Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

PSY 201A Into to Psychology, 1

Course Description: Introduces the following major topics in psychology: history, research methods, biopsychology, sensation and perception, learning, memory, human development, consciousness, and associated topics in cognition. Provides an overview of current trends, and emphasizes the sociocultural approach to understand cognition, emotions, and behavior. This is the first course of a two-course sequence. Audit available. [202A is the second term]. Prerequisites: (WR 115 and RD 115) or IRW 115 and MTH 20 or equivalent placement.

Free textbook!!!

Our textbook for the course is an OER textbook. If you are unfamiliar with OER, Open Educational Resources, they are generally free or low cost course materials. In this case our text is a free online textbook with an available .pdf document that will allow you to download the text and read it offline or print portions of the textbook if you need it (let’s talk before you print anything!). There are materials embedded in the online text that support learning, so the online version is optimal for your reading, but the .pdf might be worth downloading as a backup for offline reading. This textbook would be accessible on computers, tablets, and smartphones (any device you can access the internet on). OpenStax, the book publisher, recommends you use the links from the textbook homepage to ensure you get the latest copy of the textbook. They warn, “Simple printouts sold by third parties on Amazon are not verifiable and not as high-quality.” This is a direct link to their textbook options, including print copy is on the textbook homepage: https://openstax.org/details/books/psychology-2e. The ISBN for the printed text is 9781975076443, updated in 2020. A print copy is not required and the online version includes that additional media that may be helpful.

General information about textbooks that might be helpful.  ISBNs represent the textbook and the way it is published (loose leaf, hardback, etc) and there may be multiple ISBNs because of this. The ISBN above is for the loose leaf version and if you search outside of PCC, will be useful. I have ordered a custom version for purchase in the Rock Creek Bookstore. The key is to compare the Authors, Year, Title and Edition listed above to know if you are indeed looking at the correct version of the text.

If you are unfamiliar with the bookstore, you can search for your text at the Rock Creek Bookstore.  Students can sell their books directly to other students through the marketplace.  If your textbooks this term are not available consider selling yours next term so that it is for the next group of students.

Required Access: Desire to Learn will be used for this class for coursework. You can access Desire2learn through MyPCC on the Quick Links Menu on the left side of the home page.  Computer labs are available on each campus.  See the PCC Resource Index (https://www.pcc.edu/resources/#student) for details.