The Individual and Society – PSY 100

PSY100015016*200905
Prerequisite: None

Quarter Summer 2009

Meeting Days/Time Asynchronous
Instructor Dr. Michelle T. Ross
Instructor Phone 760-484-4288
Instructor E-mail Michelle.Ross@Strayer.edu
Instructor Office Hours/Location Online – 24 hour commitment to respond to email.
Academic Office Phone Number
Online Academic Office    877-540-1733
eCollege Help Desk                         866-448-6703 or  303-873-0005
Strayer Online Technical Support               877-642-2999

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL
( including all mandatory software)

1. Santrock, J. (2006). The individual and society. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Recommended (for APA formatting requirement):

2. American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

I. COURSE DESCRIPTION

Presents the various ways in which the individual constructs his/her self-awareness. Studies
how social institutions, such as the family and religion, influence the psychological makeup of
the individual.

II. EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon the successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
 Develop a broad base of knowledge about the field of psychology
 Think critically about issues in psychology and human adjustment
 Describe different approaches to psychological issues and explain why they may be
complementary, rather than contradictory
 Relate the concepts of psychology and the individual to real-world situations
 Discuss strategies for coping with various life challenges
 Communicate ideas about psychology and the individual in writing

III. EXPECTED WEEKLY LEARNING OUTCOMES

Week 1

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 Chapter 1, “Adjusting to Life”
 Describe the importance of context in thinking about psychological adjustment
 Think critically about psychological issues, in general, and psychological adjustment, in
particular
 Name several factors that research shows are associated with happiness
 Describe the scientific method and list the steps involved in carrying out a scientific study
 Distinguish between experimental and correlation research; and understand their strengths and
limitations of each research strategy
 Describe how to be a wise consumer of research information, particularly research information
delivered via the popular media
 Identify professional, group support and self-resources for improving psychological adjustment

Week 2

Chapter 2, “Personality”
 Define the term personality
 Name, and explain the roles of, the three components of personality found in Freud’s theory and
how this structure relates to his concept of defense mechanism
 Describe how the theories of “psychoanalytic revisionists” Horney, Adler and Jung differed from
Freud’s theory
 Explain the essential features of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning
theory, as well as correctly use the terminology associated with each paradigm.
 Describe the defining features of the humanistic approach to personality and, in particular,
describe the humanistic theories of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
 Describe the trait theory approach to personality, its underlying assumptions and how traits can
be measured
 Distinguish between projective tests and self-report tests and how they can be used to assess
personality

Chapter 3, “The Self, Identity and Values

 Recognize and correctly use the following terminology: self-concept, self-congruence, self-
discrepancy, and possible selves
 Explain the concept of self-esteem, including the different forms of self-esteem, and how self-
esteem typically varies over time
 Summarize the essential features of Erik Erikson’s theory of identity across the lifespan
 Summarize James Marcia’s extensions to Erikson’s theory and correctly define Marcia’s
concepts of: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium and identity
achievement.
 Explain the roles that aging, ethnicity and gender play in identity.
 Describe the roles of values, meaning and religion in one’s life

Week3

Chapter 4, “Stress”
 Describe the physiological responses to stress, including the three proposed stages of Selye’s
general adaptation syndrome
 List two stages of cognitive appraisal in stress, as proposed by Lazarus
 Describe the ways that stress may affect health
 Explain the role of life events, daily hassles and conflict in creating stress
 Describe the associations between Type-A/Type-B behavior patterns, anger and cardiovascular
disease
 Define the “Hardiness” personality style and explain how this may modulate the effects of stress
on health
 Describe the factors that are related to stress in the workplace
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  Discuss sociocultural factors that are related to stress
 Describe the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and the types of stressful events that
may trigger it

Chapter 5, “Coping”
 Distinguish between problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping
 Compare and contrast active-cognitive, active-behavioral and avoidance coping strategies
 Discuss the several strategies for coping that are described in the text
 Define emotional intelligence and relate this intelligence to coping
 Define stress management
 Discuss stress management techniques of meditation, relaxation and biofeedback

Week 4

Chapter 6, “Social Thinking, Influence and Intergroup Relations”

 Define attribution and explain how the fundamental attribution error and the self-serving bias
affect our attributions
 Describe the factors which influence our impressions of others
 Define impression management and self-monitoring
 List some basic characteristics of persuasive messages
 Define conformity, obedience and compliance, and describe well-known studies and findings
about these concepts
 List strategies for resisting persuasion, compliance and unjust authority
 Define and relate the following concepts: social identity, in-group, out-group, ethnocentrism
 Describe the reasons why people may develop prejudices
 Discuss strategies for improving interethnic relations

Chapter 7, “ Communicating Effectively”

 List and define the basic components of interpersonal communication
 Describe strategies for effective speaking and listening, as well as barriers to effective
communication
 Discuss the role of self-disclosure in relationships
 Distinguish between aggressive, manipulative, passive and assertive strategies for dealing with
conflict
 Describe the role of gestures, facial expressions, eye communication, touch communication and
proxemics in interpersonal communication
 Define paralanguage and describe its role in interpersonal communication.

