Sociology 530
Intermediate Social Psychology (Graduate Students)
Fall 1992
Instructor: Richard A. Williams
471 Decio (239-6668, 289-5227)
Office Hours: MTW 10-11 and by appointment
Time and Place: Monday-Wednesday 11:15-12:30, 351 DeBartolo
Course objectives:
This course is designed to provide an in-depth view of the major principles and findings of social psychology. Social psychology has four major concerns. These are (1) the impact that one individual has on another individual (2) the impact that a group has on its individual members (3) the impact that individual members have on the group, and (4) the impact that one group has on another group. These concerns are expressed in work in such areas as attitude-behavior consistency, social influence and persuasion, altruism and aggression, interpersonal attraction, group productivity, intergroup conflict, etc. By the end of the course, the student should have an appreciation for how social and psychological variables interact in determining individual, group, and societal attitudes and behavior.
This course is somewhat slanted toward psychological and quantitative approaches (though certainly not exclusively so). Students are encouraged to take Andrew Weigert's course in Social Interaction in order to see other approaches to social psychology.
Required Text:
Readings Packet for Sociology 530, Parts I and II, compiled by Richard Williams. Hopefully, at least the first part is or soon will be available in the LaFortune Copy Shop.
Assignments, exams, grading:
There will be two exams and one paper. Each will count for 1/3 of your grade. In addition, classroom presentations and classroom discussion may be important in borderline situations. Note that both exams will be given during the semester; your papers are due on the first day of exam week.
Format:
While I will do a fair amount of lecturing, I also intend to have a high degree of class discussion and participation. Specifically,
Most sections of the Readings Packet begin with one or more discussion questions. These questions have appeared on previous exams and on the specialty area exam in Social Psychology. They may appear on future exams as well. You should be prepared to discuss these questions in class. You are also encouraged to raise discussion questions of your own. Obviously, you will need to have the readings finished before class in order to conduct an intelligent conversation. (Incidentally, the end of the readings packet includes several additional questions. These questions synthesize the course material or else deal with additional topics. They may be useful when preparing for the final or for those who wish to specialize in social psychology.)
Working in small groups, each student will be responsible for running the class on one day. See below for more details.
At the end of the semester, each student will be given time to present highlights from their paper.
Exams
Exams will be essay and short answer. I will probably give you a few "clues" to help structure your study, e.g. I might give you a list of six possible questions, or I might just tell you that two of the discussion questions we have gone over in class will appear on the exam. The short answer questions might consist of definitions or very short essays.
Student-run classes
This class was almost cancelled after I assumed additional administrative duties within the department. Instead, I decided to increase the responsibilities of students in running the class. (Hopefully you won't wish that I had gone ahead and cancelled it.) Small groups of students will be in charge of running the class on four different days. You will get to choose from one of the following topics: Language and Communication, Cognitive and Moral development, Interpersonal Attraction, or Social Structure and Personality. These are all topics which I either have not covered in the past, or where I thought my material needed to be updated.
Each group can run the class however it wants: lectures, films, discussion, whatever. If the group wants, it can assign additional readings at least one week in advance. The main thing is that, at the end of the class, students (and professor) should have a clear understanding of at least some important aspects of the topic.
I also want each group to provide me with a short bibliography of sources that it thinks future graduate students might find helpful.
I will probably have you sign up for groups after our second or third class.
Papers.
Each student will be responsible for writing a paper and doing a class presentation on it. You are free to choose a topic from any genre, but please check with me to clarify your choice. I suggest that students try to discover what they are interested in and pursue a paper topic in that area, focusing on a social psychological aspect of the issue.
Your options are as follows:
OPTION A: For your paper, you should choose some important aspect or aspects of the topic, and review the major research findings. Indicate what you feel are some of the strengths and weaknesses of research in this field, and areas where additional work is needed. The Handbook of Social Psychology may be a very useful source for you, but the paper should not simply be a rewriting or a condensation of the material in the Handbook. Rather, the Handbook should be one of many sources you consult, and you should try to go more in-depth than the Handbook does - you should show both a broad understanding of the material you discuss, and an ability to critique it.
Your presentation can be strictly on your paper, or, if you prefer, you can try to provide a more general overview of research in this field.
OPTION B: Same as option A, except that two people can work together on the presentation. You are free to choose your own partners. Each person will have to write his or her own separate paper.
