Psychology 3723G 001 FW22
Attitudes and Attitude Change
If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.
WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON CANADA
Department of Psychology
2022-2023
Psychology 3723G Section 001
Attitudes and Attitude Change
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
This course will describe research and theory in social psychology relating to attitudes. Topics to be covered include dissonance, factors associated with effective persuasion, resistance to persuasion, advertising, religious attitudes, environmental attitudes, prejudice, and propaganda.
Antirequisites: Psychology 3721F/G, Psychology 3740F/G, the former Psychology 3710F/G.
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. 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.
Prerequisites: Psychology 2820E or both Psychology 2800E and Psychology 2810.
Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol 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 a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
2 lecture hours, 1 tutorial hour; Course Weight: 0.5
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Corey Isaacs
Office Hours: Wednesdays 9:00 – 11:00 AM (by appointment)
Email: cisaacs3@uwo.ca
The best way to contact me is by email. Please send emails only from your Western email account and include “Psych 3723G-001” in the subject line of any email you send. I will always do my best to respond to your email within 48 hours, but during busy times it may take a little longer.
Time and Location of Classes: Mondays 7:00 – 9:00 PM in SSC-2024
Times and Location of Tutorials: Section 002: Wed. 3:30 – 4:30 PM in UCC-37
Section 003: Wed. 4:30 – 5:30 PM in UCC-37
Section 004: Thurs. 3:30 – 4:30 PM in AHB 1B06
Section 005: Thurs. 4:30 – 5:30 PM in AHB 1B06
Delivery Method: In-Person
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness @Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
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 contact Accessible Education at aew@uwo.ca or 519-661-2147.
3.0 TEXTBOOK
Maio, G. R., & Haddock, G. (2019). The Psychology of Attitudes & Attitude Change, 3rd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (print ISBN: 9781526425836; etext ISBN: 9781526454140)
This textbook is available in the UWO Bookstore as a hard copy or as an etextbook.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course, students should understand the basic theories, methods, and findings in the literature on attitudes and attitude change. Topics include theories of attitudes (e.g., dissonance theory, elaboration likelihood model), persuasion, advertising, propaganda, and prejudice.
Lectures are intended to complement the textbook and may include material that is not in the textbook. Thus, it is very important that you attend class and take notes every week.
Discussion during lecture time is encouraged, so please feel free to ask questions at any point and to offer your thoughts about issues raised in the lectures. Tutorial meetings will be discussion-based and will focus on specific aspects of the week’s lecture topic.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
|
Learning Outcome |
Learning Activity |
Assessment |
|
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge Identify and describe the biological, psychological, and social factors that influence people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors |
Lectures, Textbook, Essay, Discussions |
Exams, Essay, Tutorial participation |
|
Application of Knowledge Apply theoretical principles and research findings to examples of attitude formation and change in everyday life |
Lectures, Textbook, Essay, Discussions |
Exams, Essay, Tutorial participation |
|
Evaluation of Knowledge Critically evaluate theories, research methods, and findings from the study of attitudes and attitude change |
Lectures, Textbook, Essay, Discussions |
Exams, Essay, Tutorial participation |
|
Communication Skills Communicate ideas clearly and concisely, in language accessible to intelligent non-experts (oral and written formats) |
Lectures, Essay, Discussions |
Exams, Essay, Tutorial participation |
|
Awareness of Limits of Knowledge Describe and explain the limits of research conclusions in the context of methodological practices within the field |
Lectures, Essay, Discussions |
Exams, Essay, Tutorial participation |
5.0 EVALUATION
The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4.0 and are considered necessary for meeting these learning objectives.
PLEASE NOTE: Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay component to pass the course. That is, the grade for your essay must be at least 50%.
5.1 EXAMS (55% of course grade)
There will be a midterm exam (worth 25% of your course grade) and a final exam (worth 30% of your course grade). Each two-hour exam will consist of a combination of multiple-choice and short-essay questions that assess your ability to identify, conceptualize, and/or apply the course material.
Textbook and lecture material from chapters 1 to 5 will be tested on the midterm exam, and material from chapters 6 to 11 will be tested on the final exam. The final exam is not cumulative—that is, you will not be responsible on the final exam for material that was tested on the midterm exam.
5.2 ESSAY (30% of course grade)
You will be required to write an essay of approximately 10-12 double-spaced pages (plus title page & references) on one of several attitude-relevant topics that will be discussed in class and provided on our course website. More detailed information will be provided in class and on OWL.
Your essay should review some of the existing literature on the topic. You must cite at least five articles or chapters in addition to the one provided for the topic, and you should make clear that you have read the articles. For example, do NOT cite a paper in the following way: “Threats to self-esteem sometimes produce self-enhancing judgments (e.g., Jones & Leonard, 2018).” Instead, describe the study in the cited paper and explain how it demonstrated the principle, or summarize the specific arguments presented in the paper to support a theory.
Your essay must also provide two examples of the topic in real life. One of the examples must be from your own experiences. This does not mean that you were necessarily involved, but it must be from your life. For example, the event might have involved someone in your family or a friend. The other example must be from the media, such as television, newspapers, or the Internet. The event should be verifiable by some source, which should be cited in your paper (e.g., the channel and date of a television broadcast, the newspaper and date, or the Internet website). You must explain how or why your examples illustrate the topic. Relate your examples to your prior review of the literature on the topic. Why are your examples good ones? Do any elements of your examples not fit with the topic?
