Psychology 2070A 650 SU22
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.
WESTERN UNIVERSITY
LONDON CANADA
Department of Psychology
2021 - 2022
Psychology 2070A Section 650
Social Psychology
1.0 CALENDAR DESCRIPTION
An introduction to the theories, methods, findings, and problems encountered in the study of people as social beings.
Antirequisite: Psychology 2720A/B, Psychology 2780E
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.
Prerequisite: Not Applicable.
Course Weight: 0.5
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Dr. Corey Isaacs
Office Hours: via Zoom by appointment
Email: cisaacs3@uwo.ca
The best way to contact me is by email. Please include “Psych 2070” in the subject line and send emails only from your Western email account. 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: This course will be offered online asynchronously—you will not be required to attend any weekly class sessions. Lecture videos will be released on OWL every Sunday and will remain available for the remainder of the course.
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
Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., Akert, R. M., & Fehr, B. (2021). REVEL Social Psychology (7th Canadian Edition). Pearson Education Canada, Inc. (ISBN: 9780135498613)
The etextbook is an integrated part of the REVEL website and includes access to all their online tools, including the audio book and study aids. You may purchase a REVEL access code via the Western Book Store website or directly from Pearson’s website (https://catalogue.pearsoned.ca/educator/product/Revel-for-Social-Psychology-Seventh-Canadian-Edition-Access-Card/9780135498613.page).
When you're ready, you can access your textbook at https://console.pearson.com/enrollment/zwfkf0.
If you need help, check out these Revel student resources: https://www.pearsonhighered.com/revel/students/support/
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the course students should understand the basic theories, methods, and findings in various areas of social psychology. The topics include attitudes, conformity, aggression, helping behaviour, social relations, social cognition, and prejudice.
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Learning Outcome |
Learning Activity |
Assessment |
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Identify and describe key concepts, principles, and overarching themes in social psychology. |
Readings, Lectures, Online Discussions |
Exams, Online Discussions, Chapter Quizzes |
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Interpret and critically evaluate social psychological research. |
Readings, Lectures, Online Discussions |
Exams, Online Discussions, Chapter Quizzes |
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Apply psychological theories and concepts to the understanding of everyday problems. |
Readings, Lectures, Online Discussions |
Exams, Online Discussions, Chapter Quizzes |
|
Communicate accurately, clearly, and logically, in a way that would be broadly understandable to a non-specialist audience. |
Online Discussions |
Online Discussions |
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Recognize the limits of one’s own knowledge and knowledge in the field of psychology. |
Readings, Lectures, Online Discussions |
Exams, Online Discussions |
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Work collaboratively with others to achieve a goal. |
Online Discussions |
Online Discussions |
5.0 EVALUATION
5.1 EXAMS (75% of final mark)
This class includes two midterm exams (each worth 20%) and a final exam (worth 35%), which will be administered synchronously online. Exams will consist of multiple-choice questions and will cover material from the textbook and the OWL lessons. The final exam will be cumulative (i.e., it will assess material from the entire course), with an emphasis on material from Units 9 – 12.
Exams will be administered synchronously on OWL and will be conducted using Zoom. See Section 10.0 below for more information about exam monitoring/proctoring software.
5.2 ONLINE DISCUSSIONS (25% of final mark)
There will be a discussion forum posted to OWL each week (12 throughout the course), and you will be required to participate in any FIVE of the discussions throughout the term to earn the Online Discussions component of your course grade. You can choose to participate in six discussions, in which case your BEST FIVE OF SIX discussion grades will be used to calculate your Online Discussions grade. If you participate in more than six discussions, your grade will be based only on the FIRST SIX—any additional discussions beyond the first six will not be graded. The ‘Introduce Yourself!’ forum is NOT graded.
Each discussion will be open for seven days, from 12:05 AM on Sunday until 11:55 PM the following Saturday. You will be required to post at least one question to your group (before midnight on Monday) about the previous week's topic as a starting point for discussion. You will also be required to respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts before 11:55 PM on Saturday. Once the discussion closes, no more posts can be made. Post early to avoid last-minute problems, and always back up your work (screenshots of your forum posts are ideal), as “technical difficulties” is NOT an acceptable excuse for missing a discussion deadline.
