Self, Ego, Identity



Self, Ego, Identity

PSY 43246 and PSY 60246

Instructor: Dr. Dan Lapsley Time: 2:00 – 3:15

Office: 110 Haggar Hall Days: TR

Lab: B23 Haggar Hall Location: Main Bldg 303

Office Ph. 574.631.8789 Office Hours: by appt.

Email: danlapsley@nd.edu

|Adolescent Psychology Lab |

|Location |B23 Haggar Hall |

|Lab Phone |574.309.2940 |

|Lab Website | |

Required Readings:

There is no textbook for the course. Required course readings will be available via the course website on Concourse or other digital means.

Course Description

This course is an intensive survey of scholarly literatures on three foundational psychological constructs: self, ego and identity. The course is “intensive” in the sense that we will read primary sources---original articles in the various scholarly literatures rather than “textbook” summaries of the literature. It is a “survey” course in the sense that we will cover these topics from a broad multidisciplinary and multi-theoretical perspective. For example, we will study how self-ego-identity is understood by personality, social, developmental and clinical psychologists; from different theoretical perspectives, including psychoanalytic, object relations, cognitive and social cognitive development, among others; and at different points in the lifespan, especially the period from infancy to emergent adulthood. Along the way we will examine applications of these literatures for understanding adjustment, learning, psychopathology, moral action and more.

Course Goal

The goal of the course is to

• encourage a working knowledge of the literatures on these important psychological constructs;

• provide students an opportunity to engage in scholarly analysis and writing;

• encourage proficiency in framing empirically-testable hypotheses

• provide an opportunity to practice discussion and presentation skills

Course Format and Expectations

This course will be conducted in a seminar format. The responsibility for the conduct of each class will be shared among us. Students are expected to have read assigned readings in preparation for robust class discussion. Periodically students will be expected to lead the class discussion of assigned readings. Class attendance is not optional (of course).

Honor Code

Students are expected to follow the honor code of Notre Dame. Although students are encouraged to work collaboratively and to cooperate in the mastery of course material, the various papers and course projects should reflect the individual accomplishment of students. Here is the complete text of the ND Honor Code



Special Needs

If you have special needs that require accommodation, please let me know within the first days of class.

Course Assessments

Exams. Mastery of the factual content of the course readings will be assessed by two examinations and a final exam. Each exam will be worth 100 points. The exams will require synthesis, integration and analysis of course readings and discussion. Possible exam questions will be circulated in advance for the first exam; and one can bring in a page of notes for the second exam.

Course Paper. The research paper will normally take the form of a literature review on a focused question relevant to the course. The length of the paper should be about 10-15 pages, without references. Please see the FAQ for additional information about this course requirement. Students are strongly advised to meet with me individually at least once to discuss the paper topic.

Class Preparation. For each class you will turn in a one page class preparation form that has three features: a summary of the reading(s) general conclusions, or its “take-home” message(s), in detail sufficient to be useful; a brief commentary on the readings (e.g., a critical comment, idea for a study, an integrative point) and questions for discussion. These class preparation sheets will count toward your class participation grade, but the most important reason for this assignment is that it will help you prepare for examinations by keeping a running log of course readings and discussion. Only typed, hard copies of the class preparation sheet will be accepted, and only on the day of the class. They will be scored in accordance with the following rubric.

|Class Preparation Rubric |

|0 |1 point |2 points |3 points |

|No record |Does one of following: |Does two of following |Does three of following |

| |Conclusions/TakeHomes |Conclusions/TakeHomes |Conclusions/TakeHomes |

| |Commentary |Commentary |Commentary |

| |Questions for Discussion |Questions for Discussion |Questions for Discussion |

