Psych 241 INTRODUCTION to SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Psych 241 – INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Fall Term, 2010

Instructor:Dr. Jeff Schimel

Office:Biological Sciences, P-319J

Office hours:Tuesday & Thursday 3:30-4:30pm or by appointment

E-mail:

T.A.:Rui Zhang

Office:Biological Sciences, P-359

Office hours:Wednesday 3-4pm or by appointment

E-mail:

Text:Social Psychology, 4th Canadian Edition by Myers, Spencer & Jordan, 2009

Course overview:

This is a course in Social Psychology – the study of how our behavior is influenced by the behavior of other people. Just as we rarely think about gravity or oxygen, we often take the social context of our actions for granted. But if you learn nothing else in this course, I hope you will learn that the social context of our behavior, like the invisible influence of gravity or oxygen, is fundamental to our existence. Almost everything we say and do is affected by things that other people are now doing (or once did) to us. By understanding some of the important ways in which this is true, you should be in a good position to make the world, including your own personal world, a better place in which to live.

Course Objectives:

The purpose of this course is present you with the most important insights the field of social psychology has to offer. Because social psychology is a research-based enterprise, these “insights” come mostly in the form of research findings, which you will be expected to know for the exams. In addition to merely presenting students with research findings, my objective is to get you to think about potential implications of the research, identify social psychological phenomenon in your everyday life, and of course, to think critically about the course material. Accordingly, in order to do well on the exams you will need to understand the theories and research findings discussed in lecture and in the text and apply them to daily life and other situations. Simply memorizing a list of terms and definitions will probably allow you to sneak by in this course, but it may allow you to do little else. That is, the exams will require application and integration rather than simple memorization of the material.

Exams:

There will be two midterms (worth 31% each) and a final exam (worth 38%). The exams will be drawn from lecture and from the text (even if one has not been covered in the other). All exams will be multiple-choice and the final exam will be partially cumulative. Approximately 40% of the final will cover previous material and the remaining 60% will cover the most recent material. There are no other course assignments and no marks are given for class participation.

Missed Exams:

If you miss a midterm examination, you must provide documented evidence that you experienced an incapacitating illness by providing a physician’s note (sealed) from the University Health Services within 48 hours of the midterm.A note from the University Health Services does not automatically mean that you are excused from the exam -- the final decision is up to the instructor.If you are excused from an exam, the weight of the midterm will be transferred to the final exam.If you are absent from the final exam, you must make a formal application to the Office of the Registrar to write a deferred final exam.

COURSE SCHEDULE

DATETOPICREADING

9/9IntroductionCh. 1 (pp. 1-15)

9/14Research MethodsCh. 1 (pp. 16-31)

9/16 – 9/21Terror Management Theorynone

9/23Self-EsteemCh. 2 (pp. 33-68)

9/28 – 9/30Attitudes, Behavior, & Self-AwarenessCh. 4 (pp. 109-126)

10/5Cognitive DissonanceCh. 4 (pp. 127-132)

10/7 – 10/12Self-Perception & EmotionCh. 4 (132-140)

10/14MIDTERM EXAM #1

10/19AttributionCh. 3 (pp. 69-89)

10/21 – 10/26Social CognitionCh. 3 (pp. 90-108)

10/28Conformity & ObedienceCh. 6 (pp. 170-201)

11/2Group InfluenceCh. 8 (pp. 239-261)

11/4 – 11/9PersuasionCh. 7 (pp. 202-238)

11/11NO CLASS

11/1612 Angry Men Ch. 8 (pp. 262-275) Module B (pp. 504-518)

11/18 MIDTERM EXAM #2

11/23 – 11/25Prejudice & StereotypingCh. 12 (pp. 396-442)

11/30Anger & AggressionCh. 10 (pp. 315-352)

12/2 Liking & Interpersonal AttractionCh. 11 (pp. 353-395)

12/7FINAL EXAM (2-3:20pm)

Course grades will be roughly based on the following grade distribution, which is the recommended grade distribution for second year courses prescribed by the University of Alberta.

A+ top 5% of the class
A next 7%
A- next 12%
B+ next 15%
B next 16%
B- next 14%
C+ next 11%
C next 8%
C- next 5%
D+ next 3%
D next 2%
F next 2%

Policy about course outlines can be found in ' 23.4(2) of the University Calendar.” (GFC 29 SEP 2003)

The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at and avoid any behaviour, which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.” (GFC 29 SEP 2003)