WEBVTT 00:00:01.290 --> 00:00:03.560 Hi, everyone. My name is Andy Tix, 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:08.870 and I am really honored and thrilled to be your professor for this course, 00:00:08.870 --> 00:00:14.730 and I'm really excited to welcome you to Introduction to Psychology. 00:00:14.730 --> 00:00:17.446 I also want to welcome you to my home 00:00:17.446 --> 00:00:20.465 and I want to point out some things 00:00:20.465 --> 00:00:24.231 to help you to maybe get to know me a little bit better. 00:00:24.231 --> 00:00:27.820 So you can see behind me, some bookshelves, 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:31.220 and I guess it's not that surprising that a professor would love books, 00:00:31.220 --> 00:00:32.695 but that is true for me. 00:00:32.695 --> 00:00:39.240 And you can see some pictures of people that I love, my family and friends. 00:00:39.240 --> 00:00:42.810 You can see there's kind of a farm feel here, 00:00:42.810 --> 00:00:49.040 and in the back, we've got a windmill, which reflects the fact that my wife and I 00:00:49.040 --> 00:00:53.790 are both from small rural areas in Minnesota. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:53.790 --> 00:00:59.730 I'm from a small town of 300, my wife is from a farm and so, 00:00:59.730 --> 00:01:03.161 you know, I just want you to start to get to know me in ways 00:01:03.161 --> 00:01:06.045 that my face-to-face students probably won't. 00:01:06.045 --> 00:01:11.865 And the reason why I bring this up at the outset is that, in an online course, 00:01:11.865 --> 00:01:17.111 this is definitely a possibility. 00:01:17.111 --> 00:01:19.001 In online courses, 00:01:19.001 --> 00:01:22.364 there are opportunities to connect, 00:01:22.364 --> 00:01:25.423 to get to know each other at a deeper level, 00:01:25.423 --> 00:01:31.801 to share stories and questions that reflect, in some ways, 00:01:31.801 --> 00:01:38.796 more of where we're really at as people and to be kind of more honest and raw 00:01:38.796 --> 00:01:43.801 in how we're trying to work through the material for the course. 00:01:43.801 --> 00:01:47.834 You will probably notice that this is common in this course 00:01:47.834 --> 00:01:51.178 and that, rather than just a select few sharing, 00:01:51.178 --> 00:01:56.491 kind of everybody shares because the setup allows for that. 00:01:56.491 --> 00:02:01.763 And so, this promises to be really an adventure here this term 00:02:01.763 --> 00:02:09.366 and you'll be surprised at how the ideas and the concepts relate to your life NOTE Paragraph 00:02:09.366 --> 00:02:16.597 and relate to other people's lives in ways that really bring out our humanity 00:02:16.597 --> 00:02:20.498 and really get us thinking and sharing 00:02:20.498 --> 00:02:24.640 and thinking through kind of how to approach life, 00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:27.591 so something to look forward to. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:27.591 --> 00:02:31.514 And this really promises to be a terrific experience for all of us. 00:02:31.514 --> 00:02:35.581 I've been reading through some of the initial work 00:02:35.581 --> 00:02:39.283 through the this first week's application assignment 00:02:39.283 --> 00:02:41.692 and reading through stories and questions, 00:02:41.692 --> 00:02:44.100 and I thought I'd take this opportunity here today 00:02:44.100 --> 00:02:52.221 to just address some preliminary concerns and questions that seem to be bubbling up. 00:02:52.221 --> 00:02:57.251 So the first question I see coming up in different forms is: 00:02:57.251 --> 00:03:01.791 "Can this really be an engaging course, given that it's completely online, 00:03:01.791 --> 00:03:06.960 given that we will never meet as a class together all at the same time?" 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:10.991 And so, I want to address that question in a couple different ways. 00:03:10.991 --> 00:03:14.595 So psychology is, by definition, 00:03:14.595 --> 00:03:19.170 the scientific study of behavior and mental process. 