Psychology 3720G-001
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROSOCIAL AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR
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
The course will consider the social, situational, and personality factors responsible for the occurrence of prosocial behaviors such as helping others in disaster or crisis situations, and of antisocial behaviors such as violence and aggression.Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E or both Psychology 2800E and 2810 (or Psychology 2780E or permission of the Department at Hurons).
3 lecture/discussion hours, 0.5 course.
Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from the course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Doug HazlewoodOffice: Rm. 6330 SSC
Phone: 661-2111 ext. 84663
E-mail: hazlewoo@uwo.ca
Office Hours: Monday and Tuesday, 5:30 - 6:30 pm (or by appointment).
Course Website: https://owl.uwo.ca
Lectures: Tuesdays, 7 - 10 pm; SSC 3006
If 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
There is no required textbook for this course. Instead, weekly readings will be assigned (see Weekly Topics and Readings below). Some of the readings are available on-line at http://www.lib.uwo.ca. Please contact the Psychology librarian if you have problems accessing the online readings. The other readings will be posted as pdf documents in the Resources section of OWL.4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to provide a broad introduction to the theories, methods, and findings associated with the scientific study of prosocial and antisocial behavior. Topics to be covered include personal, situational, and interpersonal influences on helping behavior; biological and social factors underlying aggression; and the social psychology of deviance. Emphasis will be placed on experimental data from classic and contemporary studies.The primary class format will be lectures (although questions and discussions from students are desired and encouraged). To facilitate “open-ended” discussions, the last part of each class meeting will be set aside as a forum for discussing your thoughts about the readings and lecture material. Although participation in these discussions is voluntary, all students are encouraged to participate in as many sessions as possible, even if it means simply discussing the material with a fellow student over a beverage at the Grad Club. Note that, in addition to facilitating your “active” involvement with the course material, these discussions can also provide an excellent opportunity to think about possible topics for your research proposal (see below).
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES
(1) Lecture Attendance:
Material covered in lectures will not always be the same as material covered in the assigned readings; these two sources of information should be viewed as complimentary, not redundant. As such, students who want to do well in this course are strongly encouraged to attend lectures on a regular basis. Also, please note that I will not be providing copies of lecture notes or slides. Therefore, if you miss a lecture, you should try to obtain this material from another student. I strongly recommend that you contact a fellow student early in the term, and arrange to exchange notes in case either of you are forced to miss a lecture. You should not provide notes to students who are “chronically” absent.
Past experiences show that students often lose 5% - 10% for each lecture that they miss (even if they borrow someone’s notes). On exams, this can easily translate into C’s, D’s (and even F’s) for students who should otherwise be achieving B’s, A’s, or A+’s. Given that exams are worth 70% of your final grade, you should think carefully about missing any lectures.
(2) Policy regarding Makeup Exams and Extensions of Deadlines:
Students will be allowed to write makeup exams and will be given extensions of assignment deadlines only under special circumstances. These include medical or compassionate reasons and must be substantiated with proper documentation. Please note that documentation must be submitted to (and approved by) an academic counsellor in your Dean’s office. Additional information regarding appropriate documentation and procedures can be found at Student Responsibilities.
A student who misses an exam or assignment deadline for any other reason (or who is unable to substantiate a claim) will be assigned a grade of zero for the exam and a penalty each day that the assignment is late (weekends automatically count as two days). In fairness to all students, no exceptions to this policy will be allowed.
(3) Policy Regarding Illness:
If you feel that you have a medical or personal problem that is interfering with your work, then you should contact your Faculty Academic Counselling Office as soon as possible. Problems may then be documented and possible arrangements to assist you can be discussed at the time of occurrence, rather than retroactively. In general, retroactive requests for grade revisions on medical or compassionate grounds will not be considered.
(4) Statement on Academic Offences:
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offenses. Actions constituting a scholastic offense are described at the following link: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf
Cheating and Plagiarism are considered very serious offenses because they undermine the integrity of research and education. As of September 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect these scholastic offenses.