OPTION C: Use social-psychological theory and/or findings to develop a model or analysis of some kind of behavior or sociological phenomenon you are interested in. Your paper should review relevant social psychological research and/or theory, and then apply it to the issue you are interested in. You should also be sure to indicate why additional work on your topic is important and where previous research and/or theory is lacking. Ideally, the final paper will be something that could be used as a theory section in a Master's thesis or dissertation.
OPTION D: If none of the above suits your needs, then you are welcome to talk to me about an alternative format for your paper.
PRESENTATION OF PAPERS: Format of your presentation is up to you. You can lecture, raise discussion questions, distribute handouts, show a short film, etc. You can suggest short readings for people to look at beforehand. I expect you to be well informed for your presentations, and to convey your informedness to the class. Anything you can do to make your presentation especially interesting and entertaining will be viewed as an added bonus. Amount of time available will be dependent on class size.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Sociology 530
Intermediate Social Psychology (Graduate Students)
Fall 1992
Aug. 26, 31, Sept. 2 - Overview. The three faces of social psychology. Overview of major theoretical perspectives - Learning theory, Cognitive theory, and Symbolic Interactionism. WARNING: This will probably be one of the harder weeks we have all semester, but the ideas learned here will come up again and again during the course.
"The three faces of social psychology," by James S. House. Sociometry, 1977, Vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 161-177.
"Systematic barriers to progress in academic social psychology," by Neil J. Kressel. The Journal of Social Psychology V. 130 No. 1, pp. 5-27.
Social Learning Theory, by Albert Bandura. 1971. Morristown, N.J.: General Learning press. Read pages 1-11, pp. 20-35.
Handbook of Social Psychology, Third Edition, Vol. I. 1985. Edited by Gardner Lindzey and Elliot Aronson. New York: Random House. Read pages 142-163 from the chapter entitled "The cognitive perspective" by Hazel Markus and R.B. Zajonc. Also skim pages 178-196.
Symbolic Interaction: A reader in social psychology, 2nd ed. Read "Mead's social psychology" by Bernard N. Meltzer, pp. 4-22; recommended but not required is "The Chicago and Iowa schools of Symbolic Interactionism," by Bernard N. Meltzer and John W. Petras, pp. 43-57.
"The vitalization of symbolic interactionism," by Sheldon Stryker. Social Psychology Quarterly 1987, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 83-94. Recommended but not required.
Sept. 7, 9 - Attitudes and behavior. Functions of attitudes; attitude formation and change; cognitive dissonance theory; attitude-behavior consistency.
Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol. I. Read pp. 201-203 on "The theory of cognitive dissonance."
"A new look at dissonance theory," by Joel Cooper and Russell H. Fazio. Pp. 229-266 in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 11, edited by Leonard Berkowitz. 1984. New York: Academic Press. (Only read up to p. 253)
"Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior," by Icek Ajzen and Martin Fishbein. Reprinted in Contemporary Issues in Social Psychology, 4th edition, by John C. Brigham and Lawrence S. Wrightsman. 1982. Monterey: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
"A critical examination of the causal structure of the Fishbein/Ajzen attitude-behavior model," by A.E. Liska. 1984. Social Psychology Quarterly 47: 61-74.
Sept. 14, 16 - Social influence and persuasion. What determines persuasiveness? How are we persuaded?
"Cognitive theories of persuasion," by Alice H. Eagly and Shelly Chaiken. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 17. 1984. Academic Press. Read pages 267-308.
Sept. 21 - Attribution Theory: Explaining Behavior. Special emphasis on attribution theory and attribution biases.
Social Psychology: The Second Edition, by Roger Brown. 1986. New York: The Free Press. Read "Part II: Attribution Theory" pp. 131-194.
"Interpersonal and social consequences of attribution," by Kelley G. Shaver. Reprinted in Contemporary issues in social psychology, pp. 278-287.
Sept. 23 - Language and Communication. STUDENT PRESENTATION.
Social Psychology, fourth edition, by James Vander Zanden. 1987. New York: Random House. Read chapter 3, "Social communication and language," pp. 71-105.
Sept. 28 - Cognitive and Moral Development. STUDENT PRESENTATION.