00:03:19.170 --> 00:03:21.918 And as such, in psychology, 00:03:21.918 --> 00:03:26.361 we address some really fascinating questions, 00:03:26.361 --> 00:03:31.341 and I've organized this course around four of those questions, and I thought, 00:03:31.341 --> 00:03:35.901 kind of as a way to introduce a course, I could mention those questions 00:03:35.901 --> 00:03:39.571 and give you kind of a sense for what we're going to be doing in this course. 00:03:39.571 --> 00:03:43.920 So the first question we're going to discuss in this course after we get through 00:03:43.920 --> 00:03:51.512 some of this preliminary getting used to things kind of stuff is: How do we know we know? 00:03:51.512 --> 00:03:54.621 It's a really essential question, 00:03:54.621 --> 00:03:56.342 and you know, when you think about 00:03:56.342 --> 00:04:00.101 all the different claims about what is true in the world 00:04:00.101 --> 00:04:03.211 and all the different things people believe, 00:04:03.211 --> 00:04:06.341 how do you figure out what is true? 00:04:06.341 --> 00:04:09.502 It's really core to us as people 00:04:09.502 --> 00:04:12.157 and it's really core to the discipline of psychology. 00:04:12.157 --> 00:04:13.881 Because of that, there -- 00:04:13.881 --> 00:04:16.176 Because, of course, there are all sorts of ideas 00:04:16.176 --> 00:04:18.511 about what is true about behavior. 00:04:18.511 --> 00:04:23.511 And so we need a method to determine for ourselves 00:04:23.511 --> 00:04:25.841 and also in the discipline of psychology 00:04:25.841 --> 00:04:28.171 what is true so that we can start to create 00:04:28.171 --> 00:04:33.641 knowledge and have a firm foundation to base our lives and 00:04:33.641 --> 00:04:37.106 our applications of knowledge off of. 00:04:37.106 --> 00:04:39.271 So we're going to start there. 00:04:39.271 --> 00:04:43.471 The second question we're going to go into pretty shortly after that is: 00:04:43.471 --> 00:04:46.246 How can students thrive in school? 00:04:46.246 --> 00:04:50.621 And this is maybe something you have wondered about in the past. 00:04:50.621 --> 00:04:53.569 I know some students have struggled in school 00:04:53.569 --> 00:04:55.811 and some students have done really well, 00:04:55.811 --> 00:05:01.183 and in this unit, we're going to reflect on what might contribute to that, 00:05:01.183 --> 00:05:07.260 what might distinguish between those who fail versus those who get by, 00:05:07.260 --> 00:05:10.489 versus those who thrive in school. 00:05:10.489 --> 00:05:12.139 And so, as a part of that, 00:05:12.139 --> 00:05:16.801 we're going to be looking at the science of student success, 00:05:16.801 --> 00:05:20.542 and we'll be studying topics such as motivation 00:05:20.542 --> 00:05:24.968 (what motivates students and how those motives might affect student success) 00:05:24.968 --> 00:05:28.201 as well as memory, human memory, 00:05:28.201 --> 00:05:33.317 because a lot of what happens in school actually are memory tests, 00:05:33.317 --> 00:05:35.535 and so, students who have a better memory 00:05:35.535 --> 00:05:41.124 (who know how to study better to have an accurate detailed memory for tests) do better, 00:05:41.124 --> 00:05:45.571 and based on the science of memory, we can apply some of what we know 00:05:45.571 --> 00:05:51.526 to help people to remember better and hopefully, then, perform better in school. 00:05:51.526 --> 00:05:54.342 Later in the semester, we're going to study stress, 00:05:54.342 --> 00:05:58.683 and, of course, stress can interfere with our ability to do well in school. 00:05:58.683 --> 00:06:00.768 And so, we'll be considering 00:06:00.768 --> 00:06:04.686 how some people can respond more effectively to stress than others 00:06:04.686 --> 00:06:10.668 and how we can learn from that to hopefully do better as students in school. 00:06:10.668 --> 00:06:12.141 The third question is kind of 00:06:12.141 --> 00:06:16.788 the bread-and-butter core question of psychology, and that is: 00:06:16.788 --> 00:06:19.153 "Why do people do what they do?" 00:06:19.153 --> 00:06:21.525 And maybe you've thought about that for yourself. 00:06:21.525 --> 00:06:25.221 You know, sometimes you do something and you think: "Well, why did I do that?" 00:06:25.221 --> 00:06:28.730 or you observe someone else and you think: "Why do they do that?" 00:06:28.730 --> 00:06:34.207 And sometimes, this question takes more specific forms, such as: 00:06:34.207 --> 00:06:37.559 "Why are men and women different in certain ways?" 00:06:37.559 --> 00:06:41.882 or "Why are some people more likely to be depressed 00:06:41.882 --> 00:06:44.241 and other people less likely to be depressed?" 