Cheating: 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 positions in all tests and exams. If a similar pattern of responses is detected, students will be reported to the Dean’s office for further investigation and possible disciplinary action.
To avoid any suspicion of cheating, please take the following steps:
(i) If you studied with another student, then do not sit near this person during the tests/exams.
Students who study together are more likely to have similar answers.
(ii) Keep your answers covered so students sitting near you do not have the opportunity to cheat from your exam.
(iii) If you suspect that someone is cheating from your exam, then immediately notify the course instructor or one of the proctors. That way, a record can be made of the incident, and alternative seating arrangements can be provided.
Plagiarism: 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 The University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).
Students are strongly encouraged to submit a draft of their written assignments to Turnitin at least 36 hours before the due date, so they can examine the plagiarism report and make necessary corrections if matches are detected (Turnitin has a 24 hour wait time before you can access the plagiarism report).
Possible penalties for scholastic offenses include failure of the assignment; failure of the course; suspension from the University; and expulsion from the University.
(5) Minimizing Distractions During Classes:
To avoid unnecessary distractions, please keep these simple rules in mind:
(a) Arrive to each class on time (if you must arrive late, please find a seat at the side of the room, not in the middle of the room);
(b) Do not leave the room during the lecture unless it’s an emergency. Wait until the break, or you might miss some important exam material;
(c) Ensure that your cell phone is off!;
(d) Avoid “private” conversations with the person sitting next to you! This can be a very serious problem that must be avoided. Please note that private conversations can be distracting to other students even if you are discussing the lecture material!
5.0 EVALUATION
Course grades will be based on two Exams and a Research Proposal. Note: Final grades cannot be adjusted on the basis of “need” (e.g., the need to get into graduate or professional school; the need to stay in a program, etc.).(1) Exams. Each two-hour exam will consist of “short answer” questions that test your ability to identify, conceptualize, and/or apply the course material. Sample questions (from previous exams) will be provided before the first exam to illustrate the format (see Resources section of OWL). Students are responsible for material assigned in the readings, as well as material covered in lectures. The midterm exam (February 9), worth 35% of the final grade, will cover material from January 5 through February
2. The final exam (date, time, and location to be announced), worth 35% of the final grade, will cover material from March 1 through April 5.
(2) Research Proposal. You are required to write a research proposal, which is worth 30% of the final grade. The maximum length of the proposal is 15 typed, double-spaced pages (excluding references). It is due at the beginning of the last class (April 5, 7 pm).
Your goal is to propose a study (preferably an experiment) that would extend our understanding of any
area in prosocial or antisocial behavior. Note that you will not actually conduct the study.
I suggest that you begin by choosing a topic area that interests you (see Weekly Topics and Readings below for an overview of possible topic areas; an up-to-date Social Psychology textbook will contain chapters on Helping and Aggression that might suggest other interesting topic areas).
Then, to get ideas for possible studies, conduct a literature review to find out what has been done in this area. PsycINFO will provide an up-to-date listing of published studies in your chosen area, and can be accessed from the library’s website (http://www.lib.uwo.ca). Feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss your preliminary ideas.
The write-up of your proposal should include (1) an "Introduction", (2) a "Method" section, and (3) an "Anticipated Results and Discussion" section.
(1) The Introduction should introduce your topic area (the general issue or problem). Past research that is directly relevant to your proposed study should be reviewed to show what has already been done.
Then you should explain why another study is necessary (i.e., you should explain how your study will extend past research in this area). Finally, state the specific predictions of your proposed study. Note that your predictions should follow logically from the literature reviewed (e.g., "given [this set of findings] and [this set of findings] we can predict [this new finding]"). Avoid proposing an "exploratory study" where no firm predictions can be made. I strongly encourage you to contact me if you wish to discuss these issues in more detail.
