Course Syllabus, Spring 2001

Psychology 2606:  Social Psychology

Call Number 20426, T Th,  12:30 – 1:45, FA  N141

Class Website: http://psych.colorado.edu/~abryan/Social SP 2001.htm

 

Professor:    Dr. Angela Bryan                                           T.A.:         Megan Lineberger

Office:            Meunzinger D351C                                      Office:     Meunzinger E314

Phone:          735-1587                                                       Phone:     735-1138

Email:            angela.bryan@colorado.edu                       Email:       lineberm@psych.colorado.edu

Office Hours:  T 10-11:30, W 9-10                                    Office Hours:   T 11-12, W 4-5

                            (or by appointment)                                                               (or by appointment)

 

Course Description: In the field of social psychology, we study the effects of the real or imagined presence of others on the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals.  The questions asked by social psychologists have to do with our daily lives in the social world, and often seek to find answers to social mysteries.  For example, why would a teenage boy confess to a murder he never committed?  Why would someone join a cult that forces her to give away all her worldly possessions and cease all contact with friends and family?  Why would a woman in her 20’s be attracted to an elderly man?  In this course, we will answer these questions and many others by studying the five major perspectives of social psychology.  In the context of these perspectives, we will look at the features of the person, the situation, and the interaction between the person and the situation that govern social behavior.  The three specific goals of this course are for you to: (1) Learn the major perspectives, theories, and issues in the field of social psychology, (2) Learn how social psychologists derive their hypotheses and test these hypotheses via both laboratory and applied research, and (3) Learn how social psychological theories and findings apply to your daily life.

 

Text (required):   Kenrick, D.T., Neuberg, S., & Cialdini, R. (1999). Social Psychology. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

 

Teaching philosophy: Research about learning, and my teaching experience, has shown that students learn and retain material better in a situation in which learning is active rather than passive, and cooperative rather than individual.  I have incorporated some of the principles of active and cooperative learning into my class, and try to be sensitive to the various types of learning styles that might exist among my students.  To this end, we will do active learning exercises in this class that involve your participation.  We will also do some group work. Oftentimes these in-class active learning and group exercises will have associated extra credit.  You must be in class to receive the extra credit.

 

Tests: There will be three non-cumulative tests. The third test will be given during the final exam period on May 5th.  You must take all three tests.  None will be dropped and there will be no makeup exams.  The only excuse accepted for missing a test is your illness, verified in writing by a physician's note, or a very serious family problem.  All tests will include both multiple-choice questions (bring a #2 pencil to all exams) as well as a few short answer/essay questions.

 

 

Application Paper: This assignment asks you to apply social psychological research and theory to a current event, political issue, or personal experience from your life.  You will be given a list of research articles from the various topics covered in class.  You will pick one of these articles to read, and then think of a current topic (e.g., the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a public health issue like HIV/AIDS, political issues like affirmative action) or life experience (e.g., a situation in which you experienced stereotyping) to which the theories and research covered in the article are applicable.  You will be required to review the research article, explain the authors’ hypotheses, explain how they tested those hypotheses, and talk about their findings.  You will then apply these findings to the current event, political issue, or life experience you have chosen to write about. You may want to decide on a general topic area first (e.g., aggression, prejudice, attraction), think of a current event or life experience, and then decide which article to read.  You are encouraged to pick one of the research articles from the list given to you by the professor. If you want to use a different article, you must bring a copy of that article to the professor or TA and receive special permission.

            The points for the application paper will be approximately equivalent to an exam grade.  You must turn in a one-page outline of your paper that describes your topic and references your article to the TA by 5pm, Friday, March 23rd, 2001.  The outline paper is worth 10% of the final paper grade, and will not be accepted late.  The final paper should be between 6 and 8 pages typed and double-spaced using 12-point font.  The final paper is due by 5pm, Friday, April 20th.  Each school day (e.g., M-F) the paper is late, it will be dropped one full letter grade.  For example, if you turned in your paper on Tuesday, April 24th, and the paper was B+ quality work, you would receive a D+ on the paper.  You will receive more information on the paper in the coming weeks.

 

Students with Disabilities: If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please let me know early in the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met.  You will need to provide documentation of your disability to the Disability Services Office in Willard 322 (phone 303‑492‑8671).

 

Grading:  Your final grade in the course is based on your total points accumulated on the three tests, plus your total points on the application paper.  In addition, there is some possibility for extra credit points from in-class assignments.  There is no opportunity for out-of-class extra credit assignments.  Your final letter grade will be determined as follows: First, a “reference score” will be calculated by taking the arithmetic mean of the five highest scores in the course.  Your grade will then be determined based on the percentage of total points you earned relative to this reference score.

 

A

93-100%

 

B

83-85%

 

C

73-75%

 

D

63-65%

A-

90-92%

 

B-

80-82%

 

C-

70-72%

 

D-

60-62%

B+

86-89%

 

C+

76-79%

 

D+

66-69%

 

F

59% or below

 

Cheating/plagiarism: Any form of academic dishonesty, including cheating on exams, copying answers off of other students during exams, having other students help you falsify your attendance on extra credit days, and plagiarizing from a research article will absolutely not be tolerated in this class.  At the very least, you will receive a zero on the assignment.  All incidences of academic dishonesty will also be referred to the University’s Committee on Academic Ethics, where you may face expulsion from the university.

 

Important University Dates to Remember:

 

Last day to drop/add                                                January 24(add) and 31 (drop), 2001

Spring Break                                                             March 26-30, 2001

Last day of Classes                                                  Friday, May 4, 2001             

Final Exam                                                                 Saturday, May 5, 2001, 1:30 – 4:00pm

 

Tentative Lecture and Exam Schedule:

 

*********************Unit #1***************************

 

    Dates                                                           Topic                                                   KNC Chapter

 

1/16 – 1/23                              Introduction to Social Psychology                                            1

 

1/23 – 1/30                              The Person in the Situation                                                     2         

 

1/30 – 2/6                                Social Cognition                                                                       3

 

2/6 – 2/13                                Presenting the Self                                                                  4

 

2/15                                                       MIDTERM #1                                                             1-4

 

*********************Unit #2***************************

 

2/20 – 3/6                                Persuasion and Social Influence                                              5-6

 

3/8 – 3/13                                Affiliation and Friendship                                                         7

 

3/15 – 3/20                              Love and Romantic Relationships                                           8

 

3/22                                                     MIDTERM #2                                                               5-8      

 

3/27– 3/29                                         SPRING BREAK!!!!                                                                   

 

*********************Unit #3***************************

 

4/3 – 4/5                                  Prosocial Behavior                                                                   9

 

4/10 – 4/12                              Aggression                                                                              10

 

4/17 – 4/26                              Prejudice and Stereotyping                                                     11

 

5/1 – 5/3                                  Groups                                                                                    12                   

 

5/5                                           MIDTERM #3 (during Final Exam Period)                              9-12    

 

Note: I reserve the right to change any or all of this schedule as I see fit.  Changes in the schedule will be announced in class and posted on the class website.