Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Course Syllabus
Course Information
Course number: PSY 3331.001 www.turnitin.com
Course title: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Class ID: 2551150
Term: SPRING 2009 Password: situation
Meeting times: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2:30-3:45pm, GR 4.428
Course Description
This course presents an introduction to the field of social psychology. We will examine theory and research
as well as practical applications to social problems. In addition to learning how social psychologists do research, we
will learn about how we think about the social world, how we come to understand other people and ourselves, self-
justification and the need to maintain self-esteem, influencing thoughts and feelings, influencing behavior, influence
in social groups, interpersonal attraction, why people help, why people hurt other people, and causes and cures of
prejudice. Special attention will be paid to what social psychology can offer to the solving of social problems in
these areas and in the areas of health-related behavior and beliefs and the law.
This course is appropriate for students interested in psychology, the health professions, law, political science,
business, advertising, human services, education, communications, gender studies/women's studies, history, public
administration, and sociology—essentially, this course will be interesting to all who are or live among human
beings. Course requirements will include class attendance and participation, exams, and multiple writing
assignments. Satisfies the Core Curriculum Social and Behavioral Science requirement.
IMPORTANT: I want to help you do well in this class! To get the most benefit from your time in this class, read
the material to be discussed before we discuss it in class. You will find classes to be much more interesting and
involving if you come prepared to discuss each day's topic.
Notice that there may be times when you have more than one assignment due on a particular day. You will need to
plan ahead so that you do not fall behind.
JAN 20 JAN 22
Ch. 2: How we figure things out in social psychology Ch. 2: How we figure things out in social psychology
Journal entry for Chapter 2 accepted today.
JAN 27 JAN 29
Ch. 3: How we think (or more often, don’t) Ch. 3: How we think (or more often, don’t)
Journal entry for Chapter 3 accepted today
FEB 3 FEB 5
Ch. 4: How we understand other people (or more EXAM 1: Chs. 1-4
often, don’t)
Journal entry for Chapter 4 accepted today.
FEB 10 FEB 12
Ch. 5: How we understand ourselves (or more often, Ch. 6: Self-justification and cognitive dissonance
don’t) Journal entry for Chapter 6 accepted today.
Journal entry for Chapter 5 accepted today. Optional: give me your Research Summary
by 2:30pm today for early feedback
FEB 17 FEB 19
Ch. 6: Justifying our own behavior (whether we should Ch. 15: Social psychology and health
or not) Journal entry for Ch. 15 accepted today.
FEB 24 FEB 26
Ch. 7: Influencing thoughts and feelings LAST CHANCE: RESEARCH SUMMARY
Journal entry for Chapter 7 accepted today. DUE in class with originality report at 2:30pm
RESEARCH SUMMARY DUE in class and
online—upload to turnitin.com and print Ch. 7: Influencing thoughts and feelings
originality report—bring paper and report to Journal entry for Chapter 7 accepted today.
class
MAR 3 MAR 5
EXAM 2: Chs. 5, 6, 15, 7 Ch 8: Conformity
MAR 17 MAR 19
MAR 24 MAR 26
Ch. 9: Influence in social groups Ch. 16: Social psych and the Law
Journal entry for Chapter 9 accepted today Journal entry for Ch. 16 accepted today.
MAR 31 APR 2
Ch. 13: Causes and cures of prejudice Ch. 13: Causes and cures of prejudice
Journal entry for Chapter 13 accepted today.
APR 7 APR 9
EXAM 3: Chs. 8, 9, 16, 13 Ch. 12: Aggression
Journal entry for Chapter 12 accepted today.
APR 14 APR 16
Ch. 12: Why do people hurt each other? Ch. 14: Saving the environment & finding happiness
Journal entry for Ch. 14 accepted today
APR 21 APR 23
Ch. 11: Why do people help each other? Ch. 10: Friendships and romantic relationships
Journal entry for Chapter 11 accepted today. Journal entry for Chapter 10 accepted today.
APR 28 APR 30
Ch. 10: Friendships and romantic relationships EXAM 4: Chs. 12, 14, 11, 10
I want to help you be successful in this course in every way I can BEFORE the end of the semester.
After April 30, the course is OVER. Do NOT ask for extra credit.
Course grades will be ready May 20.
Midterm grades will be calculated by dividing the total number of points earned by the total possible
points that could have been earned on Exams 1 and 2, and the first 8 Journal entries (i.e., total points
earned/124).
Field Trip Policies the resources (among others) of turnitin.com, which searches the
Off-campus Instruction and Course Activities web for possible plagiarism and is over 90% effective.
