Social Psychology - Syllabus

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Social Psychology - PSY 350 - Department of Psychology at Western Kentucky University - Fall 2003

SO/PY 442 Social Psychology Spring, 2004
University of North Alabama - Department of Sociology

Courses Related to Social Psychology - .socialpsychology.org/courses.htm

Personality Psychology Courses - .socialpsychology.org/pcourses.htm

SYLLABUS: BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES 512: ADVANCED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
csubak.edu/~lvega/512sylfall98.html

INSTRUCTOR: Luis A.Vega, Ph.D. (Office: 664-3024; Fax: 665-6955) email: lvega@csubak.edu

Class Homepage WWW: .csubak.edu/~lvega/

COURSE DESCRIPTION
As defined in the university catalog, this course covers:
An exploration of theory and research concerning the individual in a social context. Selected topics will be considered in detail, with emphasis on contemporary issues in social psychology. Prerequisites: Psychology or Sociology 312 (or any social psychology course taken at another university) and consent of instructor. Carries credit in either Psychology or Sociology.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
Social psychology is the scientific study of humankind as social beings. The social psychologist is interested in how individuals think about others, influence and are influenced by others, and how they interact with others. The course s designed to give you a detailed overview of the major topics currently important in the discipline, as well as some of the history and methodology that form the basis of our present understanding. This course has as its cornerstone the scientific method and the use of empirical research as the means of understanding social behavior.

In addition, our emphases in this course will be threefold: First, we will review twelve areas of social psychology by reading original journal articles and by emphasizing general, classic, and contemporary selections.

Second, with social psychology becoming more cognitive in orientation, we will critically analyze the advantages and disadvantages of this approach. As we shall see, a cognitive orientation, while important, leaves many gaps in our understanding of social behavior.

Finally, we will review social psychological findings from a cross-cultural perspective. With over 70% of the major work in "psychological" social psychology being produced in North America, we will see that many findings may not be as universal as we once thought (not surprising given that most subjects for social psychological experiments were U.S. college sophomores).

PAPER 1
Theoretical. Pick an area of social psychology that appeals to you and write a 10-15 page paper chronicling the theoretical development of that area. This means that you will need to read the classic studies, specify how theory has played an important role in the development of that area, and summarize the types of questions that can be answered (as well as those that cannot), given the current status of that area. As a frame of reference for the steps you will need to take in writing this paper, I suggest you read the Personality and Social Psychology Review or the Psychological Review journals, both of which publish theoretical papers. You may also want to read the guidelines for writing theoretical papers provided in the American Psychological Association Publication Manual (4th ed.). If more help is needed in writing this paper, I will set time in class for this purpose. You will need at least 15 references (75 points). A proposal for this paper is due on September 28th, with the final paper due on October 21st.

PAPER 2
Applications. Pick an area of social psychology that appeals to you and write a 15-20 page paper that applies social psychological principles to a problem area (the topic for this paper can be the same area you picked for your theoretical paper). You will need a minimum of 20 references for this paper. Some possible topics you may want to consider, but should not feel limited to:

Stopping gang violence using social psychological principles
Reducing discrimination using social psychological principles
Reducing school dropout rates using social psychological principles
Reducing domestic violence using social psychological principles
Using social psychology to influence public policy
Resisting the appeal of propaganda (e.g., tv commercials)
Exploring the role of emotions, cognitions, and behaviors in advertising

REQUIRED TEXTS can be found at the university bookstore:

Korn, J. H. (1997). Illusions of reality: A history of deception in social psychology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Lesko, W. A. (1997). Readings in social psychology: General, classic, and contemporary selections (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Plous, S. (1993). The psychology of judgment and decision making. New York: McGraw Hill.

Smith, P. B., & Bond, M. H. (1999). Social psychology across cultures: Analysis and perspectives (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. GO TO MENU

ON RESERVE AT STIERN LIBRARY REFERENCE DESK--Presentation Readings

Anderson, C. A., Benjamin, A. J., Bartholow, B. D. (1998). Does the gun pull the trigger? Automatic priming effects of weapon pictures and weapon names. Psychological Science, 9, 308-314.

Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. L., & Validzic, A. (1998). Intergroup bias: Status, differentiation, and a common in-group identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 109-120.

Haney, C., & Zimbardo, P. (1998). The past and future of U.S. prison policy: Twenty-five years after the Stanford Prison experiment. American Psychologist, 53, 709-727.

Kerr, N. L. (1998). HARKing: Hypothesizing after the results are known. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 196-217.

Mays, V. M., Bullock, M., Rosenzweig, M R., & Wessells, M. (1998). Ethnic conflict: Global challenges and psychological perspectives. American Psychologist, 53, 737-742.

Mischel, W. (1998). Metacognition at the hyphen of social-cognitive psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 84-86.

Rubin, M., & Hewstone, M. (1998). Social identity theory's self-esteem hypothesis: A review and some suggestions for clarification. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 40-62.

Tassinary, L. G., & Hansen, K. A. (1998). A critical test of the waist-to-hip-ratio hypothesis of female physical attractiveness. Psychological Science, 9, 150-155.

Taylor, S. E. (1998). The social being in social psychology. In Gilbert, D. T., Fiske, S. T., & Lindzey, G. (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (3rd ed., Vol. 1), pp. 58-95. Boston: McGraw Hill.

Social Psychology - PSY 350 - Department of Psychology at Western Kentucky University - Fall 2003
Instructor: Dr. S. Pack, Ph.D. - e-mail: shana.pack@wku.edu
web page address: .wku.edu/~shana.pack/
Mission: From the WKU Department of Psychology Mission Statement:
“The primary mission of the Department of Psychology at Western Kentucky University is to provide our students with a strong education in the theoretical, scientific, and applied study of psychology. To this end we seek to:
Provide our undergraduate majors with knowledge of psychology as an art, a science, and a profession.
Provide students enrolled in programs throughout the university with a basic understanding of psychology.
A second component of our mission is to contribute to the advancement of psychology and psychological knowledge.
A final component of our mission is to improve the lives of others through the application of knowledge and expertise in psychology.
In all our endeavors we are committed to the values we share as psychologists, especially our respect for the welfare and dignity of all people. We value and appreciate the diversity of the students we teach, the public we serve, and the colleagues with whom we work (and the technology with which we do all things).”
To read the complete mission statement, go to http://edtech.tph.wku.edu/~rmiller/mission.htm
Course Description
From the University catalog: A general introduction to social psychology for majors and non-majors in psychology.
Emphasis is given to the psychological components of common social behaviors including the psychological aspects of contemporary social problems. 3 hours; can be used to help meet General Education requirement section C;
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing
A description that might actually mean something to students: Social psychology is the scientific study of how we interact with, think about and influence other people. It includes such topics as group processes, prejudice, love, and persuasion. Social psychology is similar to sociology in the topics it covers, however, social psychology looks more specifically at individual or personal explanations, whereas sociology looks at cultural explanations.
Required Materials
Social Psychology, 10th edition by Robert Baron & Donn Byrne

SO/PY 442 Social Psychology Spring, 2004
University of North Alabama - Department of Sociology
Professor: S. Alexander Takeuchi, Ph.D. (aka "Dr. T")
Phone: (256) 765-4527 / e-mail: satakeuchi@una.edu
Web: http://www2.una.edu/Takeuchi/

DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:
Social Psychology is the scientific study of the nature, causes and the consequences of human social cognition and behavior. It is an interdisciplinary field of study that is rooted in both psychology and sociology. In this course, you will be exposed to fundamental theories and concepts of social psychology from the sociological and psychological traditions as well as the applications of those theories and concepts to different social issues. More specifically, we will analyze the nature, causes and consequences of various social behaviors we engage in and the influence of society on the way we interact with others. We will do this by addressing various issues we encounter in our daily lives.
The goal of this course is to enable you to better understand ourselves and our social behavior from a social psychological point of view while dealing with common social issues in our everyday life. I believe this is one of the most interesting disciplines in social science, and I hope you will enjoy this course.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
Michener, H. A. and DeLamater, J. D. (2004). Social Psychology (5th Ed.). Harcourt Brace.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 5th Edition. American Psychological Association.