UNIVERSITY OF THE COMMONWEALTH CARIBBEAN

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES & EDUCATION

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE DEGREE SOCIAL WORK/APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

COURSE OUTLINE

COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO

PSYCHOLOGY
COURSE CODE: PSY100
YEAR / SEMESTER: 1/1
CREDITS / DURATION: 3 / 1 SEMESTER
TOTAL HOURS: 45
PRE-REQUISITES: NONE

RATIONALE

It is important to understand human behaviour not only from the perspective of a worker interacting
with an organization but from the individual perspective as well. A comprehensive introduction to
psychology will equip students with the basic tools needed to understand and appropriately respond to
human behaviour.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This introductory course in psychology is designed to give students a basic understanding of human
behaviour. Students will learn the major psychological theories that will allow them to explain and
predict human behaviour. The emphasis will be on examining their own behaviour and the behaviour of
others behaviours within an organizational context.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES
At the end of this course students should:

 Know the basic origins of psychology and what psychologists do

 Know the basics of the research process and the many ways in which psychology is studied
 Critically evaluate conflicting ideas in psychology, interesting psychological phenomenon,
widely accepted “truths” in our society, their own personal beliefs

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of this course students should be able to:

1. Discuss the major theoretical perspectives of modern psychology

2. Describe influences on human behaviour
3. Apply psychological theories to explain human behaviours
4. Apply psychological theories to predict human behaviours
5. Apply the foundations of psychological theories to various disciplines

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT

Unit 1 Overview of Psychology and the Major Theoretical Perspectives 6 hours

Unit 2 Understanding Human Behaviour 3 hours

Unit 3 Learning 3 hours

Unit 4 Memory 1.5 hours

Unit 5 Cognition 1.5 hours

Unit 6 Intelligence 3 hours

Unit 7 Sensation 1.5 hours

Unit 8 Perception 1.5 hours

Unit 9 Motivation 3 hours

Unit 10 Emotion 3 hours

Unit 11 Attitudes and Beliefs 3 hours

Unit 12 Personality 3 hours

Unit 13 Abnormal Behaviour 2 hours

Unit 14 Psychological Measurement and Testing 3 hours

Unit 15 Organizational Psychology 3 hours

Assessment 3 hours

45 Hours

Unit 1

Overview of Psychology and the Major Theoretical Perspectives 6 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Discuss the roots of psychology and what it is today

2. Identify the professions and subfields in Psychology
3. Describe the scientific method
4. Discuss the advantages of the scientific method
5. List the major theoretical psychological perspectives
6. Compare and contrast the major theoretical psychological perspectives

Content

 Modern Psychology
 Professions in Psychology
 Psychology and the Scientific Method
 Psychological Perspectives
Evolutionary
Biopsychological
Psychodynamic
Behavioural
Cognitive
Humanistic-Phenomenological

Unit 2 Understanding Human Behaviour (Biological and Social influences

of behaviour) 3 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Identify and discuss the various biological influences of human behaviour

2. Identify the various social influence of human behaviour
3. Discuss the biological and social influences of human behaviour
Content

 Biological Bases of Behaviour

The Nervous System
The Brain
The Peripheral Nervous System
The Endocrine System
 The Social Bases of Behaviour
Conformity
Obedience
Peer Pressure

Altruism
Prejudice and Discrimination
Attraction

Unit 3 Learning 3 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Outline and discuss the major theories of learning

2. Identify types or modes of learning
3. Select and apply relevant theories in explaining and predicting human behaviour

Content

 Classical Conditioning
 Operant Conditioning
 Cognitive Learning Theory
 Modeling and Social Learning Theory

Unit 4 Memory 1.5 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Explain how a person’s memory works

2. Discuss the biological bases of memory
3. Describe the information-processing approach to the study of human memory
4. Distinguish between short-tem and long-term memory
5. Suggest ways of effectively memorizing information
 6. Describe how memories are distorted and constructed