00:06:44.241 --> 00:06:46.991 This all kind of has to do with why people do what they do 00:06:46.991 --> 00:06:48.467 or why people are who they are 00:06:48.467 --> 00:06:51.140 or why people have the traits that they do. 00:06:51.140 --> 00:06:53.071 And so, we'll be looking at this 00:06:53.071 --> 00:06:57.161 from the classic perspective of the nature/nurture debate -- 00:06:57.161 --> 00:06:59.572 nature having to do with biology, 00:06:59.572 --> 00:07:03.685 so we'll be studying things like genetics and the brain; 00:07:03.685 --> 00:07:09.174 and then nurture has to do with life experience back, 00:07:09.174 --> 00:07:14.816 early childhood factors, situational factors that elicit behavior -- 00:07:14.816 --> 00:07:16.462 and we'll be trying to understand 00:07:16.462 --> 00:07:20.432 how nature and nurture come together and interact 00:07:20.432 --> 00:07:24.866 to ultimately influence why people do what they do. 00:07:24.866 --> 00:07:29.994 The fourth question is: "How can we all be happy?" 00:07:29.994 --> 00:07:31.594 Of course, happiness is something 00:07:31.594 --> 00:07:39.681 that humans often almost universally strive for in their lives. 00:07:39.681 --> 00:07:43.975 And so, we're going to be studying different kinds of topics that might 00:07:43.975 --> 00:07:48.871 help us understand why some people are more likely to be happy than others, 00:07:48.871 --> 00:07:50.411 and then to apply that knowledge 00:07:50.411 --> 00:07:53.811 to hopefully increase happiness in ourselves and others. 00:07:53.811 --> 00:07:57.921 We'll be looking at psychological disorders and psychological treatment. 00:07:57.921 --> 00:08:03.451 We'll be looking at close relationships and how that relates to happiness. 00:08:03.451 --> 00:08:08.130 We'll be discussing things like gratitude and exercise 00:08:08.130 --> 00:08:11.146 and how people respond to stress. 00:08:11.146 --> 00:08:19.310 And so, all of that hopefully will lead us in the end of the course to some ideas 00:08:19.310 --> 00:08:21.504 about what we can do with our own lives 00:08:21.504 --> 00:08:26.981 to bring about more happiness for ourselves and others. 00:08:26.981 --> 00:08:29.697 So, I think, when you think about those four questions, 00:08:29.697 --> 00:08:31.843 you'll agree, these are intriguing questions. 00:08:31.843 --> 00:08:34.926 These are questions that you think about outside of school. 00:08:34.926 --> 00:08:38.421 And so, in this course, we're just going to be looking at those questions 00:08:38.421 --> 00:08:42.186 more systematically through the help of, NOTE Paragraph 00:08:42.186 --> 00:08:50.214 really, the best thinking and the best science in the history of psychology, 00:08:50.214 --> 00:08:56.753 and then looking at our own experience and considering how that relates to all of that. 00:08:56.753 --> 00:09:01.721 My story is that when I was an undergraduate at the University Wisconsin, 00:09:01.721 --> 00:09:05.811 I was actually an accounting major going into business school, 00:09:05.811 --> 00:09:09.371 and I needed to take Introduction to Psychology as a prerequisite 00:09:09.371 --> 00:09:13.051 (like I imagine a lot of you are taking this course as a prerequisite 00:09:13.051 --> 00:09:14.801 for some other program). 00:09:14.801 --> 00:09:18.360 But what I found was that maybe a month or two into the course, 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:23.198 I had fallen in love with psychology and these questions, 00:09:23.198 --> 00:09:26.021 probably because, more than anything else -- 00:09:26.021 --> 00:09:29.511 and I would still say this after having went to school for many years -- 00:09:29.511 --> 00:09:33.129 Introduction to Psychology was the one course I ever took 00:09:33.129 --> 00:09:36.311 where every single class and every single topic 00:09:36.311 --> 00:09:39.166 seemed to relate to my life 00:09:39.166 --> 00:09:44.403 and I would always leave thinking to myself: "I have a slightly different perspective now" 00:09:44.403 --> 00:09:48.775 or "I have a different idea about how to approach something more effectively," 00:09:48.775 --> 00:09:49.816 and I loved that. 00:09:49.816 --> 00:09:54.631 I loved being able to apply material to life, to think differently, 00:09:54.631 --> 00:09:58.231 to act differently, to kind of be a better person. 