Psy 555: Social Psychology
SUNY Stony Brook, Fall 2003
Time:
Location:
Tues. 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Psych B 248
Faculty:
Antonio Freitas
Email:
antonio.freitas@sunysb.edu
Faculty Office 203 Psych B
& Office
Tues. 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Hours
Course Aims
This graduate seminar will explore basic principles of social psychology, a field of study
examining how people feel about, think about, and influence others. We will consider
theory and research bearing on psychological mechanisms underlying attitudes,
motivation, social judgments, and interpersonal behaviors. In class, our primary aim will
be creative, scholarly discussion of each week’s articles, with an eye toward identifying
basic principles that transcend particular content domains.
Readings
Readings will consist of empirical and theoretical research articles available for download
via a SUNY Stony Brook library database called “psycARTICLES,” at:
http://www.stonybrook.edu/library/ldsubs.htm#P
This website can be accessed only from campus-linked computers. An easy way to find a
listed article is to search by author while restricting your search to the year in which the
article was published. I recommend that you print the .pdf versions of the articles (the
.html versions often lack important graphs and figures!) and bring them to class, hopefully
with your insightful notes scribbled in the margins.
If you haven’t yet done many literature searches, this a great time for you to acclimate
yourself to this indispensable activity. The reference-desk librarian at the Campus Library
can offer any needed assistance in this vein.
General Policies
Americans with Disabilities Act:
If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact your course work,
please contact Disability Support Services, ECC (Educational Communications Center) Building, room
128, (631) 632-6748. They will determine with you what accommodations are necessary and
appropriate. All information and documentation is confidential.
Grading
Your final grade in this course will be based on four components:
Weekly
Reaction
Papers
=25%
To facilitate discussion, each week, submit a brief reaction paper (no more
than one page, single spaced) covering two of the readings for that week.
PLEASE DO NOT SUMMARIZE THE ARTICLES. Really, don’t. Rather,
provide an original thought or idea about the author’s theory or methods.
This could entail, for example, highlighting an important conceptual or
methodological problem in an article, suggesting potential future extensions
of an article, or discussing how ideas or findings from two different articles
relate to one another in an interesting way. Each paper will receive a grade
of 1, 2, or 3 checks. Missing papers will receive 0.
Weekly reactions are due each Monday (day before class) at noon.
Please submit via text pasted into email (no attachments please).
Class
Class participation is vital to the success of this course. Your grade
Participation will reflect how much you actively participate in the discussion in ways
demonstrating your preparation to discuss the assigned readings.
=25%
Mid-term
Paper
=15%
This brief (no more than 5 pages, double-spaced) paper should suggest a
new experiment testing ideas relevant to the readings. Your primary aim is
to come up with an original idea for an experiment that would provide
interesting, informative results no matter how they turn out. The best case
would be one in which you provide a good test of competing theories, such
that your result will support either one theory or the other. For this paper,
(a) write a brief introduction stating the nature of the paradox you intend to
investigate and formulating clear hypotheses; (b) briefly describe a method
you would use to test the hypotheses; (c) discuss why the results would be
important conceptually. Please use APA style of citations, etc.
Final Paper/ This somewhat longer paper (no more than 10 pages, double-spaced) will
Class
pursue exactly the same aims as the short paper. Spend your extra pages
Presentation offering a more thorough development of the ideas in the (a) introduction
and (c) discussion.
=35%
On the last day of class, each student will give a brief (10 min + 5 min for
questions) presentation of his or her final paper to the class for comments.
Grading
Policy
Grades will be set at traditional cutoffs (e.g., 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%) for
letter grades of A, B, C, and D.
Topics and Readings
Sept. 9
Introduction
Sept. 16
The Self
Schmeichel, B. J., Vohs, K. D., & Baumeister, R. F. (2003). Intellectual Performance and Ego Depletion: Role of
the Self in Logical Reasoning and Other Information Processing. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 85, 33-46.