| | | | |

|Course Points |

|Course Activity |Number of Points | Weighting for Course Grade |

|3 exams |300 |65 |

|Term Paper |100 |22 |

|Class Preparation |60 |13 |

|Total |460 | |

Grading Scale

A: 93-100% C+ 78-79%

A- 90-92% C 73-77%

B+ 88-89% C- 70-72%

B 83-87% D+ 68-69%

B- 80-82% D 60-67%

|Reading Assignments and Important Dates |

|Class Meeting |Class Schedule |

|Tuesday Aug. 28 |Introduction to Class |

|Thurs. Aug. 30 |James, W. The self. From Psychology: The Briefer Course. |

|Tues. Sept 4 |Harter, S. (1999). Contemporary issues and historical perspectives |

|Thurs. Sept 6 |Leary, M. & Tangney, J. P. (2003). The self as an organizing construct in the behavioral and social |

| |sciences. |

|Tues. Sept. 11 |Butterworth, G. (1992) Origins of self-perception in infancy |

|(Paris) |Kellman, P. (1992) Perception, conception and infant self-awareness (Comment) |

| |Gibson, E.J. & Adolph, K. (1992) The perceived self in infancy (Comment) |

| |Keller et al., (2005). Parenting styles and the development of the categorical self (Optional). |

|Thurs. Sept 13 |Damon, W. & Hart, D. (1982). The development of self-understanding from infancy through adolescence. |

|(Paris) | |

|Tues. Sept. 18 |Harter, S. (2003). The development of self-representations during childhood and adolescence. |

|Thurs. Sept 20 |Block, J. & Robins, R. (1993). A longitudinal study of consistency and change in self-esteem from early|

| |adolescence to early adulthood. |

|Tues. Sept. 25 |Trzesniewski, Donnellan & Robbins (2003). Stability of self-esteem across the lifespan |

| |Trzesniewski et al., (2006). Low self-esteem during adolescence predicts poor health, criminal |

| |activity and limited economic prospects during adulthood |

|Thurs. Sept 27 |EXAM 1 |

| |Questions Distributed in Advance |

|Tues. Oct 2 |Higgins, E.T. (1987) Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect |

| |Tangney et al. (1998). Are shame and guilt related to distinct self-discrepancies: A test of Higgins’s|

| |(1987) hypotheses. |

|Thurs. Oct 4 |Lapsley, D. (in press) Moral self-identity as the aim of education. |

|Tues. Oct. 9 |Westen D. & Heim, A.K. (2003). Disturbances of self and identity in personality disorders |

|Thurs. Oct 11 |Harter, S.(1999) Interventions to promote adaptive self-evaluations. |

|Tues. Oct 16 |Mahler, M. (1986). On the first three subphases of the separation-individuation process |

| |Josselson, R. (1980). Ego development in adolescence |

|Thurs. Oct 18 |Sabatelli & Mazor (1985) Differentiation, individuation and identity formation: Integration of family |

| |system and individual development perspectives |

| |Gavazzi & Sabatelli (1990). Family system dynamics, the individuation process and psychosocial |

| |development. |

| |Allison & Sabatelli (1988) Differentiation and individuation as mediators of identity and intimacy in |

| |adolescence |

|Oct 20 to Oct 28 |Fall Break |

|Tues. Oct. 30 |Empirical Studies on Separation-Individuation |

| |(Choose one) |

| |Frank, S.J., et al. (2002) Role of sep-ind and personality in predicting externalizing and |

| |internalizing dimensions of functional impairment…. |

| |Floyd, F.J. et al., (1999) Gay, lesbian and bisexual youth…. |

| |Holmbeck & Leake (1999) Sep-ind and psychosocial adjustment in late adolescence |

| |Lapsley & Edgerton (2002). Sep-ind, adult attachment style and college adjustment. |

| |Choi, K-H. (2002). Psychological sep-ind and adjustment to college among Korean American students. |

| |Gnaulati, E & Heine, B. (2001). Sep-ind in late adolescence: An investigation of ender and ethnic |

| |differences. |

| |Haws & Mallinckrodt (1998). Sep-ind from family of origin and marital adjustment of recently married |

