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Social Psychology

 
 
 
PSYC 3583
 
 
 
Psychology of Persons in the Social Environment
 
Student Guide
 
Oklahoma Wesleyan University
 
Course Description
 
The course is focused on the study of the basis of social stimulation and response; adjustment in social groups, group behavior, and social control. The course will focus on issues of attraction, aggression, persuasion, conformity, prejudice, conformity, altruism, conflict, and peacemaking.
 
 
Textbooks
 
 
Myers, D. G. (2010). Social Psychology (10th Edition). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill
ISBN978-0-07-337066-8.
 
 
Format 7, Version 2
 
 
 
 
 
 About the Author
 
Dr. Spence Wilson was formerly the Associate Professor and Chair of the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Dr. Wilson holds degrees from Southern Nazarene University (B.S., Psychology, Magna Cum Laude and graduate study in Religion), Oklahoma City University (M.A., Counseling Psychology, High Honors) and the University of Missouri – Columbia (Ph.D., Counseling Psychology, High Honors). Dr. Wilson completed his clinical psychology residency at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center (commonly known as “OU Health Sciences Center”) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and completed his post-doctoral clinical training at Family Medical Care of Tulsa. He is a licensed Health Service Counseling Psychologist and maintains a private psychology practice with his wife, Kristin, a Licensed Professional Counselor, in Bartlesville. Dr. Wilson also holds hospital practice privileges at Southcrest Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he serves on the psychology consultation team. His doctoral sub-specialty areas are psychological assessment and health psychology. 
 
Revised February, 2010 by Dr. Paulita Brooker.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oklahoma Wesleyan University
2201 S. Silver Lake Road
Bartlesville, OK 74006
 
. Unauthorized sale or reproduction is strictly prohibited.


 


 
The course will acquaint the student with the philosophy, history and development of social psychology as well as measurement. It will include a study of the biological roots as well as how it applies in everyday life along with the role of our social institutions.
MAJOR TOPICS
 
The major topics examined in this course include:
  1. Historical and Introductory Information about Social Psychology
  2. The Self in a Social World
  3. Social Beliefs and Judgments
  4. Behavior and Attitudes
  5. Genes, Culture and Gender
  6. Conformity
  7. Persuasion
  8. Group Influence
  9. Prejudice: Disliking Others
  10. Attraction and Intimacy: Liking and Loving Others
  11. Altruism: Helping Others
  12. Conflict and Peacemaking
  13. Social Psychology in the Clinic
  14. Social Psychology in Court
 
 
 
 
LEARNING TEAM ACTIVITIES:
 
  1. Group Project: Each learning team will be asked to have an “in vivo” social learning experience. Each group will be asked to complete a project illustrating and deepening our understanding of one of the areas of social psychology covered in class. These projects will be presented during the last week of class. Your project should be creative as well as well as informative. More information regarding this project is included later in the syllabus.
 
 
 
 
By the completion of this course and its requirements, as an adult learner you will strive:
1.     To understand the basis of social psychological research.
2.     To understand the influence of genes and culture on behavior.
3.     To understand the issues of
a.      Conformity
b.     Persuasion
c.      Group Influence
d.     Prejudice
e.      Aggression
f.      Attraction
g.     Altruism
h.     Conflict and Peacemaking
4.     To meaningfully apply knowledge of social psychology concepts to “real life” situations to improve one’s effectiveness in helping and ministering to others.
 
 
 
TEXTS:
 
Title: Social Psychology
Author: Myers, D.G.
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
ISBN Number: 978-0-07-337066-8
 
1. PowerPoint Slides to Accompany Course (Optional)
2. Laptop (Optional)
3. Computer Projector (Optional)
4. Instructor’s Manual
5. Instructor’s Test Bank
6. 1 package 3 X 5 index cards
7. 1 Green Marker
8. Copies sufficient for the number of students in the class and instructor of the following demonstration items from the Instructor’s online resources:
            Session 1:
                        - 1-12, 2-3, 2-5, 3-6, 4-1
            Session II:
                        - 6-1, 8-1
            Session III:
                        - 9-8, 11-3, 11-5a, 11-5b, 11-6
            Session IV:
                        - 12-2, 12-3, 13-2,
 
 
 
COPYRIGHT PERMISSIONS NEEDED: NONE WHEN USED AS NOTED ACCOMPANIED BY THE TEXT


 
 
·       Class sessions meet for 4 hours, usually from 6:00pm to 10:00pm, one night per week.  Each student is required to attend class.
·       Weekly attendance records are maintained by the professor and submitted to the university regularly.
·       If a course has not yet begun and a student anticipates missing more than one class session, it is the student’s responsibility to request a schedule change from his/her Academic Advisor. 
·       A student may withdraw from a course by submitting an official withdrawal form to the Registrar.  If a student officially withdraws after attending the first night (and before the second night) of a course, they will automatically be issued a grade of “W”.
·       If a student withdraws from a course after the second class session, students will receive a WP if doing passing work, or a WF if doing failing work. Students who are enrolled and do not attend class, or who discontinue class attendance without officially dropping the course prior to the start of the last night of class, will receive a grade of WF. 
·       A student who repeats a course will do so at his/her own expense.
·       An AGS student who receives consecutive WF grades will not be allowed to continue with his/her class cohort.  Once credit has been granted, such a student will be reassigned to a new class cohort, based on availability, and be permitted to join the new class cohort at the appropriate course.
·       All withdrawals must be submitted in writing.  The Withdrawal (AGS Drop Form) Form can be obtained from the AGS Academic Advisor or can be found on the registrar’s page on the OWU web site.  Please print, complete, and sign the form.  Then, fax the form to the number on the bottom of the printed Form.
·       A student is allowed to miss one class session for each AGS course.  The student is responsible for notifying the instructor prior to an absence and for completing any make-up work that has been assigned.  Whether make-up work is completed or not, the absence will be reflected in the participation portion of the final grade.  There are no excused absences.
·       An absence will be given if students arrive more than 30 minutes late or leave more than 30 minutes early.
 
