Psychology 2070A-001
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, methods, findings, and problems encountered in the study of people as social beings.
Antirequisites: Psychology 2720A/B, 2780E and the former Psychology 170
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. So if this course has an antirequisite that you have previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in this one.
3 lecture hours, 0.5 course
2.0 COURSE INFORMATION
Instructor: Sarah Moroz
Office: SSC 6323
Office Hours: by appointment
Email: smoroz2@uwo.ca
Time and Location of Classes: SSC 2036, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM, Mondays and Wednesdays
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. (2016). Social Psychology (6th Canadian
edition). Pearson Education Canada, Inc.
*** You may use other editions of this book at your own risk. Some test questions will come directly from textbook material, and if you are using another edition, I can’t guarantee that all of this material will be in there. ***
4.0 COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course provides a broad introduction to theories and findings related to the scientific study of human social behavior.
4.1 STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Understand ways in which social psychological processes occur in daily life, such as how people perceive themselves and others and how they interact with the surrounding environment
- Examine social psychology from an empirically-based, scholarly perspective, rather than from an intuitive or speculative perspective based solely on personal experience and observations
- Explain the scientific study of social psychology to a non-academic/non-psychologist
- Evaluate social psychological situations and make predictions about behaviour
5.0 EVALUATION
Five minute papers (10%)
Students will be required to complete “five minute papers” after each class (except the day of your midterm). Each Monday and Wednesday, one or more questions about that week’s lecture will be uploaded to Owl. You will be asked to respond to these questions to the best of your ability. These papers are not graded, but rather, are intended to get you thinking about the course material and engaging with your learning. You should be writing 3-5 full sentences for each paper in order to explain your answer.
Papers must be submitted on Owl by 11:55 PM on the day they were assigned. Each completed paper will earn you 1% (10 papers x 1% each = 10% total). Late papers will not be accepted.
This is also your opportunity to provide feedback on my teaching or the course material. I encourage you to let me know about concepts you are struggling with or ideas that you found confusing. I use this information to build short review sessions for the midterm and final exam, and to adapt my teaching style to best suit the class’s needs.
Midterm (35%)
The midterm is worth 35% of your final grade and will take place on June 4th, 2018 during class time (10:30 AM – 12:30 PM). This test covers chapters 1-6 and the May 14-30 lecture material. This test will consist of 60 multiple-choice questions.
Essay (20%)
Students will write a research-based essay worth 20% of their mark. The essay should be 6-10 pages long and will include a title page, at least 3 double-spaced essay pages, a reference page, and an appendix in which you paste the abstracts of articles used in the assignment. The specific details/instructions for the assignment will be available on OWL. Essays are due to Turn-It-In on OWL no later than 11:55 pm on Monday, June 18th. Late essays will lose 10% for every date they are late. (E.g., if you hand in an essay on June 19th, your maximum possible mark will be 90%).
Feel free to discuss the assignment with me. I am happy to help!
Final Exam (35%)
The final exam is worth 35% of your final grade and will take place during the final exam period in June. This exam is non-cumulative and covers chapters 7-12 and the June 6-20 lecture material.
Both the midterm and final exam will require not only that you learn and understand a good amount of information, but also that you be able to synthesize this information and apply it to novel contexts. Material from both the textbook readings and the lectures are fair game. Lecture material includes videos, demonstrations, guest lectures and anything else presented or discussed during class. I promise not to test your memory of names and dates, but you may be asked about the findings of specific research studies covered in class or in the textbook. Study hard!
In an effort to be as fair and objective as possible, I do not adjust grades based on student requests, or allow extra credit. If you are concerned about your mark after the midterm, or feel you need help in attaining the grade you want, please discuss this with me as soon as possible. The end of the term is not the right time to start a discussion about your grade. I will, however, adjust marks in the case of grading error or academic accommodation.
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 June 4
Essay due June 18
Final Exam TBA (during final exam period, June 25-26)
7.0 CLASS SCHEDULE
|
Class |
Date |
Topic(s) |
Reading(s) |
|
1 |
May 14 |
Introduction to Social Psychology |
Syllabus Chapter 1 |
|
2 |
May 16 |
Methodology |
Chapter 2 |
|
|
May 21 |
No class – Victoria Day |
|
|
3 |
May 23 |
Social Cognition & Social Perception |
Chapter 3 Chapter 4 |
|
4 |
May 28 |
The Self |
Chapter 5 |
|
5 |
May 30 |
Attitudes and Attitude Change Midterm Review |
Chapter 6 |
|
6 |
June 4 |
Midterm 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM |
|
|
7 |
June 6 |
Conformity & Group Processes |
Chapter 7 Chapter 8 |
|
8 |
June 11 |
Close Relationships |
Chapter 9 |
|
9 |
June 13 |
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination Guest lecture: Paolo Palma |
Chapter 12 |
|
10 |
June 18 |
Prosocial Behaviour |
Chapter 10 |
|
11 |
June 20 |
Aggression Final Exam Review |
Chapter 11 |
|
|
Date TBA |
Final Exam Time TBA (June 25 or 26) Location TBA |
|
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
- 2018 Calendar References
No electronic devices, including cell phones and smart watches, will be allowed during exams.
