Social Psychology Professor: Dr. Lara Aknin PSYC 260 Fall 2022 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Have you ever wondered what leads us to help a stranger in distress? How unnoticeable aspects of the environment shape our behaviour? Why we are more likely to become friends with the people we see often? How culture shapes our self-views? If so, then you’re in the right spot! In this course, we’ll be exploring the fascinating field of Social Psychology. Social Psychology uses the scientific method to examine how the real or imagined presence of others influences our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Wed. 2:30 – 5:20pm WMC 3520 www.sfu.ca/canvas TEACHING TEAM Dr. Lara Aknin Email: laknin@sfu.ca Office number: RCB 7321 Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/yzp4xpau Invitational Zoom office hour: Thursdays from 2:00-3:00pm Regular drop-in Zoom office hour: Thursdays from 3:00-4:00pm Hometown: Richmond, B.C. Favourite food: Peanut butter [Someone Awesome, Degree] Nhi Huynh (TA) Annika Lutz (TA) email: Email: nhi_huynh_2@sfu.ca Email: annika_lutz@sfu.ca office number: Virtual Office hour: Tues 12:30-1:30pm Virtual Student Office hour: Wed 12:00-1:00pm office hourlink: heldhttps://sfu.zoom.us/my/nhihuynhtt on: Zoom Zoom link: https://tinyurl.com/yc58vxdv Hometown: Saigon, Vietnam Hometown: Herdecke, Germany Hometown: Favourite food: Soupy dishes Favourite food: Sushi Hidden talent: Favourite TV characters: REQUIRED Thoughts on life: MATERIALS • Aronson, E.A., Wilson, T.D., Akert, R M., & Fehr, B. (2021). Social psychology (7th Canadian ed.). Toronto: Prentice-Hall. • Selected journal articles posted on the course website GRADING Replication Crisis Mastery Quiz: 7.5% Article Review Assignment: 12.5% MeSearch Paper: 20% Midterm Exam: 25% Final Exam: 35% NOTE – Marks will be posted in Canvas or by list using student ID# only. It is your responsibility to check these marks for accuracy. If you would rather not have your marks posted, you must make special arrangements with the instructor during the first week of class. W Lara Aknin - 1 My Teaching Philosophy Excitement. Teaching is an exciting opportunity to share my enthusiasm about Social Psychology with you. I want you to see the beauty, complexity, and wonder of the social world around us. Strategy. Good teaching involves building connections: connections between ideas, connections between people, and connections between people and ideas. This course is designed to build these connections wherever and whenever possible. “The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another.” - Marva Collins LAND ACKNOLWEDGEMENT I respectfully acknowledge that the SFU campuses are located on the unceded traditional territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, and Kwikwetlem Nations. COURSE OVERVIEW & LEARNING OBJECTIVES This course is designed to provide you with an introduction to the fascinating field of Social Psychology. This means that we’ll be exploring both classic and current theories and research, while considering how this body of work can be applied to our own lives. While covering these topics, this course will also provide you with an opportunity to build analytic, writing, and critical thinking skills. Some topics that we will cover include: prejudice, stereotypes, culture, conformity, persuasion, and happiness. By the end of this course you should be able to: a) Explain key phenomena in Social Psychology and discuss how they provide empirical support for our two central course themes (“the power of the situation” and “the importance of subjective construal”) b) Compare and contrast insights from various scientific research methods used in Social Psychology c) Explain the “replication crisis,” identify its causes, and understand at least 3 new strategies designed to improve science d) Isolate key information from a research article and think critically about the findings e) Apply Social Psychology to your everyday life COURSE FORMAT & EXPECTATIONS A) WEEKLY PARTICIP-ACTION Interactive Lessons. To gain the most from this course, you won’t just read about social psychology, you’ll experience it. Course lessons will often involve demonstrations, activities, and discussions, which may be covered on the exam. Plan to attend class and participate. Reading(s). Each week we will cover a course topic (please see the course calendar below). As we cover these topics, you should be sure to read the corresponding textbook chapter(s) and/or assigned readings and revisit the lesson slides. Lesson slides for each course topic will be posted on the course website after class. Lesson Comprehension Checks (“LCC”). The last 3-5 minutes of every class will be reserved to give you time to write down your own brief take-home message from the lesson, and possibly a question about something you didn’t understand or want to know more about. You should always turn in a lesson comprehension check before leaving class. These comprehension checks will not be graded – they are designed to help me ensure that you understand the course material. Common points of confusion (and interest) will be discussed next class. Of course, not all submitted questions will be answered in class, but you are always welcome to see me before/after class or during office hours about your question. Lara Aknin - 2 B) PERIODIC CHECK-INS Invitational Office Hour: In hopes of getting to know you personally, each week I will invite several students to an invitational office hour held from 2-3pm on Thursdays over Zoom (use Dr. Aknin’s Zoom link). The invitational office hour is an opportunity for an informal discussion about whatever you like; we could chat about the weather, the