Psychology 2720A-650 Summer Distance 2019
Introduction to 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, findings, methods, and problems encountered in the study of people as social beings. Emphasis will be placed on experimental research, conducted both in the laboratory and in the field. Content areas include: attitudes and social cognition, social interaction and influence, group processes and applications of social psychology.
Antirequisite: Psychology 2070A/B, 2712F/G, 2780E
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.
Prerequisite: At least 60% in a 1000 level Psychology course
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.
Course Weight: 0.5
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Rachel Calogero
Office and Phone Number: Westminster Hall 321, x80403
Office Hours: By appointment via email
Email: rcaloger@uwo.ca
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
Aronson, E., Wilson, T.D., Fehr, B., & Akert, R.M. (2017). Social Psychology (6th Canadian Edition). Toronto: Pearson.
Online notes and discussion board available on OWL powered by Sakai (https://owl.uwo.ca/portal)
Please note that we will cover only 11 of the 12 chapters in the text. Chapter 1 and Chapters 3-7 will be covered before the midterm exam, and Chapters 8-12 will be covered before the final exam. The final exam is not cumulative; that is, you are not responsible on the final exam for material from Chapter 1 or Chapters 3-7. We will not cover Chapter 2 in either exam.
You should be proceeding through the chapters at the rate of approximately one chapter per week. There will be a discussion board on the course website, which will list a new question each week for students to comment on. There will be a total of 10 discussions. You are expected to participate in these discussions regularly, and a portion of your grade will reflect participation in the discussion (see Evaluation below). You should offer your thoughts on the posted issue and comment on other students’ contributions. Do not post any derogatory, sarcastic, or demeaning comments about other students or their postings. Note your Discussions will be monitored.
Online notes have been prepared for each chapter to be covered from the textbook. Until the midterm exam, you may have access only to the notes accompanying Chapters 1-7. The remaining set of online notes (for Chapters 8-12) will be available on the website after the midterm exam is completed. The online notes for a given chapter will be available to you by the Monday of the week pertaining to that chapter (see Recommended Course Progression Schedule below). In the online notes you will find several links to websites that contain related information and videos. You are not responsible for these links on the exams; they are provided only for interest. I hope, however, that you will visit some or all of them, though the content of these may change and thus may contain material you may find objectionable.
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course will survey basic theory and research in social psychology. You will discover what social psychology is and what social psychologists do. Not only will you learn the basic content of social psychology, but the course should teach you to think critically about such everyday issues as: Does violence in the media affect the amount of violence in society? Why do bystanders to an emergency often fail to help the victim? What are the causes of prejudice? The social psychological perspective helps us to frame questions in a testable way, suggests how we might go about finding out answers, and requires us to evaluate the validity of our proposed answers. Because people are inherently social beings, you will hopefully recognize the applicability of social psychological concepts to your everyday life and can use these ideas to better your own life and the lives of those around you.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, the successful student should be able to:
- Identify key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in social psychology
(assessed by multiple choice exam questions)
- Interpret and critically evaluate social psychological research
(assessed by multiple choice exam questions and discussion contributions)
- Apply psychological principles to the understanding of everyday problems
(assessed by discussion contributions)
- Communicate accurately, clearly, and logically
(assessed by discussion contributions)
- Recognize the limits of one’s own knowledge and knowledge in the field of psychology and how this might influence the analysis and interpretations of broader issues
(assessed by multiple choice exam questions and discussion contributions)
- Work collaboratively with others to achieve a goal
(assessed by discussion contributions)
5.0 EVALUATION
Grade Breakdown:
35% - Midterm Exam
35% - Final Exam
30% - Online Discussions
All exams will be closed-book—no books, notes, cell phones, or aids of any type, other than a paper-based translation dictionary pre-approved by a proctor, will be allowed. Please bring a couple pencils, a good eraser, a watch, and your student identification to the examinations. At the beginning of each examination, you will be asked to place all items with you other than those listed above at the front of the exam room. We cannot be held responsible for theft, damage, or loss of items left there. Thus, it is recommended that you not bring valuables.
Make-up Exams
Examinations must be written at the scheduled dates/times unless you have a legitimate excuse recognized by your academic counselor. A student who misses a regularly scheduled exam for other reasons, or who cannot justify a claim, will be assigned a 0 for the exam. Please approach your academic counselor immediately, and directly (rather than contacting me), if you think you might have such an excuse.
Online Discussions (completed on Discussion Boards: 30 %)
There will be a discussion board on the course website. A total of 10 questions about issues related to the textbook chapters will be posted on the discussion board, one each week, starting with Chapter 3. Students are expected to participate in all of these discussions, both by posting their own thoughts or observations and by commenting constructively on other students’ comments. In the Discussion area of the course, you, as a student, can interact with your classmates to explore questions and comments related to the content of this course. A successful student in online education is one who takes an active role in the learning process. You are therefore encouraged to participate in the discussion to enhance your learning experience throughout the course.
Marks for discussion will be allocated as follows:
0 = Incomplete (no posting/question not answered)
1 = Some merit (question answered basically; basic contribution to discussion)
2 = Satisfactory (question answered fully; adequate contribution to discussion)
3 = Excellent (posting(s) go beyond basic requirements, present additional information from outside the textbook: student interacts well with the other students)
High quality posts would look something like this:
- elaborating on previous comments from others;
- presenting explanations of concepts or methods to help fellow students;
- presenting reasons (based on psychological evidence) for or against a topic in a persuasive fashion;
- sharing your own personal experiences that relate to the topic; and
- providing a URL and explanation for an area you researched on the Internet.
A new discussion question will be posted each applicable Monday. These discussion questions will be related to one of the textbook chapters. The discussion will be open until the following Saturday at 11:55 p.m. Although you are only required to make one posting that responds to each discussion question, you are strongly encouraged to post more, including responding to other students’ postings in addition to replying to students who have responded to your post.
Examinations (Midterm 35%, Final 35%)
There will be two examinations in the course, each worth 35% of the final mark. Each exam will consist of 60 multiple-choice questions. As noted above, the midterm exam will cover Chapters 1, 3-7, and the final exam will cover Chapters 8-12. Thus, the final exam is not cumulative. You are responsible for the textbook material and the online notes for the relevant chapters for each exam.
Note that content from links presented in the online notes are not testable.
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 Western's 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: Saturday, June 22, TBA (35%)
Final Exam: TBA (35%)
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Week 1 May 6 – 10 Introduction to Social Psychology Chapter 1
Week 2 May 13 – 17 Social Cognition Chapter 3
Week 3 May 20 – 24 Social Perception Chapter 4
Week 4 May 27 – 31 Self-Knowledge Chapter 5
Week 5 June 3 – 7 Attitudes and Attitude Change Chapter 6
Week 6 June 10 – 14 Conformity Chapter 7
Week 7 June 17 – 21 MIDTERM – June 22 Chapters 1, 3 - 7
Week 8 June 24 – 28 Group Processes Chapter 8
Week 9 July 1 – 5 Interpersonal Attraction Chapter 9
Week 10 July 8 – 12 Prosocial Behavior Chapter 10
Week 11 July 15 – 19 Aggression Chapter 11
Week 12 July 22 – 26 Prejudice Chapter 12
FINAL EXAM Chapters 8 - 12
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/PolicyPages.cfm?Command=showCategory&PolicyCategoryID=1&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12
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
- 2019 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
