SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Social Psychology

Spring 2001

Syllabus

Class Schedule

Reading List with Web Links

Presentation Schedule

Class Announcements

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SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Spring 2001

Class Information	Instructor Information
400:162g:01	Dr. Helen C. Harton
Baker 315	Baker 357
W 6:30-9:20	273-2235; harton@uni.edu

Office Hours: Mondays 2:00-3:00 and Fridays 1:30-3:30

Readings: Course packets available at Copy Central in the library. Additional readings may be put on reserve in the psychology office.

Course Description: In this class we will explore the social psychology of interpersonal relationships, focusing primarily on romantic relationships. We will review scientific findings about such topics as what predicts who people fall in love with, whether they will be satisfied in the relationship, and how they might react when it ends. You will find much of the research relevant to your own relationships, but this is not a course in therapy or a group counseling session. We’ll review what empirical research has to tell us about relationships, rather than what popular press books and television personalities have to say, and discuss why this distinction is important.

This class will also give you an understanding of the methods used in relationship science and in social psychology more generally and give you practice in designing and running your own research. This class is not one of those that you can come to once in a while and get the notes from someone else; it will require work and responsibility on your part. It is important that you do all the readings on time, reading them not just cursorily, but critically. You will also be expected to be actively involved in class discussions. This is a seminar class, and productive class time demands prepared students who are willing to share their thoughts. In return for your work, you will gain

1) a better understanding of social psychology;

2) a better understanding of interpersonal relationships;

3) a better understanding of the scientific method, research methods, and how to be a critical consumer of information, whether that information is coming from a journal article or the local newspaper;

4) knowledge about how to conduct a psychological study from beginning to end;

5) experience presenting research findings.

Course Requirements: There are two options for how your grades will be computed in this class. You should let me know which option you choose on the day of the midterm exam.

Option A		Option B
Class discussion	20%	Class discussion	20%
Group project	30%	Group project	30%
Individual presentation	15%	Individual presentation	--
Midterm exam	15%	Midterm exam	25%
Final exam	20%	Final exam	25%

Class discussion. Active class discussion is essential to the functioning of the class. You are expected to contribute meaningfully to class discussions. While mere attendance is not enough to get a good grade for this component, it is imperative in that you can’t participate if you’re not here. Participation in class discussion (frequency and quality) counts 50% toward this component.

Also included in the class discussion component will be the quality of discussion questions that you contribute each week. By 9:30 am on Wednesdays, you should deliver to me three or four good discussion questions on the readings for that day, preferably through e-mail, but notes in my box work just as well. Discussion questions are worth 50% of your discussion grade.

Discussion and discussion questions will be graded on the following scale:

0 = not there

2 = attended but didn’t participate, or turned in, but not very relevant (below average)

3 = comments or questions relevant, but didn’t involve much insight (average)

4 = comments or questions relevant and insightful (good)

5 = more than one comment or question showed a significant contribution (excellent)

Because I realize some weeks will be more hectic for you than others, you are allowed to drop two of your discussion grades. You could drop your two lowest class discussion grades (though only one absence, for whatever reason, will be dropped--missing more than one class will begin to hurt your grade), your two lowest discussion question grades (here you could just not send questions two times during the semester), or a combination of the two. There will also from time to time be other assignments that you should complete before class and that will contribute to your discussion grade.

Group project. You will be doing a group project in this course. There are two options for forming groups that we’ll discuss in class. Your group will work together to design a study on some aspect of initial attraction, collect the data, analyze the data, and present the final product.

You will turn in a group research proposal (10-13 pages) in APA-style designed to test your hypothesis, including a review of relevant literature (using at least 5-7 references from scientific journal articles), your proposed method, expected results, and discussion. You will also turn in an IRB form based on your proposal in order to get university approval for the study. In both cases, you’ll have an opportunity to turn in a rough draft before the final draft is due. This portion of your project will be worth 50% of your group project grade.

After you’ve had the proposal approved (by me and then by the IRB), you will run the study, analyze the results, and create a poster presentation. This portion of your project will contribute 50% to your project grade.

In order to make sure that things are progressing regularly in your groups, one person from each group should meet with me each week (or more often, if either of us thinks it’s necessary). This representative can either be the same person each week or a different person. There will be some time in class for group meetings, but you should plan to meet outside of class as well. Your grade in these components will be partially determined by the group project and partially determined by your group members' ratings of your contributions.

Individual presentation. In addition to becoming an “expert” in the area of your group project, you may also choose to become an expert in another area of the social psychology of interpersonal relationships. You will choose a topic that we haven’t covered in class (one of the handouts gives some ideas) and read several relevant articles. You will then present information/lead a discussion on your topic. You should turn in a one-page abstract and an APA-style bibliography with at least 5-8 scientific journal articles that you read carefully on the day of the presentation. (You don't have to include each of these articles in your presentation, but you should be knowledgeable about them should anyone ask.) You should also assign an article for the class to read about your topic at least one week ahead of time. Your presentation should include some class involvement and some presentation by you, but you can choose how much of each to include.

Midterm and final exams. You will have two exams made up of essay questions and identifications. The midterm will cover the first five topics—relationship science, initial attraction, mate selection and evolutionary psychology, attachment, and methods. The final will cover love, relationship cognition, communication, equity and exchange theories, and jealousy and passion. The test questions will cover information from the readings and class. I will give you a longer list of questions from which the test questions will be drawn a week before the exam.

Plagiarism and cheating. Plagiarism (using another’s words without quotation marks or ideas without citation) and cheating (including but not limited to using an assignment from another class to fulfill or partially fulfill one in this class and getting help on examinations from other students or from notes or books) will result, at a minimum, in a 0 on that assignment. See “Academic Policies” on pages 60-61 in the Student Handbook for more information.

Tentative class schedule

Date	Topic	Additional assignments
January 10	Relationship science
January 17	Initial attraction
January 24	Mate selection and evolutionary psychology
January 31	Attachment	Present group project ideas to class.
February 7	Methods
February 14	Midterm exam	Option choice and presentation topic due.
February 21	Love	Final drafts of IRB and proposals due.
February 28	Relationship cognition	IRBs turned in by Fri. if changes needed.
March 7	Communication
March 21	Equity and exchange theories	Begin data collection if you haven’t already.
March 28	Jealousy and passion
April 4	Final exam	All data should be collected by this date.
April 11	Dissolution, personality, and student presentations
April 18	Student presentations/posters
April 25	Student presentations/topics	Display rough drafts of posters.
May ?	Poster session (5:00-6:50?)	Final drafts of posters due.

Research topics to be discussed: 1) coming up with ideas and checking the literature; 2) conferences; 3) designing a questionnaire; 4) IRB forms and ethics; 5) recruiting participants; 6) entering data; 7) making graphs; 8) analyzing data; 9) making posters; 10) presenting research.

**There is a UNI Undergraduate Research Conference on April 21 that I highly recommend you attend. If your group wants to, you could also present your project there (also recommended).

Presentation Schedule