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PSY 475 History
and Systems in Psychology
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Instructor:
|
Gary
J. Klatsky |
| E-mail: |
klatsky@oswego.edu |
| Office: |
459
Mahar Hall |
| Phone: |
(315)
312 3474 |
| Class: |
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| |
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Office
Hours |
| MWF |
1:30 - 2:30 |
| Additional
hours by appointment |
Welcome to Psychology 475 History and Systems in Psychology
Overview
PSY 475 is the capstone course of your undergraduate education in
psychology that will provide you with an intellectual appreciation
of the significant issues in contemporary psychology through an
understanding of the development of psychology as a scientific discipline.
This senior seminar will provide you with a means of bringing the
varied topics within psychology into a coordinated and integrated
view of the discipline. Rather than exploring the entire field of
psychology, I have elected to use one topic as the thread across
the sub-fields within psychology. We will use the study of consciousness
as the means of integrating our understanding of psychology.
The reasons why I have selected consciousness as the focus of the
course are:
- It
is, if not the most difficult problem, one of the most difficult
problems facing psychologists
-
Consciousness crosses the boundaries of all of the sub-fields
of psychology. We can explore the neurological basis of consciousness,
the development of consciousness, the evolution of consciousness,
alternate states of consciousness, consciousness and mental health,
and consciousness and social interactions.
-
Our fundamental understanding of consciousness is still in its
infancy
At the start of this section of
the course we will look back at the philosophical and scientific
precursors to psychology and explore how they influenced the development
of psychology. We will focus on how consciousness was defined and
studied during those early years. For the remainder, and majority
of the course, we will explore consciousness as it relates to the
sub-fields of psychology
This course is organized in a seminar format, which means that rather
than lectures there will be discussions of the course material.
It is expected that you will come to class prepared for those discussions.
Not only will you be expected to answer questions, students are
also expected to present their perspective on the discussion topic.
If you have any questions about this course please do not hesitate
to contact me
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