Students in the National Guard/Reserves
Students must submit a request to AGS Academic Records or their advisor in advance of an absence, providing a copy of their orders, dates they will be gone, and their location.  After a request is approved, the students are responsible for contacting their instructors and making arrangements for make-up work.  Failure to follow this procedure will result in the student’s need to repeat the course.
 


 
The performance of adult learners in this course is assessed through the following components:
 
1.     Individual Homework Assignments = 25%
2.     Social Psychology Journal = 5%
3.     Individual Class Participation = 10%
4.     Individual Weekly Quizzes = 15%
5.     Learning Team Class Project and Presentation = 20%
6.     Individual Final Exam = 25%
 
 
 
The following is a detailed description of each evaluation component listed above:
 
1. Individual homework assignments are due to the instructor as outlined in the abbreviated and extended session outlines.   Homework assignments should be prepared and ready to turn in to the instructor at the beginning of the class session in which they are due. Each set of homework should be typed, double-spaced with answers clearly identified, and all pages of the homework should be stapled together. Your name should be printed on each page of the homework.
 
Homework questions will be drawn from the Summing it Up sections found in each chapter.
 
2. Each student will be asked to keep a Social Psychology Journal in which he/she should write a brief, one-page maximum essay covering each of the topics discussed from Chapter 6-13. The essay should include a personal example of a social psychology phenomenon discussed in the above-mentioned chapters (e.g, conformity, attraction, etc.); only one topic from each chapter is required, therefore, students should have 8 (eight) essays to turn in on the last night of class. These “real-life” examples should be typed and clearly marked with the student’s name on each page.
 
3. In accord with the andragogical model of learning, you will be expected to participate meaningfully in class sessions. Attendance in class does not constitute participation. Participation points are awarded for consistent, thoughtful, and at times prepared participation in class discussions and activities. If you must be absent, you may not make up the participation points you missed for the class session unless you and I agree the absence was due to a health reason beyond your control (e.g., significant illness). Absences for reasons such as children’s school activities, work obligations, spousal obligations, etc., will not be allowed to be made up.
 
4. Beginning on week 2 through week 4, the instructor will prepare a short quiz covering material presented and discussed in the previous class session. Quizzes should not take longer than 20 minutes to complete. 
 
5. Each Learning Team will be asked to choose one topic about which they will create, carry-out and present to the other groups. Learning teams may choose any topic covered in the breadth of the class. The presentation, however, should reflect an understanding that goes much deeper than the class will be exposed to during the five weeks (as this is a five week survey course, the class will only be an introduction to the broad field of Social Psychology). These group projects will allow each group an opportunity to further explore an area of interest and to develop a creative and insightful presentation over what they have learned in their research.
 
Examples of previous projects include completing a brief research project similar to one presented in the text and presenting a video presentation of the process, analysis, results and implications. Others include in-depth research into the literature on a topic with a creative presentation of the findings. This project will be discussed in detail in the first night of class, in which groups will be asked to choose a topic to study and present.
 
6. There will be a comprehensive final exam given by the instructor to assess learning across the curriculum focusing on important learning outcomes of the course. The format of the exam will be multiple choice and true/false and will be given on the last night of class. (*Note: The Study Guide provides excellent multiple choice and true-false questions for review of the reading and preparation for the final exam.)
 
 
 
The distribution of percentage points is as follows:
 
Assignment
Percent of grade
Individual Homework
25%
Individual Social Psychology Journal
5%
Individual Participation
10%
Individual Quizzes
15%
Learning Team Project and Presentation
20%
Final Exam
25%
Total
100%


 
The grading scale applied by Oklahoma Wesleyan University for this course is:
 

A
=
100 – 93
A-
=
92 – 90
B+
=
89 – 87
B
=
86 – 83
B-
=
82 – 80
C+
=
79 – 77
C
=
76 – 73
C-
=
72 – 70
D+
=
69 – 67
D
=
66 – 63
D-
=
62 – 60
F
=
59 – 0

 


 
This is a summary of all assignments due to the instructor by session:
 
 
·        Read and be prepared to discuss/work from chapters 1-4
·        Individual Homework-From each Summing Up section below, write a paragraph that illustrates the concept using a real or observed experience:
o   Ch 2, p. 72, 76
o   Ch 3, p. 102, 112
o   Ch 4, p. 140
o   Write your own essay question from each chapter for discussion in class.
 
  • Read and be prepared to discuss/work from chapters 5-8
  • Individual Homework- From each Summing Up section below, write a paragraph that illustrates the concept using a real or observed experience:
    • Ch 5, p. 175
    • Ch 6, p. 215, 218
    • Ch 7, p. 253
    • Ch 8, p. 273, 204
    • Write your own essay question from each chapter for discussion in class.
                                                                                                                                         
  • Read and be prepared to discuss/work from chapters 9-11
  • Individual Homework- From each Summing Up section below, write a paragraph that illustrates the concept using a real or observed experience:
    • Ch 9, p. 324, 350
    • Ch 10, p. 385
    • Ch 11, p. 434
o   Write your own essay question from each chapter for discussion in class.
 
 
  • Read and be prepared to discuss/work from chapters 12-13, Modules A-B
  • Individual Homework- From each Summing Up section below, write a paragraph that illustrates the concept using a real or observed experience:
    • Ch 12, p. 469, 480
    • Ch 13, p. 499, 521
o   Write your own essay question from each chapter for discussion in class.