Dr. Michael Barkasi
barkasi@yorku.ca  

Virtual office hours: Office hours will be every Wednesday, 12:30-1:30pm, by Zoom. For individual appointments or alternative times, please do not hesitate to email me.

Are introspection and behavioral measures valid ways to study the mind? Does psychology just reduce to neuroscience? Are folk psychological states like “experiences”, “beliefs”, and “desires” real in the first place? What can exciting new advances in manipulating and “decoding” neural activity teach us about how the mind works? Should we be worried about whether work in psychology can be replicated? This course will examine these and other philosophical issues which arise from the scientific field of psychology.

Technical requirements for taking the course:

Moodle and Zoom will be used in this course, through which students will interact with the course materials, the course instructor, as well as with one another.

• Zoom is hosted on servers in the U.S. This includes recordings done through Zoom.
• If you have privacy concerns about your data, provide only your first name or a nickname when you join a session.
• The system is configured in a way that all participants are automatically notified when a session is being recorded. In other words, a session cannot be recorded without you knowing about it.

Students have the option to participate in the live Zoom class time (Mondays 2:30-5:30pm) via webcam and microphone. Alternatively, students can watch the live Zoom class without themselves turning on video or audio, while using the chat function to ask questions. Students are strongly encouraged to attend the live Zoom classes, but for those who cannot, recordings of the lecture portions of class time will be posted to Moodle. Q&A segments of class time, and any part containing student video, will not be recorded. No student is required to appear on video or speak over a microphone during the course, and no student will be recorded.

For more information, see: Technology requirements and FAQs for Moodle, Student Guide to Moodle, Zoom@YorkU Best Practices , Zoom@YorkU, User Reference Guide, Computing for Students Website, Student Guide to eLearning at York University

All readings are academic papers (or summaries/handouts) that will be made available on Moodle.

• Weekly Quizzes (25% of total grade): A quiz will be given every Friday, except as noted below on the schedule. The quizzes will be multiple-choice, 5-10 questions. The quizzes are open-book and unproctored. The quizzes will be available on Moodle all day Friday, but are timed (15-30 minutes, depending on the number of questions) and must be completed by the end of the day (by 11:59pm). No extensions will be given (lowest two quiz scores dropped).
• Midterm Exam (25% of total grade): There will be a midterm exam given in lieu of our week 7 meeting (Oct 26). It will consist of 5 short-essay questions. Students are expected to take their midterm exam, over Moodle, during the normal three-hour class time scheduled for that week. The midterm is open-book and unproctored.
• Final exam (25% of total grade): There will be a final exam given during a time scheduled during the exam period (Dec 9-23, time/date TBA). Like the midterm, it will be held over a 3 hour window, given on Moodle, and consist of 5 short-essay questions. The final is open-book and unproctored.
• Paper (25% of total grade): 2-3,000 words on a topic of your choice, with instructor approval. Example topics will be provided for those who need suggestions. A rubric will be provided and expectations clearly laid out, no later than the midterm. Papers are due by the end of the day (11:59pm) Sunday, Nov 22. They will be submitted through Moodle; Turnitin will be used. An optional revision, based on instructor feedback, will be due by the end of the day (11:59pm) Sunday, Dec 6. The grade on the revised paper will replace the original paper grade (if it’s higher).

Times, locations, and course organization:

• This course depends on remote teaching and learning. There will be no in-person activities on campus.
• We will have a live, three hour class time over Zoom during the scheduled course time (Mondays, 2:30-5:30pm).
• The live Zoom class will be broken up into 5 thirty-minute blocks of 20 minutes of lecturing followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. There will be a 30-minute break in the middle after the first three blocks.
• Attendance to these live Zoom classes is encouraged, but not required. (Students are free to join and leave the live Zoom class at any times, as well.) The five 20 minute lectures will be recorded and posted to Moodle.
• A quiz will be given most Fridays (see schedule). The quiz will be available on Moodle all day, but is timed (15-30 minutes, depending on the number of questions) and must be completed by the end of the day (by 11:59pm).
• In addition to either attending the live Zoom classes or watching the recorded lectures, you are expected to read the assigned articles listed for each week. These can be read before or after the live Zoom class, but should be read before the weekly quiz (as the quiz may cover material from the articles). You are not expected to fully comprehend everything you read; a goal of this course is to teach you to read complex research material, especially to read for the “gist”. A brief 1-page guide will be provided for each reading a week in advance, explaining background material, key terms, listing key pages and sections, and explaining what to look for.
• There will be a midterm exam given in lieu of our week 7 meeting (Oct 26). Students are expected to take their midterm exam, over Moodle, during the normal three-hour class time scheduled for that week. (See “Course policies” below for exceptions.)
• There will be a final exam given during a time scheduled during the exam period (Dec 9-23). Like the midterm, it will be held over a 3 hour window. Alternative arrangements and makeups will not be allowed, except as required by university policy.
• Quizzes and exams will not be proctored, so no special software outside of Moodle is required. All quizzes and exams will be open-book (see the “Course policies” section below for details).
• Students will write a paper (due date below), with the option to revise.

