Psychology 590



Psychology 590

A Survey of Social Psychology

Spring 2018

Instructor

Elizabeth Dunn

Room 2013, Kenny Building, 2136 West Mall

Office: 604-827-3144

Email: edunn@psych.ubc.ca

Course website:

Course Objectives

The primary goals of this course are (1) to familiarize you with classic themes and current issues in social psychology, and (2) to teach you how to think like a social psychologist—both critically and creatively. In addition, this course will help you develop a number of important skills: working collaboratively, reading efficiently, writing concisely, and discussing research findings articulately.

Class Structure

As a graduate student, you need to absorb an immense amount of knowledge as efficiently as possible. This course is structured to help you do so. To ensure that the reading load is manageable, only 3 articles (or thereabouts) will be included on the required reading list each week. But to ensure that you are exposed to a broad enough selection of material, several additional articles (and sometimes podcasts/talks) will be provided as recommended material. Each week, two students serving as class facilitators will be responsible for reviewing the recommended sources and teaching this material to the rest of the class. With my help, the facilitators will convey this supplementary material using lectures, demonstrations, and other methods. Next, we will spend the bulk of the class discussing everyone’s reading questions. Finally, the last part of each class will be devoted to idea papers and/or learning quizzes.

Requirements and Evaluation: This class has 6 requirements, as described below:

1) Class Participation (25% of grade): Discussion is a central component of this class. It is therefore very important that you attend class and participate actively. You may be absent (physically or mentally) from one class session without penalty; each additional absence not cleared by me ahead of time will result in a one-step drop in this component of your grade. Also, note that open discussion in this course requires that everyone feel comfortable talking about sensitive issues (e.g., prejudice); thus, treating anyone in the class with disrespect will have a highly detrimental effect on the participation component of your grade.

2) Discussion questions (15% of grade): Each week, you must submit two discussion questions by Monday at 9am via the course website. These discussion questions should be thoughtful responses to the reading, not requests for clarification (although you are welcome to submit clarification questions in addition to your discussion questions). In forming discussion questions, you may want to challenge the conclusions drawn by authors, consider implications of the findings, or relate the readings to other topics. Some examples of good DQ’s (from previous years) are posted on the website. You do not need to write DQ’s for the weeks you serve as facilitator, and you may also skip handing in discussion questions twice during the semester without penalty.

3) Class facilitation (20% of grade): Twice during the semester you will serve as a class facilitator, along with a partner (see Info Sheet at the end of the syllabus for additional guidelines).

4) Article review (10% of grade): Drawing on the critical thinking skills developed in this course, you will write a 2-3 page review of a manuscript recently submitted to a top social psychology journal. DUE WEEK 10 (at beginning of class).

5) Idea papers (20% of grade): You will write 3 brief idea papers (2-3 pages each). In each paper, you should propose a study or series of studies related to that week’s topic. To generate these studies, you may want to think about (a) an unresolved or overlooked question related to the week’s topic, (b) a connection between the week’s topic and your own research interests, or (c) a connection between the week’s topic and other articles you’ve read in this course or another course. In each paper, you should briefly introduce the question or hypothesis (tying it to the course readings and any other relevant literature), describe your proposed study and expected results, and identify the broader conclusions that could be drawn from your results. You can choose which weeks to write these papers, but I would strongly recommend that you not wait until the last month of the course to get started. Whenever you write a paper, you should bring it with you to class and be prepared to share your idea with your classmates, who will help you refine it.

6) Learning quizzes (10% of grade): Important research in cognitive psychology suggests that people retain material over the long term much better if they’re frequently asked to recall it (e.g., Karpicke & Roediger, 2008, Science). Applying these research-based principles, most class sessions will feature a brief learning quiz, in which you will be asked to recall material from previous weeks. The primary goal of these quizzes is to enhance long-term learning; their use as an assessment tool is quite secondary. Therefore, students may be allowed to mark their own quizzes, and only students’ top five scores will be retained.

Collaboration Option: Most work in psychology is collaborative. Therefore, for any of the writing assignments above (discussion questions, article review, and idea papers), you have the option to collaborate with 1 or 2 other students in the class. If you choose to collaborate, the assignment criteria and grading will be the same (with all collaborators receiving the same grade). However, each person must also privately submit (via email) a brief one-paragraph Collaboration Reflection, in which you identify the contributions made by each person and describe how effectively you worked together and what could be done to improve. The primary goal of this exercise is to help you learn to collaborate more effectively (as well as to ensure appropriate divisions of labor).

READINGS (note: readings that are included in the SP Areas comps reading list are marked “COMPS”)

Week 1 (Jan. 9): Course Orientation

Recommended background reading:

Simmons, J. P., Nelson, L. D. & Simonson, U. (2011). False-positive psychology: Undisclosed

flexibility in data collection and analysis allows presenting anything as significant.

