Psychology 150:
Personality Psychology
Fall, 2012
Instructor:
Office:
Phone:
Paul Zarnoth
Brousseau 110
631-4417 (office)
798-1179 (home - for emergencies)
E-mail: pzarnoth@stmarys-ca.edu
Class Time: MWF 9:10 B 10:10
Office Hours: Monday 1:00 B 3:00
Wed 1:15 B 2:15
Thur 10:00 B 12:00
(Or simply stop by my office to see if I am available.)
Course Description: Welcome to Personality Psychology. This is a course about human social activity.
There are both internal and external forces directing human social interaction. The power of the
situation is emphasized in the field of Social Psychology. In contrast, Personality Psychology
focuses on the fact that people behave differently simply because of who they are. But how did
we become the people we are today? Personality Psychology explores the social, cultural, and
biological forces that combine to develop each individual=s personality and sense of self.
This course will differ from many traditional courses in ATheories of Personality,@ which focus
primarily on the works of Freud and other historically important figures. We will discuss the
older, historically important theories that helped develop Personality Psychology into the science
that it is today, but we will spend the majority of the class talking about modern approaches in the
field. Particularly attention will be devoted to psychological research and real-world applications.
It is my hope that the course design will make the course content more relevant to you and will
give you a better understanding of personality psychology as it is practiced today.
Text:
Funder, D. C. (2010). The Personality Puzzle. 5th Edition. Norton Publishing
You will also be responsible for reading and thinking about a series of articles.
Assigned Articles:
Martin & Lefcourt (1984). Situational Humor Response Questionnaire: Quantitative measure of
sense of humor.
Freud (1920). Introduction. From A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis.
Masson (1984). Introduction. From The Assault on Truth.
Greenwald et al. (1991). Double-blind tests of subliminal self-help tapes.
Rothbart (1971). Birth order and child-mother interactions in an achievement situation.
Edelstein et al. (2005). Individual differences in emotional memory: Adult attachment and
long-term memory for child sexual abuse.
Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett (1973). Undermining children=s intrinsic interest with extrinsic
reward.
Butler (1968). Self-ideal congruence in psychotherapy.
Friedman et al. (1995). Psychosocial and behavioral predictors of longevity: The aging and
death of the Atermites.@
Eysenck (1982). The biological basis of cross-cultural differences in personality: Blood group
antigens.
Anderson (1977). Locus of control, coping behaviors and performance in a stress setting: A
longitudinal study.
Linz et al. (1988). Effects of long-term exposure to violent and sexually degrading depictions of
women.
Wheeler, Reis, & Bond (1989).
kingdom and the melting pot.
Collectivism-individualism in everyday social life: The middle
Lee, Park, & Park (2004). Does sex of client affect counselors= evaluation?
Holroyd et al. (1978). Performance, cognition, and physiological responding in test anxiety.
Swann & Seyle (2005). Personality psychology=s comeback and its emerging symbiosis with
social psychology.
Learning Outcomes:
1.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of both historically important and modern
theories of human personality and social behavior. Students will examine social
behavior that occurs in the classroom, on the playground, in the workplace, in the home,
in the therapist=s office, as well as a variety of other specific places.
2.
Students will articulate similarities and differences that exist among major theories of
personality.
3.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of how personality psychologists use
psychological research methodology to test their theories. Students will learn about
both nomothetic and ideographic methodologies. Students will demonstrate their
understanding of ideographic methods by carrying out a case study.
4.
Students will read, discuss and analyze professional research articles from the field of
personality psychology. Students will interpret the findings of the research with an
awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the research methodologies employed.
5.
Students will demonstrate the relevance of personality theories by explaining how they
can be applied in therapy, business, social interaction, and other relevant areas of interest.
Requirements: Points toward your final grade will be earned from a combination of four sources:
exams, mini-quizzes, article presentations and participation.
Exams: Four exams will be given. They will be worth 60, 70, 80, and 90 points. They will
consist of multiple choice, matching, short answer, and essay questions. These exams will test
both your knowledge of the field, and your ability to synthesize and evaluate the research and
theory covered in class and in the readings.
