Advanced Social Psychology, Fall 2019
Class Information |
Instructor Information |
PSYCH 6204 |
Helen C. Harton, Ph.D. |
Bartlett 34 |
Bartlett 2080 |
W 7-9:45pm |
273-2235; harton@uni.edu |
Office Hours: M 3-4; WF 11-11:50; whenever I’m around
Course
Information
Course
Learning Outcomes: By the end of
this course, you should be able to:
1) Critically evaluate theory and research
relevant to the major areas of social psychology;
2) Apply theories and research in social psychology
to other topics and to societal issues;
3) Design a study that would adequately test
novel predictions based on previous research and theory;
4) Orally present about and defend your study and
design; and
5) Write a scientific paper that describes this
study using best practices in design, ethics, statistics, and APA style.
Instructor
Course Description: In this
class we will explore several major (and overlapping) areas of social
psychology. Social psychology has been defined as “an attempt to
understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals
are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others" (Allport, 1954). This course will deal with the theory,
research, and methodology of social psychology, including both classic and
contemporary approaches. We will also talk a lot about the “replication crisis”
in social psychology and what it means for our findings. In addition to the overview of each area provided
by the text, we will usually focus on about three or four articles or chapters
each week in depth. The additional readings include newer theoretical
approaches as well as empirical and classic articles. There are so many choices
that no two graduate social psychology courses will ever be the same, but I
chose articles with an eye toward interesting ideas and recent
events/controversies (both in psychology and in the world). The course will primarily be discussion-based,
but I may sometimes give introductions to an area or provide you with further
information about research findings.
Course
Catalog Description: Covers the
major areas of classic and current research in social psychology. Students
engage in an in-depth, critical analysis of the research in areas including,
but not limited to, conformity, obedience, social norms, social cognition,
interpersonal relationships, aggression, and helping behavior. Substantial
proportion of the course focuses on social cognition. Examines the
socio-historical context of social psychology and the application of social
psychological research. Prerequisite(s): an undergraduate course in social
psychology; graduate standing in psychology or consent of instructor.
Course
Policies
Makeup and Late Paper Policies: Class discussion grades cannot be made up, but you can drop your one lowest one. You can drop two discussion point grades. You can also turn in one up to 24 hours late with no penalty. Makeup tests will only be given in very limited circumstances. Proposals will be accepted up to three days (days, not business days) past the due date, but one letter grade will be deducted for each day until they are turned in. The proposals are due at 12pm (noon), so after that counts as the next “day.” Plan ahead and don’t wait until the last minute to finish (or start) the paper, in case something unexpected arises.
Academic Ethics Policy Statement: Students must observe the Academics Ethics Policy (http://www.uni.edu/policies/301). Cheating
and plagiarism of any kind or amount will not be tolerated and will result in
lowered grades, including a possible 0 on the assignment in question,
regardless of intentions. This includes using a paper from another class or
that you have worked on with another faculty member to fulfill a requirement in
this class, quoting or too closely paraphrasing material in a paper without
proper attribution, using secondary citation sources for primary citations, or
looking at or using any outside information (outside your head) during tests. Ignorance
of the rules is no excuse. If you have
any questions about what is acceptable, ask.
Diversity and Inclusion Policy: It is my intent that students from all diverse
backgrounds and perspectives be well served by this course, that students’
learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity
that students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength, and
benefit. It is my intent to present materials and activities that are
respectful of various types of diversity, including but not limited to gender,
sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, religion,
and culture. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let me
know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally or for
other students or student groups. In addition, if any of our class meetings
conflict with your religious events, please let me know so that we can make
arrangements for you.
Classroom Civility Policy: It is important that we discuss topics calmly
and respectfully. We want to have an open setting where everyone feels free to
contribute, where no one tries to dominate the conversations, and where we all
remain open to other’s ideas. Ad hominem comments are not appropriate.
Credit Hour Statement: This course meets the Course Credit Hour
Expectation outlined in the Course Catalog. Students should expect to work a
minimum of 2 hours per week outside of class for every course credit hour.
Since this is a graduate course, the expectation is that you will work
approximately 4 hours per week outside of class for every course credit hour.
Required
Readings
Finkel, E., J., & Baumeister,
R. F. (Eds.) (2019). Advanced social
psychology: The state of the science (2nd ed.).
New York: Oxford University Press.
