Spring Quarter 1999: MTWTh 2:10-3:00 (194 Young Hall)
Herr Doktor Professor Dean Keith Simonton
Contents
The explicit purpose of this class is to introduce you to the field of social psychology. I want you to appreciate why I consider this to be one of the most basic and exciting topics in psychological science. I also hope to make you more aware of yourselves, others, and the bigger social world around us all. Social psychology is a very stimulating subject, one having countless applications to everyday life. On many occasions you may find yourself saying to a roommate, friend, or lover: "We learned all about that in Psych. 151 today!" Your companions may even find the repetition of such phrases throughout the quarter awfully obnoxious at times. Yet nothing would make me happier than to make you all more aware of the "how and why" of our social activities and thoughts. Above all else, this course aims at teaching mutual understanding and appreciation - even wisdom. We are all social creatures to the very depths of our beings!
Lecture (Date - Reading Assignments)
1. Introductions: The Course and the Subject (4/5 - Chapter 1)
2. Methods 1: Experimental Studies (4/6 - Chapter 1)
3. Methods 2: Correlational Studies (4/7 - Chapter 1)
4. Self 1: Personal Aspects (4/8 - Chapter 5, pp. 150-175)
5. Self 2: Social Aspects (4/12 - Chapter 5, pp. 150-175)
6. Person Perception 1: Relevant Information (4/13 - Chapter 2)
7. Person Perception 2: Judging Personalities (4/14 - Chapter 2)
8. Person Perception 3: Reading Emotions (4/15 - Chapter 2)
9. Attributions 1: About Ourselves (4/19 - Chapter 3)
10. Attributions 2: About Others (4/20 - Chapter
3)
11. Midterm I (4/21)
12. Attitudes: The Three Components (4/22 - Chapter 4)
13. Attitude Change 1: Functional & Social Judgment Theories (4/26 - Chapter 4)
14. Attitude Change 2: Communication (Stimulus-Response) Theory (4/27 - Chapter 4)
15. Attitude Change 3: Consistency Theories (4/28 - Chapter 4)
16. Social Interaction: Social Comparison & Exchange (4/29 - Chapters 7 and 8)
17. Interpersonal Relationships 1: Affiliation (5/3 - Chapters 7 and 8)
18. Interpersonal Relationships 2: Attraction (5/4 - Chapters 7 and 8)
19. Interpersonal Relationships 3: Love (5/5 - Chapters 7 and 8)
20. Moral Judgment & Ethical Action (5/6
- Chapters 7 and 8)
21. Midterm II (5/10)
22. Prosocial Behavior 1: Situational Characteristics (5/11 - Chapter 10)
23. Prosocial Behavior 2: Individual Characteristics (5/12 - Chapter 10)
24. Aggression 1: Biological Theories (5/13 - Chapter 11)
25. Aggression 2: Psychological Theories (5/17 - Chapter 11)
26. Social Influence 1: Obedience (5/18 - Chapter 9)
27. Social Influence 2: Conformity & Compliance (5/19 - Chapter 9)
28. Groups 1: Performance & Decision Making (5/20 - Chapter 12)
29. Groups 2: Cooperation & Competition (5/24 - Chapter 12)
30. Groups 3: Leaders & Followers (5/25
- Chapter 12)
31. Midterm III (5/26)
32. Prejudice 1: Racism (5/27 - Chapter 6)
33. Prejudice 2: Sexism (6/1 - Chapter 5, pp. 175-191)
34. Prejudice 3: Authoritarianism (6/2 - Chapter 6)
35. Forensic Psychology (6/3 - Chapters 13-14)
36. Organizational Psychology (6/7 - Chapters 13-14)
37. Environmental Psychology (6/8 - Chapters 13-14)
38. Health Psychology (6/9 - Chapters 13-14)
39. Political Psychology (6/10 - Chapters 13-14)
40. Final Exam (6/17 - Time 10:30-12:30)
There are four "objective" exams: three midterms
and the final. Each midterm exam consists of 50 multiple-choice questions.
All midterm exams are noncumulative; each covers only the most recent chapters
and lectures. The final exam, on the other hand, will contain 50 questions
from the most recent section plus another 10 from material spanning the
entire course. In fact, the latter will include questions that require
you to integrate ideas or findings from more than one chapter. Note, too,
that the text and the lectures will receive about equal emphasis, but with
the greatest stress placed on the overlap between the two sources.