Week 5 – Midterm

Week 6

Chapter 8, “Friendship and Love Relationships”

 Describe the roles of familiarity, similarity, physical attractiveness, and personality traits in
attraction
 Discuss the benefits of friendship
 Describe gender differences in friendship
 Identify the distinguishing characteristics of romantic love, affectionate love, and consummate
love .
 Describe gender differences in love relationships
 Discuss factors associated with anger, jealousy, dependency and domestic violence in
relationships

PSY100 v200805 3
  Identify circumstances that are typically associated with loneliness.

Chapter 9, “Adult Life Styles”

 Discuss the benefits and challenges of living alone, and how they vary with age
 Describe the range of adult lifestyles, including living alone, cohabitation, marriage, divorce and
remarriage, as well as gay and lesbian relationships.
 Describe the characteristics of good marriages
 Describe when divorce is most likely to occur, the stresses associated with divorce and factors
that enable people to cope effectively with divorce
 Describe the textbook’s six-stage model of how families change over time and discuss the
essential characteristics of each stage.
 Identify the essential characteristics of the four parenting styles noted by Baumrind and described
in the textbook.
 Discuss how parental age and employment status may affect children
 Describe how divorce affects the adjustment of children and what factors influence how a child
will adjust to divorce
 Describe the main types of child abuse, the long-term effects of child abuse and the cultural
context of child abuse

Week 7

Chapter 10 “Achievement, Careers and Work”

 Distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and how each of these relates to
achievement.
 List several strategies for setting goals, managing time, avoiding procrastination and avoiding the
pitfalls of perfectionism
 Name several ways that some people resort to in order to preserve their sense of self-worth by
self-handicapping
 Describe the textbook’s model of career development across the life span and discuss the
essential characteristics of each stage
 Discuss the relationship between personality types and career choices
 Discuss strategies for career planning and for landing a good job
 List the four factors associated with job stress, which are cited in the text
 Discuss the role of work in a person’s life

Chapter 11, “Emerging Adulthood, Development and Aging”

 Describe the interwoven nature of the physical, cognitive and socioemotional processes which
change with development
 Describe how life priorities change in early, middle and late adulthood
 Describe the physical changes associated with early, middle and late adulthood
 Explain the role of intellectual stimulation in preserving brain plasticity
 Describe the symptoms and typical course of Alzheimer’s disease, and describe the changes in
neurons which are associated with Alzheimer disease
 Describe the cognitive changes associated with early, middle and late adulthood
 Relate Erikson’s theory of life span development to early, middle and late adulthood
 Discuss strategies for successful aging
 Critically evaluate Kubler-Ross’s stage theory of how people react to terminal illness
 Discuss strategies for communicating with a dying person
 Discuss the process of grief and cross-cultural perspectives on death

Week 8

Chapter 12 “Gender”

PSY100 v200805 4
  Define the following two terms: gender and gender role
 Describe the evolutionary theory of gender differences, as well as its limitations
 Describe social and cognitive theories of gender
 Discuss gender stereotyping and the influence of culture on stereotypes
 Discuss the evidence for physical, cognitive and socioemotional differences between men and
women
 Discuss issues related to women’s lives around the world
 Discuss issues related to men’s lives around the world

Chapter 13, “Sexuality

 Identify the excitement, plateau and orgasm phases of the human sexual response and the
differences between them in men and women
 Identify the hormones which are related to sexuality
 Describe gender differences between men and women in sexual motivation and behavior
 Discuss the influence of culture on sexual motivation
 Discuss the factors which may help determine sexual orientation and what evidence is available
on the issue
 Identify psychosexual dysfunctions, paraphilias, and gender identity disorder
 List several sexually transmitted diseases and describe strategies for protecting against them
 Describe typical characteristics of the perpetrators of rape and the psychological effects on the
rape victim
 Discuss acquaintance rape, its correlates and the text’s advice for both men and women on this
subject
 Discuss aspects of sexuality which can be harmful

Week 9

Chapter 14, “Psychological Disorders”

