HONR 219Y: MERGING THE MULTIPLE MES:
DEVELOPMENTAL ORIGINS OF THE
INTEGRATED ADULT SELF
Spring 2015, Section 0101, Tu/Th 2 – 3:15, 3236 Benjamin
Instructor: Dr. Allan Wigfield
Email: awigfiel@umd.edu
Phone: 301-405-2809
Office: 3304Q Benjamin
Office Hours:
Required Readings
Book: Leary, M. R., & Tangney, J. P. (Eds.) (2012). Handbook of self and identity (2nd.
ed.). New York: Guilford Press. NOTE: CALLED “IDENTITY” IN THE COURSE
READING SCHEDULE.
Articles: Can be downloaded from the “Readings” Folder on CANVAS or found on the
library’s research port.
Office Hours: Wednesdays 2 – 3 or by appointment
Course Description: HONR 219Y will help students understand the development of
individuals’ self-concepts and identity over the infancy, childhood, adolescent, and early
adulthood periods. Four basic questions will be addressed in the course:
1. How do psychologists, sociologists, and educators define terms like self-concept,
self-esteem, and identity?
2. How do self-knowledge, identity, and processes related to identity change from
infancy to early adulthood?
3. What factors (environmental, relational, biological) influence the developing selfconcept and identity?
4. How have self-concept and identity been studied by researchers?
Course Objectives: Students in HONR 219Y will:
l. Gain knowledge and develop critical thinking skills about the development of selfknowledge
2. Connect theory and research on the self to their own self-knowledge
3. Understand how self-knowledge varies across different groups, and how culture
influences this knowledge
4. Learn to critique social science research on self-concept, identity, and self-esteem
5. Refine and improve writing skills
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Student Expectations:
You will be expected to:
1. Read the syllabus thoroughly and ask any questions that arise
2. Be respectful to the instructor, fellow students, and the educational mission of the
course
3. Attend all classes and arrive on time
4. Complete all assigned readings and tasks by the date specified; doing the
readings is especially important because class discussions will focus on the
readings
5. Reflect on your own experiences, and share appropriate life examples to highlight
lectures and discussion
CLASS POLICIES
Academic integrity: The University of Maryland, College Park has a studentadministered Honor Code and Honor Pledge. For more information on the Code of
Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit
http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu/whatis.html. This Code sets standards for
academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student
you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for
you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism.
The code prohibits students from cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty,
and plagiarism. I
Plagiarism is defined as submitting someone else’s work as your own, submitting
your own work completed for another class without permission, or failing to
properly cite information other than your own (found in journals, books, online, or
otherwise).
Any form of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated, and any sign of academic
dishonesty will be reported to the appropriate University officials.
Special needs: If you have a registered disability that will require accommodation, please
see the instructor so necessary arrangements can be made. If you have a disability and
have not yet registered with the University, please contact Disability Support Services in
the Shoemaker Building (301.314.7682, or 301.405.7683 TTD) as soon as possible.
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Religious observances: The University of Maryland policy on religious observances
states that students not be penalized in any way for participation in religious observances.
Students shall be allowed, whenever possible, to make up academic assignments that are
missed due to such absences. However, the must contact the instructor before the
absence with a written notification of the projected absence, and arrangements will be
made for make-up work or examinations.
Course evaluations: As a member of our academic community, students have a number
of important responsibilities. One of these responsibilities is to submit course evaluations
each term though CourseEvalUM in order to help faculty and administrators improve
teaching and learning at Maryland. All information submitted to CourseEvalUM is
confidential. Campus will notify you when CourseEvalUM is open for you to complete
your evaluations for fall semester courses. Please go directly to the website
(www.courseevalum.umd.edu) to complete your evaluations. By completing all of your
evaluations each semester, you will have the privilege of accessing online, at Testudo, the
evaluation reports for the thousands of courses for which 70% or more students submitted
their evaluations.
Inclement weather: In the event of inclement weather, this course will comply with the
University’s decision involving whether classes are to be held. If class is cancelled,
assignments that were due on the cancelled day will be due at the next class meeting.
