INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Sociology/Psychology 350, Winter Semester, 2014

Transcription

1 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Sociology/Psychology 350, Winter Semester, 2014 Instructor: Cardell Jacobson (Note: will generally be answered within 24 hours) Office: 2023 JFSB Office Hrs: 2:50-5:00 T-Th Other times by appointment Phone: Teaching Assistant: Michelle Grant: Office Hrs: TBA or by appointment ALL Paper Assignments are to be ed to: Welcome to the delightful world of social psychology. In this course we examine the social influences upon the individual. These are varied and pervasive, and we cannot examine them all. We will be concerned primarily with interpersonal influences, group influences, and more general influences such as the mass media. In addition, we will examine some of the internal processes used to resolve conflicting influences. The University has developed learning outcomes (objectives) for each program within the university. The primary objectives that pertain to this course (as I view them) are that students will: 1. become conversant with the substantive area of social psychology. (The primary text does a very good job of this.) 2. become conversant with the theories and research methods used by the two parent disciplines as they pertain to social psychology. (Though the text discusses the numerous substantive theories as well as the methods we use to collect the data that bear on the theories, I will spend some time on this as well.) 3. know the major explanations and debates in the substantive areas of social psychology. 4. articulate how the life experience of others may differ from one s own, and know how individuals from different race, class and sexes experience life differently. 5. (one not listed specifically on the website) improve your analytical and writing skills. As your instructor, I hope to expose you to each of these areas. Certainly I hope that at the end of the course you will better understand your own and others behavior, and that you will view human behavior through a different set of lenses than you have before those of the social scientist. During the course I will try expose you to some of the sociological side of social psychology (since the Myers text is written primarily from the psychology side of social psychology). In the course we will examine specific topics and issues in the field of social psychology. The general outline of those topics is listed in the reading schedule at the end of this syllabus. TEXTBOOKS: 1. David G. Myers, Social Psychology, 11 th Edition, Lauren Slater, Opening Skinner s Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the 20 th Century, Norton, You are expected to read the assigned readings carefully. The texts present the field in a systematic manner so that I, as the instructor, can elaborate and amplify those areas of particular interest to me.

2 Areas that have been adequately covered in the texts or areas in which I have less interest may receive less treatment in lecture. Nevertheless, you are responsible for all the chapters listed. Lectures will not always cover the same material as the readings, but will follow the general outline of the Myers text. COURSE MANAGEMENT: This course will be managed using the university BYU Learning Suite. Lecture notes, assignments, scores, quizzes and other materials will be available through the Learning Suite. To access it go to Under Students click on BYU Learning Suite, and then enter your Net ID and Password. Your course list will show up with a link to the Social Psychology course (listed as Psych 350, or Soc 350 depending on whether you are registered for sociology or psychology credit). Note: the course is cross listed meaning that you can get credit for either, and they are the same class. To access lecture notes in pdf format, click on the Content tab (at the top) and then Class Lecture Materials (on the left side). The files may be opened directly or they may be downloaded to a location of your choosing (recommended for larger files). I recommend printing the slides and bringing them with you to class. You will be able to take notes on what is being discussed without rushing to write down everything that appears on the slides, and you will be more likely to pick up information that is not included in the PowerPoint presentation. Depending on your printer driver, multiple slides can be printed per page. In the past, 4-6 slides per page seemed to work well for students. I will sometimes augment the power point presentations in class. Reviews for the exams and instructions for the paper assignments will also be posted on Learning Suite. Scores for assignments, quizzes, and exams can also be viewed through Learning Suite under grades. ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMINATIONS: Online Quizzes (7 quizzes, 10 Points each, 70 Points total) One timed quiz (30 minutes) will be given over all the chapters, except the last one chapter 13, for a total of 12 quizzes. The quizzes will be available under Exams on Learning Suite. The first two quizzes (Ch. 5 and 1) are practice quizzes to help you recognize the types of questions that will be asked (again, the last chapter, chapter 13, will not have a quiz). Practice quizzes will not count for or against your final grade. The lowest three scores of the remaining 10 quiz grades will be dropped leaving a total possible 70 points from the quizzes. The quizzes will give you examples of exam questions and help you prepare for the exams. The quiz for each chapter must be completed by midnight of the day listed for that chapter in the syllabus. The time limit for each quiz is 30 minutes. The quizzes are open book but since they are timed, you should read the material in advance. The quizzes must be completed on your own; you may not help or receive help, discuss, share answers, or communicate information in any way with others. Since quizzes can be taken from almost anywhere, missed quizzes may not be made up. Remember you get to drop three of them. If you miss one, it will be one of the three dropped from the final scores. Exams We will have two mid-term examinations in the course, plus the final exam. Each of the three exams will cover approximately one-third of the class material and together will account for just over half of the final grade for the course. Each exam will contain approximately 70 multiple choice questions with percent of the questions coming from the text and the remainder coming from lecture/class materials. The exams are not cumulative; they cover material only from that section of the course. The two mid-term exams may also contain one to four short essay questions (worth a total of about 20 points). The two mid-term exams will be administered in the testing center and are shown in boldface

