Personality PsychologyPsychology 150
Spring 2011
Instructor: / Ryne Sherman, M.A.Office: / Olmsted 2133
Office Phone: / (951) 827 - 6393
Email: /
Lecture: / MWF, 9:40–10:30, University Village (UV) THE10
Office Hour: / Tuesday 1:00-2:00 pm
All sections are on Tuesday in PSYCH 2102
Teaching Assistant
/Ho Huynh
/Matt DellaPorta
/Chris Nave
Office Hour
/Th: 9:00-10:00am
/Th: 1:15-2:15pm
/Tu: 1:00-2:00pm
Office Location
/PSYC 3122
/OLM 2107-B
/OLM 2133B
Section Numbers
Times /21, 22, & 23
8:10, 9:10, & 10:10 /24, 25, & 26
11:10, 12:10, & 1:10 /27, 28, & 29
2:10, 3:10, & 4:10Required Course Texts
Textbook: Funder, D.C. (2010). The personality puzzle (5th edition). New York: Norton.
Reader: Funder, D.C., & Ozer, D.J., Eds. (2010). Pieces of the personality puzzle:
Readings in theory and research (5th edition). New York: Norton.
Course Description
Personality refers to an individual’s characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior, together with the psychological mechanisms -- hidden or not -- behind those patterns. This course will survey methods of personality research, individual differences (traits), biology of personality, psychoanalysis, phenomenology, behaviorism, social learning, and cognitive processes.
Course Format
The lectures will follow the organization of the main textbook. The discussion section will focus on discussing material in the course reader and allow time for questions. Attendance at all lectures and all section meetings is a course requirement. Occasional pop quizzes in class will yield extra credit points toward exams. If you are unable to attend class you should not take this course.
Textbooks and Assignments
Your assignment will be to master the material presented in the textbook and the lectures. You will be tested on the textbook and the lecture material on the two midterms and the final exam.
The reader is a book of (excerpted) original material from journal articles and other original sources for psychological theory and research. You will not be tested on the material in the reader on the two midterms or the final exam.
Reaction Essays
A brief, typed essay – ranging from one paragraph to about a page – will be required for each article assigned. These essays will be evaluated on your ability to demonstrate critical thinking. Do NOT merely summarize the article (we have read them countless times!). Identify the main take home message in ONE to THREE sentences. Then, make observations about the reading- what did you find particularly interesting and why? Make connections to other articles, class lectures, books you have read and explain the connection. Justify why you really liked or disliked an article, or why you agree or disagree with a theory within an article. See “Essay Grading & Samples” handout for more details.
Grading
Your course grade will be based upon the midterms, final, reaction essays, and attendance and participation in section. There will be two midterms and a final exam. The exams will include multiple choice, short-answer, and essay questions.
20% - Midterm 1
20% - Midterm 2
30% - Final
20% - Reaction Essays from the Reader (in section)
10% - Attendance & Participation in section
Deadlines
Reaction Essays will be due at the beginning of each section meeting, and late essays will not be accepted (they will be our way of keeping track of attendance at section, thus arriving at section, dropping off the essays and then leaving will also not be acceptable). No late work will be accepted and no makeup exams will be given unless rare, extreme circumstances exist. Appropriate documentation must be provided (no exceptions) and the decision is at the instructor’s discretion.
Academic Integrity
Plagiarism, cheating and other violations will not be tolerated. Violations will be subject to severe penalties in accordance with UCR procedures (e.g., receiving an “F” for the course and/or expulsion from the University).
Students with Disabilities
It is the responsibility of students with disabilities to inform the instructor within the first week of the session of the need for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. Students are advised to seek assistance from Disabled Students Services (DSS) on campus. As soon as the need for accommodation is determined by DSS and the need is communicated to the instructor by DSS, reasonable accommodations will be made.
Lecture Schedule*
1 / 3/28 / Introduction / Chp 1
3/30 / Sources of Data / Chp 2
4/1 / Sources of Data (cont’d) / Chp 2
2 / 4/4 / Research Methods I / Chp 3
4/6 / Research Methods II / Chp 3
4/8 / Research Methods III / Chp 3
3 / 4/11 / Personality Testing & Its Consequences / Chp 5
4/13 / Personality Judgment in Daily Life / Chp 6
4/15 / Traits and Behavior I / Chp 4
4 / 4/18 / Traits and Behavior II / Chp 7
4/20 / Midterm Review / Chapters 1-7
4/22 / EXAM I / Chapters 1-7
5 / 4/25 / Anatomy & Physiology of Personality I / Chp 8
4/27 / Anatomy & Physiology of Personality II / Chp 8
4/29 / Behavioral Genetics / Chp 9
6 / 5/2 / Evolutionary Psychology / Chp 9
5/4 / Basics of Psychoanalysis I / Chp 10
5/6 / Basics of Psychoanalysis II / Chp 10
7 / 5/9 / The Unconscious / Chp 11
5/11 / Psychoanalysis after Freud / Chp 12
5/13 / EXAM II / Chapters 8-12
8 / 5/16 / Phenomenology / Chp 13
5/18 / Humanistic Psychology / Chp 13
5/20 / Culture I / Chp 14
9 / 5/23 / Culture II / Chp 14
5/25 / Personality Processes / Chp 16
5/27 / Personality Disorders I / Chp 18
10 / 5/30 / Memorial Day - No Classes
6/1 / Personality Disorder II / Chp 18
6/3 / Looking Back & Ahead; Final Review / Chp 19; Chapters 1-14, 16, 18, 19
Final Exam / 6/7 / Final Exam Tuesday, 8am-11am / Cumulative Final
(Chapters 1-14, 16, 18, 19)
*Subject to change at instructor’s discretion.
Section Schedule*
1 / 3/29 / No Meeting First Week / No Assignment Due
2 / 4/5 / Research Methods / McAdams (p. 4)
Rosenthal & Rubin (p. 18)
Vazire & Mehl (p. 32)
3 / 4/12 / Personality Traits / Allport (p. 56)
McCrae & Costa Jr. (p. 97)
Ozer & Benet-Martinez (p. 126)
4 / 4/19 / Biology & Behavioral Genetics / Dabbs et al. (p. 149)
Borkenau et al. (p. 170)
Caspi et al. (p. 183)
5 / 4/26 / Behavioral Genetics and Evolutionary Theory / Buss et al. (p. 204)
Eagly & Wood (p. 212)
Pinker (p. 234)
6 / 5/3 / Psychoanalysis and the Unconscious Mind / Baumeister et al. (p. 280)
Edelstein et al. (p. 298)
Steinem (p. 311)
7 / 5/10 / Humanistic Psychology / Csikszentmihalyi (p. 346)
Lyubomirsky et al. (p. 358)
Ryan et al. (p. 396)
8 / 5/17 / Culture / Tsai & Chentsova-Dutton (p. 449)
Ramirez-Esparza et al. (p. 457)
Oishi (p. 482)
9 / 5/24 / Personality Processes & the Self / Mischel (p. 517)
Sheldon et al. (p. 537)
Klein et al. (p. 572)
10 / 5/31 / Personality Disorders / Baumeister et al. (p. 550)
Donnellan et al. (p. 556)
Oltmanns & Turkheimer (p. 564)
*Subject to change at instructor’s discretion.
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