Dr. Ralph Erber
422 Byrne Hall
325-4243
rerber@condor.depaul.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course focuses on selected social psychological issues such as social perception, attitudes, prejudice, attraction and relationships, etc. Strong emphasis will be placed on how these issues can be explained through social psychological theory, and how social psychologists go about studying them.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Because this is an advanced course it will follow mostly a discussion format. Each Tuesaday we will discuss an overview chapter of the week's topic from Tesser's volume Advanced Social Psychology. In addition, there are specific reading assignments, usually papers containing recent research and theory on the week's topic on Thursdays. One copy of each reading will be in a box in the xerox/mail room. Because your thoughts, opinions, and questions will drive the discussion it is imperative that you to do the assignments beforehand and that you actively participate in class. Your grade will be determined as follows:
1. Your level of participation in class. One way I will evaluate this is that each week you are to bring one type-written page with comments and questions about the readings. Comments should address how the readings relate to the Tuesday chapter and might speculate about what you are doing (professionally), experiencing in life (personal), or to your research interests. In addition, write down three questions that came to mind as you were reading. Because the discussion will be based on your questions/comments, I need you to turn them in to me by 1 pm each Thursday (please do not stuff them into my mailbox after this time).
2. The quality of a 10-15 minute presentation of a study, or a paper that pertains to the subject matter but is not on the reading list (see list of key journals at the end). You should be prepared to do your presentation at the end of class on Tuesdays.
3. The quality of a research proposal. Choose a research topic which applies a social psychological theory, research, perspective, or issue to your area of interest. Write an introduction and design a study that would test relevant predictions. The proposal should be about 10 pages long and include references above and beyond what is on the reading list. Your proposal should be APA-style. I will evaluate your proposals based on the following criteria:
If you absolutely hate writing research proposals, you can opt to take a comprehensive final essay exam instead. Please let me know ahead of time if you are choosing this option. In arriving at your decision, please keep in mind that I will not accept proposals that you have submitted or will be submitting to another class (e.g. Research Methods).
Your proposal is due June 8 at 5 pm, which also happens to be the day and time of the final exam. The proposal/exam will count 40% toward your grade, as will your participation. Your brief presentation will count 20%.
OUTLINE AND READINGS:
| 3/30 | Organizational Meeting | |
| 4/1 | Interest and Importance | Tesser, 1990 Wilson et al., 1993 |
| 4/6 | History | Jones, 1985 |
| 4/8 | Methods | Tesser, 1995, Ch. 2 Mook, 1983 |
| 4/13 | Attribution I | Tesser, 1995, Ch. 4 |
| 4/15 | Attribution II | Morris & Peng, 1994 Osborne & Gilbert, 1992 Gilbert & Silvera, 1996 |
| 4/20 | Social Cognition I | Tesser, 1995, Ch. 5 |
| 4/22 | Social Cognition II | Roese, 1995 Niedenthal & Tangney, 1995 Erber et al., 1996 |
| 4/27 | The Self I | Tesser, 1995, Ch. 3 |
| 4/29 | MPA - no class | |
| 5/4 | The Self II | Kitayama et al., 1997 Leith & Baumeister, 1996 |
| 5/6 | Attitude Change | Tesser, 1995, Ch. 6 |
| 5/11 | Stereotyping and Prejudice I | Tesser, Ch. 12 |
| 5/13 | Stereotyping and Prejudice II | Mcrae et al., 1994 Steele & Aronson, 1995 Kruger, 1996 |
| 5/18 | Interpersonal Relationships I | Tesser, Ch. 8 |
| 5/20 | Interpersonal Relationships II | DePaulo & Bell, 1996 Stroebe et al., 1996 Simpson et al., 1996 Murray et al., 1996 |
| 5/25 | Helping I | Tesser, 1995, Ch. 9 |
| 5/27 | Helping II | Van Lange et al,. 1997 McCullough et al., 1997 DePaulo et al., 1989 |
| 6/1 | Aggression I | Tesser, 1995, Ch. 10 |
| 6/3 | Aggression II | Baumeister et al., 1996 Cohen et al., 1996 Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995 Anderson et al., 1997 |
Representative list of key social psychological journals:
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Social Cognition