Social Psychology
Winter 2014/15
1
Course information
Class Schedule
Instructor
Office hours
Textbook
2
Section 01: M/T/Th/F 3rd period (9:55–10:45 am)
Section 02: M/T/Th/F 4th period (10:50–11:40 am)
Room: Olin 233
Alan Jern
Office: Moench AL–103
Email: jern@rose-hulman.edu
Thursdays 5th–7th periods, and by appointment
Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, Social Psychology, 8th edition (E-book acceptable)
Overview
Social psychology is the study of how people interact, how people think about other people, and
how people influence one another’s behavior. Some of the questions we will consider are:
• How accurate are our first impressions of others?
• What e↵ect do advertisements have on our attitudes about brands?
• Is it possible to influence someone to do something they don’t want to do?
• How do people represent themselves on online dating sites?
• Do violent video games promote aggressive behavior?
• Why are people prejudiced against some groups but not others?
As this list suggests, social psychology has numerous applications to everyday situations. Throughout this course, we will explore the theoretical and experimental basis of social psychology, but also
consider many real-life situations in which social psychology principles are at work.
1
3
Assessment
Component
Exam 1
Exam 2
Exam 3
Assignments (5)
Reading responses (7)
Participation
Total
3.1
Weight
15%
15%
15%
45%
5%
5%
100%
Exams (45%)
There will be three in-class exams in weeks 3, 6, and 10. There will be no final exam. Each exam
will cover only material since the previous exam. All exams are closed-book and closed-notes.
3.2
Assignments (45%)
There will be five assignments. Most of these assignments will require you to apply some of the
principles you learned in class and then reflect on your experiences.
3.3
Reading responses (5%)
On some class days, we will discuss additional readings not in the textbook. To encourage you
come to class prepared to discuss each article, I will post a question or prompt about the article on
Moodle that you must respond to before class that day. Your reading responses need not be longer
than two paragraphs.
3.4
Participation (5%)
This class would be boring for all of us without any interaction. Accordingly, I expect you to be
an active participant. In addition to asking and answering questions in class, there will be many
opportunities for you to participate, including in-class experiments, activities, and discussions.
As long as you show good attendance and make a reasonable e↵ort to contribute to the class
when appropriate, you will receive full participation credit. I will warn you in advance by email if
I feel your behavior is deficient in either of these respects. That means that if you don’t hear from
me, you can assume you are on track to receive full credit. If you continue to make an inadequate
participation e↵ort after a warning, you will receive a 0 for the participation component of your
grade.
2
3.5
Final grade
Grades will be assigned as follows.
Percentage
90%
87–89%
80–86%
77–79%
70–76%
67–69%
60–66%
< 60%
4
4.1
Grade
A
B+
B
C+
C
D+
D
F
Course policies
Submitting assignments
Unless otherwise announced, all assignments will be submitted in hard copy in class.
4.2
Late assignments
For the entire course, you will have two free late days that can be used for assignments ONLY.
In other words, you may not use late days for reading responses. Assignments will be considered
one day late if they are submitted any time after the start of class on the due date. Assignments
will be considered two days late if they are submitted any time between 24 and 48 hours after
the submission deadline. You don’t need to notify me in advance if you plan to use one of your
late days—I will keep track of your late days and notify you by email when you have no late days
remaining.
Any assignments submitted after your late days are exhausted will not be accepted. The purpose
for this policy is to ensure that I can grade and return your assignments as quickly as possible.
4.3
Academic integrity
Academic misconduct will be addressed according to the policies described in the Rose-Hulman
student handbook. Academic misconduct includes: (1) submitting work that is not your own; (2)
copying ideas, words, or graphics from any source without appropriate citation; (3) misrepresenting
your work or yourself (i.e., deliberately submitting the wrong assignment or lying to explain a late
assignment); (4) collaborating with other students when this is not permitted; and (5) submitting
the same work for credit in two courses without prior consent of both instructors. If you are unsure
whether something qualifies as academic misconduct, please check with me before engaging in the
behavior.
3
5
Course schedule
The following schedule lists topics, readings, and due dates for the whole term. The page numbers
refer to the 8th edition of the textbook. I don’t anticipate any major deviations from this
schedule, but it is subject to change. Schedule changes will be announced in class and will be
posted online. I will give you plenty of notice when such changes are made.
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Date
12/1
12/2
12/4
12/5
12/8
12/9
12/11
12/12
12/15
12/16
12/18
12/19
1/5
1/6
1/8
1/9
1/12
1/13
1/15
1/16
1/19
1/20
1/22
1/23
1/26
1/27
1/29
1/30
2/2
2/3
2/5
2/6
2/9
2/10
2/12
2/13
2/16
2/17
Topic
Introduction
Methods
Social Cognition
Social Cognition
Social Cognition
Attribution
Attribution
Attribution
The Self
The Self
Review
Exam 1
Dissonance
Dissonance
Attitudes
Attitudes
Conformity
Conformity
Conformity
Persuasion
Persuasion
Persuasion
Review
Exam 2
Groups
Groups
Groups
Groups
Relationships
Relationships
Relationships
Aggression
Aggression
TBD
Aggression
Prejudice
Prejudice
Review
Reading
pp 1–16
pp 27–36
pp 57–63
pp 47–55
Gladwell
pp 82–96
Taylor & Fiske
pp 109–125
pp 96–99, 126–131
pp 137–147, 154–160
Shu, et al
pp 165–180
pp 184–186, 188-192
pp 197–201, 204–219
pp 224–232
Burger
Cialdini
Due
Response
Response
Assignment 1a
Assignment 1b
Response
Assignment 2a
Assignment 2b
Response
Response
pp 181–184, 220–223
Assignment 3
pp 237–242
Zimbardo; “The Menace Within”
pp 243–248
pp 249–260
pp 267–279
pp 294–297; OKCupid blog posts
pp 284–294
pp 329–340
pp 340–347
Response
Response
Assignment 4
Assignment 5
pp 361–373
pp 373–389
4
Week
Date
2/19
2/20
Topic
Exam 3
Conclusion
Reading
5
Due