Students will learn the central concepts needed to understand debates over the foundations and practice of psychology. We will cover the rudiments and basic history of these debates. In addition, students will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of some historical and contemporary methods in psychology. Finally, students will improve their ability to do philosophical analysis by writing a short paper on one of the philosophical issues covered in the course.

Course policies

• Missed quizzes: No extensions or redos will be given for quizzes, no exceptions, including technical difficulties.
• Midterm makeups: Alternative arrangements for the midterm will be granted for students who are unable to take the midterm at the scheduled time, if there are circumstances that necessitate it. These alternative arrangements must be made ahead of time (preferably at least a week in advance); students who miss the midterm without alternative arrangements in place ahead of time will be allowed to makeup the midterm at the instructor’s discretion, but a legitimate excuse is required. If you miss the midterm without a legitimate excuse, you may be allowed to makeup the midterm, but with a reduction of 10% to your final score.
• Final exam makeups: Alternative arrangements and makeups will not be allowed, except as required by university policy.
• “Open-book” policy: It is expected that students will complete quizzes, midterm, and final exam on their own without help from any other person, using only their notes, the articles covered in class, and other materials that have been provided over Moodle. For example, Google or other internet searching is not allowed, nor, once you have started the quiz or exam, are you allowed to ask a classmate or friend for help in any way. If you take a quiz or exam before a classmate, you cannot communicate to them the questions or anything that may give them an unfair advantage. “Open-book” means only that you are allowed to use your notes, articles covered in class, and other materials provided over Moodle. When in doubt, ask me for clarification.
• Paper: Late papers will be accepted at the instructor’s discretion, if there are circumstances calling for an extension. Papers turned in late without reasonable mitigating circumstances will incur a 10% reduction in your score. It best that you contact me as soon as possible if you’re going to be late (preferably before the due date).
• Turnitin: To promote academic integrity in this course, students will be normally required to submit their written assignments to Turnitin (via the course Moodle) for a review of textual similarity and the detection of possible plagiarism. In so doing, students will allow their material to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used only for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the University’s use of the Turnitin service are described on the Turnitin.com website.
• Attendance: As noted above, it’s not required that you attend the live Zoom classes. While these classes are your best opportunity to interact with me and ask questions about the material, nonattendance will not be held against you in any way. No preference is given to students who attend the live Zoom classes.
• Zoom sessions: For those attending the live Zoom classes, you are not allowed to take any screenshots or recordings of any kind. This is to respect the privacy of your fellow students. Recordings of the lecture portions (which only involve myself) and my slides will be made available on Moodle. You also do not have permission to reproduce any lecture recordings on any platforms or websites outside of Moodle.
• Academic honesty and integrity: In this course, we strive to maintain academic integrity to the highest extent possible. Please familiarize yourself with the meaning of academic integrity by completing SPARK’s Academic Integrity module at the beginning of the course. Breaches of academic integrity range from cheating to plagiarism (i.e., the improper crediting of another’s work, the representation of another’s ideas as your own, etc.). All instances of academic dishonesty in this course will be reported to the appropriate university authorities, and can be punishable according to the Senate Policy on Academic Honesty.
• Intellectual property: All course material (this syllabus, power points, assignments, paper rubrics, etc), except the outside assigned articles, is the intellectual property of the course instructor and cannot be reproduced in any way without my permission. Assigned articles are the intellectual property of their respective copyright holders and usually cannot be reproduced or posted publicly.
• Student conduct: All students are expected to treat their fellow students and the instructor with respect and charity. Especially through mediums like Zoom and the course Moodle, no form of harassment, trolling, or disrespect will be tolerated.
• Further links: For more information on relevant university policies, please see: Student Rights & Responsibilities, Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities, and Important Course Information.

Special Accommodations: The course instructor is committed to fairly accommodating students with disabilities. Please contact me and Student Accessibility Services (https://accessibility.students.yorku.ca) as soon as possible, and we will all work together to find a fair accommodation.