Syllabus for Psychology 15—Introduction to Social Psychology
Spring, 2003, T-Th 10:00-11:30, 2 Divinity Ave. #18—Yenching Auditorium
Professor:
Nicholas Epley. epley@wjh.harvard.edu. 1480 William James Hall. 617-384-7831.
Office Hours: Thursdays, 11:30-1:00
Teaching Fellows:
Joan Chiao. jchiao@wjh.harvard.edu. William Jame Hall 1410. Hours:
Carey Morewedge (Head TF). morewedg@wjh.harvard.edu. WJH 1436. Hours:
Rebecca Norwick. norwick@wjh.harvard.edu. William James Hall 1440. Hours:
Course Website: http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~psy15
Text: 1) Aronson, Wilson, & Akert. Social Psychology (4th ed).
2) A supplementary packet of readings to be obtained in the Science Center, rm. B-10.
Exams: There will be two preliminary (2/25 & 4/8) and one final examinations, format to be
announced later. Each preliminary exam will be worth 20% of your final grade. The final exam will
be worth 30%. An optional review session will be held prior to each exam, times to be announced.
There will be no lecture planned for these sessions; students should come prepared with questions.
There will be no make-up exams. Unexcused absences will receive a 0.
Short Research Proposal: You will write a seven- or eight-page research proposal, worth 15% of
your grade, based on material from the readings or lectures. This assignment will require you to
propose novel research (experimental, correlational, or observational) on any topic in social
psychology of interest to you. More details about this assignment will be provided later. Final
proposals are due on the last day of class, May 1. No extensions will be given.
Sections: One hour of additional class each week will be spent in sections led by the TFs. These
sections will require active participation, be centered around a hands-on demonstration or experiment
conducted by section participants, cover topics not directly discussed in class, and require a weekly
discussion paper. A separate list of readings for sections is included in your course packet.
Performance on the discussion papers and participation in section will be worth 10% of your grade.
Extra Credit: This course is about experimental social psychology, and the best way to learn about
the methods used to generate knowledge in social psychology is by directly participating in
experiments. Therefore, 5% of your grade will come from participation in experiments being
conducted in the psychology department at Harvard. Only approved experiments will count towards
your participation requirement. Details about how to participate will be forthcoming.
Lecture Outline and Reading Assignments
Date
Topic
Reading
1/30
Social Influence
The Social Psychology Experiment/Overview
2/4
Social Facilitation
Text: Pgs. 299-311
2/6
Conformity
Text: Pgs.. 250-284
Epley & Gilovich
2/11
Compliance
Text: Pgs. 284-288
2/13
Obedience
Text: Pgs. 288-297
2/18
Mobs, Crowds, and Deindividuation
Text: Pgs. 311-333
2/20
Social Emotions and Misattribution
Text: Pgs. 95-106
Keltner & Anderson
2/25
Exam 1
---
Text: Chpts. 1 & 2
Mook
Social Thought
2/27
Cognitive Dissonance
Text: Chpt. 6
Heine & Lehman
3/4
Self-Perception Theory
Text: Pgs. 154-164
Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett
3/6
Attitudes
Text: Chpt. 7
3/11
Attribution Theory
Text: Pgs. 107-113
3/13
Attributional Biases
Text: Pgs. 113-137
Gilbert
3/18
Judgment Under Uncertainty
Text: Chpt. 3
Gilovich & Savitsky
3/20
Social Judgment I
Text: --Ambady & Rosenthal
3/25
Spring Break—No Class
3/27
Spring Break—No Class
---
4/1
Social Judgment II
Text: Action 1 (504-535)
4/3
Attraction and Liking
Text: Pgs. 336-355
4/8
Exam 2
Social Life
4/10
Prejudice
Text: Chpt. 13
Galinsky & Moskowitz
4/15
Automatic Stereotyping:
Guest lecturer: Joan Chiao
Text: --Kunda et al.
4/17
Evolutionary Social Psychology
Text: Pgs. 419-422
Buunk et al.; Harris et al.; Buss et
al.; Desteno & Salovey; Harris &
Christenfeld
4/22
Aggression/Violence
Text: Chpt. 12
4/24
Altruism and Morality
Text: Chpt. 11
4/29
Personal Relationships
Text: Pgs. 355-379
5/1
Course Wrap-up: Popular Delusions
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Section Topics and Reading Assignments
Date
2/13
Topic
The power of the situation
Reading
---
2/20
The limits of introspection
Nisbett & Wilson
Text: pgs. 150-154
2/27
Behavioral Control
Baumeister et al.
