Fall 2000
Mondays & Wednesdays, 2 - 3 p.m.
1324 East Hall

Professor Serena Chen
East Hall, Room 3231
647-3939, serena@umich.edu
Office Hours:  Tuesdays, 2-3:30 p.m. or by appointment
GRADUATE STUDENT INSTRUCTORS:

Amara Brook (3213 East Hall, 649-1164, abrook@umich.edu)
     Section 010	Friday, 9-11	 413 DENN	
     Section 011	Friday, 11-1 	413 DENN	

Penelope Espinoza (3245 East Hall, 622-9823, pespinoz@umich.edu)
     Section 002	Friday, 10-12	224 DENN	
     Section 006	Monday, 11-1        430 DENN	

Carla Pfeffer (3261 East Hall, 647-3515, cpfeffer@umich.edu)
     Section 005	Monday, 9-11	245 DENN	
     Section 008	Thursday, 8-10       438 WH	

 Ana-Christina Ramon (3233 East Hall, 647-3933, acramon@umich.edu)
     Section 007	Wednesday, 3-5      B239 EH	
     Section 012	Friday, 10-12	 229 DENN	

Katrina Walsemann (3261 East Hall, 647-3515, kwalsema@umich.edu)
     Section 004	Wednesday, 5-7        427 WH	
     Section 013	Thursday, 4-6           1068 EH	

Daryl Wout (3234 East Hall, 763-4222, dwout@umich.edu)
     Section 003	Wednesday, 3-5       430 DENN	
     Section 009	Thursday, 10-12       205 DENN  [Note:  This is a room change from 432 WH]

Social psychology is the scientific study of the way people think, feel, desire, and behave in social situations. It involves understanding how people influence, and are influenced by, the others around them. A primary goal of this course is to introduce you to the perspectives, research methods, and empirical findings of social psychology. Equally important is the goal of cultivating your skills for analyzing the social situations and events that you encounter in your everyday lives. Finally, throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on developing critical and integrative ways of thinking about theory and research in social psychology.

You should be aware that this is a demanding course. There is considerable reading to be done -- making it unwise to fall behind in the reading. The lectures in this course supplement the readings. As such, you can expect lectures to present ideas that are not necessarily covered in the readings. You are expected to master the material covered in both the readings and the lectures. Your success in this course depends on attending class regularly, actively participating in class, and taking thorough notes. If you simply cannot avoid missing a class, borrow notes from a classmate.

The discussion sections led by your Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) are intended to hone and expand upon the ideas covered in each week's lectures and readings, and to conduct demonstrations and group empirical projects. You are expected to attend and actively participate in these sections. Sections begin meeting on Thursday, September 7th. Your GSI will provide a separate information sheet listing the deadlines you are responsible for in your discussion section.

You are required to take 3 exams in this course. All exams will be given during lecture time. Thus, there will be no lecture on exam days. EXAM LOCATIONS WILL VARY ACROSS SECTIONS AND WILL BE ANNOUNCED THE WEEK BEFORE EACH EXAM IN LECTURE. The firmly scheduled dates for the 3 exams are: Wednesday, October 11th, Wednesday, November 8th, and Wednesday, December 13th. MARK THESE EXAM DATES IN YOUR CALENDARS NOW. [Note: There is no exam during the final exam period]. All exams are multiple choice and are non-comprehensive. Each of them covers the material presented in the readings, lectures, and discussion sections within the specified dates. As a general rule, make-up exams will not be given. Exceptions to this rule are made only in dire, unavoidable circumstances (e.g., serious illness or emergency) that are fully documented (e.g., with official correspondence from physicians and/or Deans) and preferably with advance arrangement made directly with Professor Chen. Make-up exams, when offered, are essay exams.

You will have additional opportunities to convey your knowledge of the course material in the two required course papers. You will receive detailed information for each of these papers in handouts distributed in lecture or in your discussion section. In brief, the first paper requires you to conduct an experiment with your classmates on helping behavior, and write a short report of the experiment. The second paper asks you to provide a comprehensive and creative social-psychological analysis of a feature film.

