Personality Psychology
Psychology 150
Spring 2011
Instructor:
Office:
Office Phone:
Email:
Lecture:
Office Hour:
Ryne Sherman, M.A.
Olmsted 2133
(951) 827 - 6393
ryne.sherman@email.ucr.edu
MWF, 9:40–10:30, University Village (UV) THE10
Tuesday 1:00-2:00 pm
All sections are on Tuesday in PSYCH 2102
Teaching Assistant
Ho Huynh
Matt DellaPorta
Chris Nave
Office Hour
Th: 9:00-10:00am
Th: 1:15-2:15pm
Tu: 1:00-2:00pm
Office Location
PSYC 3122
OLM 2107-B
OLM 2133B
Email
hophih@gmail.com
mdell001@ucr.edu
cnave003@ucr.edu
Section Numbers
Times
21, 22, & 23
8:10, 9:10, & 10:10
24, 25, & 26
11:10, 12:10, & 1:10
27, 28, & 29
2:10, 3:10, & 4:10
Required Course Texts
Textbook: Funder, D.C. (2010). The personality puzzle (5th edition). New York: Norton.
Reader: Funder, D.C., & Ozer, D.J., Eds. (2010). Pieces of the personality puzzle:
Readings in theory and research (5th edition). New York: Norton.
Course Description
Personality refers to an individual’s characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior,
together with the psychological mechanisms -- hidden or not -- behind those patterns. This course
will survey methods of personality research, individual differences (traits), biology of personality,
psychoanalysis, phenomenology, behaviorism, social learning, and cognitive processes.
Course Format
The lectures will follow the organization of the main textbook. The discussion section will focus
on discussing material in the course reader and allow time for questions. Attendance at all
lectures and all section meetings is a course requirement. Occasional pop quizzes in class will
yield extra credit points toward exams. If you are unable to attend class you should not take this
course.
Textbooks and Assignments
Your assignment will be to master the material presented in the textbook and the lectures. You
will be tested on the textbook and the lecture material on the two midterms and the final exam.
The reader is a book of (excerpted) original material from journal articles and other original
sources for psychological theory and research. You will not be tested on the material in the reader
on the two midterms or the final exam.
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Reaction Essays
A brief, typed essay – ranging from one paragraph to about a page – will be required for each
article assigned. These essays will be evaluated on your ability to demonstrate critical thinking.
Do NOT merely summarize the article (we have read them countless times!). Identify the main
take home message in ONE to THREE sentences. Then, make observations about the readingwhat did you find particularly interesting and why? Make connections to other articles, class
lectures, books you have read and explain the connection. Justify why you really liked or disliked
an article, or why you agree or disagree with a theory within an article. See “Essay Grading &
Samples” handout for more details.
Grading
Your course grade will be based upon the midterms, final, reaction essays, and attendance and
participation in section. There will be two midterms and a final exam. The exams will include
multiple choice, short-answer, and essay questions.
20% - Midterm 1
20% - Midterm 2
30% - Final
20% - Reaction Essays from the Reader (in section)
10% - Attendance & Participation in section
Deadlines
Reaction Essays will be due at the beginning of each section meeting, and late essays will not be
accepted (they will be our way of keeping track of attendance at section, thus arriving at section,
dropping off the essays and then leaving will also not be acceptable). No late work will be
accepted and no makeup exams will be given unless rare, extreme circumstances exist.
Appropriate documentation must be provided (no exceptions) and the decision is at the
instructor’s discretion.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism, cheating and other violations will not be tolerated. Violations will be subject to severe
penalties in accordance with UCR procedures (e.g., receiving an “F” for the course and/or
expulsion from the University).
Students with Disabilities
It is the responsibility of students with disabilities to inform the instructor within the first week of
the session of the need for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. Students are advised to
seek assistance from Disabled Students Services (DSS) on campus. As soon as the need for
accommodation is determined by DSS and the need is communicated to the instructor by DSS,
reasonable accommodations will be made.
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Lecture Schedule*
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Final
Exam
Date
Topic
3/28
3/30
4/1
4/4
4/6
4/8
4/11
4/13
4/15
4/18
4/20
4/22
4/25
4/27
4/29
5/2
5/4
5/6
5/9
5/11
5/13
5/16
5/18
5/20
5/23
5/25
5/27
5/30
6/1
6/3
Introduction
Sources of Data
Sources of Data (cont’d)
Research Methods I
Research Methods II
Research Methods III
Personality Testing & Its Consequences
Personality Judgment in Daily Life
Traits and Behavior I
Traits and Behavior II
Midterm Review
EXAM I
Anatomy & Physiology of Personality I
Anatomy & Physiology of Personality II
Behavioral Genetics
Evolutionary Psychology
Basics of Psychoanalysis I
Basics of Psychoanalysis II
The Unconscious
Psychoanalysis after Freud
EXAM II
Phenomenology
Humanistic Psychology
Culture I
Culture II
Personality Processes
Personality Disorders I
Memorial Day - No Classes
Personality Disorder II
Looking Back & Ahead; Final Review
6/7
Final Exam Tuesday, 8am-11am
Textbook Assignments
Chp 1
Chp 2
Chp 2
Chp 3
Chp 3
Chp 3
Chp 5
Chp 6
Chp 4
Chp 7
Chapters 1-7
Chapters 1-7
Chp 8
Chp 8
Chp 9
Chp 9
Chp 10
Chp 10
Chp 11
Chp 12
Chapters 8-12
Chp 13
Chp 13
Chp 14
Chp 14
Chp 16
Chp 18
Chp 18
Chp 19; Chapters 1-14, 16, 18, 19
Cumulative Final
(Chapters 1-14, 16, 18, 19)
*Subject to change at instructor’s discretion.
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Section Schedule*
SECTION Topic
Reader Assignments (5th ed.)
Week
Dates
1
3/29
No Meeting First Week
No Assignment Due
2
4/5
Research Methods
McAdams (p. 4)
Rosenthal & Rubin (p. 18)
Vazire & Mehl (p. 32)
3
4/12
Personality Traits
Allport (p. 56)
McCrae & Costa Jr. (p. 97)
Ozer & Benet-Martinez (p. 126)
4
4/19
Biology & Behavioral Genetics
Dabbs et al. (p. 149)
Borkenau et al. (p. 170)
Caspi et al. (p. 183)
5
4/26
Behavioral Genetics and Evolutionary Theory
Buss et al. (p. 204)
Eagly & Wood (p. 212)
Pinker (p. 234)
6
5/3
Psychoanalysis and the Unconscious Mind
Baumeister et al. (p. 280)
Edelstein et al. (p. 298)
Steinem (p. 311)
7
5/10
Humanistic Psychology
Csikszentmihalyi (p. 346)
Lyubomirsky et al. (p. 358)
Ryan et al. (p. 396)
8
5/17
Culture
Tsai & Chentsova-Dutton (p. 449)
Ramirez-Esparza et al. (p. 457)
Oishi (p. 482)
9
5/24
Personality Processes & the Self
Mischel (p. 517)
Sheldon et al. (p. 537)
Klein et al. (p. 572)
10
5/31
Personality Disorders
Baumeister et al. (p. 550)
Donnellan et al. (p. 556)
Oltmanns & Turkheimer (p. 564)
*Subject to change at instructor’s discretion.
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