PSYC 305 PERSONALITY THEORIES
FALL 2009
Course Syllabus
Time & Place: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 14:00-15:15, Room SCI Z42
Instructor:
Tarcan Kumkale, Ph.D.
E-mail:
tkumkale@ku.edu.tr
Office Phone: 338 1412
Office:
SOS 253
Office Hours: Thursdays 15:30-17:45 and by appointment
Teaching Assistant:
Name:
Evren Etel
E-mail:
eetel@ku.edu.tr
Course Objectives: This course is designed to provide you with a general introduction to
personality psychology, including some of its basic questions such as
(a) what is personality?
(b) In what ways do individuals differ in terms of personality characteristics?
(c) How are these characteristics related to cognitions, emotions, and behaviors?
(d) What is the role of temperament and socialization?
(e) What are some of the major personality theories?
(f) How do personality psychologists study personality and individual differences?
- The study of personality addresses the question of what it means to be an individual. It
encompasses the study of individual differences in behavior patterns and of the dynamic
processes that make us who we are.
- The study of personality has a rich historical tradition. We will cover some of the prominent
classic theories of personality that have arisen out of philosophical reflection and clinical
experience; but personality psychology is also an exciting contemporary field of scientific
research and theory, overlapping substantially with social psychology. Indeed the field is
more appropriately called “social and personality psychology.”
- We will discuss modern personality research and what it has taught us about why we are
who we are. Thus, aside from providing an overview of traditional theories, the course will
include some coverage on current research in personality psychology— we will do that by
reading articles from some of the flagship journals of the field.
- In a sense, we are all personality psychologists. We all strive to understand ourselves and
others. We wonder about the source of our behavior, thoughts, and feelings. We all have naïve
“theories” of personality development and processes; but as students of psychology, we
recognize that our knowledge of personality must be based on more than intuition and
introspection.
- Modern Personality Psychology uses the tools of science. In this course, we will explore
research-based perspectives on personality. My hope is that this course will provide you with
an interesting and even exciting exploration into the multitude of complex influences on
human personality development and functioning.
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Objectives: By the end of this course, you should:
- Know and understand the main theories, concepts, and research findings in the area of
personality psychology
- Know and understand the methods that psychologists use to study personality processes and
individual differences
- Be able to think critically about personality theories and research
Course Materials
Textbook:
Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2009). Personality: Classic theories and modern
research (4th Edition). Allyn and Bacon.
* Additional brief readings for specific weeks will be assigned throughout the semester. You
will find e-copies of these readings in the class folder located on the network, and hard copies
at XEROX. We will not have a webpage on the Internet
F:\courses\ugrads\psyc\psyc305\share
--------------Attendance & Reading Assignments: This is an upper-level area seminar. This means that
you will have a great deal of responsibility for your own learning. Thus, you should try to do
your best not to miss a class and do the readings before coming to class. Much of the class
time will be devoted to class exercises, discussions, movies, rather than a detailed review of
the texts. Textbook chapters and supplementary readings are mandatory and should be
completed before the relevant class meeting. Taking notes on the readings will help you to
learn and retain the material. There will not be time in class to cover all the material in the
texts. In my lectures, I will assume that you have all completed the assigned reading and only
“highlight” the important points. There will be considerable overlap between the textbook and
the lectures, but we will engage in discussions on topics that will not be covered in the
textbook. Similarly, not all important text concepts will be covered in the class. In brief, do
not just rely on the book. It will give you a good start—but you can hardly go a long way if
you miss classes or disengage yourself from class discussions. I will provide time during each
class period to answer any questions you may have about the reading or about anything we’ve
covered in class. It is your responsibility to ask about anything you haven’t understood. Please
don’t hesitate to speak up in class; chances are that if you’re having trouble with any of the
topics or concepts, so are your classmates.
Prior reading will likely enhance your understanding of lectures and prepare you for activities
and discussions. Your thoughtful participation is important for many reasons. Well, for me the
major reason is that, articulating what you think assists you in developing the capacity to
critically examine what you are learning. If you are interested in going beyond the assigned
textbook and readings, come see me anytime to see how we can devise a list of further
readings for you.
