What to expect in Psych 101 Class

[dav1d]

What should I be expecting? Anyone have notes for Psych 101 they can send me? Thanks!

 

[Pythagorean]

Freud, skinner, little Albert, cognitive dissonance, Linguistic relativity are a few subjects I remember.

 

[ZenOne]

My first degree was in Psychology (Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience) and I can tell you that if you are studying ANYTHING science related, Psych 101 will be the easiest class you'll ever take in your life.

 

[dav1d]

I'm just a little worried since I've never taken a psych course before, can anyone link to me to some notes or something about psych 101? What is a typical test question?

 

[ZenOne]

Either purely multiple choice (just rote memorization) or a few essay type questions. depends on the teacher.

Also, the material covered depends on the teacher as well--you will most likely be doing the main theories of Freud, Skinner, Zimbardo experiment, Jung (maybe), Festinger, it's basically a little introduction from multiple topics.

There are many basic concepts you will be learning--think of it as introductory chemistry; there is no real depth but you will have to memorize a bunch of crap (personal issue :D) and regurgitate it on the exam paper.

This seems as good as any:

http://faculty.mansfield.edu/mlaunius/Psy1101/101Lect.html

 

[Leveret]

Every psych course I've taken emphasized memorizing a bunch of terms and concepts, intro psych more so than the upper level courses. Take notes in class and from your textbook and study them well, and you'll be fine.

 

[SpaceDomain]

It seriously is the easiest class you will ever take.

The neatest thing I took away was Pavlov's dog experiments. It got me interested in Artificial Neural Networks.

 

[dav1d]

Could you link me to some examples of what would be seen in class?

 

[ZenOne]

We already did...

The rest is up to you--Google is your friend.

 

[Leveret]

If you don't already have the name of your textbook or a syllabus, you should receive it shortly. You'll have all the answers you want then.

 

[chez_butt23]

My class talked about all of the above, but what I found most interesting was Pavlov's dogs and the Stanford Prison Experiment. My class was a complete joke (I took it a local CC). I kid you not, my teacher actually said, "You all did so good on your speeches that I'm goig to give you all 100%."

 

[dav1d]

where can I find notes for psych 101 at a good universities? And you have to do speeches?

 

[symbolipoint]

dav1d, you are worrying too much. Introductory Psychology will not be a tough course. Forget about looking for notes in advance. You will study a few meaningful experiments and associated concepts about behavior and thought. You only need a bit of social and interpersonal maturity to deal with the topics. Memorization will NOT be too important; just understanding will be.

Further is that if you already studied some serious physical science and mathematical courses, then you already have enough critical thinking skills. This is another reason why other members are telling you that the Psychology 101 will be easy.

 

[Number Nine]

There is nothing difficult (or useful) about introductory psychology courses. It's a mess of obsolete, discredited and disjointed information presented on the most superficial level possible. You won't have any trouble. Note that the above only refers to introductory courses.

 

[phoenix:\\]

Introductory psychology is a joke like someone mentioned above. You'll will jump from topic to topic, learning about different theories that have been debunked in one way or the other, but that still doesn't stop professors from telling you about the theories. Then all the sensationalism about psychology, etc.. We spent a few weeks learning about Freud's theories that have been denounced, but other than that, expect a broad overview of topics from learning about the brain (which was pretty good) to learning about perception (although we spent a week on this subject, it was by far the best topic out of the whole class).

Read, mostly understand the reading, etc..., and you'll do fine. I didn't necessarily take notes in the class or from the text (I didn't buy it), instead I used wikipedia as a reference to the class lectures to reinforce what I learned in the lecture. Passed the class with an A because the professor mostly conducted his tests on level of comprehension more-so than memorization of facts and dates, although they were a part of the test very sparsely.

Most people in his class were on the low range of the B scale to C's, primarily because they memorized certain data points and weren't fully integrating their minds into the source material. When you are given examples of hypothetical cases and are asked to give an answer to a series of probable answers, you better hope you understood the material well enough.

Like everything though, you will know once the first test hits your desk on what to expect.

 

[dav1d]

So how should one study to be successful in psych 101?

 

[Null_]

Skip class every day, forget that you're even in the class (except when the prof emails you essays to do), don't use your textbook so you can return it as new, and study for about four hours before the final (40 minutes of which is by watching an episode of Psych). I did that and got an A in the class.

 

[USN2ENG]

Read & regurgitate, apply 'concepts' if possible. My first BA is in Psychology. Its pretty easy. Seriously, you seem extra concerned for a class not many worry about.

 

[symbolipoint]

So how should one study to be successful in psych 101?

Psychology at the "101" level is a neater subject to study than History or Political Science.

Does that help?

 

[en bloc]

hopefully your psyche class teaches you to be less anxious, jeez. one reason I'm embarrassed of being a student is because of stuff like this. don't worry about your grades. EVERY lecture i attend, people are always conversing over something to do with their worries about grades. in short you don't need notes from anyone from physicsforums about psych so you can get a super A+. enjoy the class