PSYCHOLOGY 1102:  Introduction to Psychology II

Psychology 1102 is a continuation of the introductory sequence for our survey of Psychology.  We begin with Lifespan development--- looking at the changes that occur across our lifespan and considering some of the reasons for these changes.  Generally we look at either maturational (genetic biological) or environmental (family friends etc) influences to determine why things change the way they do.  Obviously not everybody changes at the same rate or reaches the same state so it may be important to answer the question... why do some people not develop particular characteristics?

Next we spend a few weeks considering the social influences on our behaviour and thought.  Why do we let other people determine how we dress, speak, act and even think.   Is our high level of conformity a good thing or a bad thing?  We also consider how people use the principles of social psychology to "influence" other's opinions.   This is tremendously important to advertizers and politicians but all of us are victims of these techniques so it may be enlightening to understand how people push us around. 

Our beliefs also influence our behaviour to others and, indirectly, their behaviour.   We'll spend some time investigating the link between our beliefs and knowledge of the world and the impact they have on our social interactions. 

Next we spend a relaxing week discussing the destructive effects of stress.  We discuss the physiological and psychological causes and effects of this growing problem.  Hopefully, understand the causes and factors that mitigate stress effects will help many live a more healthy life in spite of stressors.

The final section of the course focuses on abnormal behaviours and how they are caused and treated.  We will step through the major classes of disorder - anxiety - somoatoform/dissociative -  mood - schizophrenia - and discuss the sysmptoms, theories of cause and relate the theories to treatments.  I think it is important to link a "treatment" plan to the theory of cause so I'll encourage you to try to evaluate the treatments available for these disorders in terms of how well they address the best theoretical causes.  We'll also discuss some general issues of treatment including historical approaches to dealing with insanity.