| |couples. |

| Thurs. Nov. 1 |Loevinger, J. The meaning and measurement of ego development. |

| |Hauser, S. (1976). Loevinger’s model and measure of ego development |

|Tues. . Nov. 6 |Greenwald, A. (1980). The totalitarian ego |

|Tues. Nov. 8 |EXAM 2 |

| |One Page of Notes Permitted |

|Tues. Nov. 13 |Erikson, E. (1968) The life cycle: Epigenesis of identity. In Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York: |

| |Norton |

|Thurs. Nov.15 |Paper Preparation Day |

|Tues. Nov. 20 |Marcia (1980) Identity |

|Nov. 22 to Nov. 25 |Thanksgiving Holiday Break |

|Tues. Nov. 27 |Waterman, A.S. (1982). Identity development from adolescence to adulthood: An extension of theory and |

| |a review of research |

|Thurs. Nov. 29 |Van Hoof, A. (1999). The identity status field re-reviewed: An update of unresolved and neglected |

| |issues with a view on some alternative approaches |

|Tues. Dec. 4 |Blasi, A. (1988). Identity and the development of the self |

|Thurs. Dec. 6 |Continuation |

|Tues. Dec. 11 |Class Wrap-Up |

| |Term Paper Due |

|Dec 12 -13; Dec. 16 |Reading Days |

|Dec. 14-15, |Final Exams |

|Dec 17-Dec 19 | |

|Self, Ego, Identity |

|PSY 43246 and PSY 60246 |

|CLASS PREPARATION FORM |

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Course Research Paper

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is the paper requirement for this course?

Students must write a 10-15 -page research paper (excluding references) on some aspect of self, ego and identity. The paper is due on the last day of class.

2. What is a “research paper”?

This is a broad term that covers a variety of objectives. Students will read the scholarly literature on a topic and prepare a paper that critically assesses it. Alternatively, students may opt to integrate different theoretical (e.g, cognitive and developmental) approaches; or critique existing theory; or propose new experiments or studies to test certain new hypotheses. One might select a particular measuring instrument (e.g., “Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence” or the “Self-Perception Profile” or the “Sentence Completion Test”) or strategy (“identity status paradigm”) and review the literature on studies that use the test or strategy. One might investigate programs that claim to enhance self-esteem. One might examine clinical issues in self-pathology, or narcissistic personality disorder? Or how self-efficacy works? And so on…

Graduate students may want to write a paper that integrates these constructs and literatures into their existing line of work.

3. How do I find a topic?

A good way to get untracked is simply to browse through the articles on your reading list. Go through the reference sections of each article—do any of the titles appeal to you? If so, track down the article and read it. Pretty soon you will have a small literature to examine. Another way is to just enter some search terms by topic (“self & infancy”) or by author (“Susan Harter”) and see what articles are generated.

One can also find “handbooks” on almost any topic in psychology (e.g., Handbook of Moral Development, Handbook of Self and Identity, Handbook of Socialization, etc), and therein one finds numerous chapters that summarize the literature on focused topics.

One can also just search through journals of interest. If you want to become a clinical psychologist, you might want to leaf through issues of the Journal of Clinical Psychology, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and the like. If you are interested in developmental issues, pick up issues of Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Research on Adolescence, Adult Development and Aging, and the like.

4. How do I search the scholarly literature?

You should become acquainted with the PsychInfo search engine, which you can access on the University Library website:

Scroll down to PsychInfo and enter search terms. You can limit the search by author/topic, and you can limit the search to only those citations for which you can obtain hard copies.

5. “What are you looking for?”

I am looking for command of a literature that is broad (many articles are cited) and deep (some are discussed in detail). The line-of-argument should resemble a good narrative. There should scholarly summarization of a literature or a tutorial-style narrative, certainly, but also some unique, value-added elements. There should be a point to your paper; your review should add up to something (e.g, a new theory, new hypotheses to test, problems noted with some assessment or conclusions about some program or intervention, etc). It’s OK to conclude that “new research is needed,” but what kind of research would be most helpful? Put differently, there should be a clear take-home message(s) that is well-attested by the literature just analyzed. This should be the sort of paper that you would be proud to submit to a journal; or with your graduate school applications. And, of course, the paper should be written in a polished, professional way.

