PSYA01

Introduction to Biological and Cognitive Psychology

Fall 2020 Syllabus

Course Team
Course Instructor
Professor Steve Joordens
Contact
Office hours: Mondays 3-4pm and Tuesdays 11am-noon via Bb Collaborate on Quercus.
To join, click on the Bb Collaborate link in the Quercus course sidebar, find the session with
the right date, and click on it to join the session at the appropriate time.
Note: Steve’s office hours are for questions about course content (i.e. stuff that was in
the lecture or textbook). For administrative concerns, please visit Ainsley.

Course Coordinator
Ainsley Lawson
Contact
Email: [email protected]. You can expect a response within 1-2 business days.
Note: Ainsley should be contacted with administrative questions (missed deadlines,
accommodations, issues with SONA, etc.) For course-content questions, please visit
Steve’s office hours.
Ainsley is also able to answer questions related to the Psychology, Mental Health, and
Neuroscience programs, and any other Psychology courses at UTSC.

Communication Policy
From us, to you!
Important course information will communicated to you via announcements on Quercus, and via email.
You are expected to monitor email and course announcements on a frequent and consistent basis. Students have the
responsibility to recognize that certain communications may be time-critical.
Make sure that the email you have associated with your account in ACORN is your official UofT email. If you want to set
up forwarding to another account, here are the instructions: https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/ic-faq/36244

From you, to us!

If you need to contact us, you can do so via either of the following methods:
1. Visiting office hours (above), or
2. Emailing the course account:
[email protected]

Use only this e-mail address! If you send messages to any address other than this one, there is no guarantee that you will
get a response. Please do not send emails to Steve or Ainsley’s personal accounts or via the direct messaging system in
Quercus. Using this email is the fastest way to get a response from us.

Please include your student number and a meaningful subject line in all communication.
General Course Information
The study of human behaviour, and the processes and structures giving rise to it, is actually extremely broad. It ranges
from issues such as basic brain structure and communication, to issues such as the way the behaviour of those around us
affects our own behaviour. In general, the goal of our two Introduction to Psychology courses is to give you an
introduction to research and ideas across the entire field of psychology.

This is Part I of that introduction and, in it, we will focus on topics such as a Brief History of Psychological Research, an
Introduction to the Scientific Process, A Discussion of Evolution in the Context of Human Behaviour, Brain Structure and
Function, Basic Sensory Processes, Perceptual Processes, Memory and Consciousness.

The course is what is often described as a survey course, meaning we will try to give you a general sense of some different
approaches to the study of Psychology highlighting some of the most interesting findings within each approach.
Subsequent B level courses then focus on some of these approaches in more detail, and the hope is that after taking this
Introductory course you will be in a good position to (a) know which sub-areas of Psychology you find most interesting,
and (b) begin your studies of these sub-areas with a good general knowledge of that sub-area and how it relates to other
approaches within Psychology.

Textbook
The textbook for this course is online, via a platform called Top Hat. Note that this is an entirely different textbook than
previous years, so you should not purchase a used book from anyone.
There are two access codes you will need to purchase from the U of T bookstore: the eBook access code ($51.00) and the
Top Hat subscription ($34.20). Note that the Top Hat subscription is one-year long, and can be used for all of your U of T
courses.

After you purchase your codes, you need to activate them by clicking “Redeem Codes” at the following website:
http://uoftbookstore.com/textbooks/access_codes.asp
Enter the Redemption Code (XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) and your email address (check to ensure that you’ve spelled it properly!),
and then the redeemed access codes will be sent to your inbox.
Instructions for how to use these codes to join the course on Top Hat will be posted to Quercus.