(2) The Method section should present details about how the study would be conducted. To facilitate the organization of this section, you should include two major sub-sections. The "Participants" sub- section should include a brief description of who the participants are and where they would be obtained. The "Procedure" sub-section should include a detailed description of the procedures you would use, including (a) specific instructions that would be provided to participants, (b) how the independent variable(s) would be manipulated, and (c) how the dependent variable(s) would be measured. Except in rare circumstances, you should not include a separate "Apparatus/Materials" section that describes your measures; instead, integrate this material into the procedure sub-section. A useful rule of thumb: Your procedures should be presented in the order that they will occur (e.g., don’t mention “debriefing” before you’ve presented the independent and dependent variables). If you have any questions about this section of your proposal, please see me.
(3) The Anticipated Results and Discussion section should present the anticipated results, including a Table or Figure that illustrates all of your conditions and clearly shows how the conditions are expected to differ (use hypothetical numbers for purposes of exposition). Do not include inferential statistics (e.g. Fs, ts or standard deviations). Including these statistics would make it look like you actually conducted the study (which you didn’t). Make sure that you describe the contents of any Tables/Figures in the text of your paper. Note that you do not have to explain how you would analyze the results. You should then relate your predicted findings back to the material in the Introduction and reiterate how the findings would extend past research in this area. You should also discuss “specific limitations” of your study, and speculate about “directions for future research” (again, be specific).
Finally, a list of "References" (which includes the sources of all material cited in your paper) should be appended.
Current journal articles will provide useful examples of how to structure the various sections of your proposal. If you are majoring in psychology, you should use this opportunity to practice following the guidelines that are set forth in the APA Publication Manual (6th Edition, second printing). Again, please see me at any time if you are unsure how to proceed with the research proposal.
Note: I’ve provided you with three additional documents in the Resources section of OWL. The first document describes Some Techniques for Generating Non-Exploratory Research Proposals that students and I have used in the past. This document is designed to help you get started, so please read it carefully.
The second document describes some Things To Keep In Mind When Writing Your Research Proposal. The third document provides some Feedback from the Past that I’ve provided when marking students’
research proposals. The focus of this feedback is on problems that should be avoided. As such, it
should be useful when writing your final drafts.
The deadline for submitting the research proposal (Tuesday, April 5, 2016, 7 pm) is firm. Five marks out of 30 will be deducted if the paper is not handed in on time; the penalty will increase by three additional marks each day that the paper is late (weekends count as two days). Please note: Problems with printers and computers will not be considered legitimate reasons for extending the deadline. You should anticipate (and avoid) these problems in advance (e.g., ensure that you maintain a backup copy of your work; regularly scan your computer for viruses; finish the paper before the deadline). In any event, papers will not be accepted after the Final Exam, which will be scheduled by the Registrar during the Final Examination Period.
Recommended Schedule for completing the Research Proposal:
January: Find area that interests you (skim readings; intro textbooks, etc.).
February: Review past research in this area (PsycInfo).
How can past research be extended? (see “Techniques” document). Develop outline of research proposal (Intro, Method, Anticipated R&D) Discuss ideas with me (any time).
March: Write first draft (March 1 - 15).
Write second draft (March 16 - 30); focus on writing style/organization; avoid problems discussed in “Sample Feedback” document.
Submit draft to Turnitin and check for “matches” (March 30).
Revise, print, and submit Final Draft by April 1 (4 days before deadline).
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
|
Midterm Exam |
February 9, 2016 (in class) |
35% |
|
Research Proposal |
Due April 5, 2016, 7 pm |
30% |
|
Final Exam |
Final Exam period (April 9 - 30) |
35% |
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
WEEKLY TOPICS AND READINGS
PART I
Prosocial Behavior: The Psychology of Helping
January 5 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Penner, L.A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., & Schroeder, D. A. (2005). Prosocial behavior: Multilevel perspectives. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 365 - 392. Available ONLINE: http://www.lib.uwo.ca
January 12 PERSONAL INFLUENCES I: BIOLOGICAL FACTORS
Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., Schroeder, D. A., & Penner, L. A. (2006). The origins of prosocial behavior: Are people selfish or selfless by nature? In J. F. Dovidio et al. The social psychology of prosocial behavior (pp. 33 - 64). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. [see OWL - RESOURCES]
January 19 PERSONAL INFLUENCES II: EMOTIONAL FACTORS
Baron, R. A. (1997). The sweet smell of ... helping: Effects of pleasant ambient fragrance on prosocial behavior in shopping malls. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 498 - 503. Available ONLINE: http://www.lib.uwo.ca
January 26 PERSONAL INFLUENCES III: EGOISM vs ALTRUISM
Batson, C. D., Van Lange, P. A., Ahmad, N., & Lishner, D. A. (2003). Altruism and helping behavior. In M.