class, our favourite comedians, Dr. Aknin’s labradoodle, etc. The main goal is to get to know you! To that end and to kick off the conversation, my dog’s name is Ruth (aka. “Ruthie”) and she is named after the legendary US supreme court justice/women’s rights activist, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. I welcome you to send me a photo of your pet and/or your favourite animal meme via email. Just for fun. Each student will be invited to an invitation office hour once over the term, but you are always welcome to attend regular office hours. Invitational office hours are assigned over Canvas. Note: Invitational office hours are optional but encouraged. C) ONE-TIME ASSIGNMENTS Article Review Assignment. You will be asked to read a social psychology article from a peerreviewed journal and then write a 1-page review and analysis. More information regarding this assignment will be distributed and discussed in class (please see the course schedule for timing). MeSearch Paper. Toward the end of the course, you will be asked to write a 3-page paper explaining how social psychology elucidates one of your own personal experiences. More information regarding this assignment will be distributed and discussed in class (please see the course schedule for timing). Replication Crisis Mastery Quiz. Learning is a journey, not a destination. Most content, especially new and unfamiliar material, requires you to try, fail, and try again. To help us practice engaging deeply with the material and repeated self-testing, we will cover the Replication Crisis using a mastery quiz format. What is a mastery quiz? A mastery quiz means that you have three opportunities to take a 10question multiple choice quiz online via Canvas. Your goal is to show mastery by earning 9 or 10/10. If you do, you will earn the full 7.5%. If you do not, you have two more attempts. Your grade will be based only on your highest degree of mastery earned across three attempts, and awarded according to the table below. No single test determines your score. If you are sick, have an off day, or make silly mistakes, it will not affect your grade at all, as long as you master the topic at some point on the three attempts. Level Mastery Almost there Not yet Performance 9/10 or 10/10 7/10 or 8/10 6/10 or below Percentage earned 7.5% 5% 0% Each quiz attempt allows you 15-minutes to answer 10-multiple choice questions. The Replication Crisis Mastery Quiz will be available in Week 3. You may complete up to three quiz attempts any time before the end of Week 11. Note: This format is designed to help you master the material and practice self-testing (which is not for grades) for the rest of the course content. While we are aiming for 100% knowledge, there is no Lara Aknin - 3 denying that sometimes test questions can be misunderstood, and that sometimes students can make mistakes that do not reflect their actual knowledge. To make this a reasonable endeavor, we set the criterion for mastered at 90% (9/10), which means that you can miss one in ten questions and still achieve mastery. This slightly lower criterion, along with having 3 attempts eliminates the chances that someone who actually understands the material might nonetheless fail to achieve mastery. Almost there is defined at 7/10 or 8/10, and below that is not yet. D) MID-TERM AND FINAL EXAMS You will have two exams in this course: a mid-term and final. Both exams will test material covered in class, the textbook, assignments, discussions, and additional readings (whether material appeared in only one or in all of these sources). The exams will include multiple choice and short essay questions that test your deep understanding. Multiple choice questions are drawn from all the course material covered to date, including the textbook, assigned articles, and lecture content. The short answer questions usually come from material covered in class and require you to provide empirical evidence in supporting your answer. For instance, we may ask you to read a scenario, identify the psychological phenomenon contained in the scenario, and describe an experiment testing or demonstrating this phenomenon covered in class. The exams will not use a mastery format like the Replication Crisis Master Quiz, so you can earn anywhere from 0-100% depending on your performance. The final exam will be cumulative, but will emphasize material covered after the mid-term. Missed Exams: You are expected to write the course mid-term and final exam on the dates listed in the course schedule. University regulations state that “Students who miss examinations because of illness or for compassionate reasons are required to provide sufficient supporting documentation.” If you are requesting accommodation for medical reasons, you must provide a Health Care Provider Statement Form (available at http://www.sfu.ca/~jiel/courses/327/bin/healthcare-statementgeneral.pdf). One exception to this is if you are experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms. In this case, you do not need to provide documentation. If you miss the mid-term and your absence is excused, the weight of the mid-term exam will be transferred to the final exam. If your absence is not excused, you will be given a score of zero on the exam. If you are experiencing COVID-19 related symptoms on the day of or days before the final exam, please contact Dr. Aknin (laknin@sfu.ca) as soon as possible to determine an action plan. A GENERAL NOTE: This course is designed to give you a detailed look into Social Psychology and requires you engage deeply with the course material and assignments. Students who are not willing to do the work to learn the course material will find this class