Critical Thinking in Psychology

Master of Science in Animal Psychology

PSY 509

Breyer State University

Professor: James O'Heare, CABC

Syllabus

COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to Critical Thinking in Psychology. This will be a foundational course. There is not a lot on animal behavior in this course but it is vitally important. Developing thinking skills and understanding the basics of what science is, is extremely important to future progress in the program as well as in working with the science community. Study the course material well because the knowledge gained will help you not only in future courses but also in your personal life as well. You will have to write a number of assignments in future courses and you will do an independent study course at the end. I will want to see clear, logical and critical reasoning in these papers consistent with the principles outlined in the texts.

Critical thinking is vitally important to any field of inquiry because there is a lot of both good and poor information out there that we must sort through as consumers of information. Follow-up courses will call on you to apply the skills you learn in this course to preparing your own arguments and analyzing the arguments of others. At the Masters level you are expected to write essays in accordance with the American Psychological Association Style. This is why the manual is included with the other textbooks.

Like most courses, there will be a exam. It open book of course but you may have a hard time finding the answers in the book. The best bet is to know the material. That way you will have an answer and it will be much easier to confirm it with the text. As with other courses, also, you will get out of the course what you put in. You can probably pass the exams with a cursory review of the text but you will really need the knowledge in future courses and even aside from that these thinking skills are just absolutely vital. Knowledge is great and we'll cover that base in each course but clarity of thinking is equally important.

I'd appreciate it if you would send me an email telling me a bit about yourself, your background and your goals. Let me know if you are having any trouble along the way and I'll do my best to help out.

I hope you will find this course useful.

TIME FRAME: You will have 10 weeks in which to complete the necessary reading, written assignments and exams. Please have your textbook prior to enrolling so that you can use your time most effectively. Day 1 will begin when I send you your first welcome email. Please keep careful track of your due date. When you are ready to access your exam please email me and I will arrange access. You must request the exams prior to your deadline. This course is worth 3 credit hours.

TEXTBOOKS: There are three (3) textbooks required for this course

Book 1: Thinking for Yourself Developing Critical Thinking Skills Through Reading and Writing, Mayfield, Marlys, Thomson Wadsworth: ISBN # 141301772X.

Book 2: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th. ed.) ISBN # 1557987912. ( http://www.apastyle.org/)

You can purchase any of your BSU textbooks here at the BSU bookstore:

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EVALUATION: There will be one (1) written essay assignment, and final exam for this course. The written assignment will involve evaluating or presenting an argument. The assignment will allow you to apply what you have learned. I will email you your essay assignment upon enrollment. You will have one (1) day to complete the exam. When you have read the text and have a good understanding of the material, you may request the exam. When requesting an exam be prepared to spend a significant amount of time on it. In your request identify a time and date you would like me to send it North American Eastern Standard Time. I will try to send it at that time and if I cannot I will correspond with you on an alternative. You will have 24 hours to complete it and send it back to me once I send it to you. Once you email your exam back to me, I will grade it and return it to you shortly.

GRADING: The grading scale for this course is as follows:

90-100%    = A
80-89%      = B
70-79%      = C
Below 70% = Fail

COMMUNICATION: Please email me with any questions or concerns you might have through your coursework and I will endeavor to address them as fully as I can. I will usually be able to respond to questions the same day that you ask them. I will receive your email address when you enroll. If you change your email address during the course please let me and the administration office know. When you enroll please email me right away to tell me a bit about yourself, your background and your goals.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR: My name is James O'Heare. I have worked as a professional animal behavior consultant for 15 years. I am the author of several books on applied dog behavior, I am an international speaker, president of The Companion Animal Sciences Institute (www.CASInstitute.com) and Director of the International Institute for Applied Companion Animal Behavior (www.IIACAB.com), and I am the Managing Editor of the Journal of Applied Companion Animal Behavior (www.IIACAB.com/journal.html). I have studied intensively in animal behavior and applied behavior analysis. My personal web site is at www.JamesOHeare.com.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course you will have a foundational understanding of these topics:

1). What are facts, inferences, assumptions, evaluations, view points?
2). What is inductive reasoning and how do we evaluate it?
3). What is deductive reasoning and how do we evaluate it?
4). What are fallacies?
5). How do we formulate and write argumentative essays?

INFORMATION: If you have any questions regarding this program, you may contact the instructor atjamesoheare@rogers.com

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