5.3 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK
There are no makeup exams for the midterms. If a student receives academic considerations from their faculty (see Section 11.0 below) regarding a midterm exam, that 20% portion of their course grade will be reassigned to their cumulative final exam.
There will be a makeup final exam at 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM on Friday, August 12. Students will need to receive academic considerations from their faculty to write the makeup final exam.
If a student receives academic considerations for an online discussion forum, that may include an extension on the Monday night question deadline or omission of a missed/incomplete discussion from the calculation of their Online Discussions grade. It is not possible to participate in a missed or incomplete discussion forum after the forum has closed.
5.4 IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT GRADES
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/EVALUATION SCHEDULE
Online Discussions Sunday – Saturday each week
Midterm Exam 1 (Units 1 - 4) 10:00 – 11:00 AM on Saturday, June 4
Midterm Exam 2 (Units 5 - 8) 10:00 – 11:00 AM on Saturday, July 9
Final Exam (Cumulative) TBA (August 2 - 5)
Makeup Final Exam (Cumulative) 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM on Friday, August 12
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
Changes to the class schedule will be announced on the OWL course website. Students are responsible for being aware of announcements made on OWL.
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DATES |
OWL UNIT |
READING |
TOPIC |
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May 8 - 14 |
Unit 1 |
Chapter 1 |
Introduction |
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May 15 - 21 |
Unit 2 |
Chapter 2 |
Research Methods |
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May 22 - 28 |
Unit 3 |
Chapter 3 |
Social Cognition |
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May 29 - June 4 |
Unit 4 |
Chapter 4 |
Social Perception |
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Saturday, June 4, 10:00 – 11:00 AM |
MIDTERM EXAM 1 (Units 1 – 4) |
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June 5 - 11 |
Unit 5 |
Chapter 5 |
The Self |
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June 12 - 18 |
Unit 6 |
Chapter 6 |
Attitudes |
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June 19 - 25 |
Unit 7 |
Chapter 7 |
Conformity |
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June 26 - July 2 |
Unit 8 |
Chapter 8 |
Group Processes |
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July 3 - 9 |
Unit 9 |
Chapter 9 |
Interpersonal Attraction |
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Saturday, July 9, 10:00 – 11:00 AM |
MIDTERM EXAM 2 (Units 5 – 8) |
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July 10 - 16 |
Unit 10 |
Chapter 10 |
Prosocial Behaviour |
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July 17 - 23 |
Unit 11 |
Chapter 11 |
Aggression |
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July 24 - 30 |
Unit 12 |
Chapter 12 |
Prejudice |
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TBA (August 2 - 5) |
FINAL EXAM (Cumulative; Emphasis on Units 9 – 12) |
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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
When examinations and tests cannot be given in person (e.g., in courses coded as Distance Studies; in the event of a lockdown order), they may be conducted using either a monitoring platform such as Zoom or a remote proctoring service, such as Proctortrack. If Zoom is used for exam invigilation, you will be required to keep your camera on for the entire session, hold up your student card for identification purposes, and share your screen with the invigilator if asked to do so at any time during the exam. The exam session using Zoom will not be recorded.*
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:
- Submitting a Self-Reported Absence form (for circumstances that are expected to resolve within 48 hours);
- 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. The self-reported absence form must be submitted before the exam/coursework deadline in order to be valid. It may NOT be used for absences longer than 48 hours; coursework/tests/exams/etc., worth more than 30% of the final grade; or exams scheduled in the December or April final-exam periods:
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;
- are encouraged to make appropriate decisions based on their specific circumstances, recognizing that minor ailments (upset stomach) or upsets (argument with a friend) are not normally an appropriate basis for a self-reported absence;
- must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hoursafter the end of the period covered by either the self-reported absence or 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
Please see the Psychology Undergraduate web site/Current Student Information for information on the following:
- 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
- Calendar References
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.