I will place my slides into the network folder mentioned above. You may want to print the
slides and bring them to class to aid in your note-taking. However, these lecture slides will not
substitute for attending class.
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Assessment of Learning
(1) Exams: There will be two midterms and a final exam. The purpose of these exams will be
to provide me with feedback on your knowledge and understanding, and to provide you
with a challenging learning experience. Unless otherwise stated, the exams will include
multiple-choice questions as well as some short answer questions. The second midterm
will not be comprehensive; it will only cover material addressed since the first midterm.
(2) Quizzes: There will be two quizzes involving short-answer questions. At least one of
these quizzes will be based on articles published in the flagship journals of the field.
(3) Group presentation: (see Handout presented in the second week of classes).
* Make-up Exams: Makeup exams will be given only for severe illnesses that require
medical intervention, real emergencies, and participation in sports tournaments. Permission to
miss the exam must be obtained from the instructor PRIOR to the day of the exam, and the
student must provide written documentation from the appropriate authority stating a
legitimate and verifiable reason for missing the exam. The make-up exams will constitute
essay-type questions.
Course Grades
Final grades will be based on total points accumulated from all components indicated above.
The weights for each component are as follows:
- Quizzes: 10 % (5% each)
- Group presentation: 5%
- Midterm I: 25 %
- Midterm II: 30 %
- Final Exam: 30 %
* I maintain the right to make changes in this grading scheme at any time before the first
midterm.
Academic Honesty: “Honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals. Students and
faculty adhere to the following principles of academic honesty at Koç University:
1. Individual accountability for all individual work, written or oral. Copying from others or
providing answers or information, written or oral, to others is cheating.
2. Providing proper acknowledgement of original author. Copying from another student’s
paper or from another text without written acknowledgement is plagiarism.
3. Authorized Teamwork. Unauthorized help from another person or having someone else
write one’s paper or assignment is collusion.
Cheating, plagiarism, and collusion are serious offenses resulting in an F grade and
disciplinary action.”
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Date
Topic
Chapter
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009
Introduction and overview of the class
-
Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009
Introduction to personality
Chapter 1
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
How is personality studied and assessed?
Chapter 2
Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009
How is personality studied and assessed?
Chapter 2
Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009
Psychoanalytic aspects of personality
Chapter3
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009
Psychoanalytic aspects of personality
Chapter3
Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009
Psychoanalytic aspects continued & Neo-analytic
and ego aspects of personality
Chapter4
Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009
Neo-analytic approach Tentative Quiz1 date(5%)
Chapter4
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009
Biological aspects of personality
Chapter 5
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009
No class
Tuesday, Nov.3, 2009
Biological aspects of personality
Chapter 5
Thursday, Nov.5, 2009
Behaviorist and Learning Approaches
Chapter 6
Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009
Humanistic and Existential Approaches
Chapter 9
Thursday, Nov. 12., 2009
Tentative MIDTERM date - place & time
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009
Cognitive and Social-Cognitive Approaches
Chapter 7
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009
Cognitive and Social-Cognitive Approaches
Chapter7
Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009
Cognitive and Social-Cognitive Approaches
Trait and Skill Aspects of Personality
Chapter 7 & 8
Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009
No class
Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009
Trait and Skill Aspects of Personality
Chapter 8
Thursday, Dec.3, 2009
Person-Situation Interaction Approach
Chapter 10
Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009
Person-Situation Interaction Approach
Chapter 10
Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009
Male-Female Differences
Chapter 11
Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009
Male-Female Differences
Chapter 11
Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009
Group Presentations-I
Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009
Group Presentations-II
Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009
Tentative MIDTERM date - place & time
Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2009
Applications: Personality, Health and Well-Being
Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009
Applications: Personality, Health and Well-Being
Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010
Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010
Applications: Personality and Culture
Tentative Quiz date 2 (5%)
Applications: Love, Hate, Close Relationships
Chapter 12 +
supplementary reading
Chapter 12 +
supplementary reading
Supplementary reading
Chapter 14 +
supplementary reading
Supplementary readings are also part of the required set of readings (they are not optional).
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