Mini-Quizzes: There will be a very brief quiz each day that an article is to be read. Each
will be worth either 2 or 3 points (40 points total). Hopefully, this will encourage
everyone to come to class prepared, thereby helping the class to have a better discussion.
Article Presentation: Pairs of students will begin our discussion of each article. They will be
responsible for summarizing or otherwise introducing the article in a brief (No more than 15
minutes!) period of time. This short presentation will be worth 20 points. To do well, the
presentation should be concise, accurate and engaging. Because presenters will be setting up
during the mini-quiz, they will automatically receive full credit for the quiz.
Case Study: Students will demonstrate their understanding of the ideographic methodology by
conducting a case study. Each student will gather information about a specific
individual and will relate the results to two or more specific personality theories (from at least
two major approaches).
Participation: Get points for something that you were going to do anyway. Because your
active participation is of direct benefit to you and your classmates, I will award up to 30
participation points throughout the semester. In order to earn these points, you must be fully
prepared to engage in discussion every day. This means that you must have completed the
assigned reading before coming to class. You will also need to contribute to a positive and
supportive class atmosphere in which everyone is encouraged to speak openly. I am particularly
happy to see students respond to comments made by one another.
Reading Assignments and Attendance: Reading assignments should be completed prior to
attending class. My primary objective in class will be to clarify and supplement the reading
assignments. An effort will be made to focus on the difficult aspects of the material. I will
also bring in outside information to elaborate that provided by the text. This will take the form
of detailed information on specific and interesting topics related to those in the text. The
benefits of this approach for you will depend, to a large extent, on your own familiarity with the
assigned readings. It is my intent that your regular attendance, attention, and participation in
class will contribute to your understanding of the concepts, processes, and principles you will be
expected to know for exams. Class attendance is a requirement to the degree that you are
responsible for all, announcements, handouts, and material covered during lecture time. You
can be tested on any material covered in class, regardless of whether or not it was discussed in the
text. Likewise, some of the material you are tested on at exam times may never be mentioned
during lectures.
Grading: As described in more detail on the previous page, there are 390 points possible in this class.
Final grades will be awarded according to the following scale:
A
AB+
B
BC+
= 91% of total (373.5 - 410 points)
= 88% of total (361 - 373 points)
= 85% of total (348.5 - 360.5 points)
= 81% of total (332.5 - 348 points)
= 78% of total (320 - 332 points)
= 75% of total (307.5 - 319.5 points)
C
CD+
D
DF
= 71% of total (291.5 - 307 points)
= 68% of total (279 - 291 points)
= 65% of total (266.5 - 278.5 points)
= 61% of total (250.5 - 266 points)
= 58% of total (238 - 250 points)
= below 58% (237.5 or fewer points)
Policy for Absence from Exams: If you know you have a conflict with an exam, you may reschedule
them only if (1) you have a legitimate excuse (according to my definition), and (2) you inform me of it at
least one week before the date. Only a documented medical excuse or similar emergency will be
accepted after the one-week deadline has expired. If such an emergency occurs, you will be expected to
speak with me before the exam period unless the nature of the emergency makes contacting me
impossible or extraordinarily difficult.
Academic Integrity: SMC has an academic honor code. The pledge reads as follows: As a student
member of an academic community based in mutual trust and responsibility, I pledge: to do my own
work at all times, without giving or receiving inappropriate aid: to avoid behaviors that unfairly impede
the academic progress of other members of my community; and to take reasonable and responsible action
in order to uphold my community=s academic integrity.@ This course operates under the premises of
the academic honor code, including the expectation that you will work to uphold high standards of
integrity.
Disabilities: Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, that take into account the context of the
course and its essential elements, for individuals with qualifying disabilities, are extended through the
office of Student Disability Services. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the Student
Disability Services Coordinator at (925) 631-4164 to set up a confidential appointment to discuss
accommodation guidelines and available services. Additional information regarding the services available
may be found at the following address on the Saint May=s website:
http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/academics/academic-advising-and-achievement/student-disability-services.ht
ml.