3 on the schedule listed at the end of this syllabus. You will have at least two days to take the mid-term exams. Since you have two days to take them, these mid-term exams must be taken as scheduled and may not be made up. The final will be in the testing center during finals week. Papers The next thirty percent of your grade will be based on five short papers. Links to these assignments can be found under the Content tab and then Course Documents on Learning Suite. Submit the papers to the following address: Paper assignments 1&3. Journal Article Assignments (20 Points each) Each of these two papers involves reading a journal article (found under Content then Assignments) in Learning Suite) and completing essay questions about the article. For these journal article assignments you will be required to: 1. In your own words summarize the article in 250 words or less. 2. Critique (evaluate) the article. Identify the primary thesis and add your critique or evaluation of the article. Assess the author's work and the article's merit. A critique may be positive, negative or a combination of the two. The evaluation is limited to 500 words. 3. Discuss how the article relates to your own experiences within the last three months. This should be a discussion of things that have happened to you recently. You are limited to 500 words for this part. Discussing the articles with someone else in the class will help you to better understand the article, and should help you evaluate the articles. I will try to devote a few minutes in class to this the day before the journal articles are due. This time will allow you the opportunity to discuss the article with another student in the class. In your evaluation you may want to indicate some of the agreements or differences that you had with the other student about the article. Links to the articles are on Learning Suite (Content tab, then Course Documents on left, then Readings), but hard copies of these articles (in the journals) also can be obtained through university libraries or you can access them through the internet JSTOR site: You may have to log into the BYU library website to get to JSTOR. Once you are to JSTOR, click SEARCH. Then type in the name of the author using both first and last name. Then look for the article. For example, type in Rosanna Harlow. That should take you to the article which you may use. Or you can use key words (in quotes) to pull up the article: e.g. Race Doesn t Matter For the first journal assignment read one of the first five articles listed under readings on Learning Suite. For the second journal assignment read one from 6-10 of the articles listed under readings on Learning Suite. Again, each of these can be accessed through the Readings heading under Content in Learning Suite. Paper assignments 2&4. Skinner s Box--Book Response Papers (20 Points each) We will be reading selected chapters from Opening Skinner s Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century by Lauren Slater. For these two assignments, you will be required to: 1. State Slater's conclusions or her main point(s) in the chapter? (250 words or less). 2. How does this chapter augment or fit into Myers' text or into class discussion? How did this reading help your understanding of the experiments or the topics discussed? (300 words or less).

4 3. Relate the chapter to an experience of yours (limit of 200 words). Paper assignment 5. Experiential Paper (20 Points) Experiential is something based on experience. For this paper, you should: 1. Write up one or two out-of-class experiences from the semester. Describe them in some detail. (Norm violations or mini-experiments are fun, but don t do something stupid that would be against the Honor Code, the law, or get you booted from BYU) 2. Relate the experience to class material and describe how your experience illustrates the concept from class. Approximate length 400 words. GRADING POLICY: Note that total points for assignments submitted using Learning Suite may not show up until the assignment has been graded for all students. Papers must be submitted before the deadline outlined in the syllabus. Late papers may be accepted, but they will be docked points for lateness. The five papers assignments are to be sent to: byusocialpsych@gmail.com Please remember that all papers should be formal papers, written in the same style as you would write paper that is to be handed in to the professor. Avoid being informal or flippant. APPROXIMATE POINT ALLOCATION Assignment Approximate Points Total Points Approximate Percentage Exams (3) 80 each percent Papers (5) 20 each percent Quizzes (7) 10 each percent Total percent (rounded) The reading and assignment schedule follows. Reading the material prior to or at the same time as we are covering it in lecture will help you make sense of the material and will help you prepare for the exams: you will not have to cram as much for the exams. Remember, the online quizzes must be completed in advance or on the night (submitted before midnight) on the day listed on the syllabus. Reading Schedule Follows on next page

5 Date(s) Topic Assignment Jan 7 Intro and Perspectives in Social Psychology Scan or read Myers Chapt 1 Jan 9-14 Genes, Culture and Gender in Soc Psych Myers Chapt 5, Slater chapt 6 Jan Doing Social Psychology: Myers Chapt 1, Slater Perspectives (note Monday Holiday chapt 1 on 20 th ) Jan The Self: yours and others Myers Chapt 2, Slater chapt 3 Jan 30- Feb 4 Social Cognition: Making Sense of Myers Chapt 3, Slater the Social World chapt 8 Feb 6 Slater Summary of chapter 1,3,6, or 8 Feb (till FIRST EXAM (IN TESTING CENTER) 2:30 pm) Feb Attitudes and Attitude Change (note Holiday on Monday 17 th and meet your Monday class on the 18th) JOURNAL ARTICLE #1 DUE Myers Chapt 4, Slater chapt 5 (Practice) Quiz due Jan 9 (Practice) Quiz due Jan 16 Quiz due Jan 23 Quiz due Jan 30 Quiz due Feb 11 Feb 13 Feb Persuasion Myers Chapt 7 Quiz due Feb 20 Feb 27-Mar 4 Conformity and Obedience Myers Chapt 6, Slater Quiz due Feb 27 chapt 2 Mar 6-11 Group Influence and Non- Myers Chapt 8 Quiz due Mar 6 Conformity Mar 13 Slater Summary of chapt 2 or 5 Mar Prejudice and Racism Myers Chapt 9; Jacobson Quiz due Mar 13 (TBA) Mar (till 2:30 pm) SECOND EXAM (IN TESTING CENTER) Mar Social Psych Explains Aggression and Myers Chapt 10, Slater Quiz due Mar 25 Violence Chapt 10 Apr 1-3 Love and Attraction Myers chapt 11 Quiz due April 1 April 3 JOURNAL ARTICLE #3 DUE Apr 8-10 Egoism and Altruism Myers Chapt 12, Slater Quiz due Apr 8 Chapt 4 Apr 15 Conflict Resolution Myers chapt 13 No Quiz Apr 15 EXPERIENTIAL PAPER DUE Final Exam: During test week in the testing center