3/6
Regret
Medvec, Madey, & Gilovich
3/13
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid
3/20
No Section—Spring Break
---
3/27
No Section—Spring Break
4/3
Negotiation
--Negotiation Materials
4/10
Implicit Attitudes
Spalding & Hardin
4/17
Tutorial: Research and Writing in Psychology
APA Style Handout
4/24
Foretelling the Future
Epley & Dunning
5/1
So What?
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Table of Contents
Psychology 15—Social Psychology
Regular Class Readings:
Mook, D. G. (1983). In defense of external invalidity. American Psychologist, 38, 379-387.
Epley, N., & Gilovich, T. (1999). Just going along: Nonconscious priming and conformity to
social pressure. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 578-589.
Keltner, D., & Anderson, C. (2000). Saving face for Darwin: The functions and uses of
embarrassment. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 187-192.
Heine, S. J., & Lehman, D. R. (1997). Culture, dissonance, and self-affirmation. Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 389-400.
Lepper, M. R., Greene, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (1973). Undermining children's intrinsic interest
with extrinsic reward: A test of the "overjustification" hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 28, 129-137.
Gilbert, D. T. (1989). Thinking lightly about others: Automatic components of the social
inference process. In J. S. Uleman & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended thought (pp. 189-211). New
York: Guilford.
Gilovich, T., & Savitsky, K. (March/April 1996). Like goes with like: The role of
representativeness in erroneous and pseudoscientific beliefs. Skeptical Inquirer, 20, 34-40.
Ambady, N., & Rosenthal, R. (1993). Half a minute: Predicting teacher evaluations from thin
slices of behavior and physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 431441.
Galinsky, A. D., & Moskowitz, G. B. (2000). Perspective-taking: Decreasing stereotype
expression, stereotype accessibility, and in-group favoritism. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 78, 708-724.
Kunda, Z., Davies, P.G., Adams, B.D., & Spencer, S.J. (2002). The dynamic time course of
stereotype activation: Activation, dissipation, and resurrection. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 82, 283-299.
Buunk, B. P., Angleitner, A., Oubaid, V., & Buss, D. M. (1996). Sex differences in jealously in
evolutionary and cultural perspective: Tests from the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States.
Psychological Science, 7, 359-363.
Harris, C. R., & Christenfeld, N. (1996a). Gender, jealousy, and reason. Psychological Science,
7, 364-366.
DeSteno, D. A., & Salovey, P. (1996). Evolutionary origins of sex differences in jealousy?
Questioning the "fitness" of the model. Psychological Science, 7, 367-372.
Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., & Westen, D. (1996). Sex differences in jealousy: Not gone, not
forgotten, and not explained by alternative hypotheses. Psychological Science, 7, 373-375.
DeSteno, D. A., & Salovey, P. (1996). Genes, jealousy, and the replication of misspecified
models. Psychological Science, 7, 376-377.
Harris, C. R., & Christenfeld, N. (1996b). Jealousy and rational responses to infidelity across
gender and culture. Psychological Science, 7, 378-379.
Section Readings:
Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on
mental processes. Psychological Review, 84, 231-259.
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the
active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1252-1265.
Medvec, V. H., Madey, S. F., & Gilovich, T. (1995). When less is more: Counterfactual
thinking and satisfaction among olympic medalists. Journal of personality and Social Psychology, 69,
603-610.
Snyder, M., Tanke, E. D., & Berscheid, E. (1978). Social perception and interpersonal
behavior: On the self-fulfilling nature of social stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 35, 656-666.
Spalding, L.R., & Hardin, C.D. (1999). Unconscious unease and self-handicapping:
Behavioral consequences of individual differences in implicit and explicit self-esteem. Psychological
Science, 10, 535-539.
Wegner, D. M., & Schneider, D. J. (1989). Mental Control: The war of the ghosts in the
machine. In J. S. Uleman & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended Thought (pp. 287-305). New York:
Guilford Press.
Epley, N., & Dunning, D. (2001). Feeling "holier than thou": Are self-serving assessments
produced by errors in self or social psychology? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79,
861-875.