Additional chapters and
articles assigned for each week are listed in the course schedule below. Those
that are not available freely online (check ahead of time—these things change!)
using your UNI account can be found in Blackboard.
**Bring the readings to class with you when we discuss that topic (hard
copy or electronic).
Course Elements and Expectations
Class discussion: Active class discussion is essential to the functioning of the class. You are expected to contribute meaningfully (thoughtful, relevant, critical comments) 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. You should read the readings carefully and critically before class and come to class with specific questions or comments about each of them to add to the discussion. Think about things like how the research or theory relates to other research you know about, how you could test the theory, criticisms and solutions of the theory or area, etc. I will drop your one lowest discussion grade. Participation (frequency and quality) will be graded each week on roughly 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 (outstanding)
You will also turn in at least four written discussion points each week (covering at least four of the readings for that week). This assignment is designed to help you prepare for discussion and better articulate your thoughts on the readings. They will be graded on the same scale as class discussion. Your discussion points are due each Tuesday by noon CST and should be emailed to me with “discussion points” in the subject line. The discussion points will count for 40% of your discussion grade. I may call on you in class to talk about your discussion points, so bring them to class. Your two lowest scores will be dropped. If you choose not to turn them in the first week of class, that will be one of your drops.
For more information on class discussion grading, click here.
Midterm and final exams: There will be two noncumulative exams made up of essay questions. I will give you a longer list of questions from which the test questions will be randomly drawn at least a week before the exam, but you will need to answer the questions with no notes, books, or outside help during the exam period. Exams will be taken in the computer lab. The class can vote on whether you want to have 4 required essays, 4 required essays plus some identifications, or 5 essays on each test.
Research proposal: This original proposal should be based on one or more social psychological theories (they don’t have to be ones discussed in class, but make sure you check with me early on whether your theory is appropriate for this assignment) and add to the literature in the area. For this paper, you can either 1) choose a theory and propose a study to test a new prediction from the theory (this may take the form of extending or limiting the theory); 2) choose two or more theories and design a study to integrate them, either showing that they would lead to similar predictions or differentiating conditions under which they would lead to conflicting predictions; or 3) apply a theory to a research area to which it has not been previously applied (e.g., your area of interest). The proposals should contain an abstract, a relevant and focused literature review (at least 7-8 pages), a detailed method section, a results section with proposed analyses and expected results, a discussion section examining the implications and limitations of your expected findings, references, and appendices with any questionnaires or measures you designed. The paper should be in APA style. Papers with APA style or citation errors will be returned for you to fix, and late points will be deducted until the corrected paper is turned back in. Topics (a written description of your general idea) will be due October 2, and the final paper will be due on December 13 by noon. I will be happy to read and give you comments on (fairly complete) rough drafts, but you have to turn them to me by November 13 to get this feedback. If you have any questions about whether a paper topic is appropriate for any reason, ask me about it. Obviously proposals for projects that you are working on with other faculty or students or for another class are not appropriate for this assignment, but you can do something related to (but different from) your thesis or do something that may become your thesis.
Click here for a rubric that explains what I expect to see in each section.
Presentation: During one of the last class sessions, you will present your proposal to the class (background, method, expected results, what they would mean, etc.). Your presentation, which should include some audio-visual effects (e.g., PowerPoints), should last about 15 minutes, followed by a discussion of the proposal by the class of no more than 5-10 minutes. You can integrate any helpful comments from the class into your proposal before you turn it in. Sign up for your presentation date and time here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11UYaOQIrWT-eYW6pyfgTzYLSdgH2CAUK6QSawzdB1aE/edit?usp=sharing
For more information on the presentation, click here.
Grading
The components of your final grades are as
follows:
Class discussion 30% Grades will be distributed as follows:
Midterm exam 20% 93-100 = A; 90-92 = A-; 87-89 = B+;
Final exam 20% 83-86 = B; etc.