Lectures
This year’s lectures will be provided as short videos (15 to 25 mins) embedded directly within the Top Hat platform.
There will be approximately 4-8 lectures per chapter. Lectures will either take something you are learning about a little
further by linking it to things happening in the world or to others things that you have or will be learning, or will dig
deeper into the "programmatic research" related to that phenomenon.
You are responsible for learning all of the content in the textbook AND all of the content in the lectures. I will do all I can
to make the lectures engaging and will attempt to use them to bring what you are learning to life.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, our students will have:
• begun learning about the breadth of psychological inquiry, a journey that will continue in PSYA02
• learned about foundational work in several specific areas of inquiry including the history of psychology, the
scientific method, neuroscience, sensation, perception, memory, consciousness and language
• received repeated structured practice thinking critically and creatively in a context that also exercises
communication skills and enhances students awareness of how their work compares to that of their peers
• acquired a deep understanding of the scientific method

Evaluation
This fall, all assessments will take place online. Details and deadlines for each assessment will be posted to Quercus.

Grading Scheme:
2% “Academic Integrity Matters” (AIM) module

2% Syllabus Quiz

20% Chapter Quizzes (4 quizzes x 5% each)

12% peerScholar Written Assignment

4% Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Activity

7% Top Hat participation

3% Experimental participation (SONA)

50% Cumulative final exam

”Academic Integrity Matters” (AIM) module

This online module will instruct you on the University’s policies related to academic integrity. The end of the module
includes a quiz, which will count toward your course grade.
Detailed information on when and how to complete the AIM module will be posted to Quercus.

Syllabus and Chapter Quizzes (mTuner)

The syllabus and chapter quizzes will be delivered via a system called mTuner, which allows for enhanced, online multiple-
choice quizzes. If you answer a question incorrectly, the system gives you a hint on where to find the correct answer, and
then you get a second chance to answer the question for half marks.
Detailed information on when and how to complete the mTuner quizzes will be posted to Quercus.

peerScholar Written Assignment

For the peerScholar assignment, there are three phases:
1) You will write a short composition that presents an “argument” related to some issue (topic TBA.)
2) You will be randomly assigned to anonymously evaluate assignments submitted by six of your peers. At the same
time, six peers will be anonymously evaluating your work.
3) You revise your composition in light of the feedback you received, with TAs ultimately grading you on the final
composition, the quality of the comments you gave to your peers, and the appropriateness of your revisions.
Detailed information on when and how to complete the peerScholar activity will be posted to Quercus.
Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Activity
You will be able to choose between one of two projects: either helping a nearby flight school to teach their curriculum in a
more interesting way, or you can advise our provincial government on how to offer an effective form of eLearning. Details
will be provided as we get further into the class, but this project will mostly involve you pitching your ideas, with the best
pitches winning interesting experiences.

Detailed information on when and how to complete the WIL activity will be posted to Quercus.

Top Hat Participation

As you read your textbook and watch your lecture videos on Top Hat, there will be embedded questions that you will
answer for participation marks.

Detailed information on purchasing a Top Hat subscription will be posted to Quercus.

Experimental Participation (SONA)

With respect to experimental participation, many senior undergraduates, graduate students and faculty conduct research
aimed at better understanding psychological processes. You will read about such research throughout the course, but to
make what you read more concrete another component of the class involves you serving as a participant in ongoing
research. Being a participant will give you the chance to interact directly with a researcher in the context of some specific
experiment, and our hope is that you will come to a better understanding of psychological research through this
experience. In a sense, this is the lab component of this course.

You use a system called SONA to find and schedule experiments. New experiments will be posted regularly. You earn
your credits over the term as experiments become available. This fall, all SONA experiments will take place online. Please
read the instructions carefully when you sign up to determine if the experiment can be completed at any time, or if you
need to do it on a specific date/time.

Some notes:

• You earn 0.5 credits for every half hour of experimental participation.
• If you sign up for an experiment but fail to show up for it, you will receive a 0.5 credit deduction from your SONA
grade. If you need to cancel an appointment, you must inform the researcher at least 48 hours in advance.
• Similarly, if a researcher needs to cancel your appointment, they must inform you 48 hours in advance. If you
have signed up for an experiment and the researcher fails to show up, you will still receive your credit.
• You must complete your experimental participation by the last day of classes for the term.

