Welcome to Introduction to Psychology!

Required Textbook: Carpenter, S. & Huffman, K. (2008) Visualizing Psychology Wiley publishers.

A little about me… Like each of you in this course I started my college experience at community college. I went to Ocean County College and earned my Associates Degree in Liberal Arts. I transferred to Rutgers University in New Brunswick and completed a Bachelors Degree in psychology. I pursued my passion for psychology in graduate school and earned a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology at Columbia University

Clinical Experience After completing my Masters degree in clinical psychology, I began working as a psychiatric screener for a local hospital. This position allowed me to work with persons with psychiatric and behavioral disorders. I went on to work in Trenton for the next 3 years providing school- based counseling and mental health assessment in the public school system. I worked with children from Kindergarten to 8 th grade who had severe behavioral and mental health issues, often in home situations involving abuse and neglect. This position allowed me experience school-based counseling and behavioral interventions. During this time I also worked in youth shelters as a therapist providing group therapy to adolescents with severe behavioral problems and anger management problems.

I live at the shore with my husband and my two dogs… Jake and Gracie. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D in Educational Psychology at Temple University I began teaching full-time at Mercer County Community College 4 years ago. I truly enjoy teaching and hope to make each student’s exploration of psychology a fun and valuable experience.

My Most Recent Accomplishment! Morgan Avery Jennings was born on January 17, 2008 weighing in at an impressive 9 lbs 13oz. 22 ½ inches long!

This is Morgan now!

A Little About This Course This class will provide you with the basic principles of psychology which includes a wide-range of issues relating to all areas of our lives. This course will introduce you to each of the sub-areas of psychology that you can pursue later on in more depth if you wish, such as developmental, cognitive, social, personality, and abnormal psychology. This will allow you the opportunity to decide what specific topics within psychology most excite you.

How Will I Be Assessed in this Course? Be sure to READ the syllabus provided on the course website. There are two versions of the syllabus available, both contain the same information. Both a printable and an HTML version are posted on the HOME PAGE and in the general course information folder in our learning modules. All information about grading and expectation for the course are outlined in detail. ‐PLEASE read that information!!

Extra Credit? The discussion board is the ONLY extra credit opportunity for this class. I will post a discussion board question for each module. The discussion board is a great way to discuss the material and get to know the other students in the class. Review the details for this in the course syllabus

All of the material for this course will be presented in a PowerPoint format. Please be sure to review the course notes thoroughly…it will help prepare you for the module exams. The course schedule and the course calendar are posted to help keep you on track.

This course will consist of 9 modules – a welcome module which contains general course information (module 0) and EIGHT topical modules (these modules correspond to chapters in the textbook). Review the course calendar and/or the course schedule for the correct dates that each module will be active. Course Schedule

What does it mean to be a college student? True or False Answer the following True or False questions…

By registering for a college-level course you automatically become a college student. YOU will be solely responsible for your performance in this class. The expectations and intensity of this class will be about the same as high school. You have chosen this class and you want to be here. This class will be what you make of it True or False?

By registering for a college-level course you automatically become a college student. YOU will be solely responsible for your performance in this class. issues. The expectations and intensity of this class will be about the same as high school. You have chosen this class and you want to be here. This class will be what you make of it True or False? FALSE! TRUE!

Many new students are not prepared for the rigor and pace of a college level course. It is not uncommon for students to become frustrated when they do not perform as well as expected. Please review the study tips on page 24 of your textbook for some great practices that will help improve learning and performance.

What Do You Know About Psychology? Test Your Knowledge! True or False Answer the following True or False questions…

Test Your Knowledge about Psychology True or False? Each night while asleep, everyone dreams.

Test Your Knowledge about Psychology True or False? Each night while asleep, everyone dreams. TRUE!

True or False? Split personality is one of the most severe forms of schizophrenia.

True or False? Split personality is one of the most severe forms of schizophrenia. FALSE!!!

True or False? Men use only one hemisphere of their brains to listen while women use both hemispheres. So… women must be better listeners than men.

True or False? Men use only one hemisphere of their brains to listen while women use both hemispheres. So… women must be better listeners than men. True !!

True or False? Men use only one hemisphere of their brains to listen while women use both hemispheres. So… women must be better listeners than men. JUST KIDDING…IT’S FALSE !

True or False? Playing classical music (such as Mozart) to newborn babies will result in an increase in his or her IQ.

True or False? Playing classical music (such as Mozart) to newborn babies will result in an increase in his or her IQ. FALSE!

True or False? Most people would obey an authority who orders them to hurt a stranger

True or False? Most people would obey an authority who orders them to hurt a stranger TRUE!

True or False? Opposites attract

True or False? Opposites attract FALSE!

True or False? Mothers have more natural or innate parenting skills than fathers.

FALSE! This is a psychology urban legend! Women are not naturally more nurturing or better parents because of their gender!

How did you do? This quiz was a brief illustration of how psychological information is often misunderstood. We will examine each of these questions in detail through the course of this class

This course will introduce you to many sub-areas of psychology and examine some of the following questions: Why should I believe anything you say in this class? How do we form thoughts? How come we all see the world differently? How do we develop a sense of identity? Why does my sister always date the same losers? Why does that person always stand SO close when we talk? How come I can remember that song from 10 years ago, but not the answers to the exam?!

What This Course Will Cover What is Psychology? How is Psychology a science? The Brain and Behavior Child Development Personality and its Assessment Sensation and Perception Consciousness Learning Memory Psychological disorders

I sincerely hope that you find this subject to be interesting and enjoy this psychology course. It is my goal for each of you to successfully learn in this class, as well as, think critically about issues related to Psychology. Please feel free to contact me at any time during the semester…stop by during office hours, by phone or with any questions.

We will begin examining Psychology by asking questions… Let’s Begin! Move onto Module 1