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Social Psychology (Graduate Core)
PSYC-7040 Professor
Dr. Kevin Grobman Course DescriptionWho is the real me? As adolescents, this is one of many perplexing questions we begin asking ourselves about who we are and how we fit into the social world. Why do we act one way with one group of friends and differently in another context? Why are we persuaded by some arguments while other people form different views? Why are we attracted to some people and not others? Why are some people altruistic one moment and aggressive another? In this class, we will learn what science can tell us about feelings, thoughts, and behaviors in social situations. For beginning psychology graduate students, this course offers a broad survey of Social Psychology. In addition to examining the cannon of classic research and theory, we will examine contemporary 'cutting-edge' perspectives. Your efforts in this class will help you connect Social Psychology to other areas of Psychology and to your own area of research. ExpectationsIt is my hope that your interest will be sparked in this course so that long after it is over you will continue to pursue answers to the questions that interest you most, whether in your careers as research psychologists, in practical settings applying psychology, or in your own introspection about yourselves. It is my expectation that you will do your best to learn as much as you can. I am always happy to meet with you during office hours to discuss any course-related issues on your mind. I arrive to class 5-10 minutes early, and linger after class for another 5-10 minutes. Please feel free to use this time for quick questions or to schedule a time to meet with me. I have some minimum expectations; failing to meet this may lower your grade. You should attend every class. I understand that extenuating circumstances arise that can make this difficult, but please let me know before class if you cannot attend. If circumstances make you miss more than 3 classes during the semester, you may have over-extended yourself and you should consider dropping the class. Arrive to class on time. Class begins promptly and tardiness distracts other students and me. If you must leave early, please let me know before class begins. Be prepared for class. The content of class meetings will go beyond the readings. I assume you have read it; if you have not read it, class discussion will be hard to follow. Focus your attention during class on our class; for example, do not attend our class while completing work for another class. In addition to the reduction in your grade, cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty violate university policy. You will be referred to the dean, who will determine what actions are appropriate. GradingYour final grade for class incorporates a cumulative exam (84%), a short effect-size literature review (4%), and a term paper (12%). The cumulative final exam will include about 3 essay questions and 50 shorter questions (mostly multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank). Class meetings will go beyond the assigned readings, and both will be on the exam. Though some exam questions will ask you for basic, factual information, most questions will ask you to integrate concepts or apply what you learned to a new situation. Though you have the option to take the entire cumulative exam during the 2-hour final exam slot, I recommend you take it in three parts over the semester (28% each). About 10% of part 2 and 15% of part 3 will integrate the most recent third of the semester with the preceding parts of the semester. Dates of exam parts and due dates for assignments appear below in the class schedule. You should turn in a short review that calculates the effect sizes of two well-established findings within your branch of psychology. Choose one study that uses a disposition and one that uses a situation to predict the same outcome. In class, we will discuss dispositions, situations, and effect sizes. A handout available on the course Moodle website provides more assignment details. You should turn in a polished empirical term paper that integrates social psychology with your current research interests. Your paper might be a research proposal or a comparison of studies that examine the same phenomena from a social psychology and another psychological perspective. There is no required length, though I expect most quality term papers to be about 2000 words excluding title page, appendices, and references. About halfway through the semester, I recommend scheduling a half-hour meeting with me to discuss your paper ideas. I am also happy to meet more often to discuss your progress with the paper. ReadingsOur class will read mostly primary source journal articles and book chapters. I chose most readings because of their historical importance to social psychology and the way they illustrate creative research methods. Most of the statistics and methods presented should be familiar and comfortable to a new graduate student in Psychology. Rather than having you struggle through dense readings, I chose shorter readings and hope you focus on struggling with the ideas and making new connections to other areas of Psychology and your own pursuits. During class we will discuss many other studies including cutting-edge research. All of the readings are available as PDF files through the course Moodle website (accessible through your LSU "paws" account). Our class-time will cover many concepts in depth with a focus on how social psychologists discovered something new. Though every class includes tying the particulars to the over-arching themes of Social Psychology, it is easy to lose the big picture for the details. To compliment class, I recommend a well-written textbook that succinctly defines key ideas and emphasizes a big picture: Myers, D. G. (2007). Exploring Social Psychology. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. David Myers organizes the field differently than I do, but his book is written in short modules so I list the most closely matched modules in the class schedule. Even so, some concepts that appear in the same module of the textbook appear on different days in our class. I hope this will help you foster connections between the concepts. Myers also has a different perspective from me on the over-arching messages of Social Psychology. I hope your understanding will be broadened and deepened by exposing yourself to multiple perspectives on the big picture of Social Psychology. Class ScheduleHow We are Social (Course Part 1 of 3)Tue Aug 26 Introduction to Social Psychology Thu Aug 28 Individuals in Social Contexts Tue Sept 02 Individuals' Performance in Social Contexts Thu Sept 04 Groups Tue Sept 09 Liking Others Thu Sept 11 Attraction to Others Tue Sept 16 Relationships Thu Sept 18 Self Concept Tue Sept 23 Exam (Part 1 of 3) How We Think, Feel, Evaluate, and Behave in Social Contexts (Course Part 2 of 3)Thu Sept 25 Social Influence Tue Sept 30 Defining Attitudes and Attitudes versus Behaviors Thu Oct 02 Persuasion Tue Oct 07 Attitude Change Thu Oct 09 Fall Break Tue Oct 14 Social Perception Thu Oct 16 Social Cognition Tue Oct 21 Social Judgment Thu Oct 23 Attribution Tue Oct 28 Exam (Part 2 of 3) Understanding Ourselves by Understanding Cultures, Sub-Cultures, and Group-Membership (Course Part 3 of 3)Thu Oct 30 Gender Role Socialization Tue Nov 04 Inter-Group Bias (Prejudice, Discriminication, & Stereotyping) Thu Nov 06 Theories of Inter-Group Bias Tue Nov 11 Emotion Thu Nov 13 Aggression Tue Nov 18 Pro-Social Thu Nov 20 Justice Fri Nov 21 Effect Size Assignment Tue Nov 25 Conclusions about Social Psychology Thu Nov 27 Thanksgiving Break Tue Dec 02 Discussion about Social Psychology &Academic Pursuits Thu Dec 04 Exam (Part 3 of 3) Mon Dec 08 Alternative Exam Time (12:00pm to 3:00pm in 228 Coates Hall) Tue Dec 09 Term Paper Due Wed Dec 10 Alternative Exam Time (12:30pm to 2:30pm in 220 Stubbs Hall) |
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