnt at different stages during the course)
Quiz 1 (MCQ)
30%
Matching of Learning Goals:
Quiz 2 (MCQ)
30%
LG I & II
Authentic assessment
(measure your ability to address related real-life problems)
Thought Piece 1
Thought Piece 2
Tutorial Participation
Study Participation/

10%
10%
10%
10%

Matching of Learning Goals:

LG I, II, III, & IV

Written Assignment
--------------------------------------------100%
Note:
Absentees from a quiz for unjustified reasons will not be granted a make-up
quiz and will be given a 0 for that quiz. Students with valid medical certificate
or justified reasons will be given a make-up quiz with essay questions. The
instructor and the teaching assistants reserve the right for the final decision to grant
or not to grant a make-up quiz to a particular student.
Each thought piece should be within 2-3 pages, type-written, 1.5 line spacing,
12 point font, double-sided. Applications of related psychological theories and
concepts are expected. You must submit a soft copy to VeriGuide (refer to p.7)
and a hard copy to your tutor by the assigned deadlines. Late submission will be
penalized 10% of the grade for each delayed day.
You are required to participate in 5 hours of psychology studies. Details will be
introduced in the first tutorial. If you do not intend to participate in all/any studies,
you can choose to submit 1-3 written assignments with VeriGuide to your TAs by the
last day of class of the semester. Any late assignment (as indicated by the time of
submission to VeriGuide) will not be graded.
Each hour of study participation accounts for 2 points, and each piece of written
assignment accounts for 4 points. You can choose any combination of study
participation and assignment writing to obtain the 10 points, e.g., participating in 5
hours of study, participating in 1 hour of study plus writing two pieces, and so on.
4

If you choose to write an assignment, for each piece please select an article published
within the last 5 years from the journal Psychological Science. Prepare a one-page
paper (font size 12 of Times New Roman, double-line spacing, 1-inch margin)
summarizing the main question addressed, how the author addressed it, what they found,
and your evaluation of the article. Spend about one hour on each piece. You must turn
in photocopies of the journal article that you reviewed along with your paper to your
TA. Papers will not be accepted without the printed articles attached. For VeriGuide
submission only your writing (without the original article) is needed.
Grade Overall course
A

Outstanding performance on all learning outcomes.

A-

Generally outstanding performance on all (or almost all) learning outcomes.

Substantial performance on all learning outcomes, OR high performance on some

learning outcomes which compensates for less satisfactory performance on others,
resulting in overall substantial performance.

Satisfactory performance on the majority of learning outcomes, possibly with a few

weaknesses.

Barely satisfactory performance on a number of learning outcomes.

Unsatisfactory performance on a number of learning outcomes, OR failure to meet

specified assessment requirements.

10. Learning Resources

Textbook Required
Cacioppo, J., & Freberg, L. A. (2016) Discovering Psychology: The Science of Mind (2nd ed).
Cengage Learning.
11. Course Updates
e-Learning (https://elearn.cuhk.edu.hk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp) will be adopted
in this course for posting course notes, announcements etc.
12. Feedback for Evaluation
You are welcome to give us comments and feedback about the course. Feel free to share your
views to any of the teaching members. You can also post your comments on e-Learning.

13. Course Schedule

Date

Lecture

Reading

Date

Tutorial

7 Sep

Introduction

Ch.1

5 Sep

No tutorial

14 Sep

Research Methods

Ch.2

12 Sep

Orientation

21 Sep

Sensation & Perception

Ch.5

19 Sep

Experimental design

28 Sep

Memory

Ch.9

26 Sep

Visual illusions

5 Oct

Development

Ch.11

3 Oct

Memory tests

12 Oct

Brain & Behavior

Ch.4

10 Oct

The day following the Chung Yeung

Festival

19 Oct

Learning

Ch.8

17 Oct

Nature & nurture

26 Oct

Thinking & Intelligence

Ch.10

24 Oct

Quiz 1

2 Nov

Personality

Ch.12

31 Oct

Conditioning
* Submit Thought Piece 1

9 Nov

Social Psychology

Ch.13

7 Nov

Intelligence

16 Nov

Motivation & Emotion

Ch.7

14 Nov

Personality

23 Nov

Psychological Disorders

Ch.14

21 Nov

Persuasion

30 Nov

Quiz 2

28 Nov

Motivation
* Submit Thought Piece 2

14. Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

The University places very high importance on honesty in academic work, and has a policy of
zero tolerance on plagiarism. Guidelines on academic honesty are on the website on "Honesty
in Academic Work: A Guide for Students and Teachers"
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

Guideline about plagiarism

Any assignment (i.e., project, essay, or paper) that shows evidence of plagiarism will be marked
down severely. In simple terms, plagiarism is copying passages and/or ideas from other sources
without referencing those sources. Moreover, when you report someone elses ideas/findings
you must put it in your own words and not merely copy full sentences or parts of sentences from
the source article. It is your responsibility as a scholar-in-training to cite the ideas and work of
others correctly. Please visit the following websites for discussions of how to recognize and
avoid plagiarism.

http://ec.hku.hk/plagiarism/introduction.htm
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml
http://www.hamilton.edu/writing/style/plagiarism/plagiarism.html

If you commit plagiarism in an assignment, and it is your first offence in the course, the penalty
will range from a minimum of a single letter grade reduction in score on the assignment to a
maximum of failure on the assignment. A second offence within the same course will result in a
minimum penalty of a single letter grade reduction in the course grade to a maximum penalty of
course failure. The specific penalty applied is up to the discretion of the professor. In all cases of
plagiarism, the student's name will be recorded in a central database maintained by the general
office. If a student is referred for plagiarism in more than one course, or more than one instance
in the same course, the student's case will be forwarded to the university administration for
follow-up action.

Detecting plagiarism
The Senate Committee on Teaching and Learning requires that all student assignments in
undergraduate programmes should be submitted via VeriGuide. Obviously, this policy will only
apply to assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally
text-based (i.e., excluding calculations in science, brief laboratory reports, drawings in fine arts
and architecture, etc.).

Each student must upload a soft copy of the completed assignment to the plagiarism
detection engine VeriGuide, at the URL: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/veriguide
The system will issue a receipt which also contains a declaration of honesty, which is
the same as that in http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/p09.htm
The declaration should be signed, and the receipt stapled to a hard copy of the
assignment, which should be handed in before the assignment due date.
Assignments without the receipt will not be graded by teachers.
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I promise that all assignment submitted to this course across the entire semester will be
original except for source material explicitly acknowledged. I also acknowledge that I am
aware of University policy and regulation on honesty in academic work, and of the
disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations
as contained in the website http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

________________________________

______________________________

Signature

Date

________________________________

______________________________

Name

Student ID

PSYC 1000D

General Psychology

________________________________

______________________________

Course code

Course Title

* Please hand in this form in the first tutorial.