Lastly, although this is not a requirement, I strongly encourage each of you to make use of my office hours and your GSI's office hours. Your GSI and I would be more than happy to talk with you about any ideas, challenges, and/or concerns you might have about the course material, and about psychology more generally.

Your final grade in this course will be based on your achievements on course requirements weighted in the following manner:

Exam #1	                    20%
Exam #2	                    20%
Exam #3	                    20%
HELPING paper  	            15%
FILM ANALYSIS paper            15%
Participation in Section       10%

Your GSI will discuss how your Participation in Section grade will be determined.

Final letter grades are based on standard percentages, not curves, as follows:

97 -100% ... A+	   77 - 79% ... C+
93 - 96% ... A        73 - 76% ... C
90 - 92% ... A-	   70 - 72% ... C-
87 - 89% ... B+	   67 - 69% ... D+
83 - 86% ... B        63 - 66% ... D
80 - 82% ... B-	   60 - 62% ... D-


REQUIRED READINGS:  

(Textbook & Coursepack are both available for purchase at Ulrich's Bookstore or Michigan Book & Supply.  
A copy of each is also available on reserve at Shapiro Undergraduate Library).
 
Textbook 
Social Psychology (3rd Edition) 
Authors:  Elliot Aronson, Timothy D. Wilson, & Robin M. Akert
Publisher:  Addison Wesley Longman, 1999
 Textbook Web Site:  http://longman.awl.com/aronson



Coursepack
A collection of required readings reprinted by Dollar Bill. 
 

COURSE SCHEDULE & READINGS:

DATE	TOPIC	READINGS
WEEK #1:
Wednesday, September 6th	Introduction	No assigned reading
WEEK #2:
Monday, September 11th	Themes	Textbook Chapter 1
Wednesday, September 13th	Research Methods	Textbook Chapter 2
WEEK #3:
Monday, September 22nd	Social Cognition, Part I	Textbook Chapter 3
Wednesday, September 20th	Social Cognition, Part II	Hastorf & Cantril (1954)
WEEK #4:
Monday, September 25th	Social Perception	Textbook Chapter 4
Wednesday, September 27th	Linking Social Perception to Social Behavior	No assigned reading
WEEK #5:
Monday, October 2nd	Automatic Cognition & Behavior	Bargh, Chen, & Burrows (1996)
Wednesday, October 4th	Attribution, Part I	Lau & Russell (1980)
WEEK #6:
Monday, October 9th	Attribution, Part II	No assigned reading
Wednesday, October 11th	EXAM #1	Exam covers 9/6 - 10/9 material
WEEK #7:
Monday, October 16th	The Self, Part I	Textbook Chapter 5
Wednesday, October 18th	The Self, Part II	Linville (1985)
WEEK #8:
Monday, October 23rd	Cognitive Dissonance	Textbook Chapter 6
Wednesday, October 25th	Attitudes & Persuasion, Part	Textbook Chapter 7
WEEK #9:
Monday, October 30th	Attitudes & Persuasion, Part II	No assigned reading
Wednesday, November 1st	Conformity & Compliance	Textbook Chapter 8
WEEK #10:
Monday, November 6th	Obedience	Osherow (1999)
Wednesday, November 8th	EXAM #2	Exam covers 10/16 - 11/6 material
WEEK #11:
Monday, November 13th	Group Processes	Textbook Chapter 9
Wednesday, November 15th	Attraction	Textbook Chapter 10
WEEK #12:
Monday, November 20th	Close Relationships	Aron, Aron, Tudor, & Nelson (1991)
Wednesday, November 22nd	Lecture will NOT meet (you may use time to view a film for the film analysis paper)	No assigned reading
WEEK #13:
Monday, November 27th	Prosocial Behavior	Textbook Chapter 11
Wednesday, November 29th	Stereotyping & Prejudice, Part I	Textbook Chapter 13
WEEK #14:
Monday, December 4th	Stereotyping & Prejudice, Part II	Aronson, Steele, Salinas, & Lustina (1999)
Wednesday, December 6th	Intergroup Relations	No assigned reading
WEEK #15:
Monday, December 11th	Applying Social Psychology & Wrapping Up	Bargh & Raymond (1995)
Wednesday, December 13th	EXAM #3	Exam covers 11/8 - 12/11 material