Heatherton, T.F., & Baumeister, R.F. (1991). Binge Eating as Escape From Self-Awareness. Psychological
Bulletin, 110, 86-108.
Showers, C. (1992). Compartmentalization of Positive and Negative Self-Knowledge: Keeping Bad Apples Out
of the Bunch. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 1036-1049.
Sept. 23
Social Reasoning
Gilbert, D. (1991). How mental systems believe. American Psychologist, 46, 107-119.
Jost, J.T., Glaser, J., Kruglanski, A.W., & Sulloway, F.J. (2003). Political conservatism as motivated social
cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 339-375.Download from PsycArticles.
Kunda, Z. (1990). The case for motivated reasoning. Psychological Bulletin, 480-498.
Malle, B. F., Knobe, J., O'Laughlin, M., Pearce, G. E., & Nelson, S. E. (2000). Conceptual structure and social
functions of behavior explanations: Beyond person-situation attributions. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 79, 309-326.
Sept. 30
Attitudes
Mitchell, J. P., Nosek, B. A., & Banaji, M. R.; (2003). Contextual Variations in Implicit Evaluation. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: General, 132, 455-469.
Roskos-Ewoldsen, D.R., & Fazio, R.H. (1992). On the Orienting Value of Attitudes: Attitude Accessibility as a
Determinant of an Object's Attraction of Visual Attention. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
63, 198-211.
Nowak, A., Szamrej, J., & Latané, B.(1990). From Private Attitude to Public Opinion: A Dynamic Theory of
Social Impact. Psychological Review, 97, 362-376.
Briñol, P., & Petty, R.E.; (2003). Overt Head Movements and Persuasion: A Self-Validation Analysis. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1123-1139.
Oct. 7
Motivation
Mueller, C.M., & Dweck, C.S. (1998). Praise for Intelligence Can Undermine Children's Motivation and
Performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 33-52.
Gilbert, D.T.; Ebert, J.E.J. (2002). Decisions and Revisions: The Affective Forecasting of Changeable
Outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 503-514.
Shah, J., & Higgins, E. T. (1997). Expectancy × Value Effects: Regulatory Focus as Determinant of Magnitude
and Direction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 447-458.
Sagristano, M.D., Trope, Y., & Liberman, N. (2002). Time-Dependent Gambling: Odds Now, Money Later.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 131, 364-376.
Oct. 14
Self-Regulation
Chajut, E., & Algom, D. (2003). Selective Attention Improves Under Stress: Implications for Theories of Social
Cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 231-248.
Giner-Sorolla, R. (2001). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 206-221.
Gollwitzer, P.M. (1999). Implementation Intentions: Strong Effects of Simple Plans. American Psychologist, 54,
493-503.
Trope, Y., & Fishbach, A. (2000). Counteractive Self-Control in Overcoming Temptation. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 79, 493-506.
Oct. 21
Midterm Papers Due/ Language
Douglas, K.M., & Sutton, R.M. (2003). Effects of Communication Goals and Expectancies on Language
Abstraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 682-696.
Hoffman, C., & Tchir, M.A. (1990). Interpersonal Verbs and Dispositional Adjectives: The Psychology of
Causality Embodied in Language. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 765-778.
Pennebaker, J.W., & Stone, L.D. (2003). Words of Wisdom: Language Use Over the Life Span. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 291-301.
Oct. 28
Social Interaction
Bernieri, F.J., Gillis, J.S., Davis, J.M., & Grahe, J.E. (1996). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71,
110-129.
Chartrand, T.L., & Bargh, J.A. (1999). The Chameleon Effect: The Perception-Behavior Link and Social
Interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 893-910.
Tiedens, L.Z., & Fragale, A.R. (2003). Power Moves: Complementarity in Dominant and Submissive Nonverbal
Behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 558-568.
Kruglanski, A.W., & Webster, D.M. (1991). Group Members' Reactions to Opinion Deviates and Conformists at
Varying Degrees of Proximity to Decision Deadline and of Environmental Noise. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 61, 212-225.
