Chan, Yin

English

University of Montana

University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Syllabi Course Syllabi Spring 2-1-2019 PSYX 360.02: Social Psychology Yin Chan University of Montana, Missoula Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Chan, Yin, "PSYX 360.02: Social Psychology" (2019). Syllabi. 10420. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi/10420 This Syllabus is brought to you for free and open access by the Course Syllabi at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Syllabi by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso.umt.edu.   Psyx 360: Social Psychology Spring 2019  MWF  11:00 – 11: 50am University Hall Room 210  Instructor: Linus Chan E-mail: yinloklinus.chan@umontana.edu  Office: Skaggs 368 Office hours: Mon and Wed 1:30 to 3:00, or by appointment Prerequisite: Psyx 100 or consent of instructor Textbook: Psyx 360 Social Psychology (2018). NOBA Publishers.   Course Description The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of the scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in different social contexts. What are psychological findings on aggression, violence, prosocial behavior, persuasion, stereotyping, group processes, attachment styles, cyberpsychology, and romantic relationships?  These are all topics social psychologists study empirically. We will cover major theories and topics pertinent to social psychology, with a strong emphasis on scientific theory, methods, and application, which can all be tied to everyday experiences.   Objectives I hope that students gain: 1. An understanding of the major topic areas and theories within social psychology; 2. An understanding of the major research methods in social psychology; 3. A healthy skepticism concerning both scientific research and “common sense.” 4. An appreciation of studying how people interact in social contexts. Social Psychology studies people, and people are VERY interesting. I want you to become interested in social psychological research. If I have failed to spark your interest in this compelling field, then I have failed indeed. Required Readings Textbook. We will be using an open textbook that I designed specifically for this class. NOBA is a non-profit publisher that created our textbook by getting top scholars in various areas of social psychology to write one chapter of the book. NOBA then makes the book completely free to students, if they access the book online. To access the textbook, go to: http://noba.to/gyx46d2n. The textbook is posted on Moodle and is fully downloadable.   Published Journal Articles and Book Chapters. We will be reading a total of four journal articles and two book chapters, all of which are available via the class Moodle.  Course Schedule Day Date Topic & Texts (to be read before class) 1 Week 1: Jan. 11 Introduction: Overview of Social Psychology 2 Week 2: Jan. 14 Understanding the Self and Others •Textbook chapter: Personality Traits 3 Jan. 16 •Textbook chapter: Social Cognitions and Attitudes 4 Jan. 18 •No Reading   Week 3: Jan. 21 (No Class) 5 Jan. 23 •Textbook chapter: Theory of Mind  6 Jan. 25 •No Reading  7 Week 4: Jan. 28 Social Psychology as a Science •Textbook Chapter: An Introduction to the Science of Social Psychology  8 Jan. 30 •Textbook Chapter: Research Methods in Social Psychology  9 Feb. 1  •Textbook Chapter: Conducting Psychology Research in the Real World 10 Week 5: Feb. 4 Groups and Group Processes •Textbook Chapter: The Psychology of Groups 11 Feb. 6 •No Reading  Feb. 8 (No Class, Linus at SPSP, a social psychology conference) 12 Week 6: Feb. 11 •Textbook Chapter: Social Comparison  13 Feb. 13 Social Influence •Textbook Chapter: Conformity and Obedience  14 Feb. 15 •No Reading  Week 7: Feb. 18 (No Class) 15 Feb. 20 •Textbook Chapter: Persuasion: So Easily Fooled  16 Feb. 22 Exam 1 (non-cumulative) 17 Week 8: Feb. 25 Conflict •Textbook Chapter: Prejudice, Discrimination, and Stereotyping  18 Feb. 27 •No Reading 19 Mar. 1  •Journal Article: Chan, L., McFarland, J. D., & Conway, L. G., III. (2018). Political contamination of social psychology: A review of Crawford and Jussim’s (2017) edited book ‘The politics of social psychology.' Social Justice Research, 31(3), 323-333. 20 Week 9: Mar. 4  •Textbook Chapter: Aggression and Violence  21 Mar. 6 •No Reading 22 Mar. 8 •Journal Article: Duntley, J. D., & Buss, D. M. (2011). Homicide adaptations. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16, 399-410.  