Attendance: It is up to the individual student to attend each class. If you miss class, you
are responsible for obtaining additional notes from a classmate. Power Point Slides will
be posted online after each class in which such presentations are used; however, my
Power Points are brief outlines of what will be discussed and it is highly unlikely that
you will be able to do well in this course without consistent attendance. Much of the
learning in this course will come from the class discussions of the articles. You may
not make up assignments due to being absent unless you notify me prior to class, and
provide written documentation within one week that your absence complies with
University of Maryland policy. The university provides students with excused absences
the opportunity to reschedule significant assessments, except in cases where the nature of
the assessment precluded the possibility of rescheduling, OR to perform a substitute
assignment without penalty. An instructor is not under obligation to offer a substitute
assignment or to give a student a make-up assessment unless the failure to perform was
due to an excused absence, that is, due to illness (of the student or a dependent), religious
observance (where the nature of the observance prevents the student from being present
during the class period), participation in university activities at the request of university
authorities, or compelling circumstances beyond the student’s control. Students claiming
excused absence must apply in writing and furnish documentary support for their
assertion that absence resulted from one of these causes.
http://www.umd.edu/catalog/index.cfm/show/content.section/c/27/ss/1584/s/1540
- Non-consecutive, medically necessitated absences from multiple class sessions:
Students who throughout the semester miss multiple, non-consecutive class sessions due
to medical problems must provide written documentation from a health care professional
that their attendance on those days was prohibited for medical reasons.
- Non-medical excused absences: According to University policy, non-medical excused
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absences for missed assignments or assessments may include illness of a dependent,
religious observance, involvement in University activities at the request of University
officials, or circumstances that are beyond the control of the student. Students asking for
excused absence for any of those reasons must also supply appropriate written
documentation of the cause and make every attempt to inform the instructor prior to the
date of the missed class.
The full policy on excused class absences for student illness can be found at
http://www.president.umd.edu/policies/v100g.html. Please review.
Make Up Assignments
In accordance with the detailed policies below, you may NOT make up written
assignments or turn in assignments for which you are absent unless you notify the
instructor PRIOR to class, AND
1. Within one week provide written documentation that your absence complies with the
University of Maryland policy. In extremely exceptional circumstances, the prior
notification requirement may be waved.
2.All make-up activities must be completed as soon as possible.
Assignment Formats: Written work should follow standard American Psychological
Association (APA) 6th edition formatting (12 pt. font; Times New Roman; 1-inch
margins). Feel free to print double-sided. Citations should also follow APA formatting.
See UMCP’s library webpage (under Research Tools) for more information about APA
citations. There also is a tutorial on APA style and citations on the APA website.
Late Assignments: All written assignments on the assigned date; you will submit your
assignments electronically through the ELMS system. E-mailed assignments directly to
me will not be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made. Late assignments are
marked down five points for each weekday they are missing. In the case of an approved
absence, please make arrangements with me to turn in your work.
Final Grades: Final grades will be calculated based on the total number of points earned
for the assignments described in “course assessment.” Letter grades will be assigned
according to the percentage of points earned, outlined in the chart on the following page.
Unless a calculation error has been made on my part, final grades will not be changed.
There are no exceptions to this policy.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1) Article questions (30 points). You will submit a question about one of the
readings for each class; these should be sent to the ENTIRE CLASS via the
Discussions section of Elms by noon on Monday for Tuesday readings and
noon on Wednesday for Thursday readings.
2) Reading Reaction papers (170 points). You will write two 4-6-page reaction
papers to readings on the syllabus that you find particularly interesting. One
paper must be submitted by March 13 and can include your reactions to any class
reading assigned before that date. The second paper must be submitted by May 6
and can include your reactions to a class reading assignment between March 13
and May 6. Papers must be double spaced with 1-inch margins and Times New
Roman 12 Font. Each paper is worth 85 points. The papers should include the
following sections:
a. Summary of the readings that shows your understanding of the central
concepts in the article (1-2 pages); 25 points.
b. A response to one central idea in the reading that relates to either an
experience in your life, a current political, social, or educational issue;
or contrasts the article’s findings with evidence that some groups may
not experience the issue or process as described in the reading (2-3
pages), 40 points
c. An analytic or investigative thought question that extends your
discussion of the reading to a next step in the inquiry into the selfconcept issue you are discussing (one page, 20 points)
d. Correct grammar, punctuation, syntax, and use of APA style (15
points).