Research proposal 20%
Proposal presentation 10%
Course
Schedule
*not
available online (see Blackboard)
August 28 Introduction: History, Theory,
and Methodology
Textbook Chapters 1 and 2
*Ellsworth, P. C. (2004). Clapping with both hands: Numbers, people, and simultaneous hypotheses. In J. T. Jost, M. R. Banaji, & D. A. Prentice (Eds.), Perspectivism in social psychology: The yin and yang of scientific progress (pp. 261-273). Washington, DC: APA. doi:10.1037/10750-019
*Van Lange, P. A. M. (2013). What we should
expect from theories in social psychology: Truth, abstraction, progress, and
applicability as standards (TAPAS). Personality
and Social Psychology Review, 17, 40-55. doi:10.1177/1088868312453088
Motyl, M., Demos, A. P., Carsel, T. S., Hanson, B. E., Melton, Z. J., Mueller, A. B., …Skitka, L. J. (2017). The state of social and personality science: Rotten to the core, not so bad, getting better, or getting worse? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113, 34-58. doi:10.1037/pspa0000084
Chapter 3 in the textbook is recommended
September
4 The
Self
Textbook Chapter 5
*Pyszczynski, T., Solomon, S., & Greenberg, J. (2015). Thirty years of terror management theory: From genesis to revelation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 52, 1-70. doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2015.03.001
Watts, T. W., Duncan, G. J., & Quan, H. (2018). Revisiting the marshmallow test: A conceptual replication investigating links between early delay of gratification and later outcomes. Psychological Science, 29¸1159-1177. doi:10.1177/0956797618761661
Malte, F., Loscheider, D. D., Gleseler, K., Frankenbach, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2019). Is ego depletion real? An analysis of arguments. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 23, 107-131. doi:10.1177/1088868318762183
September 11 Cultural Differences, Gender, and
Morality
Textbook Chapters 13 and 17
*Miyamoto,
Y. (2013). Culture and analytic versus holistic cognition: Toward multilevel
analyses of cultural influences. Advances
in Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 131-188. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-407236-7.00003-6
Eagly, A. H., Nater, C.,
Miller, D. I., Kaufmann, M., & Sczensny, S.
(2019). Gender stereotypes have changed: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of U.S.
public opinion polls from 1946 to 2018. American
Psychologist. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/amp0000494
September
18 Social Cognition
Textbook Chapter 4
Jost, J. T., Becker, J., Osborne, D., & Badaan, V. (2017). Missing in (collective) action: Ideology, system justification, and the motivational antecedents of two types of protest behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26, 99-108. doi:10.1177/0963721417690633
Hills, T. T. (2019). The dark side of information proliferation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14, 323-330. doi:10.1177/1745691618803647
Wróbel, M., & Imbir, K. K. (2019). Broadening the perspective on emotional contagion and emotional mimicry: The correction hypothesis. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14, 437-451. doi:10.1177/17456916188808523
September 25 Prejudice
Textbook Chapters 11 and 12
Crandall, C. S., & Eshleman, A. (2003). A justification-suppression model of the expression and experience of prejudice. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 414-446. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.414
*Barreto, M., & Ellemers, N. (2015). Detecting and experiencing prejudice: New answers to old questions. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 52, 139-219. doi:10.1016/bs.aesp.2015.02.001
Gawronski, B. (2019). Six lessons for a cogent science of implicit bias and its criticism. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14, 575-595. doi:10.1177/1745691619826015
October
2 Attitudes
Textbook Chapter 6
Hornsey, M. J., & Fielding, K. S. (2017). Attitude roots and Jiu Jitsu persuasion: Understanding and overcoming the motivated rejection of science. American Psychologist, 72, 459-473. doi:10.1037/a0040437
Dalege, J., Borsboom, D., van Harreveld, F., van den Berg, H., Conner, M., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (2016). Toward a formalized account of attitudes: The Causal Attitude Network (CAN) model. Psychological Review, 123, 2-22. doi:10.1037/a0039802
Ajzen, I., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2019). Reasoned action in the service of goal pursuit. Psychological Review. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/rev0000155
Paper ideas due.
October 9 Midterm exam
October 16 Social Influence
Textbook Chapter 7
Griggs, R. A.
(2017). Milgram’s obedience study: A contentious classic reinterpreted. Teaching of Psychology, 44, 32-37. doi:10.1177/0098628316677644
Le Texier, T. (2019). Debunking the Stanford Prison Experiment. American Psychologist. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/amp0000401
Gelfand, M. J., Harrington, J. R., & Jackson, J. C. (2017). The strength of social norms across human groups. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12, 800-809. doi:10.1177/1745691617708631
October
23 Groups and Cultural Emergence
*Wittenbaum,. G. M., & Max, E. J. (2018). Group processes. In T. D. Nelson (Ed.), Getting grounded in social psychology: The essential literature for beginning researchers (pp. 317-342). New York: Routledge.