23 Week 10: Mar. 11 Cooperation •Textbook Chapter: Helping and Prosocial Behavior  Day Date Topic & Texts (to be read before class) 24 Mar. 13 •Textbook Chapter: Cooperation  25 Mar. 15 •No Reading 26 Week 11: Mar. 18 Positive Relationships •Textbook chapter: Love, Friendship, and Social Support  27 Mar. 20 •Textbook chapter: Attachment Throughout the Life Course  28 Mar. 22 Exam 2 (non-cumulative)  Spring Break - Mar. 25 – 29  29 Week 12: Apr. 1 Romantic Relationships •No Reading 30 Apr. 3 •Book chapter (available on Moodle): Mattingly, B. A., McIntyre, K. P., & Selterman, D. F. (2018). Individual differences and romantic relationships: Bidirectional influences on self and relational processes. In The SAGE Handbook of Personality and Individual Differences (pp. 402-430). SAGE Publications Ltd.  31 Apr. 5 •Journal Article: Buss, D. M. (2017). Sexual conflict in human mating. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(4), 307-313.  32 Week 13: Apr. 8 Cross-Cultural Psychology •Textbook chapter: Culture 33 Apr. 10 •Textbook chapter: The Replication Crisis in Psychology 34 Apr. 12 •No Reading •Due: Research Proposal (11:55pm) 35 Week 14: Apr. 15 Cyberpsychology •Book chapter (available on Moodle): Chan, H.C.Y. and Chan, L. (2018). We are dependent on the virtual realm, but the virtual realm is simultaneously becoming more vulnerable. In Official Guide to ICT Industry in Hong Kong 2019 (pp. 35-57).  36 Apr. 17 • Journal Article: Suler, J. (2004). The online disinhibition effect. CyberPsychology & Behavior,7(3), 321-326. 37 Apr. 19 •No Reading 38 Week 15: Apr. 22 Exam 3 (non-cumulative) 39 Apr. 24 •Feedback on Research Proposals and Writing (No Reading) 40 Apr. 26 •Mega-Review and Evaluations (No Reading)    Grading  Exam 1 (15%; Feb. 22)  Exam 2 (15%; Mar. 22)  Exam 3 (15%; Apr. 22)  Research Proposal (20%)  Participation in Friday discussion classes (15%)  Final Exam (20%; May 2nd, 8am-10am; cumulative) Exams  Exams will be entirely comprised of multiple-choice questions. We will use Scantrons (that I’ll provide) for the multiple choice items, so you need to bring pencils to exams. The multiple-choice questions will address content from class discussions/lectures and the journal articles. Questions may require application of the knowledge you have learned to scenarios not explicitly covered in class. For example, you might be asked to predict how a given individual would behave in a certain situation, depending on situational factors and characteristics of the individual.   Research Proposal You are required to write a research proposal (due Apr. 12, submit on Moodle in a Word Document by 11:55pm) that relates to a social psychology topic of your choice. Papers submitted after the deadline will incur a 10% deduction per day.  The proposal will present an idea for a study (that includes descriptions of the independent and dependent variables) that is novel in the context of the existing social psychological literature. To avoid reinventing the wheel with your proposal, you will need to consult relevant research literature to investigate what other researchers have learned about your topic. Your idea should be informed and shaped by consulting these prior studies. Do not propose a meta-analysis.  The proposals should read like the introduction of a journal article (use empirical journal articles listed in this syllabus as models). In other words, you will present the problem/question/issue (what you want to know), consider possible answers (what you expect to find), and present hypotheses (why you expect to find). It is crucial to justify the need for your study: You don't need to save the world with your study, but you do need to clarify how your study could contribute new knowledge.  Your proposals must follow APA style guidelines, except you should avoid writing the abstract, method, results, discussion, and table/figure/appendix sections. The body of your paper should end as if the method section would be next. You should give the reader a basic idea of how you plan to test your hypotheses, but avoid including in-depth method details that would normally be included in the method section. The length of each proposal must be 5-7 pages (double-spaced, 12-point font), not including the required title and reference pages. The Title and reference pages do not count toward the 5-7 pages. A minimum of 7 references from academic journal articles (which can be found easily online) or books are required for each proposal (websites, newspapers, pop psych publications, and textbooks don't count toward this requirement). APA style for the reference page is a bit tricky, so be sure to proofread carefully before submitting. Tips on writing the research proposal and some examples are posted on Moodle.   