An alternative assignment will be made available during the last two weeks of class, for those who prefer not to
participate in research studies, or who did not find any suitable experiments to participate in. The due date for the
alternative assignment will be the same as the last day to participate in research.

Detailed information on SONA and the SONA alternative assignment will be posted to Quercus.

Cumulative Final Exam

Cumulative? What? That’s right, there are no midterms in this class, just one big exam waiting for you at the end. The
final exam is composed of multiple-choice questions, and will take place online during the final exam period.

The exam covers the entire course, including EVERYTHING presented in the textbook chapters we covered, and
EVERYTHING discussed in lectures. I will try very hard to be fair, focusing on what I view as the relevant issues rather than
the meticulous details. However, if it is in the text or in my lectures it is fair game.

The Registrar’s Office is responsible for the scheduling of the exams, so we will not know the date until close to end of
term. Exam details will be posted to Quercus, once available.
Missed Term Work
Everything described above is considered a compulsory part of the class. Evaluation is most fair when all students
complete all components with no special consideration being applied. That said, sometimes things happen. In the case
of medical or other emergency, you must request accommodations via the procedure below:

NOTE: The following assignments are excluded from any accommodations:

AIM module, Syllabus quiz, Top Hat Participation, SONA alternate written assignments

Complete these activities early to avoid losing marks.

Students are given ample amounts of time to complete these activities, so no accommodations will be granted if they are
missed (with the exception of accommodations sanctioned by the AccessAbility Office, or illness that covers that full range
of time that the activity was available.)

Department of Psychology Missed Term Work Policy:

All students citing a documented reason for missed term work must submit their request for accommodations
*** within three (3) business days *** of the deadline for the missed work.

 Submit via email to: Keely Hicks, Departmental Assistant, [email protected] 
Students must submit BOTH of the following:
1. A completed Request for Missed Term Work Accommodations form (http://uoft.me/PSY-MTW), and
2. Appropriate documentation to verify your illness or emergency, as described below.

Appropriate documentation:
For missed mTuner/peerScholar/WIL due to FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS or SELF-ISOLATION REQUIREMENTS: s

• Email the Request for Missed Term Work Accommodations form (uoft.me/PSY-MTW) to Keely
([email protected]), and
• Declare your absence on ACORN (Profile & Settings > Absence Declaration)

For missed mTuner/peerScholar/WIL due to OTHER ILLNESS:

• Email the Request for Missed Term Work Accommodations form (uoft.me/PSY-MTW) to Keely
([email protected], along with the Self-Declaration of Student Illness Form (uoft.me/PSY-self-declare-form).

For missed peerScholar/WIL due to ACCESSABILITY REASONS:

• If your desired accommodation is within the scope of your Accommodation Letter (ex. your letter includes
“extensions of up to 7 days” and you need 1-7 more days), email the Request for Missed Term Work
Accommodations form (uoft.me/PSY-MTW) to Keely ([email protected]), and attach a copy of your letter.
Specify how many days extension you are requesting in your email.
• If your desired accommodation is outside the scope of your Accommodation Letter (ex. your letter includes
“extensions of up to 7 days” but you need more time than that) you will need to meet with your AccessAbility
consultant and have them email Keely ([email protected]) detailing the accommodations required.

For missed mTuner/other assignments due to ACCESSABILITY REASONS:

• You will need to meet with your AccessAbility consultant and have them email Keely ([email protected])
detailing the accommodations required.

(continued on next page)

For missed mTuner/peerScholar/WIL in OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES:

Email the Request for Missed Term Work Accommodations form (http://uoft.me/PSY-MTW) form to Keely
([email protected]), along with:

• For the death of a family member/friend, provide a copy of the death certificate.
• For U of T varsity-level or professional athletic commitments, an email from your coach or varsity administrator
should be sent directly to Keely ([email protected]) well in advance of the missed work, detailing the dates
and nature of the commitment.
• For religious accommodations, please email Keely ([email protected]) well in advance of the missed
work.
• For circumstances outside of these guidelines, please email Keely ([email protected]) on or before the
date of the test / assignment deadline to describe your circumstances and determine appropriate
documentation.