challenging. GRADE DISTRIBUTION: ** A = 85% +; B = 75% - 84%; C = 65% - 74%; D = 55% - 64%; F = less than 55% **Note: The range for “+” and “-” within each grade will be determined when final grades are being calculated. Lara Aknin - 4 Course and Department Policies Masks: If you are able, I encourage you to wear a mask in the classroom. Doing so will help us keep each other (and our loved ones) healthy. Technological Requirements: To access the learning materials and complete the assignments, students will need access to a computer and an internet connection. Course Website: You can find the syllabus, PowerPoint slides, links to recorded lessons, important announcements, assignment information, and more on the class website. This is also where you will submit your course assignments. You are responsible for checking this site frequently. Please check the website for course information before emailing the professor or TAs. Communication: The professor and TAs are available to you via email and office hours. Please reach us when you have questions. We are only provide short (2-3 sentences) responses via email. If you have a question that cannot be answered as a short response, please come to office hours and we will be happy to discuss it with you. Please permit 48 hours for an email response. Please follow the “3 then me” practice – if you have course questions, check the syllabus, a fellow student, and the TAs before contacting Dr. Aknin. When emailing the TAs, please contact BOTH TAs in one email; this will lead to a faster reply. Deadlines: Life can get complicated and I want to provide some flexibility to help you succeed. To this end, I am implementing a submission window (i.e. a period of ~3 days in which assignments are due). The end of the submission window is the final deadline. You may submit your assignment at any time before or during the submission window, but assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty. Special Accommodations: The University accommodates students with disabilities and students whose religious obligations conflict with attendance, submitting assignments, or completing scheduled tests and examinations. Requests for accommodation due to a disability must begin through the Center for Accessible Learning (caladmin@sfu.ca, (778) 782-3112). Please let the professor know in the first week of class if you will require any special requirements. Absences due to athletics, family obligations, vacations, work scheduling, or other similar commitments WILL NOT receive special accommodation. Academic Honesty. Academic honesty is an important consideration in this course and your academic career. It is your responsibility to know the rules and policies associated with academic dishonesty and abide by them (see https://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student.html and https://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity/resources/academichonestyguide.html). Turnitin. Your Article Review and MeSearch paper must be submitted online using Turnitin, a third-party service licensed for use by SFU, in addition to submission on our course Canvas page. Turnitin is used for originality checking to help detect plagiarism. You are required to create an account with Turnitin and submit your work via that account on the terms stipulated in the agreement between the student and Turnitin. This agreement includes the retention of submitted work as part of the Turnitin database. Any student with a concern about using the Turnitin service may opt to use an anonymous identity in their interactions with Turnitin. Students who do not intend to use Turnitin in the standard manner must notify the instructor at least one week in advance of any submission deadline. In particular, it is the responsibility of any student using the anonymous option (i.e., false name and temporary email address created for the purpose) to inform the instructor so that the instructor can match up the anonymous identity with the student. Set up a Turnitin account and enroll in the course here: https://turnitin.com/newuser_type.asp?lang=en_us Class ID: 35509910 Enrollment Key: socpsyc Grade Appeal. If you are unhappy with your grade on an assignment or exam, please take 24 hours to reflect on your work and the assignment requirements. If you remain unhappy with your grade, you can appeal your grade by notifying the professor in writing within 7 days of receiving your grade (the 24-hour waiting period is included in this time). Your assignment will be re-graded using the same assignment criteria by another grader unaware of your original grade, with the possibility that your grade will increase or decrease. Lara Aknin - 5 Course Calendar Note: Adjustments to this calendar may be made at any time Week Date Topic Reading(s) 1 Sept 7 Course Introduction & Course Themes syllabus 2 Sept 14 Group Processes Chapter 8 3 Sept 21 Methodology & The Replication Crisis Chapter 2 Simmons, Nelson, & Simonsohn, 2011 4 Sept 28 5 Oct 5 6 Oct 12 7 Oct 19 8 Oct 26 9 Nov 2 10 Nov 9 11 Nov 16 12 Nov 23 Prosocial Behaviour Chapter 10 13 Nov 30 Love, Attraction, & Relationships Chapter 9 Mastery Quiz Explained Social Cognition Article Review Given Social Perception Mid-course Feedback Attitudes MeSearch Paper Given Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 6 MID-TERM EXAM -- Culture Norenzayan & Nisbett, 2000 WEIRD paper Conformity Article Review Due (Oct 31-Nov 2) Aggression Prejudice MeSearch Paper Due (Nov 14-16) Chapter 7 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 The final exam will be scheduled by the university. Please check the exam date, time and location by logging into the student services website. Lara Aknin - 6
