Psychology 2070B-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 you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Taylor Kohut, PhD
Office: SSC 7430 ext. 84627
Office Hours: Friday: 9:30 – 11:30
Email: tkohut@uwo.ca
Teaching Assistant: Yixian Li Alexa Rempel
Office: SSC 6333 SSC 6307
Office Hours: TBA TBA
Email: yli625@uwo.ca arempel6@uwo.ca
Students: A through L M through Z
Class Sessions: Thursday 3:30 – 6:30
Class Location: NS-145
Course Website: http://www.owl.uwo.ca
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
Textbook (required):Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Fehr, B., & Akert, R. M. (2013). Social Psychology (5th Canadian edition). Pearson Education Canada, Inc.
Top Hat – Student Account (required):
Register @ www.tophat.com
Course code: 106736
MyPsychLab – Social Psychology (optional):
Register @ www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com.
Course code: kohut28785
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course provides a broad introduction to theories and findings related to the scientific study of human social behavior. By the end of this course, you should be able to:• Understand several 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 behavior.
5.0 EVALUATION
In Class Participation (10%)This class is going to use Top Hat to help promote learning and to increase student interaction and engagement in a large classroom setting. I will be using this tool to a) take attendance; b) to illustrate certain research findings; c) to promote dynamic discussions; d) to make it easier for students to ask questions; and e) to make course content (e.g. lecture slides) accessible to students. Your participation grade will reflect your degree of engagement with Top Hat related activities during the lectures; with 10 total lectures, up to 1% of your final grade can be earned in this way per class. To make use of Top Hat technology, students will need to bring a laptop or mobile device to class.
Exams (90%)
You will write two exams: a midterm and a final. The midterm exam is worth 45% of your final grade and will take place in class on Thursday, February 25 from 3:30PM-5:30PM (locations TBA). The midterm will cover Chapters 1-6 and associated lecture material. The final exam is also worth 45% of your final grade and will take place sometime during the final examination period (April 9-30). The final is noncumulative and will cover Chapters 7-12 and associated lecture material.
Essay Assignment (15%) OPTIONAL
You can choose to write a short assignment, worth 15% of your final course grade. If you decide to write an essay, each exam mark will be reduced to 37.5% of your final course grade.
The essay should be 6-7 pages long and will include a title page, 3-4 double-spaced essay pages, a references 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 11:55PM Sunday, March 13. Late essays will not be accepted.
Feel free to discuss the essay assignment with me or the teaching assistants—we are happy to help!
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
6.0 TEST AND EXAMINATION SCHEDULE
Course Component Date
Midterm Exam Thursday, February 25 (3:30PM-5:30PM, Locations TBA)
Drop Deadline Monday, March 7
Optional Essay Deadline Sunday, March 13
Final Exam During Final Examination Period (April 9-30, Details TBA)
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
|
Class |
Date |
Topic(s) |
Reading(s) |
|
1 |
January 7 |
Introduction to Social Psychology |
Syllabus Chapter 1 |
|
2 |
January 14 |
Methodology |
Chapter 2 |
|
3 |
January 21 |
Social Cognition Social Perception |
Chapter 3 Chapter 4 |
|
N/A |
January 28 |
No Class (Instructor away) |
N/A |
|
4 |
February 4 |
The Self |
Chapter 5 |
|
5 |
February 11 |
Attitudes and Attitude Change |
Chapter 6 |
|
N/A |
February 18 |
No Class (Reading week) |
N/A |
|
Midterm Exam (45%): Thursday, February 25 (3:30PM – 5:30PM, Locations TBA) Material: Chapters 1-6 and Associated Lecture Material Format: 60 multiple choice questions Time Allotment: 2 hours (120 mins) |
|||
|
Class |
Date |
Topic(s) |
Reading(s) |
|
6 |
March 3 |
Conformity Group Processes |
Chapter 7 Chapter 8 |
|
7 |
March 10 |
Close Relationships |
Chapter 9 |
|
8 |
March 17 |
Prosocial Behavior |
Chapter 10 |
|
9 |
March 24 |
Aggression |
Chapter 11 |
|
10 |
March 31 |
Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination |
Chapter 12 |
|
Final Exam (45%): During Final Examination Period (April 9-30, Details TBA) Material: Chapters 1-6 and Associated 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
The University of Western Ontario’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
http://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2015/pg117.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
- 2015 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones, will be allowed during exams.