Documents covering the following situations are NOT acceptable: medical prescriptions, personal travel, weddings, and
personal/work commitments.
As stated above, your documents must be submitted within three (3) business days of the deadline for the missed work.

After submitting your documentation:

Within approximately one to five business days, you will receive a response from your instructor detailing the
accommodations to be made (if any).
You are responsible for checking your official U of T email and Quercus course announcements daily, as
accommodations may be time-critical.
You should continue to work on your assignments to the best of your ability, as extension accommodations may be as
short as one business day, depending on the nature of the illness/emergency.
If an accommodation has been granted but you are unable to meet the conditions of the accommodation (ex. you need a
longer extension, or you missed a make-up test), you will need to repeat the missed term work procedure and submit
additional forms to request further accommodation. Note that in the case of a missed make-up test, an opportunity to
write a second make-up test may not be provided.
Completion of this form does NOT guarantee that accommodations will be made. The course instructor reserves the right
to decide what accommodations (if any) will be made. Failure to adhere to any aspect of this policy may result in a denial
of your request for accommodation.
Missed Accommodations
If an accommodation is granted but a continued illness/emergency prevents you from meeting the requirements of your
accommodation, you must repeat the missed term work procedure to request additional accommodations.
(E.g.) If you miss a make-up midterm, you would need to submit another Request for Missed Term Work Accommodations
form. If your original medical note / documentation included the date of the make-up midterm, then only the Request
form is required. If the date of the make-up midterm fell outside of the dates indicated on your original medical
note/other documentation, then a new medical note/other appropriate documentation must also be submitted.
Importance of Three Business Day window:

If you are unable to submit your documents within the three business day window, you must email Keely
([email protected]) within the three business day window to explain the nature of the delay, and when you will
be able to provide your documents. Exceptions to the documentation deadline will only be made under exceptional
circumstances.

(continued on next page)

NOTE: Assignments due at end of term

Instructors cannot accept term work any later than five business days after the last day of class. Beyond this date, you
would need to file a petition with the Registrar’s Office (https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/registrar/term-work).
NOTE: Final Exams

This policy applies only to missed assignments and term tests. Missed final exams are handled by the Registrar’s Office
(http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/registrar/missing-examination).
Typical Missed Term Work Accommodations in PSYA01

The following accommodations are typically applied after valid documentation is provided for missed work. Note that
these accommodations are subject to change at the discretion of the course instructor / staff.

mTuner Chapter Quizzes: Re-weighted to final exam.

peerScholar/WIL: If possible, extensions will be provided. If not, re-weighted to final exam.
SONA experiments: If you are unable to provide 48 hours’ notice of a cancelled appointment, you can follow
the missed term work procedure to avoid receiving a credit deduction.

Technical Issues
The following policies apply with regard to technical issues. If there is a system-wide issue with any of our course activities,
we will post an announcement.

• You must back up your written assignments as you work on them.

o We do not accept the excuse that one of our systems failed to save your work. If there are any issues, we
may ask you to provide your backed-up version of your work, so make sure you save it somewhere where
the timestamp of the last edit can be demonstrated.
o You should compose your peerScholar assignments and comments in a Google Doc before copying
them into the peerScholar system. Google Docs will auto-saves your work as you go, and will show
timestamps of all changes made, so that you can prove you completed your work before the deadline if
you encounter submission problems.
• Technical issues need be reported (by email to the course account) BEFORE an activity is due.
o Any problems reported after a deadline will not be accommodated.
o We recommend submitting your assignments at least an hour before they are due, to avoid slow
connections at the last minute, and double check that everything submitted properly.
o If you have tried different computers/browsers are still experiencing problems, you need to prove to us
that (1.) something went wrong, and (2.) the work was completed before the deadline.

To report a technical issue, email the course account ([email protected]) BEFORE the assignment deadline with:
o your name and student number,
o a brief description of the problem,
o a copy of your work (i.e. attach the essay or other work you are trying to submit), and
o screenshots/videos of the issue to the course email account. Screenshots/videos must show the date and time
on your computer.