Content

 The Biology of Memory

 Verbal Learning
 Sensory Memory
 Short Term Memory
 Long-term Memory
 Forgetting

Unit 6 Cognition 1.5 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Define the basic elements of thought

2. Describe the reasoning process
3. Describe the basic nature of language
4. Describe the methods used in solving problems

Content

 Schemas
 Language
 Problem Solving
 Creativity

Unit 7 Intelligence 3 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Compare and contrast the views on the nature of intelligence

2. Describe how intelligence is measured
3. Explain how psychological tests are assessed for reliability and validity
4. Discuss the nature of emotional intelligence

Content
  What is intelligence?
 Testing Intelligence
 Evaluating Intelligence Tests
 Emotional Intelligence

Unit 8 Sensation 1.5 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Explain why sensory threshold and sensory adaptations are important for understanding the
nature of sensation
2. Describe the basic structures and processes involved in vision
3. Describe the basic structures and functions involved in auditory perception
4. Describe the basic structures and processes involved in touch and the other skin senses

Content

 Vision
 Hearing
 Other Senses

Unit 9 Perception 1.5 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Explain the processes and principles that underlie perception

2. Discuss whether extrasensory perception is likely to exist

Content

 Internal Influences on Perception

 Extrasensory Perception

Unit 10 Motivation 3 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

 1. Distinguish among the various theories of motivation
2. Describe the basic nature of hunger
3. Describe the basic nature of sexual motivation
4. Describe the basic nature of aggression
5. Describe the basic nature of intrinsic motivation
Content

 Theories of Motivation
 Hunger
 Sexual Motivation
 Aggressive Motivation
 Achievement Motivation
 Intrinsic Motivation

Unit 11 Emotion 3 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Describe the nature of emotions

2. Describe how emotions are expressed

Content

 The Nature of Emotions

 External Expression of Emotion
 Basic Emotions (Fear, Anxiety, Anger, Love)

Unit 12 Attitudes and Beliefs 3 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Explain the attribution process

2. Discuss the nature of attitudes
3. Discuss how attitudes are changed

Content

 Attribution
 Attitudes
Unit 13 Personality 3 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Explain the psychoanalytic approach to personality

2. Explain the humanistic theories
3. Describe the trait theories of personality
4. Describe the learning approaches to personality
5. Explain how personality is measured

Content

 Freud’s Structure of Personality

 Humanistic Theories
 Trait Theories
 Learning Approaches to Personality
 Measuring Personality

Unit 14 Abnormal Behaviour 3 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Distinguish abnormal behaviour from normal behaviour

2. Identify the possible causes for the abnormal behaviour
3. Discuss treatment options for some classes of mental disorders

Content

 What is Abnormal?
 Organic Mental Disorders
 Substance Abuse Disorders
 Neurotic Disorders
 Psychotic Disorders
 Personality Disorders
 Treatment of mental disorders

Unit 15 Psychological Measurement and Testing 3 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

 1. Outline the uses of psychological tests
2. Discuss the relevance of psychological tests

Content

 The Uses of Psychological Tests

 Intelligence Tests
 Personality Measurement

Unit 16 Organizational Psychology 3 hours

Learning Objectives

At the end of this unit students should be able to:

1. Describe the theories and techniques of work motivation

2. Explain the psychological factors operative in performance appraisal
3. Explain the causes and effects of job satisfaction

Content

 Classical Organizational Theory

 Job Satisfaction
 Communication
 Work Performance
 Leadership

TEACHING STRATEGIES

Lectures/Guest Lecturers
Tutorials
Group discussions
Case studies

ASSESSMENT

A student MUST register a pass in the EOM and when added to the coursework grade, must have
an overall passing grade to be successful in the Module. The student MUST do all pieces of
course work. Please note that this course has a weighting of 60% for the EOM and 40% for
coursework. Each student's final grade for the course will be computed using the following
weighted scheme:

Case Study 20%

 Mid-Semester Exam (Multiple Choice & Short Answer Questions) 20%

Final examination 60%

Total 100%

LEARNING RESOURCES

Books, magazines, periodicals & journals

Audio-visual aids
Case studies

REQUIRED AND RECOMMENDED TEXTS

REQUIRED TEXTS

Baron, R. (2005). Psychology, 5th Edition. Allan and Bacon, Boston

RECOMMENDED READINGS Atkinson, R. et al, Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology, latest edition,

Harcourt Brace & Co.