Off-campus, out-of-state, and foreign instruction and activities are
subject to state law and University policies and procedures Email Use
regarding travel and risk-related activities. Information regarding The University of Texas at Dallas recognizes the value and
these rules and regulations may be found at the website address efficiency of communication between faculty/staff and students
http://www.utdallas.edu/BusinessAffairs/Travel_Risk_Activities.ht through electronic mail. At the same time, email raises some issues
m. Additional information is available from the office of the school concerning security and the identity of each individual in an email
dean. exchange. The university encourages all official student email
No travel and/or risk-related activity is associated with this course. correspondence be sent only to a student’s U.T. Dallas email
address and that faculty and staff consider email from students
Student Conduct & Discipline official only if it originates from a UTD student account. This
The University of Texas System and The University of Texas at allows the university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the
Dallas have rules and regulations for the orderly and efficient identity of all individuals corresponding and the security of the
conduct of their business. It is the responsibility of each student transmitted information. UTD furnishes each student with a free
and each student organization to be knowledgeable about the rules email account that is to be used in all communication with
and regulations that govern student conduct and activities. General university personnel. The Department of Information Resources at
information on student conduct and discipline is contained in the U.T. Dallas provides a method for students to have their U.T.
UTD publication, A to Z Guide, which is provided to all registered Dallas mail forwarded to other accounts.
students each academic year. Please note that privacy regulations prohibit me from emailing
your grades to you. Grades will be returned in class on designated
The University of Texas at Dallas administers student discipline days. If you miss one, please come to my office.
within the procedures of recognized and established due process.
Procedures are defined and described in the Rules and Regulations, Withdrawal from Class
Board of Regents, The University of Texas System, Part 1, Chapter The administration of this institution has set deadlines for
VI, Section 3, and in Title V, Rules on Student Services and withdrawal from any college-level courses. These dates and times
Activities of the university’s Handbook of Operating Procedures. are published in that semester's course catalog. Administration
Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in procedures must be followed. It is the student's responsibility to
the Office of the Dean of Students, where staff members are handle withdrawal requirements from any class. In other words, I
available to assist students in interpreting the rules and regulations cannot drop or withdraw any student, even though your paperwork
(SU 1.602, 972/883-6391). may require my signature. You must do the proper paperwork to
ensure that you will not receive a final grade of "F" in a course if
A student at the university neither loses the rights nor escapes the you choose not to attend the class once you are enrolled.
responsibilities of citizenship. He or she is expected to obey
federal, state, and local laws as well as the Regents’ Rules, Student Grievance Procedures
university regulations, and administrative rules. Students are Procedures for student grievances are found in Title V, Rules on
subject to discipline for violating the standards of conduct whether Student Services and Activities, of the university’s Handbook of
such conduct takes place on or off campus, or whether civil or Operating Procedures.
criminal penalties are also imposed for such conduct.
In attempting to resolve any student grievance regarding grades,
Academic Integrity evaluations, or other fulfillments of academic responsibility, it is
The faculty expects from its students a high level of responsibility the obligation of the student first to make a serious effort to resolve
and academic honesty. Because the value of an academic degree the matter with the instructor, supervisor, administrator, or
depends upon the absolute integrity of the work done by the committee with whom the grievance originates (hereafter called
student for that degree, it is imperative that a student demonstrate a “the respondent”). Individual faculty members retain primary
high standard of individual honor in his or her scholastic work. responsibility for assigning grades and evaluations. If the matter
cannot be resolved at that level, the grievance must be submitted in
Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, statements, writing to the respondent with a copy to the respondent’s School
acts or omissions related to applications for enrollment or the Dean. If the matter is not resolved by the written response
award of a degree, and/or the submission as one’s own work or provided by the respondent, the student may submit a written
material that is not one’s own. As a general rule, scholastic appeal to the School Dean. If the grievance is not resolved by the
dishonesty involves one of the following acts: cheating, School Dean’s decision, the student may make a written appeal to
plagiarism, collusion, and/or falsifying academic records. Students the Dean of Graduate or Undergraduate Education, and the dean
suspected of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary will appoint and convene an Academic Appeals Panel. The
proceedings. decision of the Academic Appeals Panel is final. The results of the
academic appeals process will be distributed to all involved parties.
Plagiarism, especially from the web, from portions of papers
for other classes, and from any other source (including your Copies of these rules and regulations are available to students in
own work for other past or current classes) is unacceptable the Office of the Dean of Students, where staff members are
and will be dealt with under the university’s policy on available to assist students in interpreting the rules and regulations.
plagiarism (see general catalog for details). This course will use
These descriptions and timelines are subject to change at the discretion of the Professor.