00:09:58.231 --> 00:10:02.368 Now, I don't suspect that you will become a psychology major 00:10:02.368 --> 00:10:04.970 or go into psychology like I did. 00:10:04.970 --> 00:10:08.899 I assume that this will be the only psychology course you ever take, 00:10:08.899 --> 00:10:11.425 and so I've organized the course 00:10:11.425 --> 00:10:17.507 to give everybody kind of a sense of the best of psychology. 00:10:17.507 --> 00:10:20.552 And so, you'll be hopefully exposed 00:10:20.552 --> 00:10:23.962 to some of the best thinking and the best research, 00:10:23.962 --> 00:10:26.533 hopefully really engaging discussion, 00:10:26.533 --> 00:10:30.105 that will have you have a similar experience that I did, 00:10:30.105 --> 00:10:34.648 where you feel like you can really connect with what we're studying 00:10:34.648 --> 00:10:36.255 and relate it back to your life 00:10:36.255 --> 00:10:39.564 and hopefully leave the course a little bit better, 00:10:39.564 --> 00:10:45.372 a little bit more likely to live well, which is kind of the ultimate hope. 00:10:45.372 --> 00:10:53.132 Now, another way of answering this question about whether this can be an engaging course 00:10:53.132 --> 00:10:59.625 is to kind of think about how I have organized the course for you. 00:10:59.625 --> 00:11:06.732 And so, I just want to mention briefly, I've really tried carefully to select readings 00:11:06.732 --> 00:11:09.803 that will help you, that are relevant. 00:11:09.803 --> 00:11:14.680 I've tried to eliminate anything from the book that might not be as helpful or relevant, 00:11:14.680 --> 00:11:19.440 so you'll see that I've only actually assigned a portion of the book 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:24.717 and decided instead to supplement with a lot of additional resources. 00:11:24.717 --> 00:11:29.224 So I have written personal reflections for different topics 00:11:29.224 --> 00:11:32.149 about what studying that material has meant to me personally, 00:11:32.149 --> 00:11:37.190 which I hope you'll enjoy. 00:11:37.190 --> 00:11:39.605 I will be producing some audiovisuals, 00:11:39.605 --> 00:11:43.801 I'll be producing videos, I'll be creating podcasts (audio-only podcasts) 00:11:43.801 --> 00:11:48.130 where I reflect also and answer common questions that students have. 00:11:48.130 --> 00:11:52.073 I've assigned, I think, some of the best audiovisuals in psychology -- 00:11:52.073 --> 00:11:54.244 TED Talks and podcasts -- 00:11:54.244 --> 00:11:58.286 that will give you different way of learning material 00:11:58.286 --> 00:12:00.426 so that if you don't like to read as much, 00:12:00.426 --> 00:12:03.930 maybe you'll like the TED Talks or the podcasts 00:12:03.930 --> 00:12:06.458 or you know, there's kind of a diversity 00:12:06.458 --> 00:12:09.524 of ways we'll be approaching this in this course. 00:12:09.524 --> 00:12:14.676 You have assignments -- reflection assignments, application assignments, dialogue assignments -- 00:12:14.676 --> 00:12:18.930 that will encourage you to get more deeply involved in the course. 00:12:18.930 --> 00:12:21.404 And so, hopefully, all of this will come together 00:12:21.404 --> 00:12:24.322 and really make for an engaging experience for you 00:12:24.322 --> 00:12:31.590 where you will leave the course somehow different and better than you are now. 00:12:31.590 --> 00:12:36.670 The second question that I see kind of bubbling up in the discussions is just: 00:12:36.670 --> 00:12:41.150 "What exactly do I do here? How do I know what to do in this course?" 00:12:41.150 --> 00:12:44.480 And there's a couple sources I'll point you to. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:51.186 So first of all, on D2L in the Announcements section, there will be updates. 