Student User Guide For PsychPortal Psychology, Ninth

Student User Guide for PsychPortalPsychology, Ninth EditionMyersFor technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

Getting Started with PsychPortalfor Myers Psychology, 9eTable of ContentsOverview . 1Getting Help . 1System Requirements . 2Registering for the Course . 3Logging in to the Course . 4The PsychPortal Home Page . 5The PsychPortal eBook . 6Taking Notes . 7Accessing PsychPortal Course Materials . 7Viewing Quizzes & Assignments . 8Checking Your Grades . 9Course Mail. 9For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

1OverviewWelcome to PsychPortal, your complete Web-based study tool for David G. Myers’ Psychology,Ninth Edition. Not only does it lighten your backpack by offering online access to your textbookand other course materials, but communication tools make it easier to connect with your classcommunity. With PsychPortal, you can: Follow a personalized study plan thathelps you assess your progress inlearning each chapter’s material. Work with supplemental resourcematerial, such as tutorials animationsand flashcards. Take and share online notes. Participate in discussion forums andchat rooms. Communicate with your teacher and/orother students via course email. Do homework with instant grading andfeedback.Note: Depending on how your instructor has configured the PsychPortal for your class, you maynot have access to all these features.This guide is designed to get you into the course software, introduce you to the main features,and leave you comfortable enough to begin working in the PsychPortal on your own.Getting HelpPsychPortal includes acomprehensive helpsystem with step-by-stepinstructions for performing avariety of tasks in the program.To access it, click the Help (?)button in the bottom-left cornerof the screen. (Note: this onlinehelp system is available afteryou’ve logged in toPsychPortal.)For questions that aren’tanswered by the help system,contact PsychPortal TechnicalSupport, available 24/7. Call 1800-936-6899.For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

2System RequirementsThe following Web browsers are formally supported and tested for use with PsychPortal: Windows: Internet Explorer version 6 or 7 and Firefox version 1.0 and above. Mac OS X: Firefox version 1.5 and above.In addition, some PsychPortal resources require Adobe Shockwave Player, Adobe Flash Player,Apple QuickTime (5.0 or above), Java, or Adobe Acrobat (version 6 or above). The latestversions of these plug-ins can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe, Sun, or Apple Websites.To see which plug-ins you have installed and to find installers, go to the online helpsystem and select the System Check link from the System Requirements section or godirectly to http://courses.bfwpub.com/syscheck/ .Note: To view some features of the Portal, you may need to turn off your browser’s pop-upblocker, and any pop-up blocker(s) in third-party toolbars you may have added to your browser,such as the Google or Yahoo toolbar.For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

3Registering for the CourseTo get access to PsychPortal, you have two options:1. Purchase access to PsychPortal through the campus bookstore (either packaged with aprinted textbook or by itself).2. Purchase access to PsychPortal directly from our web site.Option One: Registration with an Activation Code1. Go to http://courses.bfwpub.com/myers9e and select the REGISTER an Activation Codelink. The following registration screen will appear.2. Then, enter your Activation Code, name, and e-mail address. Your email address will serveas your username for PsychPortal.3. Create a password. The password must be at least 4 characters long and should besomethingmemorable.4. Optionally supply apassword hint.5. After confirming youremail address, selectyour school location(state/province) fromthe drop-down menuat the bottom of thescreen. A new dropdown menu will thenappear where you canchoose yourinstitution; then acourse/instructordrop-down menu willappear where you canselect your course.6. Click NEXT at thebottom of this screen,confirm yourinformation on thefollowing screen, andclick CREATEACCOUNT tocomplete theregistration process.For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

4Option Two: Purchase Access Directly Via the Site1. Go to http://courses.bfwpub.com/myers9e and select PURCHASE access to PsychPortaland then select your state/province from the drop down menu. You will then be prompted toselect your institution and your course from additional drop-down menus.2. Enter an email address and password, as described in the Activation Code instructions onpage 3.3. Enter payment information including your name (as it appears on the credit card); cardnumber, expiration date, and billing address, then click NEXT. After confirming yourinformation, you should click PLACE YOUR ORDER.4. Once you have placed your order and the system has confirmed payment, you will see ascreen that says “Thank You,” and confirms your name, email address, username, andpassword. You will also receive a confirmation email.Note: You won’t be able to change your email address once you have registered, so you mustchoose an address that will be valid for the duration of the course.Once you have completed this process, go to http://courses.bfwpub.com/myers9e, enter youremail address and password, and click LOG IN (see below).Logging in to the CourseTo login to the PsychPortal course, go to http://courses.bfwpub.com/myers9e. Supply your emailaddress and password and click LOG IN.If you have any trouble with a log-in id or password, call 1-800-936-6899 or contacttechnical support via email at techsupport@bfwpub.com.For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