A. Hogg & J. Cooper (Eds.), The Sage handbook of social psychology (pp. 279 - 295). Thousand Oaks: Sage. [see OWL - RESOURCES]
February 2 1. SITUATIONAL INFLUENCES: THE BYSTANDER EFFECT
Garcia, S. M., Weaver, K., Moskowitz, G. B., & Darley, J. M. (2002). Crowded minds: The implicit bystander effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 843 - 853. Available ONLINE: http://www.lib.uwo.ca
2. INTERPERSONAL INFLUENCES: WHOM DO WE HELP?
Burger, J. M. et al (2004). What a coincidence! The effects of incidental similarity on compliance.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 35 - 43. Available ONLINE: http://www.lib.uwo.ca
Sturmer, S. & Snyder, M. (2010). Helping “us” versus “them”: Towards a group-level theory of helping and altruism within and across group boundaries. In S. Sturmer & M. Snyder (Eds.) The psychology of prosocial behavior (pp. 33 - 58). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. [see OWL - RESOURCES]
F ebruary 9 ***** M ID TE R M E X A M (35%) *****
February 16 Reading Week (no class)
February 23 No Class (work on research proposal)
PART II
Antisocial Behavior: The Psychology of Aggression and Deviance
March 1 INTRODUCTION: DEFINING AND STUDYING AGGRESSION
Geen, R. G. (2001). Human aggression (Ch. 1, pp. 1 - 8). New York, NY: Open University Press. [see OWL
- RESOURCES]
March 8 THE ROLE OF BIOLOGY AND SOCIAL LEARNING
Geen, R. G. (2001). Human aggression (Ch. 1, pp. 8 - 20). New York, NY: Open University Press. [same chapter as March 1]
McAndrew, F. T. (2009). The interacting roles of testosterone and challenges to status in human male aggression. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14 (5), 330 - 335. Available ONLINE: http://www.lib.uwo.ca
March 15 THE ROLE OF FRUSTRATION AND NEGATIVE AFFECT
Geen, R. G. (2001) Human aggression (Ch 2, pp. 32 - 37). New York, NY: Open University Press. [see OWL - RESOURCES]
Bushman, B. J. (2002). Does venting anger feed or extinguish the flame? Catharsis, rumination, distraction, anger, and aggressive responding. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28 (6), 724 - 731. Available ONLINE: http://www.lib.uwo.ca
March 22 THE ROLE OF AROUSAL, EMOTIONS, AND COGNITION
Klinesmith, J., Kasser, T., & McAndrew, F. T. (2006). Guns, testosterone, and aggression. Psychological Science, 17 (7), 568 - 571. Available ONLINE: http://www.lib.uwo.ca
Subra, B. et al. (2010). Automatic effects of alcohol and aggressive cues on aggressive thoughts and behaviors. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36 (8), 1052 - 1057. Available ONLINE: http://www.lib.uwo.ca
March 29 (1) THE EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO MEDIA VIOLENCE
Boxer, P. Huesmann, R., Bushman, B., O’brien, & Moceri, D. (2009). The role of violent media preference in cumulative developmental risk for violence and general aggression. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38 (3), 417 - 428. Available ONLINE: http://www.lib.uwo.ca
(2) LECTURE TOPIC: DEVIANCE {no assigned reading}
April 5 SUMMARY AND REVIEW {Research Proposal is due (30%)}
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.