 Name three criteria that can help us distinguish between normal and abnormal behavior
 Recognize the main theoretical approaches to psychological disorders and identify the underlying
assumptions of each approach
 In regards to the DSM-IV, describe what it is, how it is used and its pros and cons
 Distinguish among the various anxiety disorders which are described in the textbook
 Distinguish between the mood disorders which are described in the textbook
 Describe the biological, psychological and sociocultural factors that appear to be relevant to the
understanding of mood disorders
 Identify the symptoms and possible causes of schizophrenia
 Describe the distinguishing characteristics of dissociative disorders
 Define personality disorder and explain the difference between a personality disorder and other
psychological disorders (anxiety disorders, mood disorders, dissociative disorders and
schizophrenia)

Chapter 15, “Therapies”

 List the classes of drugs which are used to treat each of the following: anxiety disorders, mood
disorders and schizophrenia.
 Discuss electroconvulsive therapy and psychosurgery
 Describe psychodynamic therapy, its key assumptions and techniques
 Describe client-centered therapy and Gestalt therapy
 Describe two therapies based on classical conditioning (systematic desensitization, aversive
conditioning) and one therapy based on operant conditioning (behavioral modification)
 Discuss cognitive therapy, its key assumptions and different approaches to such therapy
 Define group therapy, family therapy and couples therapy
 Discuss support groups, community mental health and cultural perspectives on mental heath
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Week 10

Chapter 16 “Health”
 Define the biopsychosocial model of health
 Describe psychological and social influences on health
 Describe biological factors that regulate body weight and appetite
 Discuss obesity and list several strategies for losing weight
 Describe the eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia
 Discuss the copious evidence showing the beneficial effects of exercise
 Discuss psychoactive drugs and how they are classified
 Describe the two models of addition that are discussed in the text
 Explain how people recognize and interpret symptoms
 List the factors that determine whether-or-not people seek treatment
 Compare and contrast the “good-patient role” versus the “bad-patient role”
 Discuss the influences of culture and gender on health care

IV. COURSE OUTLINE

DATE CHAPTER INFORMATION

Week 1 Chapter 1, “Adjusting to Life” 1.Class Introductions due by

July 6-11 Wednesday, July 8,
midnight, EST
2.Discussion Forum due by
Saturday, July 11,
midnight, EST

Week 2 Chapter 2, “Personality” 1.Discussion Forum due by

July 13-18 Chapter 3, “The Self, Identity and Values” Thursday, July16,
midnight, EST.
2.Responses due Saturday,
July 18, midnight, EST

Week 3 Chapter 4, “Stress” 1.Discussion Forum due by

July 20-25 Chapter 5, “Coping” Thursday, July 23,
midnight, EST.
2.Responses due Saturday,
July 25, midnight, EST

Week 4 Chapter 6, “Social Thinking, Influence and 1. Discussion Forum due by

July 27-Aug 1 Intergroup Relations” Thursday, July 27,
Chapter 7, “Communicating Effectively” midnight, EST.
2. Responses due Saturday,
August 1, midnight, EST
3. CLP Session #1, 7-8 PM
EST, Wednesday
(optional).

PSY100 v200805 6
Week 5 Midterm Exam – open
Aug 3-8 from Monday thru
Saturday, Aug. 8,
midnight, EST

Week 6 Chapter 8, “Friendship and Love Relationships” 1. Discussion Forum due by

Aug 10-15 Chapter 9, “Adult Lifestyles” Thursday, August 13,
midnight, EST
2. Responses due Saturday,
August 15, midnight,
EST
3. Assignment due by
Saturday, Aug 15,
midnight, EST

Week 7 Chapter 10, “Achievement, Careers and Work” 1. Discussion Forum due by
Aug 17-22 Chapter 11, “Emerging Adulthood, Adult Thursday, Aug 20,
Development and Aging” midnight, EST
2. Responses due by
Saturday, Aug 22,
midnight, EST

Week 8 Chapter 12, “Gender” 1. Discussion Forum due by

Aug 24-29 Chapter 13, “Sexuality” Thursday, Aug 27,
midnight, EST.
2. Responses due by
Saturday, Aug 29,
midnight, EST

Week 9 Chapter 14, “Psychological Disorders” 1. Discussion Forum due by

Aug 31-Sept 5 Chapter 15, “Therapies” Thursday, Sept 3,
midnight, EST
2. Responses due by
Saturday, Sept 5, midnight,
EST
3. CLP Session – 7-8 PM
EST, Wednesday (optional)

Week 10 Chapter 16, “Health” Paper Assignment due

Sept 7-12 Sunday, Sept 13, midnight,
EST

Week 11 1. Final Exam open Sept14

Sept 14-20 thru 20, midnight, EST
2. Discussion Forum due by
Saturday, Sept 19,
midnight, EST

PSY100 v200805 7
V. COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND TEACHING STRATEGIES
The course will be conducted as a series of classroom discussions, lectures, role playing, self-
assessments, homework assignments and stress reduction exercises.

