Psychology 2070A-001
Social Psychology
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
An introduction to the theories, methods, findings, and problems encountered in the study of people as social beings.
Antirequisites: Psychology 2720A/B, 2780E and the former Psychology 170
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if this course has an antirequisite that you have previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in this one.
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Sarah Moroz
Office: SSC 6323
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: smoroz2@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: SSC 2032, 9:30 AM-12:30 PM, Mondays and WednesdaysIf you or someone you know is experiencing distress, there are several resources here at Western to assist you. Please visit: http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for more information on these resources and on mental health.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also wish to contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 519-661-2111 ext 82147 for any specific question regarding an accommodation.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Fehr, B., & Akert, R. M. (2016). Social Psychology (6th Canadian edition). Pearson Education Canada, Inc.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course provides a broad introduction to theories and findings related to the scientific study of human social behavior.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMESBy the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Understand ways in which social psychological processes occur in daily life, such as how people perceive themselves and others and how they interact with the surrounding environment
- Examine social psychology from an empirically-based, scholarly perspective, rather than from an intuitive or speculative perspective based solely on personal experience and observations
- Explain the scientific study of social psychology to a non-academic/non-psychologist
- Evaluate social psychological situations and make predictions about behaviour
5.0 EVALUATION
Although the Psychology Department does not require instructors to adjust their course grades to conform to specific targets, the expectation is that course marks will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level and 2000-level courses
72% 2190-2990 level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows the University of Western Ontario grading guidelines, which are as follows (see http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf ):
A+ 90-100 One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level
A 80-89 Superior work that is clearly above average
B 70-79 Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory
C 60-69 Competent work, meeting requirements
D 50-59 Fair work, minimally acceptable
F below 50 Fail
Participation (10%)
Students will be required to complete “five minute papers” at the end of every lecture. These papers are not graded, but rather, are intended to get you thinking about the course material and engaging with your learning. I will assign questions for each paper; common questions may include summarizing what you learned that day, or noting concepts that seemed difficult or unclear to you. However, questions may vary week to week. Each completed paper will earn you 1%; you have 10 total lectures, so this will count for 10% of your grade.
You will be given a few minutes in class to complete your paper. Papers may be submitted on OWL until 11:55 pm on the day of the assignment. You may also hand in a physical paper in class if you wish.
Weekly Quizzes (30%)
To help you keep up with textbook readings and to prepare you for what you can expect on the midterm and final exams, you will write a quiz each week (except the week you write your midterm). There will be 5 quizzes in total, each worth 6% of your final grade (for a total of 30%). Quizzes will be completed in class. The specific dates of each quiz are listed on the lecture schedule. Quizzes may take the form of multiple-choice questions or short answer questions. Quizzes will be open book/open note but will require you to think beyond what is presented in the notes or the text. You will be given a maximum of 15 minutes to complete each quiz.
Midterm Exam (30%) and Final Exam (30%)
The midterm exam is worth 30% of your final grade and will take place in class on Monday, June 5 from 10:30AM-12:30PM in SSC 2032. The midterm will cover Chapters 1 to 6, and May 15-May 31 lecture material.
The final exam is also worth 30% of your final grade and will take place sometime during the Intersession examination period (Monday, June 26 or Tuesday, June 27). The final is noncumulative and will cover Chapters 7 to 12, and June 7-21 lecture material.
The midterm and final exams have the same format. Each exam will last two hours and will be composed of 60 multiple-choice questions. Material from both the textbook readings and the lectures are fair game. Lecture material includes videos, demonstrations, guest lectures and anything else presented or discussed during class.
Both exams will require not only that you learn and understand a good amount of information, but also that you be able to synthesize this information and apply it to novel contexts. Study hard!
Optional Paper (15%)
You can choose to write a short assignment, worth 15% of your final course grade. If you decide to write an essay, the midterm, the final, and the quizzes will each be reduced to 25% of your final grade.
The essay should be 6-7 pages long and will include a title page, 3-4 double-spaced essay pages, a reference page, and an appendix in which you paste the abstracts of articles used in the assignment. The specific details/instructions for the assignment will be available on OWL. Essays are due to Turn-It-In on OWL no later than 11:55 pm on Monday, June 19th. Late essays will not be accepted.
Feel free to discuss the assignment with me. I am happy to help!
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Course Component and Due Date
Quiz 1 May 17
Quiz 2 May 24
Quiz 3 May 31
Midterm Exam June 5 (10:30AM-12:30PM in SSC 2032)
Quiz 4 June 14
Optional Essay due June 19
Quiz 5 June 21
Final Exam TBA (June 26 or June 27)
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
|
Class |
Date |
Topic(s) |
Assessments |
Reading(s) |
|
1 |
Monday May 15 |
Introduction to Social Psychology |
|
Syllabus Chapter 1 |
|
2 |
Wednesday May 17 |
Methodology |
Quiz 1: Ch. 1 & May 15 lecture |
Chapter 2 |
|
|
Monday May 22 |
No class (Victoria Day) |
|
|
|
3 |
Wednesday May 24 |
Social Cognition Social Perception |
Quiz 2: Ch. 2 & May 17 lecture |
Chapter 3 Chapter 4 |
|
4 |
Monday May 29 |
Self Knowledge |
|
Chapter 5 |
|
5 |
Wednesday May 31 |
Attitudes and Attitude Change |
Quiz 3: Ch. 3-5 & May 24/29 lectures |
Chapter 6 |
|
|
Monday June 5 |
Material: Chapters 1-6 and May 15-31 lecture material Format: 60 multiple choice questions Time Allotment: 2 hours (120 mins) |
||
|
6 |
Wednesday June 7 |
Conformity and Group Processes |
|
Chapter 7 Chapter 8 |
|
7 |
Monday June 12 |
Close Relationships |
|
Chapter 9 |
|
8 |
Wednesday June 14 |
Prosocial Behaviour |
Quiz 4: Ch. 7-9 & June 7/12 lectures |
Chapter 10 |
|
9 |
Monday June 19 |
Aggression |
Optional Essay Deadline |
Chapter 11 |
|
10 |
Wednesday June 21 |
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination |
Quiz 5: Ch. 10-11 & June 14/19 lectures |
Chapter 12 |
|
|
TBA |
Final Exam (30%): During Final Examination Period (June 26th or 27th, Details TBA) Material: Chapters 7-12 and June 7-21 lecture material Format: 60 multiple choice questions Time Allotment: 2 hours (120 mins)
|
||
8.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offenses. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com http://www.turnitin.com
Possible penalties for a scholastic offense include failure of the assignment, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
9.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR MEDICAL ILLNESS
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2017/pg954.html
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation:
http://counselling.ssc.uwo.ca/procedures/medical_accommodation.html
10.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar web site: http://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services web site: http://www.sdc.uwo.ca
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site for information on the following:
http://psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/student_responsibilities/index.html
- Policy on Cheating and Academic Misconduct
- Procedures for Appealing Academic Evaluations
- Policy on Attendance
- Policy Regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines
- Policy for Assignments
- Short Absences
- Extended Absences
- Documentation
- Academic Concerns
- 2017 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