You’ll take the exams on a form #882 Scantron
sheet with a #2 pencil. Please remember to bring both form and pencil with
you on each of the four test days. There may be students in our class who
finance their college education by selling school supplies to desperate
classmates!
Unlike all other courses I teach, here you
will be given no essay questions. This omission results from the large
class size, the dearth of TA’s, and my desire to give you immediate feedback
on your performance (with the least amount of error). But this saddens
me a bit. In my own college career I only had one psychology class that
used objective questions. Only essay questions can force you to think about
the larger implications of what you’ve learned. Nevertheless, some of the
multiple-choice questions will require you to integrate information as
in an essay question. I don’t want you to spend the whole hour regurgitating
facts you memorized by rote! In any case, all questions will emphasize
basic ideas and findings over puny particulars. Specifically, don’t worry
about learning all the names that fill up your text. You are only expected
to know well the true biggies of the discipline.
To get to the brass tacks, your final grade
is based on the total points accumulated on three exams - the final plus
the best two out of your three midterms. Because you can thus drop your
worst midterm examination, there will be no make-up exams whatsoever. If
you miss one of your first three tests, that will be the one dropped (for
that will obviously be your worst score). If you have a really good reason,
the midterm exams can be taken a day early, however. But you should give
me adequate warning beforehand, so I can make up the test in time. The
final exam is the only test that cannot be dropped under any circumstances,
so you must take the final. Moreover, you are advised to take all exams
whether you plan to drop one or not. Because the material varies immensely
in difficulty, the exam you decide to miss may just so happen to be the
easiest all quarter! Remember: Your grade is based on the total points
alone (160 total), not on the letter grades that I will assign tentatively
to each midterm. Those letter grades are intended only to give you an approximate
idea about where you stand in the class.
As a rough rule of thumb, you must get 90%
of the questions correct to earn an A- or better, 80% for a B- or better,
70% for a C- or better, 60% for a D- or better (and 50% for an F- or better?!).
By chance alone, you would be expected to get about 25% of the questions
correct, so taking exams by flipping coins is not advised! These percentages
mean that you are not competing against each other, but rather you are
being measured against a standard. If all of you get 90% of the questions
right, then all of you will get A’s. Of course, I will assign pluses and
minuses to the grades - even an A+ or so to the best students in the class.
Robert A. Baron & Donn Byrne’s 1997 Social
Psychology (8th edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Warning: Often there is more than one section
of social psychology taught in a particular quarter. Introductory textbooks
on this subject have a nasty habit of using the same nondescript title.
Therefore, you just might buy the wrong textbook. Unfortunately, you may
not learn right away, since the coverage may overlap enough to leave you
clueless. Then on the first midterm, you walk in, and find out that you
have no idea where some of my questions are coming from. Of course, the
questions came from the text you didn’t read! Don’t think I’m insulting
your intelligence when I say it could happen to you. This embarrassing
episode occurs to at least one student in Psych. 151 almost every quarter
that I’ve taught it since 1976! Even one person is one too many - especially
if it’s you!
By the way, if for any reason you don’t have
immediate access to this textbook, a copy will be available at the Reserve
Desk in Shields - but only for 2 hours.
Should it happen that by some fluke the exams
are too difficult, I will move the percentages down to more generous cutoffs.
My ultimate goal is to have the average grade for the class as a whole
to be at the same level as other upper division courses in the Psychology
Department. I don’t want to be considered an easy grader, for my fellow
teachers will feel that I am trying to bribe you to give me good teaching
ratings. Yet I don’t wish to be seen by you as a hard grader either, or
you might tar and feather me out of UC Davis!!
Because the grading system does not force you
to compete against each other, I encourage you all to study together if
you are so inclined. By sharing what you learned with others, by quizzing
each other on the material, you might benefit more from the course. This
asset especially holds if you get together to discuss applications of social
psychology to your everyday lives. The more examples you can unearth and
share, the more this course will stay with you years after you leave the
confines of these academic halls.
Good luck! I hope you will find this one of
your favorite courses in psychology. I did. That’s why I decided to get
my Ph.D. in social psychology!
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Last Revised: November 28, 1999