Psychology 3720F 650 SU22

The Psychology of Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviour

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 [3720F]    Section [650] 

[The Psychology of Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviour] 

 

 

  1. CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

 

The course will consider the social, situational and personality factors responsible for the occurrence of antisocial behaviors such as violence and aggression, and of prosocial behaviors such as helping others in disaster or crisis situations. 

 

Antirequisite: [Not Applicable]

 

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(s): Psychology 2820E or both Psychology 2800E and Psychology 2810 (or Psychology 2780E or permission of the Department at Huron).

 

[3] lecture hours; Course Weight: [0.5] 

 

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. 

 

 

2.0         COURSE INFORMATION 

 

Instructor:   Dr. Logan Ewanation                     

Office and Phone Number: n/a 

Office Hours: Available by appointment                   

Email: lewanat@uwo.ca                                                   

 

Teaching Assistant:                                                        

Office:                                                                                                       

Office Hours:                    

Email:                                             

 

Time and Location of Classes: [Asynchronous content modules will be posted online every Monday by 2:30pm.]   

Delivery Method: Virtual

 

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 

 

Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., Schroeder, D. A., & Penner, L. A. (2006). The Social Psychology of Prosocial Behavior. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.  

 

Krahé, B. (2013). The Social Psychology of Aggression (2nd edition). New York, NY: Psychology Press.  

 

4.0         COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES 

 

In this course, we will cover key theories and findings in the scientific study of prosocial and antisocial behaviour. Students will also learn about the methods used to study prosocial and antisocial behaviour. This course is organized around content-focused online modules and weekly assigned chapter readings. The online modules will consist of short videos, course notes, reflection papers, and worksheets.

 

Learning Outcome  

Learning Activity  

Assessment 

Depth and Breadth of Knowledge.  

·       Evaluate and describe contemporary theory, and methods relevant to prosocial and antisocial behaviours

 Weekly online module

Assigned readings

Class discussion

Working on final research paper

 Multiple choice and short-answer exams

 

Weekly module quizzes

 

Final research paper

Knowledge of Methodologies.  

·       Critically evaluate the appropriateness of different approaches to studying prosocial and antisocial behaviours

 Weekly online modules

Assigned readings

Working on final research paper

 Multiple choice and short-answer exams

 

Weekly module quizzes

 

Final research paper

Application of Knowledge.  

·       Apply concepts and theories to understand when and why prosocial and antisocial behaviours may occur

 Weekly online modules

Working final research paper

 

 Multiple choice and short-answer exams

 

Weekly module quizzes

 

Final Research paper

Communication Skills.  

·       Conceptualize and summarize findings from the scholarly literature on prosocial and antisocial behaviour. Communicate these in writing.

 Weekly online modules

 

Working on final research paper

 Final research paper

Awareness of Limits of Knowledge. 

·        Understand issues around the measurement of prosocial and antisocial behaviours

·        Understand constraints on generality based on the context and the target population

Weekly online modules 

 

Working on research proposal

 Final research paper

 

 

5.0         EVALUATION 

 

Mid-Term Exam – (32.5%): The first exam will cover all course material (readings and online module content) from Weeks 1-5. The exam will consist of multiple choice, true & false, and short-answer questions. The exam will be 90 minutes in length. Students will have the opportunity to write the exam anytime between 8am on June 13th and 8pm on June 17th.

Quizzes (20%) – The end of every online module will involve a short multiple-choice quiz based on material from that week’s readings and module content. You will be allowed two attempts per quiz. Each quiz is worth 2%, and students will be able to drop their lowest quiz grade (i.e., the top 10 quiz grades will be what counts towards your final mark). The quizzes are intended to keep you caught up on your readings, improve your comprehension of the material, and gauge your own understanding of course content. There will be absolutely no makeup quizzes.

Research outline/summary (15%) - Students will have the opportunity to apply the course materials by formulating a novel research idea and proposing a study to address it. The research project you propose must address a research question directly related to prosocial and/or antisocial behaviour. For the research proposal summary, you will prepare a concise document that briefly summarizes two articles you plan to use in your literature review, while also outlining the theoretical background and rationale for the proposed research question. There is a strict two-page limit for the proposal summary (double spaced, 1 inch margins on all sides, APA formatting), with a third page allotted for a reference list. The research summary is due June 30th at 11pm.

Research proposal (32.5% written component) - Students will have the opportunity to apply the course materials by formulating a research question and proposing a study to answer it. The final paper should [1] provide a literature review, [2] outline a hypothesis (or hypotheses) you are interested in testing, [3] specify a method for examining the proposed question, [4] describe your expected results, and [5] discuss implications and plausible alternative accounts of what the research may yield. The final paper must be at least 2500 words, not including references (double-spaced, formatted with 12-point Times New Roman; 1 inch margins on all sides; written in accordance with APA guidelines) and is due on July 29th at 11pm. There will be a 10% per day penalty for late submissions. As a general guide, the literature review and the description of the hypothesis/hypotheses should be 4-6 pages in length, the method should be 1-3 pages in length, the expected results should be 1-3 pages in length, and the implications/alternative accounts should be 2-4 pages.

 

 

5.1 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK 

 

Mid-Term Exam - If you have an excused absence and are unable to write the first exam (i.e., academic counselling-approved documentation), then you will write an alternative version with the time and date to be determined. The makeup exam may be in a different format from the regular exam. If you have a non- excused absence and you do not write the exam, you will receive a grade of 0.

Weekly Quizzes – Because students have all week to complete each quiz, and because you can drop your lowest quiz mark, there will be no makeup quizzes.

Research Summary - There will be a 10% per day penalty for late submission of research summary papers.

Final Research Proposal - There will be a 10% per day penalty for late submission of research proposal papers.

 

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 average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%. 

 

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/EVALUATION SCHEDULE 

 

Quizzes - Weekly

Mid-Term Exam – June 13th – June 17th

Research Summary – June 30th

Final Research Proposal – July 29th 

 

 

 

7.0         CLASS SCHEDULE 

 

Week

Week Of

Topic

Readings

1

May 9

An Introduction to Prosocial Behaviour

Dovidio, Chapter 1

2

May 16

The Origins of Prosocial Behaviour

Dovidio, Chapter 2

3

May 23

The Context: When Will People Help?

Dovidio, Chapter 3

4

May 30

Why Do People Help?

Dovidio, Chapter 4

5

June 6

Being the Helper and Being Helped: Causes & Consequences

Dovidio, Chapter 7

6

June 13

MID-TERM EXAM

N/A

7

June 20

Defining & Measuring Aggression

Krahe, Chapter 2

8

June 27

Development of Aggression & Individual Differences
Research Summary Due June 30th

Krahe, Chapter 3

9

July 4

Situational Elicitation of Aggressive Behaviour

 

Krahe, Chapter 4

10

July 11

Media Violence and Aggression

 

Krahe, Chapter 5

11

July 18

Aggression Between Social Groups

 

Krahe, Chapter 9

12

July 25

Terrorism

 

Final Research Paper Due July 29th

Krahe, Chapter 10

 

 

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 hours after 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.