Foundations of Human Behavior, Fall 2023

Ayesha Zia

Course Description:
This course is designed for students enrolled in the Bachelor
of Business
Administration Program (BBA) at the School of Business Studies (SBS),
to provide foundational knowledge on core areas of psychology. The core areas of
psychology covered in this course include: (1) Introduction and Research Methods in
Psychology (2) Neuroscience (3) Cognition, Perception and Development, (4) Social
Psychology (5) Workplace based applications/knowledge. As a foundational course, learning
from this course will facilitate a nuanced understanding of how human behavior and
cognition intersect with diverse aspects of business administration. Learning through this
course enables students to develop a comprehensive foundation which integrates with various
advanced level courses within the Business Administration (BBA) Program.
Main Course Objectives:

1. Examine/ Recognize the intersection of core psychology areas with domains of business
administration which include organizational behavior, human resource
management and consumer behavior.

2. Create and establish pathways to illustrate how different psychological theories/

concepts can be used to understand human behavior across different contexts such as
educational environments, social interactions, and workplace dynamics.

3. Recognize the importance of understanding and fostering the role of individual differences
in different social situations.

4. Infer the use and role of ethics in using psychological practices to other business domains.

SBS- Program Learning Competencies FHB Program Learning Objectives

(PLC)
1-Knowledge of Core Business Examine/ Recognize the intersection of core psychology areas with domains
Disciplines of business administration which include organizational behavior, human
resource management and consumer behavior.
Description:

Students will gain a broad-based

multidisciplinary exposure to a range of
business disciplines
2-Critical Thinking Skills Create and establish pathways to illustrate how different psychological
theories/ concepts can be used to understand human behavior across
Description:
different contexts such as educational environments, social interactions and
Students will develop the ability to workplace dynamics.
classify, analyze and evaluate the
available data using appropriate
techniques for effective decision
making.
3-Ethics Recognize the importance of understanding and fostering the role of
individual differences in different social situations.
Description:
Students will develop an awareness
and understanding of ethical issues

Weekly Lecture Breakdown:

Week Topic
1 Mind, Behavior and Psychological Sciences

 Contemporary psychological perspectives

 Scientific method
 Psychological research
 Types of psych research
 Ethics in research

2 Biopsychology, Neuroscience and Human nature

 Nature and nurture perspective

 Evolutionary perspective
 Types of neurons and how neurons work
 Nervous system, endocrine system and organization of the brain

3 Perception

 Basics of sensation and perception

 Threshold
 Signal detection theory
 Perceptual processing
 Perceptual distortion

4 Learning and Human nature

 Classical, operant conditioning and reinforcement

 Applications of learning
  Cognitive and observational learning

5 Memory

 Types of memory and function

 Schemas
 Implicit and explicit memory
 Improving memory

6 Motivation and Emotion

 Drives and homeostasis

 Inventive motivation
 Gender and sexual orientation (connect it with diversity)
 Components of emotions
 Cognitive appraisal
 Subjective experiences
 Thought and action tendencies
 Facial expressions and emotions
 Emotional regulation
 Emotion, gender and culture

7 Thinking and Intelligence

 Components of thought
 Problem solving
 Judging and making decisions
 Creativity
 Psychometric theories of intelligence

8 Midterm
9 Reserved week
10 Psychosocial development over the lifespan

 Cognitive, social and emotional development across the lifespan

(childhood, adolescence and adulthood)

11 Personality

 Personality assessment
 Personality theories
 Culture and personality

12 Stress, coping and health

 Common mental health challenges

 Traumatic and chronic stressors
 Physiological and psychological reactions to stress
 Impacts of stress on health
  Coping skills
 Sleep and health
 Drugs and health

13 Social Psychology

 Social roles and norms

 Schemas and scripts
 Conformity
 Compliance and obedience
 Group interactions
 Group decisions
 Impression formation (Prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination)
 Conflict and cooperation
 Attitudes
 Interpersonal attraction

14 Course overview and wrap-up

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK:
Understanding Psychology by Robert S. Feldman, 2017
Thirteenth edition, Published by McGraw Hill, Companies Inc., 2017
Assessment and Grading Plan:

1.
1. Class engagement: 10%, integration of concepts from the unit to analyze human
behavior in different settings
2. Quiz: 15%, topics covered in week 1 and week 2, content; perspectives and
research methods in psychology
3. Midterm: 20% topics: Social psych; understanding prejudice and discrimination,
written submission
4. Analysis: 20% prior reading followed by analytical writing in class
5. Final: 35% open ended assignment, written submission