The Person from the Inside and Outside (PSYC 407)
Dr. Simine Vazire
Class Time & Location: Tues, 2:00-4:30
Office Hours & Location: Tues 4:30-5:30; Wed, 2:00-3:00 pm or by appointment
Contact: Email:
Course website:
(check the website regularly)
Course Objectives
This course will examine how personality is viewed from the self’s perspective as well as from an outside perspective. Which perspective is more accurate? How well do people know themselves? What do people know about us that we don’t know about ourselves? The readings will examine theory and research concerning these topics, and class discussion will focus on critical evaluations of the readings and generation of new research questions.
Required readings
- Wilson, T. D. (2004). Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
- Dunning, D. (2005). Self-Insight: Roadblocks and Detours on the Path to Knowing Thyself.New York, NY: Psychology Press.
- Additional articles will be made available on the course website (these are required).
Exams
There will be two take-home essay exams in this course. You will have one week to complete each exam. You will be asked to write several essays on topics covered in class and in the readings.
Assignments
In addition to the essay exams, the following assignments are required:
Weekly discussion questions:Youwillemail me three discussion questions based on the readings each week, no later than 11:59pm Sunday.
Leading discussion: You will also be assigned two class periods for which they are responsible for leading discussion. Each class period will have two discussion leaders. The discussion leaders must meet ahead of time and decide how to lead discussion. This can take the form of a formal presentation, planned activities, or structured group discussion. To help guide discussion, I will provide the discussion leaders with the class’s discussion questions based on the readings.
Participation: Participation in class discussions is an important part of your grade in this class. This will reflect both attendance and participation during group discussions.
Grading
Exam 1: 35%
Exam 2: 35%
Discussion questions: 5%
Leading discussion: 15%
Participation: 10%
Grade Break Down
90-100% = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79% = C; 60-69% = D; 0-59% = F
SYLLABUS
Week / Date / Topic / Readings1 / 8-29 / What is personality? / Vazire ch. 1; McAdams 1995
2 / 9-5 / How should we measure personality? / Brody & Ehrlichman ch. 4;Johnson 1997
3 / 9-12 / Self-knowledge: Theory / James 1892, Cooley 1902, & Mead 1934;Wilson ch. 4; Robins & John 1997a
4 / 9-19 / Self-knowledge: Research / Osberg & Shrauger 1986; Dunning ch. 1; Vogt & Colvin 2005;
5 / 9-26 / Other-perception: Theory / Hogan 1998; Funder 1995; McCrae & Weiss in press
6 / 10-3 / Other-perception: Research / Vazire ch. 2; Paunonen 1989
7 / 10-10 / Self-other agreement
Exam 1 Assigned / Watson, Hubbard, & Weise, 2000; Davidson 1993
8 / 10-17 / Behavior (Part I)
Exam 1 Due / Fleeson 2001; Buss & Craik 1985
9 / 10-24 / Behavior (Part II) / Vazire ch. 3; Shrauger et al. 1996
10 / 10-31 / Accuracy / Kolar et al. 1996; Vazire ch. 4
11 / 11-7 / Self-deception / Paulhus & John 1998
12 / 11-14 / Meta-perception / Kenny & DePaulo 1993; Wilson ch. 9
13 / 11-21 / Increasing self-knowledge / Wilson ch. 8; Wilson & Dunn 2004
14 / 11-28 / Feedback / Robins & John 1997b; Dunning ch. 4
15 / 12-5 / Authenticity
Exam 2 Assigned / Sheldon et al. 1997; Dunning ch. 9; Wilson ch. 10
12-12 / Exam 2 Due at noon