Discussion Classes  We will have semi-structured class discussions on selected Friday classes (Which Fridays are up to the instructor). Your attendance and participation in these discussions will be required.  Final Grades will be assigned according to where your total score fall with this breakdown.  Grade Percentage A 90 – 100  B+ 86 – 89  B 83 – 85  B- 80 – 82 C+ 76 – 79  C 73 – 75  C-  70 – 72  D+ 66 – 69  D 63 – 65  D- 60 – 62  F Below 60   Be warned now:  I will round decimal places equal to or greater than ".5" up (so a total of 89.5% will be an "A");  however, beyond this, the grade you receive will be whatever the numbers say, NO EXCEPTIONS (so an 89.4% will be a “B+"). I am aware that this can sound unfair, but there are extra credit assignments and participation to boost your grade. The problem with changing the criterion for a given student is that, once I change that criterion, inevitably another student is "right on the bubble," so ultimately someone just barely misses it.  I don’t want to be overly subjective in my judgment of who should get to surpass the objective criteria; thus, no one will. If you miss an exam and have no officially approved excuse, you will receive a zero for that exam. If you arrive late for an exam, you will not receive extra time to complete the exam. If a scheduled exam time conflicts with a University-sponsored extracurricular event, notify me as soon as possible.  Course Guidelines and Policies 1. Read the assigned textbook chapter and articles before class to get a grasp on the key concepts. Class lectures will expand on these concepts and class discussions (some discussion questions will be drawn from the textbook, some drawn from elsewhere) will focus on applying these concepts to real world situations.  2. Be quiet and polite during class. If you are not enthralled, that's OK; if you read the paper, talk to your neighbor, or do anything else that is distracting to me or others, that is not OK.  Please, if for some reason you are disinterested in the material, try and find something interesting that is not in any way distracting!!! It is my responsibility to create a good learning environment, and I will remove people who are distracting if that is what it takes to do so. If the distraction continues, you will eventually be removed from the course and given an un-droppable F for a grade.  Bottom line: If you don’t want to learn, stay home.  3. Having said that: ask questions!!  Do not buy into anything I say without first critically analyzing it (except, of course, on exams!).  4. All viewpoints are welcome. No ideas are immune from scrutiny and debate. Because constructive disagreement sharpens thinking, deepens understanding, and reveals novel insights, it is not just encouraged, it is expected. 5. Work hard!  The national standard for course workload is that you should be working 3 hours a week for every hour of class that you take (thus, you should be working nine hours a week for a three hour class). Once you subtract out the three hours per week you are in class, this means that you should be averaging working/studying/writing 6 hours per week outside of class. Over the course of the 15 weeks in the term, this means that you should be devoting 90 hours to this class outside of the time you spend in the classroom.  6. I will respond to email as quickly as possible (usually within 36 hours). But, please remember that there are a lot more of you than there are of me. So, if you don’t get a reply to your email immediately, please be patient. FYI, email is not the place to ask me highly detailed or complex questions. If you want to engage in deeper discussions, I ask that you visit my office hours.  Finally, a piece of advice:  Come to class!  I will not enforce any attendance policy (except for selected Friday classes), and I will not be offended if you do not come to class. In fact, if you are going to be disruptive, I’d rather you stay home. But the odds are that you’re going to do badly if you don’t come most of the time. If you miss class, it will be your responsibility to get the lecture notes from a classmate. Technology inside the Classroom Laptops and phones are permitted for class activities only (but not during test days, obviously). Taking notes and accessing class readings are appropriate uses; social media, email, entertainment, or working on non-class related things are not. Inappropriate use of technology will result in being asked to leave class.  