Hogg, M. A. (2015). Constructive leadership across groups: How leaders can combat prejudice and conflict between subgroups. In S. R. Thye & E. J. Lawler (Eds.), Advances in group processes, Volume 32 (pp. 177-207). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Greenway, K. H., & Cruwys, T. (2019). The source model of group threat: Responding to internal and external threats. American Psychologist, 74, 218-231. doi:10.1037/amp0000321
Varnum, M. E. W., & Grossmann, I. (2017). Cultural change: The how and why. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12, 956-972. doi: 10.1177/1745691617699971
October
30 Relationships
Textbook Chapters 9 (but not part on rejection) and 10
Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G., Griffin, D. W.,
& Derrick, J. L. (2015). The equilibrium model of relationship maintenance.
Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 108, 93-113. doi:10.1037/pspi0000004
*Arriaga, X., Kumashiro, M., Simpson, J. A., & Overall, N. (2018). Revising working models across time: Relationship situations that enhance attachment security. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 22, 71-96. doi:10.1177/1088868317705257
Conley, T. D., Matsick, J. L., Moors, A. C., & Ziegler, A. (2017). Investigation of consensually nonmonogamous relationships: Theories, methods, and new directions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12, 205-232. soi:10.1177/1745691616667925
November 6 Helping and Happiness
*Schroeder, D. A., & Graziano, W. G. (2015). Prosocial behavior. In T. D. Nelson (Ed.), Getting grounded in social psychology: The essential literature for beginning researchers (pp. 317-342). New York: Routledge.
Latané, B., & Darley, J. M. (1969). Bystander “apathy.” American Scientist, 57, 244-268.
Phillpot, R., Liebst, L. S.,
Levine, M, Bernasco, W., & Lindegaard,
J. R. (2019). Would I be helped? Cross-national CCTV footage shows that
intervention is the norm in public conflicts. American Psychologist. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/amp0000469
*Franco, Z. E., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2016). The psychology of heroism: Extraordinary champions of humanity in an unforgiving world. In A. G. Miller (Ed.), The social psychology of good and evil (2nd ed.) (pp. 494-523). New York: Guilford. doi:10.7748/ns.19.51.37.s38
*Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Tay, L. (2018). Advances in subjective well-being research. Nature Human Behavior, 2, 253-260.
November 13 Aggression and Rejection
Textbook Chapters
8 and 9 (part on rejection)
Calvert, S. L., Appelbaum, M., Dodge, K. A., Graham, S., Nagayama Hall, G. C., Hamby, S.,… Hedges, L. V. (2017). The American Psychological Association Task Force assessment of violent video games: Science in the service of public interest. American Psychologist, 72, 126-143. doi:10.1037/a0040413
Mathur, M. B., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2019). Finding common ground in meta-analysis ‘wars’ on violent video games. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14, 705-708. doi:10.1177/1745691619850104
Freedman, G., Williams, K. D., & Beer, J. S. (2016). Softening the blow of social exclusion: The Responsive Theory of Social Exclusion. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, Article 1570. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01570
November 20 Terrorism, and Extremism
*Gibson, J. T., & Haritos-Fatouros, M. (1986). The education of a torturer. Psychology Today, 20, 50-58.
*Bandura, A. (2004). The role of selective moral disengagement in terrorism and counterterrorism. In F. M. Moghaddam & A. J. Marsella (Eds.), Understanding terrorism: Psychosocial roots, consequences, and interventions (pp. 121-150). Washington, DC: APA.
Kruglanski, A. W., Jasko, K., Chernikova, M., Dugas, M., & Webber, D. (2017). To the fringe and back: Violent extremism and the psychology of deviance. American Psychologist, 72, 217-230. doi:10.1037/amp0000091
McCauley, C., & Moskalenko, S. (2017). Understanding political radicalization: The two-pyramids model. American Psychologist, 72, 205-216. doi:10.1037/amp0000062
Ginges, J. Atran, S., Sachdeva, S., & Medin, D. (2011). Psychology out of the laboratory: The challenge of violent extremism. American Psychologist, 66, 507-519. doi:10.1037/a0024715
*Verkuyten, M., & Yogeeswaran, K. (2017). The social psychology of intergroup toleration. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 21, 72-96. doi:10.1177/1088868316640974
December 4
Student presentations
December 11
Student presentations
December 13 Paper due (noon CST)
December 18 Final exam (7-9pm)
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