Marks will be based on the quality of the writing, the clarity and accuracy of the descriptions of the articles, and the appropriateness/relevance of the chosen examples.
Note that Friday, March 31st is the LAST POSSIBLE day on which you can submit the essay without a late penalty, not the day that you should be aiming for. Aim to submit your work at least a week before the deadline, then you will have plenty of flex time should you fall behind your schedule. I will NOT extend your deadline because you didn’t plan accordingly or because you had last-minute problems.
5.3 TUTORIAL PARTICIPATION (15% of course grade)
Participation in the weekly tutorial sessions is worth 15% of your course grade. Your participation is based on the quality and quantity of your contributions to the tutorial discussions each week (10%), as well as your own student-led tutorial discussion (5%). More information will be provided on OWL.
5.4 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK
Exams. If you are unable to write an exam at the scheduled time, you must request permission from your faculty to write a makeup exam by submitting documentation to your faculty academic counselling office to receive academic considerations. A student who misses an exam without permission from their faculty will be assigned a grade of zero for that exam. If a student is unable to write the midterm exam and the makeup midterm exam and has received academic considerations for both, the weight of that exam may be reassigned to the final exam.
Essay. The essay is due by 11:55 PM on Friday, March 31st. There is a 10% per day late penalty, and the absolute latest that it can be submitted (without academic considerations) is Wednesday, April 5th. If you receive academic considerations from your faculty academic counselling office (e.g., due to illness), that deadline will be extended accordingly.
Tutorial Participation. Absence from tutorial sessions will result in a participation grade of zero for that session unless your absence is excused by your faculty via academic considerations. If your absence from a tutorial is excused, that tutorial session will be omitted from your participation grade calculation. If you are excused from a tutorial in which you were scheduled to lead that week’s discussion, you will be reassigned to lead the tutorial discussion on a different date.
5.5 IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT GRADES
This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty.
The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses
72% 2100-2999-level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines, which are as follows (see: https://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
Note that in the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.
Policy on Grade Rounding: Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course.
6.0 ASSESSMENT SCHEDULE
Tutorial Participation Weekly
Midterm Exam (Chapters 1 – 5) 7:00 – 9:00 PM on Monday, February 13
Essay Before midnight on Friday, March 31
Final Exam (Chapters 6 – 11) During final exam period (TBA; April 13 – 30)
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
|
Dates |
Reading |
Topic |
||
|
Jan. 9 |
Chapter 1 |
Definition and Measurement of Attitudes |
||
|
Jan. 16 |
Chapter 2 |
Attitude Content, Structure, and Functions |
||
|
Jan. 23 |
Chapter 3 |
Attitudes and Information Processing |
||
|
Jan. 30 |
Chapter 4 |
Attitudes and Behaviour |
||
|
Feb. 6 |
Chapter 5 |
Cognitive Approaches to Attitudes |
||
|
Feb. 13 |
MIDTERM EXAM (Chapters 1 – 5) |
|||
|
Feb. 20 |
NO CLASS – Reading week |
|||
|
Feb. 27 |
Chapter 6 |
Affective Approaches to Attitudes |
||
|
March 6 |
Chapter 7 |
Behavioural Approaches to Attitudes |
||
|
March 13 |
Chapter 8 |
How Attitudes are Shaped |
||
|
March 20 |
Chapter 9 |
Internal Influences on Attitudes |
||
|
March 27 |
Chapter 10 |
External Influences on Attitudes |
||
|
April 3 |
Chapter 11 |
Future Directions in Attitudes Research |
||
|
April 10 |
----- |
Study Time [no lecture this week] |
||
|
TBA (April 13 – 30) |
FINAL EXAM (Chapters 6 – 11) |
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8.0 Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.
With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.
9.0 STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES
Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence are described at the following link: https://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 offences. 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).
Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.
Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
10.0 POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE
If a remote proctoring service is used, the service will require you to provide personal information (including some biometric data). The session will be recorded. In the event that in-person exams are unexpectedly canceled, you may only be given notice of the use of a proctoring service a short time in advance. More information about remote proctoring is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines. Please ensure you are familiar with any proctoring service’s technical requirements before the exam. Additional guidance is available at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf
* Please note that Zoom servers are located outside Canada. If you would prefer to use only your first name or a nickname to login to Zoom, please provide this information to the instructor in advance of the test or examination. See this link for technical requirements: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us
11.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES
Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
https://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:
- For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
- For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.
Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation.
https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html
Students seeking academic consideration:
- are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;
- must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hoursafter the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence
Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.
12.0 Contingency Plan for Return to Lockdown: IN-Person & Blended classes
In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence or any other event that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online, as determined by the course instructor.
13.0 STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE
In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette:
- please “arrive” to class on time
- please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet)
- please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material
- to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise
- In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak
- In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable
- Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting
The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following:
- If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question.
- Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking.
- Self-identify when speaking.
- Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise).
General considerations of “netiquette”:
- Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course.
- Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing.
- Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate.
- Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately.
Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct.
14.0 OTHER INFORMATION
Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca
Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca
Psychology Undergraduate Program: https://www.psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/index.html
If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf
Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).
Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor.