3) Article analyses (75 points). You will summarize three empirical articles by
describing the research questions addressed, the methods of the study, and so on.
More detailed description of this assignment will be handed out in class. The
third assignment will involve analyzing one article and tying it to aspects of your
own self and identity development. Each of these article analyses will be worth
25 points.
4) Presentation (50 points). You and a classmate (or two other classmates) will
make a presentation about one of the topics in class that was of interest to you.
You will need to discuss two NEW articles that you find about the topic in your
presentation; the presentations will be done on the last two days of class. More
details about the presentations will be given in class.
5) In class assignments (50 points). There will be 5 unannounced in classassignments throughout the semester. Each is worth ten points. These
assignments can be made up only if you have an excused absence from the class
on the days they occur.
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6) Participation (25 points). A successful honors seminar requires full participation
by all students and the instructor. We will discuss what participation means for
this seminar. Based on that discussion you will rate your participation on a biweekly basis, and these evaluations along with the instructor’s evaluation will
determine your participation grade.
Course Grades
Article questions
30 points
Two reaction papers
170 points
Three article analyses
75 points
Presentation
50 points
In-class Assignments
50 points
Participation
25 points
TOTAL POINTS
400 points
Final grades will be assigned as follows:
> 98%
92%-97.9%
90-92%
88-89.9%
82-87.9%
80-81.9%
79-79.9%
72-78.9%
70-71.9%
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
C-
68-69.9%
62-67.9%
60-61.9%
< 60%
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D+
D
DE
Course Schedule
TOPIC
READING
1/27
Course Introduction
Identity Chapter 1
1/29
Defining the self
Harter (1998, pp. 553-557); Identity,
Chapter 4; Identity, Chapter 31 pp.
680-682
2/3
Defining the self: Possible selves
Oyserman & Fryberg (2006)
2/5
Self in infancy
Harter (1998, pp. 557-562) Erikson
(pp. 247-51) Keller et al. (2004)
2/10
Self in toddlerhood
Harter (1998, pp. 562-565); Identity,
Chapter 31 p. 682-686; Erikson
(pp. 251-258); Lewis et al. (2004)
2/12
Self in middle childhood
Erickson (pp. 258-261) Identity,
Chapter 31, pp. 686-693, Jacobs et
Al. (2002)
2/17
Adolescence
Identity, Chapter 31, pp. 693-710
Erickson (pp. 261-266; 269-274),
Marcia (1966) Marcia (1970)
2/19 Adolescence
ARTICLE ANALYSIS 1 DUE
Laible et al. (2004) Bergh (2005)
2/24
Adolescence
Trzesniewski et al. (2006)
Dumas et al. (2009)
2/26
Self-esteem
Harter (1990)
3/3
Self-esteem and narcissism
Hirschi (2015) Trzesniewski et al.
(2008) Twenge (2008)
3/5
Self-Efficacy
Identity Chapter 10
3/10
Self-Efficacy
Usher (2009)
3/12
Gender and self
Good (2011) Berger (2013)
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LAST DAY TO SUBMIT REACTION PAPER 1
3/17, 3/19
SPRING BREAK
3/24
Gender and self
Garrod et al. (1) (2012)
3/26
Ethnic identity
Quintana (2007) Phinney (1997)
3/31
Ethnic identity
Umana-Taylor (2009) French (2006)
4/2
Culture and self
ARTICLE ANALYSIS 2 DUE
Identity Chapter 27
4/7
Culture and self
Garrod et al. (2) (2012)
4/9
Unconscious self
Identity Chapter 8
4/14
Spirituality and the self
Poll (2003) Kiesling (2006)
4/16
NO CLASS, AERA MEETING
4/21
Self, social identity, and relationships
Identity Chapter 23
4/23 Self and relationships
ARTICLE ANALYSIS 3 DUE
McLean (2003)
4/28
Self Concept and depression
Martin (1999) Alfeld-Lilo et al.
(1998) Dishman et al. (2006)
4/30
Neuroscience perspective on the self
Identity Chapter 29
5/5
Social media, technology and the self
Matsuba (2006)
Deatherage (2014)
Valkenberg (2011)
LAST DAY TO SUBMIT REACTION PAPER 2
5/7
PRESENTATIONS
5/12
PRESENTATIONS
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