00:12:51.186 --> 00:12:55.197 And so, if you're watching this video on D2L now, if you look up, 00:12:55.197 --> 00:12:57.780 you'll probably see the word "Announcements," 00:12:57.780 --> 00:13:02.580 and so, if you scroll down, you'll see previous announcements I've made. 00:13:02.580 --> 00:13:05.980 If this happens to be the first announcement you've seen, 00:13:05.980 --> 00:13:11.200 go down, and I've been writing about what to do and when to do it. 00:13:11.200 --> 00:13:14.330 This is what I'll be doing throughout the term. 00:13:14.330 --> 00:13:19.243 Check D2L in the Announcements regularly, 00:13:19.243 --> 00:13:24.156 and I will be posting what to do, when to do it, 00:13:24.156 --> 00:13:28.245 including the links and where to go and everything. 00:13:28.245 --> 00:13:30.726 Oftentimes, I'll be referring to the syllabus, 00:13:30.726 --> 00:13:35.393 and really, the syllabus is the most important document for the course. 00:13:35.393 --> 00:13:37.859 In fact, if you haven't already read the syllabus, 00:13:37.859 --> 00:13:42.790 the first thing I would do when finishing this video is, go to the syllabus. 00:13:42.790 --> 00:13:44.910 You can see it in my previous announcements, 00:13:44.910 --> 00:13:51.221 Or if you go under Content and then Course Information, you'll see a link to the syllabus. 00:13:51.221 --> 00:13:56.780 Read the whole syllabus through in its entirety, in detail, and it will 00:13:56.780 --> 00:14:00.520 answer a lot of your questions about what to do, what's going to be coming. 00:14:00.520 --> 00:14:02.009 At the very end of the syllabus 00:14:02.009 --> 00:14:04.587 is a schedule where I list in order -- 00:14:04.587 --> 00:14:08.393 basically in a recommended order of what to do -- 00:14:08.393 --> 00:14:11.562 what you'll need to do, and when you need to do it by. 00:14:11.562 --> 00:14:15.420 And in fact, maybe you could even print off the syllabus and 00:14:15.420 --> 00:14:19.486 just check off one thing after the other in the schedule 00:14:19.486 --> 00:14:24.190 so that you can keep up on what you're supposed to be doing. 00:14:24.190 --> 00:14:26.510 So that's the way I would kind of approach that. 00:14:26.510 --> 00:14:28.550 I would just do one thing after the other, 00:14:28.550 --> 00:14:30.860 and before you know it, the semester will be over 00:14:30.860 --> 00:14:34.290 and hopefully, it'll be a very meaningful experience. 00:14:34.290 --> 00:14:36.480 Finally, I just want to close by mentioning, 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:41.330 especially in an online course, I think you really get out of it what you put in. 00:14:41.330 --> 00:14:43.670 And so, it is possible to go through this course 00:14:43.670 --> 00:14:46.475 and kind of just do the minimal work and get the points, 00:14:46.475 --> 00:14:50.734 but it's also possible to go above and beyond and really invest yourself, 00:14:50.734 --> 00:14:54.350 really make a decision to be vulnerable 00:14:54.350 --> 00:14:56.801 and to share and to ask heartfelt questions 00:14:56.801 --> 00:15:01.460 and sometimes even post more than you're expected to, 00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:05.470 to really thrive in this course. 00:15:05.470 --> 00:15:10.020 I'm hoping that each of you will connect with me somehow or other -- 00:15:10.020 --> 00:15:14.560 face-to-face, over the phone, Skype -- there's different ways we can do that. 00:15:14.560 --> 00:15:18.973 You'll see my contact information at the top right of D2L always, 00:15:18.973 --> 00:15:22.358 and that provides when I'm available and how I'm available. 00:15:22.358 --> 00:15:26.111 And if you ever have thoughts or questions to share, 00:15:26.111 --> 00:15:28.219 I really hope that you will reach out to me. 00:15:28.219 --> 00:15:31.950 I want to know how the course is affecting you, and I want to know, 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:33.762 as we go through the course, 00:15:33.762 --> 00:15:36.330 what you're thinking and what questions you're having 00:15:36.330 --> 00:15:39.587 above and beyond just what you're posting and doing for assignments. 00:15:39.587 --> 00:15:46.030 I want to kind of check in and help you to get the most out of this course as you can. 00:15:46.030 --> 00:15:48.670 So I hope you'll be in touch, 00:15:48.670 --> 00:15:54.670 and if you ever have any questions, please let me know. END