PSYC 1001 General Psychology

About the Course

Each year approximately two million students take an introductory class in human behavior. General Psychology is a survey course designed to introduce you to a comprehensive overview of concepts, theories and experiments about behavior and cognitive processes. We’ll cover a variety of compelling subjects including dreams, memory, stress, persuasion, anxiety, emotion, phobias, the brain, personality traits, depression, schizophrenia, and child and adult development. Regardless of your major and career plans, Psychology 1001 is a course that will benefit your understanding of other people as well as yourself.

Objectives/Outline

This course consists of seven basic study units derived from the Myers textbook. The online commentaries include additional information and activities that will assist your understanding of concepts and research findings in the field. After reading the assigned Myers chapters (called modules), you will complete an assignment for each unit and send your responses to the instructor. Each unit assignment consists of twenty-five multiple-choice questions along with three short essay-type questions.

Grade Breakdown

Forty percent of the course grade is based on performance on individual assignments; sixty percent is based on the final examination.

Required Text

Myers, David G. (2004). Psychology, Myers in Modules (7th edition). New York: Worth.

Instructor Contact

Brett King holds a doctorate in psychology and has published on subjects ranging from forensic psychology to sport psychology to the history of science. As a faculty member of the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder, he has written two books on psychology and his scholarly work has been translated into several languages.

Dr. King has won numerous teaching awards and, after only four years on campus, he was honored as CU Boulder’s “Best Professor” in a campus-wide student poll conducted by The Colorado Daily, CU Boulder’s campus newspaper. Along with the General Psychology course, he also teaches online CE courses on PSYC2602 Social Psychology, PSYC4303 Abnormal Psychology, and PSYC4511 History of Psychology.

His debut novel, The Radix, appeared in 2010 and was released in trade paperback in October 2011. His thriller draws heavily on King’s long-standing interest in the history of psychology and medicine, as does the second book in his series, The False Door, scheduled for release in 2012. King also serves as a feature editor for the International Thriller Writers webzine, The Big Thrill.

Outside of academia and fiction, his time and interest are devoted to his wife, Cheri (also a psychologist and the course instructor for a separate correspondence course, PSYC2145 Introductory Cognitive Psychology) and their twin sons and a daughter. He also enjoys reading (mostly biographies, historical books, and novels), hiking, cheering on the Denver Broncos, cinema, music, art history and exploring the scenic riches of his native Colorado, both above and below ground. You may contact Dr. King at the following e-mail address:

Email: brett.king@colorado.edu