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WILMINGTON UNIVERSITY College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Course Outline and Schedule FACULTY MEMBER: Dr. Debra Laino DHS, M.ED, MS, ACS, ABS TERM: Fall 2013 COURSE TITLE: COURSE NUMBER TEXTBOOK: Social Psychology PSY 301 TITLE: AUTHOR: Social Psychology Kassin, Fein and Markus 8th Edition

If you would like more precise information regarding the textbook(s) for this class, please visit the bookstore website at http://www.wilmu.edu/bookstore OFFICE HOURS/METHOD OF CONTACT: By Appointment Only

Contact: docdebdog@yahoo.com or debra.l.laino@wilmu.edu Phone: 302 521-8258

I.

RATIONALE: Social Psychology is the study of how people influence each other. First, social psychologists look at the behavior of people in groups - how their attitudes and actions are shaped by face-to-face contact with others. Secondly, they look at the more remote influences in society, i.e. books, movies, television, social customs and other events that attempt to persuade us to "change our minds". Finally, they pay special attention to the psychological basis of social conflict (such as war, crime, racism) in an effort to develop more humane and constructive relationships among people.

II.

METHODOLOGY:

Teaching Methods: The following instructional methods may be used: Lecture and discussion based on required textbook reading and any supplemental material provided by instructor, personal writing and experiential exercise, small and large group work, videos, guest speakers, student presentation and personal sharing.
Syllabus is sole property of Wilmington University

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A.

Evaluation Procedure:

Two quizzes (75) points each Project (paper and presentation) (200) points Structured External Assignment (100) points Participation (100) points Total Points 550
A AB+ B BC+ C CD+ D DF = 515 points and higher = 494 - 514 = 473 - 493 = 452 - 472 = 431 - 451 = 410 - 430 = 389 - 409 = 368 - 388 = 347 - 367 = 326 - 346 = 305 - 325 = 304 and below

III.

Project:

You are to take an episode or episodes of behavior by a fictional character from a book, movie, or television and analyze and explain that behavior using social psychological principles. If you wish you may analyze real world behavior rather than fictional. There are a number of things that you must include in the paper: 1. A brief description of the behavior(s) being analyzed. Assume that I am not familiar with the book, movie, show, or event; provide enough information for me to be able to determine the applicability of the principles you select as explanations. This is not a license to spend five pages of a six-page paper giving a plot summary. The focus in the paper is on your analysis, not the behavior being analyzed. 2. Use at least three separate social psychological principles to explain the behavior. Cite the name of the relevant principle and the appropriate page numbers from the text. Thoroughly explain how the principle accounts for the behavior that you are describing.
Syllabus is sole property of Wilmington University

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3. Explicitly describe the role of personal and situational factors and their interaction in producing the behavior. Do not focus solely on the person (dont commit the fundamental attribution error!), give due weight to both the situation and the interaction of the person and situation. It is possible that personal characteristics may have little relevance to the behavior. The focus in this paper is on the social psychological concepts. You must demonstrate both knowledge of the relevant principle or mechanism, and show how it applies to the target behavior or interaction. Possible examples of applying principles might consist of: using principles of persuasion in explaining how a fictional con man succeeds. You might explain a budding movie romance in terms of the two-factor theory of love, account for a round of literary violence using frustration aggression theory or the cognitive neoassociational model, account for the success of a fictional character in business or romance based on applications of principles of selfpresentation, or consider selfdestructive behavior as a product of selfhandicapping. P.S. Just as an afterthoughtthis paper can be kind of fun to do! There is a 15-minute presentation on this paper. The paper should be approximately 35 pages long. Be as creative as you want in your presentation.

IV.

Structured External Assignment:

Social psychology in the media. Individual Assignment

For this project, you will assemble a portfolio of media clippings that illustrate social psychological concepts. As you read magazines or newspapers or watch TV, you should keep your eye out for media clippings or segments that relate to course concepts. Potential media sources include magazine or newspaper articles, editorials, advertisements, advice columns, photographs, and cartoons; you may also include a few video segments (from TV shows or movies) if you'd like. Aim for maximum diversity of concepts and media sources; that is, clippings should not be on the same topic (e.g., all relevant to prejudice) and they should not come from the same source (e.g., all advertisements or all articles). A minimum of 8 clippings (10 is suggested) must be turned in for this project; each clipping must have its exact source and date noted and be accompanied by at least a 2-paragraph description that introduces relevant social psychological concept and explains specifically how the clipping illustrates the concept. Please note that this project is not as easy as it seems and has resulted in the most variable grades in the past.
Syllabus is sole property of Wilmington University

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You will present your clippings and what you learned. The presentation will be approximately 10 minutes. Due third week of class

V.

2 Quizzes

You will be evaluated on your understanding of the material by taking 2 quizzes throughout the block. They will be mixed format (multiple choice, short answers, true false) and will cover material presented in the course readings.

VI.

COURSE OUTLINE: (This is a tentative schedule and is subject to change) Chapters 1-2 Chapters 3-5 (possibly online class- we will discuss in class) Structured External Assignment (and Quiz one) Chapters 8-10 Chapters 11-12 Chapters 13 and 14 (and quiz two) Final projects and papers

Sept 9 Sept 16 Sept 23 Sept 30 October 7 October 14 October 21

Syllabus is sole property of Wilmington University