Psychological Science, 22, 1359-1366. COMPS

Spencer, S. J., Zanna, M. P. & Fong, G. T. (2005). Establishing a causal chain: Why experiments

are often more effective than mediational analyses in examining psychological processes.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 845-851. COMPS

Week 2 (Jan. 16): Classics

Required:

Latané, B. & Darley, J. M. (1968). Group inhibition of bystander intervention in emergencies.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 377-383.

Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology,

67, 371-378.

Sabini, J., Siepmann, M. & Stein, J. (2001). The really fundamental attribution error in social

psychological research. Psychological Inquiry, 12, 1-15.

NOTE: Read this last and focus on critiques of this week’s reading.

Recommended:

Festinger, L. & Carlsmith, J. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. Journal of

Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58, 203-211.

Schachter, S. & Singer, J. E. (1962). Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional

states. Psychological Review, 69, 379-399. COMPS

PODCAST: Very Bad Wizards (2012). Episode 9: Social psychology, situationism, and moral character. ()

Week 3 (Jan. 23): The Self (self-control, self-knowledge, and self-esteem)

Required:

Dunning, D., Johnson, K., Ehrlinger, J. & Kruger, J. (2003). Why people fail to recognize their own

incompetence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 83-87.

Hagger, M. S., Chatzisarantis, N. L. D., Alberts, H., Anggono, C. O., Batailler, C., Birt, A.

R.,…Zwienenberg, M. (2016). A multi-lab preregistered replication of the ego-depletion effect. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 546-573. COMPS

Nisbett, R.E. & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on

mental processes. Psychological Review, 84, 231-259. COMPS

Recommended:

Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Markus, H. R. & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal

need for positive self-regard? Psychological Review, 106, 766-794.

Leary, M. R. (2005). Sociometer theory and the pursuit of relational value: Getting to the root of

self-esteem. European Review of Social Psychology, 15, 75-111.

Week 4 (Jan. 30): Groups & Social Influence

Required:

Woolley, A. W., Chabris, C. F., Pentland, A., Hashmi, N. & Malone, T. W. (2010). Evidence for a

collective intelligence factor in the performance of human groups. Science, 330, 686-688.

Cialdini, R. B. (2003). Crafting normative messages to protect the environment. Current Directions

in Psychological Science, 12, 105-109.

Kerr, N. L. & Tindale, R. S. (2004). Group performance and decision making. Annual Review of

Psychology, 55, 623-655. COMPS

Recommended:

Asch, S. E. (1955). Opinions and social pressure. Scientific American, 193, 1-5.

Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149, 269-274. COMPS

Week 5 (Feb. 6): How the Social Mind Works

Required:

Gilbert, D. T., Pelham, B. W. & Krull, D. S. (1988). On cognitive busyness: When

person perceivers meet persons perceived. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 733-740. 

Payne, B. K., Brown-Iannuzzi, J. L. & Loersch, C. (2016). Replicable effects of primes on human

behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145, 1269-1279. COMPS.

Kahneman, D. & Tversky, A. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases.

Science, 185, 1124-1131. COMPS

Recommended:

Ambady, N. & Rosenthal, R. (1993). Half a minute: Predicting teacher evaluations from

thin slices of nonverbal behavior and physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 431-41.

Epley, N., Keysar, B., Van Boven, L. & Gilovich, T. (2004). Perspective taking as egocentric

anchoring and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 327-339.

Week 6 (Feb. 13): Affect (with a side of morality)

Required:

Haidt, J. (2001). The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral

judgment. Psychological Review, 108, 814-834.

Medvec, V. H., Madey, S. F. & Gilovich, T. (1995). When less is more: Counterfactual thinking

and satisfaction among Olympic medalists. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 603-610.

Zajonc, R. B. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences. American

Psychologist. 35, 151. COMPS

Recommended:

Ekman, P. (1992). An argument for basic emotions. Cognition and Emotion, 6, 169-200. COMPS

Schwarz, N. & Clore, G. L. (1983). Mood, misattribution, and judgments of well-being:

Informative and directive functions of affective states. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, 45, 513-523.

PODCAST: Circle of Willis: The science and the scientists (2017).Episode 5: Interview with Lisa Feldman Barrett. ()

Feb 20: NO CLASS (Reading Break)

Week 7 (Feb. 27): Social Beliefs, Attitudes, & Persuasion

Required:

Cann, A., Sherman, S. J. & Elkes, R. (1975). Effects of initial request size and timing of a second

request on compliance: The foot in the door and the door in the face. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 774-782.

Cesario, J. & Higgins, E. T. (2008). Making message recipients “feel right”: How nonverbal cues

can increase persuasion. Psychological Science, 19, 415-420.

Epley, N. & Schroeder, J. (2014). Mistakenly seeking solitude. Journal of Experimental

Psychology: General, 143, 1980-1999.