Nov. 4
Aggression
Bushman, B.J., & Baumeister, R.F. (1998). Threatened Egotism, Narcissism, Self-Esteem, and Direct and
Displaced Aggression: Does Self-Love or Self-Hate Lead to Violence?. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 75, 219-229.
Rotton, J., & Cohn, E.G. (2000). Violence Is a Curvilinear Function of Temperature in Dallas: A Replication.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 1074-1081.
Hubbard, J.A., Dodge, K.A., Cillessen, A.H. N., Coie, J.D., & Schwartz, D. (2001). The Dyadic Nature of Social
Information Processing in Boys' Reactive and Proactive Aggression. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 80, 268-280.
Bushman, B.J., & Anderson, C.A. (2001). Is It Time to Pull the Plug on the Hostile Versus Instrumental
Aggression Dichotomy?.Psychological Review, 108, 273-279.
Nov. 11
Inter-Group Processes
Dovidio, J.F., Kawakami, K., Gaertner, S.L. (2002). Implicit and Explicit Prejudice and Interracial Interaction.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 62-68.
Eagly, A., & Karau, S.J. (2002). Role Congruity Theory of Prejudice Toward Female Leaders. Psychological
Review, 109, 573-598.
Gaertner, S.L., Dovidio, J.F., Rust, M.C., Nier, J.A., Banker, B.S., Ward, C.M., Mottola, G.R., & Houlette, M.
(1999). Reducing Intergroup Bias: Elements of Intergroup Cooperation. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 76, 388-402.
Shah, J.Y., Kruglanski, A.W., & Thompson, E.P.; (1998). Membership Has Its (Epistemic) Rewards: Need for
Closure Effects on In-Group Bias. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 383-393.
Nov. 18
Interpersonal Relationships
Downey, G., Freitas, A.L., Michaelis, B., Khouri, H. (1998). The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Close Relationships:
Rejection Sensitivity and Rejection by Romantic Partners. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
75, 545-560.
Harter, S., & Monsour, A. (1992). Developmental Analysis of Conflict Caused by Opposing Attributes in the
Adolescent Self-Portrait. Developmental Psychology, 28, 251-260.
Herbst, K.C., Gaertner, L., & Insko, C.A., (2003). My Head Says Yes but My Heart Says No: Cognitive and
Affective Attraction as a Function of Similarity to the Ideal Self. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 84, 1206-1219.
Murray, S.L., Griffin, D.W.., Rose, P., & Bellavia, G.M. (2003). Calibrating the Sociometer: The Relational
Contingencies of Self-Esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 63-84.
Nov. 25
Impact of Culture
Elfenbein, H.A., & Ambady, N. (2003). When Familiarity Breeds Accuracy: Cultural Exposure and Facial
Emotion Recognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 276-290.
Vandello, J.A., & Cohen, D. (2003). Male Honor and Female Fidelity: Implicit Cultural Scripts That Perpetuate
Domestic Violence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 997-1010.
Kim, H.S., & Drolet, A. (2003). Choice and Self-Expression: A Cultural Analysis of Variety-Seeking. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 373-382.
Heine, S.J., Lehman, D.R., Markus, H.R., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is There a Universal Need for Positive SelfRegard? Psychological Review, 106, 766-794.
Dec. 2
Automaticity
Bargh, J.A., & Chartrand, T.L. (1999). The Unbearable Automaticity of Being. American Psychologist, 54, 462479.
Knuf, L., Aschersleben, G., & Prinz, W. (2001). An Analysis of Ideomotor Action. Journal of Experimental
Psychology: General, 130, 779-798.
Sohlberg, S., Birgegard, A. (2003). Persistent Complex Subliminal Activation Effects: First Experimental
Observations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 302-316.
Wegner, D.M., Fuller, V.A., & Sparrow, B. (2003). Clever Hands: Uncontrolled Intelligence in Facilitated
Communication. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 5-19.
Dec. 9
Final Papers Due/ Class presentations