Academic Misconduct & Academic Integrity All students must practice academic honesty. You are expected to be familiar and adhere to the university’s Student Conduct Code with regard to academic integrity. Academic misconduct is subject to academic penalty by the course instructor and/or disciplinary action by the university. In short, don’t cheat. Disability Modifications The University of Montana assures equal access to instruction through collaboration between students with disabilities, instructors, and Disability Services for Students.  If you think you may have a disability adversely affecting your academic performance, and you have not already registered with Disability Services, please contact Disability Services in Lommasson Center 154 or call 406.243.2243. I will work with you and Disability Services to provide an appropriate modification.  Incompletes  Be aware that if you earn an “Incomplete” in any course at UM, an “I” remains on your record permanently, even if you eventually complete the work.  Disclaimer:   Linus Chan reserves the right to make changes in (a) the course schedule, (b) course requirements, (c) the course grading procedures, and/or any other aspects of the course at any time. Any alterations will be circumspect and will be made in the best interests of the students, the course, and the instructor.    Extra Credit Research Volunteer x 2:  Participate in a research project being conducted in the psychology department during the semester. These typically take 30-60 minutes. Signing up for studies occurs via on online sign-up system.  To sign up, you will need to create an account online via umontana.sona-systems.com/ then “request account”.  When doing so, (1) be sure you use your umontana e-mail address (not your NetID) as your username (so if your umontana e-mail address is bruce.wayne@umontana.edu, you would enter bruce.wayne); if you don’t do this properly, you will not get the account information.  Also, (2) be sure you enter the right course section number, or else you may not be properly credited. Signing up and checking studies is easy – for directions on how to do this, please go to the Psychology Undergraduate Program website.  A total of 4% of your overall grade may be earned. Each ‘research credit’ earns you 2%. Extra credit MUST be completed and documented by Apr. 19, 2019.  Once you have created an account and logged in, click on the link titled “SONA Research Participation.” Your credit will be tracked via the online system – you will be awarded credit for participation within 72 hours of participating by the researcher who was in charge of the study.  If you check your credit and it has not been awarded in a timely fashion, contact the experimenter listed as the contact on the study to resolve this conflict.     PLEASE REMOVE THIS PAGE FROM YOUR SYLLABUS I, ___________________________________ (print your name) hereby acknowledge that I have received a copy of the Social Psychology syllabus for Spring 2019.  I have read the syllabus and understand all the course policies and requirements.  I recognize that it is my responsibility to seek clarification regarding any aspect of the syllabus, the course requirements, or the grading policies if they are unclear to me.   ____________________________________________   Signature  _________________________________ Date  ********************************************************************************** I do not post grades with student ID #’s.  Therefore, you will need to provide me with a “code name” (e.g. Batman123) if you would like your grades posted following tests.  (Note: I never post grades prior to handing back a test in class. The grade postings are primarily for you to be able to “check” what you think you earned against the grade in my gradebook).  Please be certain to choose a code name that is familiar to you, so that you remember it when you look up your grades.   WORD OF CAUTION:  I will NOT accept codenames that are inappropriate.  CODE NAME: ______________________________  BACKUP CODENAME (In case two people happen to have the same codename):   _______________________  ********************************************************************************** Please provide the following information below: 1. Name: 2. e-mail address:  3. class (e.g., sophomore, junior): 4. major: 5. Why are you taking this class? (it’s okay to write “because it’s required” if that’s the only reason)  6. What other psychology classes have you taken? (if none, put N/A)   7. What do you want to do with your life?  

PSYX 360.02: Social Psychology

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PSYX 360.02: Social Psychology

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