Course: Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Bennett
Module: Week 8 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objectives covered: cumulative — Objectives 1–5 (Weeks 1–7): the science of psychology & its perspectives; research methods & ethics; the biological bases of behavior; sensation, perception & consciousness; and learning & memory.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 8 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. This is the midterm week — it works differently from a normal week. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday session pattern with Week 8 meeting Tue Oct 20 and Thu Oct 22; the Midterm window opens Mon Oct 19 and the exam is due Sun Oct 25, 11:59 p.m.; Discussion 8 (the debrief) is also due Sun Oct 25. Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 8 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 8: Midterm Review & Exam

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

Heads-up: this is the midterm week, so it runs differently. There is no regular quiz and no regular assignment this week — the Midterm replaces them. Instead, the week is built to get you ready: we spend both class sessions reviewing the whole first half, you work through a three-part prep kit, you sit the exam, and then you reflect on how it went. The midterm is cumulative over Weeks 1–7 (Objectives 1–5) — what psychology is and its perspectives; how it studies behavior (methods & ethics); the brain behind behavior; how we sense, perceive, and become aware; and how we learn and remember. It does not include the cognition, development, and social material that starts in Week 9, so you can bound your studying.

The week's big question

"Across the whole first half — what psychology is, how it studies behavior, the brain behind it, how we sense and become aware, and how we learn and remember — can I do the one honest move each topic asks of me, and avoid the mistake that sinks it?"

By the end of the week you'll have walked the entire Objective 1–5 arc once more, found the exact spots where points get lost, and shown what you can do on the Midterm.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all five out loud, you're ready for the exam.

• [ ] Define the field and read with its lenses (Obj 1) — define psychology (behavior + mental processes), explain why it's a science, and read a behavior through the six perspectives (bio-psycho-social); get the history right (Wundt 1879; structuralism vs. functionalism).
• [ ] Reason about research (Obj 2) — tell an experiment from a correlational study, name the IV and DV, explain why correlation ≠ causation, and tell random sampling from random assignment.
• [ ] Map the biology (Obj 3) — trace the neuron and the all-or-none action potential across the synaptic gap, name a neurotransmitter's role, tell sympathetic from parasympathetic, and match a brain structure (hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, the lobes) to its job.
• [ ] Explain sensing & awareness (Obj 4) — tell sensation from perception (and what transduction does), use rods vs. cones and a threshold, recognize a sleep stage / REM, and tell a depressant from a stimulant.
• [ ] Explain learning & memory (Obj 5) — label a classical-conditioning scenario (UCS/UCR/CS/CR), classify reinforcement vs. punishment (incl. the negative-reinforcement trap), and explain the three-stage memory model and why memory is reconstructive.

What's due this week, and what to do

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next. This is the midterm-week list; the usual weekly quiz and assignment are not here.

There is no Quiz 8 and no Assignment 8 this week — the Midterm stands in for both. The Study Guide, Exam-Prep Tutorial, and Practice Exam are your prep kit; the Midterm and Discussion 8 are what's graded.

A note on the AI prep tutorial: the Exam-Prep Tutorial works like every weekly tutorial — the chatbot drafts and quizzes you, and you judge its work against what we covered. It will sometimes blur negative reinforcement with punishment or get rods/cones backwards; catching that is part of being ready.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late — and the exam window is firm, so don't let it sneak up. If life happens, reach out before the deadline; I'd much rather hear from you early than after.

How to succeed this week

• Review actively, not passively. Don't re-read notes — do the moves. Read a behavior through two perspectives, name an IV and DV, label a CS/CR, classify a reinforcement scenario. The Study Guide and Practice Exam are built for exactly this.
• Bound your studying. The midterm is Objectives 1–5 only (Weeks 1–7). Cognition, development, and social psychology (Weeks 9+) are not on it. Study the right five things deeply instead of everything thinly.
• Lead with the idea, then the term. Every topic this term was a plain-English idea first. On the exam, name the honest move before the jargon: which perspective fits? is this a link or a cause? did the behavior go up (reinforcement) or down (punishment)?
• Use the prep kit in order. Study Guide → Exam-Prep Tutorial → Practice Exam. The tutorial finds your weak spots; the timed practice exam tells you whether you've fixed them.
• Then breathe and reflect. Discussion 8 isn't more cramming — it's the moment you notice what worked and make a plan for the back half. Do it after the exam while it's fresh.

You've already done the hard part across seven weeks. This week is about pulling it together and showing it. Come to class ready to review out loud — and bring your questions. See you Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 8

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Oct 19, 2026 (the day the midterm window opens) — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Oct 19."

Subject: Week 8 — Midterm week: review, prep kit, exam 🧠

Hi everyone,

We're at the halfway mark, and this week is different from the others: it's midterm week. There's no regular quiz and no regular assignment — the Midterm takes their place. Everything this week is built to get you ready and then let you show what you can do.

Here's the shape of it: both class sessions (Tue Oct 20 / Thu Oct 22) are a fast, complete review of Weeks 1–7 — what psychology is and its six perspectives, how it studies behavior (methods and ethics), the brain behind behavior, how we sense and become aware, and how we learn and remember. The exam is cumulative over Objectives 1–5, and it does not reach the cognition, development, or social material that starts next week — so you can study the right five things.

Your prep kit, in order: work the Study Guide first, then run the Exam-Prep Tutorial with an approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) and submit the share link, then sit the Practice Exam timed to find any soft spots.

The three dates that matter:
1. Midterm — window opens Mon Oct 19, due Sun Oct 25, 11:59 p.m. (20% of your grade; 20 concept/scenario items, no arithmetic).
2. Exam-Prep Tutorial — submit your chat share link before the exam closes (Sun Oct 25).
3. Discussion 8 — the midterm debrief — initial post Fri Oct 23, replies Sun Oct 25; reflect on what prep worked, where the gaps were, and your plan going forward.

One reminder: you've built every one of these skills already over seven weeks. This week just asks you to name them and use them under one roof. Open the Start Here / Module Overview page first — it lays out the whole week in order with every due date.

You've got this. Come with questions Tuesday,
Prof. Bennett