Invalid Excuses for Missed Work include:

• personal travel
• confusion about deadlines or instructions
• failing to check your email or course announcements
• technical issues reported *after* the deadline for an activity

Note: If you are experiencing an ongoing health issue that is affecting your ability to complete your schoolwork, you
should consider visiting AccessAbility Services to explore your options.
AccessAbility
Students with diverse learning styles and needs are welcome in this course. In particular, if you have a disability/health
consideration that may require accommodations, please feel free to approach me and/or the AccessAbility Services as
soon as possible.

AccessAbility Services staff (located in Rm SW302, Science Wing) are available by appointment to assess specific needs,
provide referrals and arrange appropriate accommodations 416-287-7560 or email [email protected]. The sooner
you let us know your needs the quicker we can assist you in achieving your learning goals in this course.

Other Notes
Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is essential to the pursuit of learning and scholarship in a university, and to ensuring that a degree
from the University of Toronto is a strong signal of each student’s individual academic achievement. As a result, the
University treats cases of cheating and plagiarism very seriously. The University of Toronto’s Code of Behaviour on
Academic Matters outlines the behaviours that constitute academic dishonesty and the processes for addressing academic
offences. Potential offences include, but are not limited to:

In papers and assignments:

• Using someone else’s ideas or words without appropriate acknowledgement;
• Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of the instructor;
• Making up sources or facts;
• Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment.
On tests and exams:
• Using or possessing unauthorized aids;
• Looking at someone else’s answers during an exam or test;
• Misrepresenting your identity; and
• When you knew or ought to have known you were doing it.
In academic work:
• Falsifying institutional documents or grades;
• Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University, including (but not limited to) doctor’s notes;
and
• When you knew or ought to have known you were doing so.

All suspected cases of academic dishonesty will be investigated following procedures outlined in the Code of Behaviour on
Academic Matters. If students have questions or concerns about what constitutes appropriate academic behaviour or
appropriate research and citation methods, they are expected to seek out additional information on academic integrity
from their instructors or from other institutional resources.

Students are highly encouraged to read the guide on How Not to Plagiarize and to take advantage of writing resources on
campus. The keyword here is respect – a good educational context is one in which all parties respect one another’s
perspective and opinions.

Note:

You may see advertisements for services offering grammar help, essay editing and proofreading. Be very careful. If these
services take a draft of your work and significantly change the content and/or language, you may be committing an
academic offence (unauthorized assistance) under the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters.
It is much better and safer to take your draft to the Writing Centre as early as you can. They will give you guidance you
can trust. Students for whom English is not their first language should go to the English Language Development Centre.

If you decide to use these services in spite of this caution, you must keep a draft of your work and any notes you made
before you got help and be prepared to give it to your instructor on request.

Personal Integrity

As I hope this syllabus shows, I take my responsibility to provide you with the best education very seriously. Part of that
responsibility is to be fair with respect to how I assess your work. Part of that means judging all of my students using the
same yardstick. What I have laid out above is that yardstick, they things I will ask you to do to show me what you have
learned. So with this in mind please respect the following two values I hold close; (1) I firmly believe that marks are to be
earned, not given … so please never ask me to give you a mark unless you feel you have earned it, and (2) I feel it is unfair
to offer any student an opportunity that I don’t offer to the entire class … so please do not ask for any sort of special
treatment. Instead, take the course seriously, understand the expectations laid out here, and just do your best.

Research Activity

As mentioned, this course includes many innovative new tools that I believe will enhance your learning. However, science
is based on data, not beliefs, and as one interested in educational technologies, I will be conducting research designed to
assess the effectiveness of these tools. Thus, I may ask you to fill out a questionnaire, or I may wish to perform various
analyses comparing how students do on various components of the class. If you do not want your data used in any
research, please let me know and I will take steps to exclude your data from any analyses.

TurnItIn.com

Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and
detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be included as source documents in the
Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that
apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site.