Tentative Outline
Dates and topics on this outline are subject to change.
Part 1: Introduction and the Psychoanalytic Perspective
Dates
Aug 27
Aug 29
Aug 31
Sept 3
Sept 5
Sept 7
Sept 10
Sept 12
Sept 14
Topic
Welcome and Introduction
Three Approaches to Studying Personality
An Introduction to Personality Assessment
Labor Day
Methods of Assessment
The Psychoanalytic Perspective
Personality Development and Assessment
from the Psychoanalytic Approach
Psychoanalytic Approach: Conclusion
Exam 1
Assignment
Ch. 1; Ch. 3 (pp. 79 - 90)
Ch. 3 (pp. 66-74); Ch. 5
Martin & Lefcourt Article
Ch. 10; Freud Article
Masson Article;
Ch. 11 (405 - 422; 429-434)
Greenwald et al. article
Part 2: Other Historically Important Perspectives
Dates
Topic
Sept 17
Sept 19
Sept 21
Adler=s Individual Psychology
Karen Horney=s Social Psychological Approach
Legacy of the Neoanalytic Approach
Sept 24
Sept 26
Sept 28
Oct 1
Oct 3
Oct 5
Oct 7
Behavioral Approach: Classical Conditioning
Behavioral Approach: Operant Conditioning
Carl Roger=s Person-Centered Theory
Roger=s Client-Centered Therapy
Maslow=s Humanistic Theory
Review
Exam 2
Assignment
Ch. 12 (pp. 440-446)
Ch. 12 (pp. 446-449); Rothbart Article
Edelstein Article
Ch. 12 (pp. 458-464)
Ch. 15 (pp. 566-569)
Ch. 15 (pp. 570-579)
Lepper Article; Ch. 7 (pp. 230-240)
Butler Article; Ch. 13 (pp. 473-476)
Ch. 13 (pp. 483-489, 497-502)
Part 3: Recent Developments in Personality Theory
Oct 10
Oct 12
Oct 15
Oct 17
Oct 19
Oct 22
Oct 24
Oct 26
Oct 29
Oct 31
Nov 2
Nov 5
Dispositional Approach: Allport and Cattell
Dispositional Approach: Eysenck and
a Recent Controversy
Dispositional Approach: The Big Five
Behavioral Genetics
Fall Break
Three Biological Approaches
Examples of the Psychophysiological View
Julian Rotter=s Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura=s Social Cognitive Theory
Applications of the Social Cognitive Approach
Review
Exam 3
Ch. 7 (pp. 253-257)
Ch. 4
Friedman Article; Ch. 7 (pp. 240-253)
Eysenck Article; Ch. 9 (pp. 320-331)
Ch. 8 (pp. 269-283)
Ch. 15 (pp. 587-589)
Anderson Art.; Ch. 15 (pp. 589-594)
Linz Article
Part 4: Recent Research in Personality
Nov 7
Nov 9
Nov 12
Nov 14
Nov 16
Kelly=s Personal Construct Theory
Dual Processing Theories
The Information Processing Viewpoint
The Self-Concept and Self-Consciousness
The Self-Schema
Nov 19
Nov 21
Nov 23
Nov 26
Nov 28
Nov 30
Dec 3
Dec 5
Cross-Cultural Variation
Thanksgiving Break
Thanksgiving Break
Theories of Gender Identity
Consequences of Gender Identity
Anxiety
Test Anxiety
The Future of Personality Psychology
Dec 7
Catch Up and Review
Ch. 13 (pp. 489-494)
Ch. 16 (pp. 620-623)
Ch. 16 (pp. 607-616)
Ch. 7 (225-230)
Ch. 14 (pp. 509-526)
Ch. 17 (pp. 655 - 661)
Wheeler Article
Lee Article
Holroyd et al. Article
Swann & Seyle Article
Ch. 19