What do your dreams mean? Do men and women differ in the nature and intensity of their sexual desires? Can you trust the testimony of a young child? Why do we find some things disgusting? Can people repress terrible memories? Why are some people depressed? Can apes learn sign language? Why cant we tickle ourselves? Are humans inherently evil?
This course will try to answer these questions, providing a comprehensive overview of the scientific study of thought and behavior. We will explore topics such as perception, communication, learning, memory, religion, persuasion, love, lust, morality, and art. We will look at how these aspects of the mind develop in children, how they differ across people, how they are wired-up in the brain, and how they break down due to illness and injury.
Instructor Dr. Paul Bloom Office: SSS 202 Office hours: Monday, 2:30 3:30 PM and by appointment Email: Paul.Bloom@Yale.edu Webpage: http://pantheon.yale.edu/~pb85/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulbloomatyale
2 Teaching fellows
There are no sections for this course, but every student will be assigned to a teaching fellow (TF). Your TF will grade your reading responses, exams, and book reviews.
If you have any questions or problems, please talk to me or to your TF. Feel free to approach us with a question (or just introduce yourself) before or after class, or drop by during office hours, or set up an appointment.
Office Office Hours
-- TBA --
Class Website https://classesv2.yale.edu
Log in with your net ID. This site will contain all sorts of relevant information, including an up-to-date syllabus, copies of handouts, and pdf version of the slides corresponding to each lecture.
Readings
The required textbook is Psychology, by Schacter, Gilbert and Wagner, 2 nd
Edition. [ISBN: 9781429237192.] It is available at the campus bookstore.
BUT you can instead use the 1 st edition of the same textbook. This was used in previous classes at Yale, and might be easier to find a cheap copy. When I post pages and chapters for readings, Ill do so using both editions you can choose which one.
There will be other readings and videos; I will provide links in class and will make files available for download.
Format
Sometimes the lectures will match the readings but sometimes they will not. Exams will cover both lectures and readings -- to do well in the course, you must attend all lectures and do all the readings. There will be copies of the lecture slides available online, but these are not substitutes for attending the lectures. 3
Requirements
Exams: (60%) There are two in-class exams. There will be no exam during the final exam period. You must have a Deans Excuse to take a makeup exam. Your best exam will count for 35%; your other will count for 25%.
Reading responses: (20%). Starting on the second week of class, you will submit a short reading response every week. Details will be discussed in class.
Book review: (20%). There is a book review due in late March. Details will be discussed in class.
Experimental participation: All Introductory Psychology students serve as subjects in experiments. Details will be discussed in class.
Academic honesty
The exams are closed-book. Obviously, use of any written materials, or any form of collaboration is forbidden. For the written assignments, any use of words or ideas from other sourcesincluding online sources such as wikipediahas to be explicitly and clearly acknowledged. For a useful discussion, see:
Any case of suspected cheating will be referred to the Executive Committee of Yale College. The consequences can be severe, including suspension and explusion. In my experience, many episodes of cheating are due to stress and panic. If you find yourself in a difficult situation, there are always better options than cheating. If you are having problems in the course, you should always feel comfortable talking to me or your TF.
Wired
Students are encouraged to bring their laptops to take notes. But you cannot check email or surf the web during my lectures. No shopping for shoes, no facebook, no porn; you cannot live-tweet Intro Psych. The TFs for the course will occasionally wander the lecture hall and take photos of 4 violatorsrepeat offenders will be dropped from the course. This rule is based on concerns about civility, both to me and to the other students.
The Good News
Psychology is the most exciting topic around. Who isn't interested in sex, food, dreams, amnesia, multiple personalities, and the nature of evil? In this course we will discuss scientific research that will astonish you. Understanding this research will require a lot of reading and a lot of thinkingbut the intellectual rewards will be considerable.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF CLASSES These are subject to change. Additional readings and videos will be assigned in class.
Date Topic Readings Jan 13 Introduction to Introduction to Psychology Textbook: 1 st edition: pp. 2-30 2 nd edition: pp. 2-31
Watch TED Talk Video: Robert Sapolsky (http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_sapolsky_the_un iqueness_of_humans.html)
(Google: ted talk sapolsky) Jan 15 This is your brain Textbook: 1 st edition: Ch. 3 (but skip 79-82) 2 nd edition: Ch. 3 (but skip 83-86)
(Google: ted talk ramachandran three rules) Jan 17 Freud Textbook: 1 st edition: pp. 462-470 2 nd edition: pp. 480-486
5 Jan 22 Skinner Textbook: 1 st edition: Ch. 6 2 nd edition: Ch. 7
Jan 27 The development of thought Textbook: 1 st edition: pp. 410-421 2 nd edition: pp. 423-447
New Yorker Article: The Baby Lab (http://www.newamerica.net/publications/articles/ 2006/the_baby_lab) Jan 29 Language in the brain, mouth, and the hands Textbook: 1 st edition: pp. 253-267 2 nd edition: pp. 348-362 Feb 3 & 5 Perception, experience, and memory Textbook: 1 st edition: pp. 141-149, Ch. 5 2 nd edition: pp.125-126, 147-156, Ch. 6
Feb 10 Sex
TBA
Feb 12 Neuro-ethics (guest lecture by Prof. Marvin Chun) TBA Feb 17 & 19 Emotions Textbook: 1 st edition: Ch. 10 2 nd edition: Ch. 8
Atlantic article: First Person Plural (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/200 8/11/first-person-plural/307055/) New Yorker Article: Later (http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2010/10 /11/101011crbo_books_surowiecki?currentPage=1) Feb 24 First Exam Feb 26 Psychopaths (guest lecture by Jon Ronson) TBA 6 March 3 Personality, intelligence, and individual differences
Textbook: 1 st edition: Ch. 2, Ch. 9, pp. 449-462 2 nd edition: Ch. 2, Ch. 10, pp. 467-480
March 5 Self and Other Textbook: 1 st edition: finish Ch. 12 & 16 2 nd edition: finish Ch. 12 & 13
-- Spring recess --
March 24 Comparative Cognition (Guest lecture by Professor Laurie Santos) TBA March 26 Love (Guest lecture by President Peter Salovey) No readings March 31 Mysteries Textbook: 1 st edition: pp. 309-318 2 nd edition: pp. 190-200 April 2 & 7 Good and evil NYT article: The moral life of babies http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09 /magazine/09babies- t.html?pagewanted=all# (or google: Bloom moral life)
Edge Master Class: A history of violence http://edge.org/conversation/mc2011 -history-violence-pinker (or google: Pinker edge violence)
April 9
Religion TBA
7 April 14
Mental Illness Textbook: 1 st edition: Chapters 13 and 14 2 nd edition: Chapters 14 and 15 ALSO: Watch online lecture by Susan Nolen-Hoeksema: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW 79ZwDPKsY
April 16
The Good Life (Tamar Gendler) TBA
April 21
Happiness and the Good Life TED Talk Videos: Dan Gilbert (http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_a re_we_happy.html)
Dan Ariely (http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_on_our_bugg y_moral_code.html)
Daniel Kahneman (http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_rid dle_of_experience_vs_memory.html)