Application Journal
1. You will have 16 opportunities to earn up to 30 points toward your final grade by submitting, in person and
on the day they are due, a personal experience journal or scrapbook entry corresponding to each of the
assigned readings. Each entry will demonstrate how some event from your personal experience can be
understood using a specific theory or concept from the chapter (bold-faced terms). BE SURE TO
UNDERLINE THE CONCEPT (e.g., informational social influence) IN YOUR PAPER THE FIRST TIME
IT APPEARS. You also may collect magazine articles and newspaper clippings that illustrate social
psychological concepts. For each scrapbook entry, write a paragraph explaining how the article illustrates a
specific theory or concept from the chapter. You need not limit yourself to articles—editorials,
advertisements, and even cartoons may be illustrative as well. Even the “Try It!” exercises and critical
thinking questions in the book can give you good ideas to get started. Important Note: Select a concept
relevant to a specific MAIN IDEA of the chapter. If you’re not sure what I mean, ask me (the term “social
psychology” is much too broad to be useful here, for example, as are “aggression” and “conformity,” but you
could select the more specific terms “instrumental aggression” or “minority influence”).
2. The goal of the journal is to provide you with an opportunity to elaborate on and apply ideas presented in the
reading. Give a real-life example of something that you read about, for example. In the process, you might
also share your reactions to the reading material, critically evaluate an issue, or relate a personal concern or
experience to course content. Journals will be graded on thoughtfulness and thoroughness, but not on the
specific views you express. About one-half to one full page, double-spaced, will be sufficient—please do
not write more than one page. You can receive 0-3 points per entry (0=incorrect or incomplete; 1=complete
but lacking depth or organization; 2=adequate; 3=complete, organized, and demonstrates insight/critical
Note: Dropping off your paper at the beginning or end of class, but not staying for a full class period, also will
receive zero credit. If you are late on the day that papers are accepted, your paper cannot be accepted for that
day. To receive full credit for this assignment, you need to arrive for class prepared and on time—i.e, seated
when I ask for journals to be turned in—with no excuses.
5. Sample observations and descriptions of how they relate to course concepts may be seen at:
http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu//240/jrnindex.htm.
6. Journal entries cannot be accepted if they are late, early, longer than one page, single-spaced, handwritten,
typed in very large or very small font (use 12-point Times Roman or equivalent font), or in any way difficult
to read.
Research Summary
1. In place of a traditional term paper, you will evaluate an original report of educational research by writing a
one-page critical review of research literature. Additional details appear later in this syllabus and will be
discussed further in class.
2. The References page and citation format for this summary will follow the format approved by the American
Psychological Association as described in the APA Publication Manual. Use of the website
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html is REQUIRED. I suggest that you acquaint
yourself with the information to be found here early in the semester—waiting until you have finished writing
your paper is likely to be too late.
3. In addition to submitting a hard copy of each written assignment in class, you will submit your research
summary in class AND online at www.turnitin.com. Details about how to set up your account will be
discussed in class. Notice that the originality report is different from the digital receipt! Journal entries will
not be submitted to turnitin.com.
References
Bègue, L., Subra, B., Arvers, P., Muller, D., Bricout, V., & Zorman, M. (2009). A
Marks, M. J. (2008). Evaluations of sexually active men and women under divided
attention: A social cognitive approach to the sexual double standard. Basic and
as compared to children in child-centered programs (Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, & Milburn, 1995).
Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, and Milburn (1995) conducted a correlational study of the
relationship between type of instructional programming (didactic vs. child-centered) and the
In 1995, Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, and Milburn examined the impact of two types of
and kindergarten.
References
Stipek, D., Feiler, R., Daniels, D., & Milburn, S. (1995). Effects of different instructional
209-223.
Use one of the three possible APA style citation formats—don’t name the article or the journal in which it
appears (or the authors’ first names, initials, or affiliation…) in your summary. Also, be sure to paraphrase your
source without using direct quotations. Your organization guidelines will be very handy, here. Do not write a title
on your summary page, and do not use subheadings (you won’t have room).
The purpose of this exercise is to help you learn how to include discussion of others’ research in the papers
you write (and, ultimately, in the decisions you make!). Very briefly and clearly, you should be able to explain
the purpose of the study, how it was conducted, what was found, and what it means. When you are writing a
critical review of research literature, you need to be able to discuss the research in terms of examining the question
Listing references
Create a References page for the article that you are evaluating. At the top of the page, write the word
“References,” but without the quotation marks (or bold type, or italics, or underlining, or fancy font). On the next
line, begin your list of references (in this paper, only one reference will be listed). Use APA style, as indicated in
this syllabus (described in greater detail at http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html.).
