Social Psychology
SOP 3004
Spring 2015
Instructor:
Office:
Office Phone:
Email:
Lecture:
Office Hours:
Ryne Sherman, Ph. D.
Behavioral Sciences 203
7-3382
rsherm13@fau.edu
T & R 12:30–1:50, Performing Arts 101 (PA-101)
T & R 3:30-4:30 and by appointment
Teaching Assistant:
Dave Serfass
Office:
Behavioral Sciences 242
Email:
dserfass@fau.edu
Office Hours:
T & F 9:30-10:30 and by appointment
Course Units and Prerequisites
This course is valued at 3 units and the only prerequisite is general psychology. This course
involves 50 minutes of in class instruction for each credit hour per week, and a minimum of two
hours of out of class assignments each week for 15 weeks. To master the material covered in this
course it is expected that the student will spend a minimum of two hours per week per credit hour
on the out of classroom assignments.
Required Course Text
Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., & Cialdini, R. B. (2009). Social Psychology: Goals in Interaction
(6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Link to REVEL: https://console.pearson.com/enrollment/ebx1yh (required)
Course Description
This course is designed to acquaint students with experimental social psychology—the scientific
study of thought, emotion, and behavior in interpersonal contexts. We will survey a variety of
classic and contemporary theories that purport to explain important aspects of social thought,
emotion, and behavior, and in each case we will evaluate the theory by examining relevant
research. The topics to be covered in this survey span a wide range, from those that are
philosophical in nature (e.g., free will) to those that represent applied concerns (e.g., criminal
justice) and from those that focus on individual functioning (e.g., self-concept) to those that focus
on collective phenomena (e.g., group dynamics).
Course Format
The lectures will follow the organization of the textbook. Students will be expected to have read
the chapter assignment prior to class. Doing so will facilitate class discussion. Because of the
extensive in-class involvement, class attendance is expected. If you are unable to attend class you
should not take this course.
Textbook and Assignments
Your assignment will be to master the material presented in the textbook and the lectures. The
lectures are intended to supplement the material presented in the textbook. Thus students are
responsible for all textbook material whether it is discussed in class or not. Students are also
expected to attend class regularly and are responsible for material covered in lecture whether it is
covered in the textbook or not. You will be tested on the textbook and the lecture material on
three midterm exams and one final exam.
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Grading
Your course grade will be based upon your scores on REVEL quizzes, three midterms, and one
final exam. Each REVEL quiz is worth a different number of points. The total number of REVEL
quiz points for this course is 543 which will be re-scored to create a Final Quiz Score out of 100
points possible. Each midterm will contain 50 multiple choice questions and the comprehensive
final will contain 100 multiple choice questions, all worth 2 points each. Your total score in the
course will be out of these 600 possible points (100 Quiz, 300 Midterm, 200 Final). The
following grading rubric is strictly used for the assignment of a final course letter grade:
A = 90%+
A- = 86-89%
B+ = 82-85%
B = 78-81%
B- = 74-77%
C+ = 70-73%
C = 66-69%
C- = 62-65%
D+ = 58-61%
D = 54-57%
D- = 51-53%
F = 50% or less
Course Policies
1. Students are expected to attend class on a regular basis and to be responsible for material
presented in class, whether or not this material is covered in the text.
2. Make-up exams will only be given for documented medical or emergency reasons, or for prior
scheduled FAU athletic contests or religious observances. For medical or emergency reasons, the
student must make every effort to contact the instructor as soon as possible with an explanation.
Delays in contacting the instructor or a lack of medical documentation will result in no possibility
of a make-up exam (see policy 3).
3. If a student misses a midterm exam for anything other than confirmed medical reasons, the
missing score will be assigned the average score of his or her two other exams minus (-) 10%. If a
student misses more than one midterm exam, a score of 0 points will be assigned, regardless of
prior course performance. If the midterm is missed for a confirmed medical reason it may be
made-up (see policy 2) or may be scored as the average of the other two midterms at the
instructor’s discretion. This policy does not apply to the Final Exam which must be taken to pass
the course.
4. REVEL quizzes cannot be made up for any reason.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism, cheating and other violations will not be tolerated. Violations will be subject to severe
penalties in accordance with FAU procedures (e.g., receiving an “F” for the course and/or
expulsion from the University). Please see http://www.fau.edu/ctl/AcademicIntegrity.php for
more information including the FAU code of academic integrity:
http://www.fau.edu/ctl/4.001_Code_of_Academic_Integrity.pdf.
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 the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) on campus (see
http://www.osd.fau.edu/ for more information). As soon as the need for accommodation is
determined by OSD and the need is communicated to the instructor by OSD, reasonable
accommodations will be made.
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Lecture Schedule*
Week
Date
Topic
1/6
Overview of Course
1/8
What is Social Psychology?
1/13
Methods in Social Psychology
2
1/15
Persons & Situations I
1/20
Persons & Situations II
3
1/22
Social Cognition I & II
1/27
Self-Presentation I
4
1/29
Self-Presentation II
2/3
Midterm I
5
2/5
Attitudes & Persuasion I
2/10
Attitudes & Persuasion II
6
2/12
Social Influence I
2/17
Social Influence II
7
2/19
Affiliation & Friendship I
2/24
Affiliation & Friendship II
8
2/26
Love & Romance I
3/3
Spring Break – No Class Meeting
9
3/5
Spring Break – No Class Meeting
3/10
Love & Romance II
10
3/12
Midterm II
3/17
Helping Others I
11
3/19
Helping Others II
3/24
Hurting Others I
12
3/26
Hurting Others II
3/31
Prejudice, Stereotypes, & Discrimination I
13
Prejudice, Stereotypes, & Discrimination
4/2
II
4/7
Groups I
14
4/9
Groups II
4/14
Midterm III
15
4/16
Final Exam Review
4/23
16
Final Exam (10:30 AM to 1:00 PM)
(Thursday)
*Subject to change at instructor’s discretion.
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Textbook
Assignments
Course Syllabus
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Chapters 1-4
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Chapters 5-8
Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Chapters 9-12
Chapters 1-12
Chapters 1-12
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