5The PsychPortal Home PageOnce you’ve logged in to PsychPortal, the home page appears. From here, you can access allthe information, tools, and resources in PsychPortal.Note: Your instructor can customize this home page to suit the needs of your class, so what yousee may not exactly match what is shown here.Use tabs to go tospecific pages ofthe course Portal.Search the entire Portal for atopic, or jump to a page or section.View info aboutthe course andthe instructor.Check upcomingassignments,check the coursecalendar, viewyour grades andlook up profiles ofother coursemembers.View courseannouncements.Read or sendcourse mail,update your blogor check others’blogs, participatein a discussionforum.Jump directly to achapter of theeBook.Display onlinehelp.Switch to adifferent section.Switch to 508compliant version.Log out.Edit your user profile,forward course mail andset system settings.Note: If you have a visual disability, clickin the bottom-left corner to switch to a version ofPsychPortal that is compliant with the 508 amendment to the American Rehabilitation Act. Thisversion is compatible with screen-reader software.For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

6The PsychPortal eBookThe PsychPortal eBook is a complete online version of David G. Myers’ Psychology, NinthEdition. Links throughout the eBook connect to numerous study tools, such as tutorials,animations, and flashcards – all designed to make the learning experience more effective andrelevant.To open the eBook’s table of contents, click the EBOOK & STUDY CENTER tab at the top of thepage. From there, select the chapter or section where you want to go. You can also jump directlyto a chapter by selecting it from the eBook drop-down list on the home page.Once you’re in the eBook, use the navigation pane (on the left) and the Previous and Next linksto get around a chapter or to go to another chapter. Use the Search box in the upper-right cornerof the window to jump to the eBook section corresponding to a given printed page, or use it to findinformation on any given topic.Type a term to search for, orenter a page or sectionnumber, then click Go.Use Previousand Next tocycle throughthe sections.Use the NavigationPane to jump to achapter or section.Click this to open theeBook Toolsmenu.Every section contains hyperlinks to additional material, related sections, learning tools, andglossary definitions. To highlight a phrase, double-click it. To bookmark a section or add your ownnotes, click the eBook Tools button.For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

7Taking NotesAt the top of every eBook section, you’ll see any notes your instructor has added. You can addyour own notes to the section as well. To add a note, click the eBook Tools button and chooseAdd Note from the Tools menu.In the displayed Note Box, type the text of your note. Use buttons to the right to add bold or italictext or to insert a link to a Web site.Use the drop-down list to specify your note as Public (anyone to whom you give permission canview, but only you can edit), Shared (those to whom you give permission can view and edit), orPrivate (only you can view). Click Save to save your note. To edit the saved note later, click theEdit icon in the note’s top-left corner.Note: For more on sharing notes, refer to the PsychPortal online help.Specify note asprivate, shared,or public.Add bold oritalic text or linkto a Web site.Click Savewhen done.Enter text here.Accessing PsychPortal Course MaterialsPsychPortal comes with anabundance of online resources toaid your learning process: tutorials,animations, flashcards and more.Your instructor can also uploadadditional resources for the course.Learning resources are embeddedthroughout the eBook, and a sectionat the end of each chapter lists thatchapter’s resources.Note: Your instructor may also add resources directly in the eBook.For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.

8You can also access from through the Course Materials page. Click the COURSE MATERIALStab (or click the Course Materials link on the home page if available).In addition to resources supplied by the publisher, your instructor mayadd course-specific resources, such as discussion forums or lectureslides. These are listed directly on the Course Materials page.To view PsychPortal Course Materials, select a type of resource fromthe Student Resources drop-down list and a chapter from the Chaptersdrop-down, then click go. Click on any of the displayed resources toaccess it.Viewing Quizzes & AssignmentsWhen your instructor creates an assignment in PsychPortal, it is added to your Quizzes &Assignments page. PsychPortal keeps track of what assignments you’ve completed and whenupcoming assignments are due.To view all assignments, both past and upcoming, click the QUIZZES & ASSIGNMENTS tab.(Assignments due in the current week may also be listed on your home page).The Quizzes & Assignments page lists all of your course assignments. It shows due date,gradebook points, and status. You can use the Sort assignments by drop-down box to changethe order in which assignments are listed. Click an assignment to jump to it.Jump to thecalendar, whichshows assignmentsarranged by duedate.Click anassignment title towork on theassignment.Choose howassignments arearranged on thepage.Due dates for assignments are also entered in your course calendar. Click Go to Calendar todisplay the calendar.For technical support call 1-800-936-6899.