COURSE NUMBER/TITLE: PSY 332/HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY
INSTRUCTOR: A. JERRY BRUCE, Ph.D.
REQUIRED TEXT: Thorne, B. M., & Henley, T. B., (2001). Connections in the History and Systems of Psychology (2nd Ed).  New York: Houghton Mifflin. 

OFFICE: Lee Drain Building, 329
PHONE: (936) 294-1173
E-mail: psy_ajb@shsu.edu

• OBJECTIVES and FORMAT
• NOTICE TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
• GRADES
• ATTENDANCE AND MAKE-UP EXAMS
• OUTLINE
• IMPORTANT DATES

OBJECTIVES and FORMAT

This course is intended to provide you with information related to the development of academic/experimental/professional psychology during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and, further, to give you a broad survey of the historical antecedents before the advent of modern psychology.  "You should come away from...[this course] not with a list of names, dates, and events, but with an understanding of what psychology is and of your own relation to it" (Leahey, 1992, p. xvi).  My purposes in this course are that we come to appreciate the history of thought that resulted in the development of psychology, that we enjoy our time together in this class, and that we think seriously about the many issues that face all of us in our world and perhaps apply some of the lessons of history to these issues.
The content of this course will be provided through a series of reading materials, classroom lectures and discussions, and audiovisual presentations.  It is further expected that you become acquainted with and use the University computer systems to acquire materials and to communicate with the class and me.
 
 

NOTICE TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

It is the policy of Sam Houston State University that no individuals otherwise qualified shall, solely by reason of their disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any academic program or activity.  Students with a disability, which affects their academic performance, are expected to arrange for a conference with the instructor in order that appropriate strategies can be considered to ensure that participation and achievement opportunities are not impaired.
 
 

GRADES

Primarily test scores will determine grades.  During the course of the semester, there will be four tests plus the final. Your grade will be determined by your performance on these tests.  If you have problems with your grade please see me early in the semester, remember the semester passes rather quickly.  I am here to help you, but if you wait until the semester is almost over, it is difficult to assist you then.  During the course of the semester I will assign some brief written assignments.  These will be done in class or assigned one class period and due the next.  The accumulated points on these assignments will equal 100 points or one test grade.  In other words, the extra assignments will be equivalent to a sixth test.  With six test scores you may drop one.  You grade will determined by the best five scores.  You might also use these extra assignments in lieu of the final exam. 
 
 

ATTENDANCE AND MAKE-UP EXAMS

Regular and punctual class attendance is expected and attendance records will be kept.  Grades, however, will be determined by exam performance.  It should be noted that while an occasional student will get high grades without attending class regularly, the typical student must attend habitually to do well in the course.  I have calculated correlation coefficients for the last several semesters between grades and attendance.  The results consistently have been around -.80, i.e., about 64% of the variance in grades can be accounted for by attendance.  Lectures frequently present material not covered in the text, amplify or clarify materials from the text that may be difficult to understand.  Hence class attendance, even if less than your favorite thing to do insures these benefits. 
In considering your attendance, it is important to know that in cases of borderline grades, attendance records can play an important role in determining the final outcome. 
Make-up exams will be given only in exceptional circumstances with the instructor's approval.  In most cases the student will be required to write a paper on an approved topic.  If a make-up test is taken, the student will not have the benefit of the class curve.
 
 
 

OUTLINE

TEST PERIOD ONE—ANCIENT HISTORY AND MODERN PHILOSOPHY
Psychology's historical foundations
Science, Psychology, and History 
Ancient history, the Greeks 
The Roman period 
Islam and the Middle Ages 
Renaissance
Empiricism 

Test # 1 (chs 1 through 3) 

TEST PERIOD TWO—MODERN PHILOSOPHY, SCIENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY
 British Empiricism, Associationism, Common Sense, Positivism, and French Materialism
Rationalism, and Romanticism 
Nineteenth Century Science and the science of the body
Birth of modern psychology 
Wundt 
Titchener and Structuralism 

Test # 2 (chs 4 through 7) 

TEST PERIOD THREE—PSYCHOLOGICAL SCHOOLS
Brentano and Stumpf
Ebbinghaus
Darwin and Galton
William James 
Dewey and Functionalism
Thorndike

Test # 3 (chs 8 through 11) 

TEST PERIOD FOUR—MORE PSYCHOLOGICAL SCHOOLS
Watson and Behaviorism
Guthrie, Hull, and Skinner
Gestalt Psychology
Lewin
Cognitive Psychology Freud & Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis after Freud
Third force psychology, Humanistic and Existential 

Test # 4 (chs 12 through16)

 FINAL TEST PERIOD—BEYOND THE SCHOOLS
 Psychometrics
 Social Psychology
 Cognitive Revolution
 Jean Piaget

 Final (chs 17-18) 
 
 

IMPORTANT DATES (Note these dates in the Schedule of Classes)

Classes begin
Last day to drop course--(In order to drop a class you must go to the registrar’s office and complete the appropriate forms.)
Last day to resign--(Resignation means you are dropping all of your classes.  In other words you may not selective resign from classes at this point.)
Holidays
Final exams