6. How will the paper be evaluated?

The scoring rubric is posted to the WebCT course website should give you more guidelines about what I am looking.

7. Where can we find examples of good papers of the sort we should aim for?

There are psychology journals that publish only literature reviews. For example, browse through any issue of Psychological Bulletin, Clinical Psychology Review, Developmental Review, Personality and Social Psychology Review, School Psychology Review, or Educational Psychology Review. There are also book series that publish reviews on focused topics, such as the Annual Review of Psychology---pick any year and read through chapters that interest you. There are numerous “handbooks” (e.g, Handbook of Moral Development, Handbook of Self and Identity, Handbook of Socialization) that also contain chapters which summarize the literature on various topics.

These review journals and books are also good places to get ideas about topics to review, and a good place to start to begin mastering a literature.

8. Do you have any writing “tips” for us?

Writing is a lot like bricklaying. A wall is constructed brick-by-brick, with each brick fastened by mortar to the next one until a line is laid down, then a second line is constructed in a similar way: brick-by-brick, fastened to each other by careful sculpturing of mortar by the expert craftsman. Then a third line, and so on, until a wall is evident. A paragraph is written much the way a wall is constructed: word-by-word, line-by-line, with careful molding of words by the expert writer to make sure they hang together properly, “where every word is at home, taking its place to support the others… the complete consort dancing together.” (T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding, Four Quartets).

Which is just a way of saying that writing is a craft. No one is born a writer. It is a skill that one develops with practice, feedback…and practice. And writing is not easier than bricklaying.

The craft of writing is not fully engaged until you begin re-writing. There is no such thing as the “sanctity of the first draft.” You are not a writer until you exercise craft skills on the first draft. Each paragraph that you write will probably be rewritten several times. Get used to it. This is the craft of writing. Welcome to the guild.

Writing is a lot like bricklaying, and it is not easier than bricklaying. With one exception: it is easier to re-write a paragraph than it is for a bricklayer to take down a wall to start over!

Do not have contempt for the reader. Keep the reader’s perspective in mind as you write. Do not write the paper assuming that the reader is an expert on the topic. This means that you should take few things for granted. Define terms, explain things, and draw conclusions. Walk the reader through your thesis, point out the sights; keep the reader informed about how your argument is unfolding, what to look for, and the like. This means you will have to pay attention to headings, transitions and “advance organizers.” Sometimes it’s useful to imagine that your reader is skeptical about your thesis so you will have to anticipate the skeptic’s objections and deal with them accordingly.

Ask yourself questions about your writing as you go along. Did that make sense? Will a naïve reader understand the use of this word? Do I need to support this assertion with a citation? Or quotation? Would a skeptic be convinced, or am I preaching to the choir? Does this next sentence follow from the preceding, and does it point toward the next sentence? Will a reader understand the structure of my paper (e.g., why topics are taken-up in a particular order)?

Each sentence should point in two directions, backward to the preceding sentence and forward to the next one. Sentences within a paragraph should cohere around the same point—they should be on-topic.

Paragraphs should point in two directions, backward to the preceding paragraph, and forward to the next one. Each paragraph should cohere sensibly around a basic set of idea(s). And the transition between paragraphs should explicitly tie them together.

Write with your ear! Read your sentences and paragraphs out-loud (to yourself) when you are writing. How does it sound? Are you using enough alliteration? Are you varying the sentence length? Is there a cadence or rhythm to your sentences that is appealing? Do you trip over syntax? If you were reading this as a speech, would it keep anyone awake? Could it be delivered effectively if it were read aloud? Again, ask yourself, “How does this sound?” I am convinced that most writing can be improved if one simply reads a paper aloud. You can hear clumsy and awkward locutions, words, syntax.

Use the mechanics tools of your word-processor, such as spell-checking and grammar checking. These are sometimes annoying, and you will have to over-ride them sometimes with your own good judgment, but responding to their suggestions forces you to be reflective about your writing style.

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