Recommended:

Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. (2003). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and

review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 888-918.

Greenwald, A. G., Poehlman, T. A., Uhlmann, E. & Banaji, M. R. (2009). Understanding and using

the Implicit Association Test: III. Meta-analysis of predictive validity. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 17–41.

Week 8 (Mar. 6): Motivation

Required:

Balcetis, E. & Dunning, D. (2007). Cognitive dissonance and the perception of natural

environments. Psychological Science, 18, 917-921.

Rosenblatt, A., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T. & Lyon, D. (1989). Evidence for terror

management theory I: The effects of mortality salience on reactions to those who violate or uphold cultural values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 681-690.

Ryan, R.M. & Deci, E. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic

motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68-

78. COMPS

Recommended:

Langer, E. (1975). The illusion of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 311-

328.

Lepper, M. R., Greene, D. & Nisbett, R. E. (1973). Undermining children’s intrinsic

interest with extrinsic reward: A test of the overjustification hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28, 129-137.

Week 9 (Mar. 13): Stereotyping & Prejudice

Required:

Paluck, E. L. & Green, D. P. (2009). Prejudice reduction: What works? A review and assessment of

research and practice. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 339-367. COMPS

Kawakami, K., Dunn, E. W., Karmali, F. & Dovidio, J. F. (2009). Mispredicting affective and

behavioral responses to racism. Science, 323, 276-278.

Steele, C.M. & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test

performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 797-811.

Recommended:

Snyder, M., Tanke, E. D. & Berscheid, E. (1977). Social perception and interpersonal

behavior: On the self-fulfilling nature of social stereotypes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 656-666.

Sinclair, L. & Kunda, Z. (2000). Motivated stereotyping of women: She’s fine if she praised me but

incompetent if she criticized me. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 1329-1342.

PODCAST: Radiolab (2017). November 22: Stereothreat. ()

Week 10 (Mar. 20): Attraction & Close Relationships (with a side of rejection)

Required:

Gable, S. L., Reis, H. T., Impett, E. A. & Asher, E. R. (2004). What do you do when things go

right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing positive events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 228-245.

Haselton, M. G. & Buss, D. M. (2000). Error management theory: A new perspective on biases in

cross-sex mind reading. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 81-91.

Baumeister, R.F. & Leary, M.R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529. COMPS

Recommended:

DeWall, C. N., Macdonald, G., Webster, G. D., Masten, C. L., Baumeister, C. F., Powell,

C.,…Eisenberger, N. I. (2010). Acetaminophen reduces social pain: Behavioral and neural evidence. Psychological Science, 21, 931-937.

Finkel, E. J. & Baumeister, R. F. (2010). Attraction and rejection. Advanced Social Psychology: The

State of the Science, 419-459. COMPS

TALK: TEDx (2013): The Marriage Hack: Eli Finkel at TEDxUChicago ()

Week 11 (Mar. 27): Making Social Psychology: Evaluation & Theory-Building

[Article Review Due]

Required: Skim all articles in the most recent issue of JPSP: 1st and 2nd section (issue date TBA). Read the one you think is the most important. Also, identify the one you think is least important. In addition, read:

Rozin, P. (2009). What kind of empirical research should we publish, fund and reward?: A different

perspective. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 4, 435-439.

Recommended:

Gawronski, B. & Bodenhausen, G. V. (2014). Theory and Evaluation. In B. Gawronski & G. V.

Bodenhausen (Eds.), Theory and Explanation in Social Psychology (pp. 4-23). New York: Guilford Press.

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.

Week 12 (Apr. 3) Conclusion: Does any of this matter?

Required:

Henrich, J., Heine, S. J. & Norenzayan, A. (2010). Most people are not WEIRD. Nature, 466, 29.

Nisbett, R.E. (1990) Anti-creativity letters: Advice from a senior tempter to a junior

tempter. American Psychologist, 45, 1078-1082.

Cialdini, R. B. (2009). We have to break up. Perspectives in Psychological Science, 4, 5-6.

Wagenmakers, E. J., Dutilh, G. & Sarafoglou, A. (2017). The creativity-verification cycle in

psychological science: New methods to combat old idols. Retrieved from 37ntp.

Recommended:

Pick any two articles from “Everything is fucked: The syllabus.”

PODCAST: The Black Goat (2017). Episode 1: Everything is awesome! ()

Facilitation Info Sheet

Here is what you will do as a facilitator during each part of class:

1) Teaching recommended material (30-45 mins): Your job in this part of class is to teach your classmates the material covered in the recommended readings. You may do this in whole or in part through lecture, but I would STRONGLY encourage you to incorporate creative or interactive teaching methods as well, such as:

a. Doing a demonstration that will allow your classmates to experience a psychological phenomenon discussed in the readings

b. Having your classmates complete a mini version of a study from the reading in class.

c. Showing a brief ( ................
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