Download PSY2110I_Course Outline [Winter2015]

École de psychologie | School of Psychology
136 Jean-Jacques Lussier, Vanier 3002, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5
Tél. | Tel.: 613-562-5801 Téléc | Fax: 613-562-5147
COURSE OUTLINE
PSY2110I - Social Psychology [Winter 2015]
Tuesdays 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm
CBY D207
Professor: Marie Lyne Laliberté
If you have any question related to the material or the course, you can come see me right
before/after class or schedule an appointment with me. I can also answer questions by email,
usually within 72 hours.
Email: [email protected]
Teaching Assistant.: Stacey Kosmerly
Email: [email protected]
Course description and objectives
This course is designed to provide you with an introduction to the field of Social Psychology. It
will cover the most studied topics within the field such as social perception, attitudes, prejudice,
interpersonal attraction, aggression, groups, leadership, etc., by focusing on both classic and
contemporary theories and results of research studies.
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
1. Identify, understand and apply fundamental principles and theories of Social Psychology;
2. Gain insight into the way situational forces and group processes shape behaviour,
emotions and cognition;
3. Understand the relevance and application of Social Psychological principles to everyday
life; and
4. Become acquainted with types of methodology used in the field.
Required textbook (available for purchase at the University Bookstore)
Lesko, W.A. (2012). Readings in Social Psychology: General, Classic and Contemporary
Selections (8th edition). Boston: Pearson Education Inc.
*Any other material, class notes (i.e., PowerPoint slides) and announcements will be posted on
Blackboard.
Absence
I do not keep track of class attendance. However, keep in mind that solely relying on class notes
(i.e. PowerPoint slides) and required readings may not be enough to do well in the course. If you
do miss a class for any reason, it is your responsibility to ask a classmate for a copy of their
notes, as I will not be sharing my own class notes with anyone, no matter the circumstances.
Absence from an exam due to illness or extraordinary personal circumstances must be justified.
You will be required to provide me with a medical certificate or other official documentation in
order to be allowed to write a make-up exam. Other reasons such as, but not limited to, travel,
employment and misreading the examination schedule are not acceptable. You may refer to
Academic Regulation 9.5 for further details at :
.
http://www.uottawa.ca/governance/regulations.html.
Evaluation
Midterm Exam (50%) : The midterm exam will cover material from Week 2 to Week 6
inclusively. It will be held on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015.
Final Exam (50%) : The final exam will cover material from Week 8 to Week 12 inclusively. It
will be held during the examination period in April 2015.
Proposed Course Schedule and required readings
Weeks
Topics + Required readings
Week 1 (Jan 13)
Introduction
Documentary: The Human Behaviour Experiments by Alex Gibney
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Week 2 (Jan 20)
What is Social Psychology & Research in Social Psychology
- Article 1 – How to be a wise consumer of psychological research
- Article 2 – Human use of human subjects: The problem of deception in
social psychological experiments
- Article 3 – Social influences on paranormal belief: Popular versus
scientific support
Week 3 (Jan 27)
The Self
- Article 13 – The many me’s of the self-monitor
- Article 15 – Reducing narcissistic aggression by buttressing selfesteem
Week 4 (Feb 3)
Social Perception
- Article 4 – The once-over: Can you trust first impressions?
- Article 5 – The warm-cold variable in first impression of persons
Week 5 (Feb 10)
Social Cognition
- Article 7 – Some systematic biases of everyday judgment
- Article 9 – Lasting false beliefs and their behavioural consequences
Week 6 (Feb 24)
*No class on Feb 17
Attitudes and Attitude Change
Week 7 (March 3)
Midterm Exam (50%)
Week 8 (March 10)
Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination
- Article 11 – Cognitive consequences of forced compliance
- Article 12 – The origins of cognitive dissonance: Evidence from
children and monkeys
- Article 17 – Attitudes vs actions
- Article 16 – Unmasking “racial micro aggressions”
- Article 18 – Interracial roommate relationships: An experimental field
test of the contact hypothesis
Week 9 (March 17)
Social Influence
- Article 25 – Revisiting the Stanford prison experiment: A lesson in the
power of situation
- Article 26 – Behavioural study of obedience
- Article 27 – The constructive, deconstructive, and reconstructive
power of social norms
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Week 10 (March 24)
Group Behaviour & Leadership
- Article 34 – Group decision fiascos continue: Space shuttle Challenger
and a revised groupthink framework
- Article 36 – Can high group cohesion be harmful? A case study of a
junior ice-hockey team
Week 11 (March 31)
Agression & Prosocial Behaviour
- Article 28 – Nice by nature?
- Article 29 – From Jerusalem to Jericho: A study of situational and
dispositional variables in helping behaviour
- Article 30 – Comfortably Numb: Desensitizing effects of violent media
on helping others
Week 12 (April 7)
Interpersonal Attraction & Close Relationships
- Article 20 – What is beautiful is good
- Article 23 – “Playing hard to get”: Understanding an elusive
phenomenon
- Article 24 – Does a long-term relationship kill romantic love?
Examination Period
in April 2015
Final Exam (50%)
***There can be shifts in the schedule, depending on the pace of the course.
University policies regarding academic fraud and integrity
Academic fraud consists of dishonest and wrongful acts on exams, test or assignments, resulting
in flawed grades and assessments. The University does not tolerate academic fraud, and anyone
found guilty of this behaviour is liable to severe penalties.
Here are some examples of academic fraud:
• Plagiarizing or cheating in any way
• Presenting falsified research data;
• Submitting an assignment of which you are not the sole author
• Presenting the same work from another course without written permission from the
professors concerned.
With the development of the Internet these past years, it has become much easier to detect
plagiarism. Indeed, given the powerful tools now at their disposal, your professors can, by typing
a few simple words, readily trace the exact source of a text on the Web.
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For more information on fraud and how to avoid it, you can refer to the Faculty web page, which
offers tips to help you with your studies and the writing process for university-level projects at
the following address: http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/eng/ugrad_tips.asp. You can also
refer to the Faculty web page for information on plagiarism in university assignments:
http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/eng/ethics.asp
Persons who commit or try to commit academic fraud, or who are accomplices in fraud, will be
penalized. Here are some of the possible sanctions:
• a grade of F for the assignment or course in question
• the imposition of three to 30 more credits as a condition of graduation
• suspension or expulsion from their faculty.
To consult the regulation, see section 14.2 of the Academic Regulations
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