Bernstein, D.A.; Clarke-Stewart, A.; Roy, E.J.; Wickens, C.D.: Psychology latest Edition, Houghton Mifflin
Co., Boston New York

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AND COPYRIGHT

UCC demands a high level of scholarly behavior and academic honesty on the part of its
students. Any assignment, test paper, project, or report submitted by you and that bears your
name will be assumed to be your own original work that has not been previously submitted for
credit in another course unless you obtain prior written permission to do so from your lecturer. In
all assignments, or drafts of paper, you may use words or ideas written by other individuals in
publications, websites or other sources, but only with proper attribution. “Proper attribution”
means that you have fully identified the original source and extent of your use of the words or
ideas of others that you reproduce in your work for this course. This is normally done in the form
of a footnote or parenthesis. Failure to do so is plagiarism and is considered a form of academic
dishonesty. Please refer to the UCC Library and Information Centre if you are uncertain how to
cite your references.
 IMPORTANT NOTE ON PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is a form of intellectual theft. If you fail to acknowledge your sources or make it
appear that someone else’s work is your own, you are guilty of plagiarism. The scholarly world
operates by exchanging information and crediting the sources of that information. If you violate
that process, you have committed a crime in the academic community. If you are having
difficulty completing a paper on time, or need some additional help, or are unsure of how or
where to document a source, please contact your lecturer or go to the librarian for help so you
can avoid inadvertently or intentionally plagiarizing a source.

You will be charged with plagiarism if you:

❖ Copy from published sources without adequate documentation.
❖ Intentionally or unintentionally appropriate the ideas, language, key terms, or findings of
another without sufficient acknowledgment that such material is not your own and
without acknowledging the source.
❖ Purchase a pre-written paper (either by mail or electronically).
❖ Let someone else write a paper for you.
❖ Reproduce someone else’s project.
❖ Submit as your own someone else’s unpublished work, either with or without permission
❖ Incorrectly cite or neglect to cite borrowed materials

Consequences of Plagiarism
❖ If the final work you submit—all of it—is not yours, it does not matter how you came by
it. Charges of plagiarism are brought to the attention of Academic Affairs, which initiates
an investigation that may lead to formal charges.
❖ The process for the investigation and adjudication of charges may be accessed at the
Dean of Students’ Office.
❖ Plagiarism is a serious offense that can result in a variety of sanctions (failure of the
course in which the plagiarism occurred and suspension from UCC among them).

Appropriate Uses of Sources

A mark of strong academic writing is demonstrated when one appropriately identifies sources in
his/her arguments and analyses. This practice is called documentation. Guidelines for how to
correctly cite materials used within your writing and assembling the list of works that you cite in
your paper are available in style manuals. Information from these style manuals can be accessed
in UCC’s Library & Information Centre
❖ Whenever you draw on another’s work, you must specify what you borrowed, whether
facts, opinions, or quotations, and where you borrowed them from.

Avoiding Plagiarism
❖ Contact your lecturer and honestly discuss a strategy for completing an assignment rather
than risk humiliation and legal charges.
❖ Become thoroughly acquainted both with the various ways in which plagiarism is
construed, and with sources of proper documentation.
 Reference:
American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association, (6th ed.). New York: American Psychological Association

For further information, contact Academic Affairs or UCC’s Library and Information Centre
(665-3000)