PSY 101 Special Extra Credit Opportunities

This page was last updated: November 2, 2025	PSY 101 Introductory Psychology Instructor: Vincent W. Hevern, S.J., Ph.D. Extra Credit Opportunities

Book Report Substitute for Poor Test	Students may read one non-fiction book that is directly related to the psychology of any topic that we cover in this course. Preference is given for books that are not just "pop" psychology but ones written by professors and other researchers. In order to substitute for a poor test (any of Tests #1 to #3), you are expected to read the book and write a 5 to 10 page book review. Contact me if you elect to take this option and tell me the name of the book and its author for my approval. The grade on this option can then substitute for the lowest grade on any of the first three tests. The book review will be due by Wednesday, December 10, 2025 For a more detailed description of what I want you to do, please download this pdf with instructions.
Other Special Extra Credit Opportunities	I am giving students in PSY 101 additional special credit opportunities. Each is worth five (5) points of the total of 500 points in this course and students can do one, two, three, four, or none of them. These opportunities are in addition the one noted above. The due dates for submitting the results of these opportunities will be on Wednesday, December 10, 2025
E.C. Opportunity #1 Optimizing Learning in College: Tips from Cognitive Psychology	Read the following paper in its entirety: Putnam, A., L., Sungkhasette, V. W., & Roediger, H. L. (2016). Optimizing learning in college: Tips from cognitive psychology. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(5), 652-660. doi: 10.1177/1745691616645770. A copy of this paper can be found either at this link at Sage publications (then, click on Full Text PDF) or at this link if the first one doesn't work. Putnam and his coauthors explain what the science of cognitive psychology has discovered are the most effective ways of studying in any college course. After you read the paper, think about what you have done or are doing already in your study habits for this class in psychology. How do your study habits compare with what the paper suggests are the best strategies? In a one or two page brief summary, describe (a) the three to five study habits you already do which Putnam and his colleagues say are helpful and (b) any new study habits Putnam et al. (2016) suggest you might adopt to improve what you are now doing to make yourself a better student. Submit your summary to me in typed form with your name on the top, the class you are in (PSY 101-02 or PSY 101-03). The summary must be in .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf format. It must be attached to an email sent to me at hevern@lemoyne.edu with the SUBJECT: space filled in with "PSY 101 Putnam Paper summary". Do NOT just send me a link to a Google Docs paper.
E.C. Opportunity #2 Applying Psychology to Real Life	By the time we end the semester, we will have gone over a very large number of topics. I am hoping that you will have found that something in this course will have proven to be helpful in explaining something in your life that you didn't previously understand very well. What do I mean by "your life"? Obviously, it may be something about you directly as an individual. But, it might be something having to do with your family (your parents or your siblings, your grandparents) or others that you know very well (e.g., your close friends, your neighbors, etc.). It might also be something about the world around you, e.g., about people your own age or the kind of society in which we live. I want you to write a reflective essay that does two things. First, I want you to describe the situation about the person or the world that you didn't understand. What puzzled you? What was missing in your comprehension? Then, I want you to summarize what it was that you learned in this class that explained that puzzle and gave you some kind of insight or understanding that you didn't have before. Your essay should probably be about two or three pages. Submit your summary to me in typed form with your name on the top, the class you are in (PSY 101-02 or PSY 101-03). The summary must be in .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf format. It must be attached to an email sent to me at hevern@lemoyne.edu with the SUBJECT: space filled in with "PSY 101 Real Life Essay". Do NOT just send me a link to a Google Docs paper. Note that I will maintain professional confidentiality about what you write insofar as I am permitted to do so legally, i.e., unless you were to reveal to me an experience of child abuse, sexual harassment or other Title IX offenses by others, or a current serious threat of personal danger to yourself or another. In such a case I am obliged to report this to the responsible officer, either in the college or New York State.
E.C. Opportunity #3 Research Particpation	As I have previously noted, if a member of the Psychology faculty or a Psychology student runs an experiment or collects data for research and asks for participants, I will give 5 points of extra credit for up to two (2) such participations. Normally, when these opportunities happen, you will be asked to participate in one of the Psychology Labs on the 1st floor of Reilly Hall near the post office. You will tell the researcher which teacher and course you want extra credit in and they will send me a list of all participants by the end of the semester.
	This page was first posted November 5, 2016