For the source information for the article you read for this assignment, list the original primary source as
indicated on the first page of the article (don’t worry about the format for electronic sources, for example, even if
you retrieve the article online). Notice that only authors’ last names and initials are needed. The author element
ends with a period. The year of publication is placed in parentheses, and this element also ends with a period.
Capitalize only the first word of the title of the article and end the article title element with a period. Use capital
letters for the title of the journal, followed by a comma, the volume number and issue (if the issue number is
needed), and the pages on which the article appears, and end this element with a period. The title of the journal
and the volume number both should be italicized, but the issue number (the number in parentheses) is not
italicized. Remember, the references should appear in your list in alphabetical order when you have more than one
reference—for this assignment you only have one—but don’t change the original order in which authors appear
on each article.
Note: To earn the 5 points for your plagiarism quiz and originality report, both must be submitted with
your paper, stapled as a complete packet, by the last chance date they are due. If one or both are missing
or not stapled with your paper, you will not earn the 5 points. If one or both are missing when you submit
your paper, you still must submit both by the next class session, or your paper will not be graded.
The penalty for plagiarizing any part of your paper may include but is not limited to earning zero credit
for that assignment. If you have been found to have plagiarized your paper and don't get credit for it, then
the penalty extends to the plagiarism tutorial and the originality report. The logic is that those
assignments were intended to prevent you from turning in a plagiarized paper, but if you didn't benefit
either from what you learned by taking the tutorial or by seeing the high percentage in turnitin, then you
can't earn credit for those either.
To organize your summary of the research, make note of the following (by paraphrasing):
1. ARTICLE TYPE: For example, is this a correlational study, a descriptive study, a review of the literature, a
survey, an experiment? You don’t need to mention this in your summary, but you should be aware of it as
you interpret and evaluate the research.
2. PROBLEM: What was the purpose of this investigation? What issue was addressed? You’ll find this in the
introduction.
3. HOW INVESTIGATED: How did they go about answering their question? You’ll find this in the method
section. (Not how did you locate this article.)
4. RESULTS: What did they find out? Look in the results section.
5. INTERPRETATION: What does it mean? What are the implications for practical application to real-world
problems? You’ll find this in the discussion section.
6. CRITICISM: What are the limitations of this study? What do the authors say should have been done
differently, for example?
7. DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: What should be done either to try again to answer the initial
question posed here, or what questions were raised by these findings that should be answered next?
Please notice in particular that the quality of your writing DOES COUNT. Please use correct grammar
and punctuation, and a clear, coherent writing style. More details about grading criteria will be discussed
in class. The rubric on the following page serves as a useful guideline.
How to find articles in the library when you already know what you want:
1. Go to www.utdallas.edu
2. Click on LIBRARY near the top of the page
3. Click on Search Library Catalog (or equivalent)
4. Under FIND THIS type in the name of the journal you are looking for and click on Find
Example: journal of personality and social psychology
5. Select journal you need, if necessary, then scroll down and click the link under ejournal available full text (it
likely will indicate a range of volume numbers)
Example:
Location: eJournal: From off campus use http://libproxy.utdallas.edu
Available Full Text: vol. 55- (July 1988-)
6. Type in key words for the specific article you are looking for
Example: self-handicapping
7. Scroll through the results and select the article you need, or enter more search terms to limit your results
8. Click on PDF Full Text
9. Print your article
I will give you the contact information for the TA in class—please write it down and keep it safe! You also can
email the TA using WebCT.
It is your responsibility to keep track of your grades, so that you know where you stand at all times. Feel free to
verify your grades with the TA or with me, at my office (not in class), any time until the last exam.
Remember: You will need to complete two Research Exposure Credits for each core course
in which you are enrolled this semester.
Journal grades:
Ch. 1 ____ Ch. 5 ____ Ch. 8 ____ Ch. 12 ____
Ch. 2 ____ Ch. 6 ____ Ch. 9 ____ Ch. 14 ____
Ch. 3 ____ Ch. 15 ____ Ch. 16 ____ Ch. 11 ____
Ch. 4 ____ Ch. 7 ____ Ch. 13 ____ Ch. 10 ____
Accuracy in assigning and recording grades is of utmost importance. I encourage you to keep
track of your grades and let me know when you would like for me to check over the grading of
any exams or assignments within THREE WEEKS of when the grade was assigned. Do not
wait until the semester is over.