Submitting Assignments:
Assignments are submitted to the Dropbox and named according to the week in which the
assignment is submitted. For example, the Week 6 Assignment would be saved as Assign6
+last name+your first initial. For example, Sally Ride’s Week 4 assignment would be named
"APP4RideS." Directions for naming each Application assignment are included in each week’s
Application area. Please be sure that all written assignments are saved and submitted as a .doc
file and apply APA formatting standards, including a cover page and reference listing.

Submitting Course Postings to the Weekly Discussion Areas:

Be sure that you post to the correct Discussion area each week. Do not e-mail postings to the
instructor. For all initial Discussion postings, make sure that the first sentence of your posting
reads Main Question Post. For your responses to others’ response postings, make sure that the
first sentence of your response reads Response. These actions will ensure easily identifiable
subject lines for your postings and responses. Use of APA formatting standards including
APA citations and reference listing for discussion and responses is required.

Policies on Late Assignments

Discussion Postings
No credit will be given for Discussion postings made after the week in which they are due
unless prior arrangements are made with the instructor. Exceptions will be made only for those
rare situations that legitimately prevent a student from posting on time. A minimum of 10% of
the points will be deducted from late postings.
 
Assignments
Assignments are due on Day 6 of the week assigned unless otherwise noted. Failure to meet the
deadline without prior approval will result in a 3-point deduction per day. Any assignment
submitted after Day 3 of the following week will receive zero points.

Remember: You'll be expected to listen to the lectures, and read the material. You'll
write responses to discussion questions with responses to other students weekly, complete a
final paper assignment, take a midterm and a final. As you can see, my requirements are simple
and few, so I expect you to do them all and on time. The graded sites LOCK at the end of each
week. You can go back to review them but you cannot submit late exams or discussions. Unless
you've had some emergency, illness, been deployed, or you've made specific arrangements
ahead of time, I do not generally accept late assignments.

E-mailing Your Instructor

When e-mailing the instructor, please use the following heading for your e-mail subject line:
last name+your first initial+course number (e.g., RidePSYC100) so that your instructor will
recognize and read your e-mail.

1. Mid-term examination
2. Final examination
PSY100 v200805 8
 3. Completion of all written and oral assignments in proper APA format.
4. Active class participation
5. Regular class attendance

VI. EVALUATION METHODS

Final Grade 100% = 500 points

Mid-Term Examination 20% = 100
Final Examination 20% = 100
Assignments 6% = 30
Discussion Forum (9 weekly) 18% = 90
Final Paper 20 % = 100
Responses to other student’s posts 16% = 80

Grading Scale
90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C
60-69 D
Below 60 F

Asynchronous completion of classes is solely your responsibility. Technical difficulties may

occur from time to time and you may find yourself disconnected. If this happens repeatedly or
uncontrollably, call Tech Support immediately (866-448-6703) for assistance. Don't allow this to
disrupt your studies. Please call Tech Support immediately. I cannot fix these problems for you
so you just waste time calling or emailing me first about tech issues. You may also call Strayer
Tech Support directly at 703-339-1850 then press 2 then 4.

LIVE CHATS – I will hold 2 Live Chats during the course, generally in the 4th and 9th weeks.
See the posted dates in the syllabus.

Attendance is optional. You may learn more about ClassLive Pro (CLP) by reviewing the
orientation course (Online 101) under the “Special Courses” tab in eCollege.  This course
contains a tutorial on CLP with a simulation demonstrating how to locate and use some of the
tools of this platform. Or, you may go directly to this simulation, by clicking on the following
URL: http://online.strayer.edu/simulation/Class_live_demo.htm
 
All CLP sessions are automatically archived each time the “Lead Session” or “Join Session”
links are activated.  CLP is available under the “Chat” tab in eCollege. 
 
You may review the specific hardware/software requirements for CLP posted under the
“Technical Requirements” tab in the eCollege site: http://strayeronline.net/index.learn?
action=technical
 
For further support with CLP, please contact Strayer University helpdesk at 1-877-642-2999.
You can also contact the Elluminate support website at http://www.elluminate.com/support/
which contains a wizard that automatically tests your system compatibility and also a Support
Portal where you can enter a help ticket.

PSY100 v200805 9
NOTE: See Syllabus II in Course Home Tab for additional information and
policies.

PSY100 v200805 10