"Moral internalization: Current theory and research," by Martin L. Hoffman. From Advances in experimental social psychology, Vol. 10, 1977, Leonard Berkowitz, editor, pp. 85-132.
Sept. 30, Oct. 5 - Altruism and aggression. Biological, cultural, cognitive, and other explanations for altruism and aggression.
"Simple views of aggression: An essay review," by leonard Berkowitz. Reprinted in Contemporary issues in Social Psychology, pp. 39-47.
"Social determinants of bystander interventions in emergencies," by B. Latane and J.M. Darley. Reprinted in Contemporary issues in Social Psychology, pp. 6-15.
"Personality and social network involvement as predictors of helping behavior in everyday life," by Paul R. Amato. Social Psychology Quarterly 1990, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 31-43.
Handbook of Social Psychology, Third Edition, Vol. II. Read pp. 6-62 of ch. 14, "Altruism and aggression", by Dennis L. Krebs and Dale T. Miller.
Oct. 7 - FIRST EXAM
Oct. 12, 14 - Conformity. Factors affecting obedience and compliance. This section includes some of the most fascinating and disturbing findings of social psychological research.
The Social Animal, fifth edition, by Elliot Aronson. 1988. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company. Read chapter 2, "Conformity," pp. 13-55.
Contemporary issues in social psychology, Ch. 6, "Obedience and compliance", pp. 182-223.
Oct. 26 - Group decisionmaking. Group polarization; groupthink
Evaluating research in social psychology: A guide for the consumer, by Clara Mayo and Marianne LaFrance. 1977. Monterey: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. Read ch. 6, "Group decision-making: Extremity shifts," pp. 157-187.
Groupthink, second edition, by Irving L. Janis. 1982. Dallas: Houghton Mifflin Company. Read pp. 2-47, 174-177, 242-276.
Oct. 28, Nov. 2 - Group Leadership; Group productivity. NOTE: Lissa VanBebber will give a guest lecture on group leadership.
The Small Group, by Howard L. Nixon II. 1979. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Read pp. 196-204 from ch. 5, "Leadership and Power in small groups."
The Small Group, ch. 7, "Group task performance," pp. 287-300.
Profiles of Social Research, by Morton Hunt. 1985. Russell Sage Foundation. Read ch. 6, "One thing at a time..." ON RESERVE IN THE LIBRARY.
Nov. 4 - Deviance. Includes labelling theory, and other theoretical views of deviance.
Handbook of Social Psychology, Third Edition, Vol. II. Read pp. 766-791 of ch. 26, "Social Deviance," by Dane Archer.
Self and Society: A symbolic interactionist social psychology, fifth edition, by John P. Hewitt. 1991. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc. Read ch. 7, "Deviance and the social order," pp. 261-295.
Nov. 9 - Interpersonal attraction. STUDENT PRESENTATION.
Interpersonal attraction: An overview, by Gerald L. Clore. 1975. Morristown: General Learning Press. Read whole paper (37 pages).
Nov. 11, 16 - Prejudice, racism, sexism. Includes cultural influences, gender roles, causes of intergroup conflict.
The Social Animal. Read ch. 6, "Prejudice," pp. 229-283.
"Social Science and school desegregation: Did we mislead the Supreme Court," by Stuart W. Cook. Reprinted in Contemporary issues in social psychology, pp. 161-175.
"Teacher's knowledge and use of African American culture in bicultural classrooms," by Lissa VanBebber. May 15, 1991. Unpublished dissertation proposal. Read pp. 1-38.
Nov. 18 - Social structure and personality. STUDENT PRESENTATION. Social-psychological influences on health, status attainment, values, alienation.
Social Psychology, by H. Andrew Michener, John D. Delamater, and Shalom H. Schwartz. 1990. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Read ch. 17, "Social structure and personality," pp. 492-519.
Handbook of Social Psychology, Ch. 27, "The application of social psychology," by Judith Rodin. Read pp. 820-826, pp. 842-851.
Nov. 23, 25 - Special Topics. To be announced. This time may be used to cover additional topics, or to catch up on topics we are behind on, or to provide additional days for paper presentations.
Nov. 30, Dec. 2, Dec. 7 - Presentations of student papers. Depending on class size, students will have anywhere from 15 minutes to a half hour to present highlights of their papers.
Dec. 9 - Final Exam.
Dec. 14 - Papers due by 5:00 p.m.