Gregory Neidert, Ph.D. PGS 350 Course Syllabus

Dr. Gregory Neidert

PGS 350
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
COURSE SYLLABUS
FALL 2005

Instructor: Dr. Gregory Neidert
Meeting Times: M 1:40pm - 4:30pm - SCOB 252 [SLN 12973]
Office: PSY B203
Office Phone: 965-1868
Dept. Phone: 965-3326
E-mail: atgpn@asu.edu [cc: both me and my TA on every email]
Website: www.asu.edu/courses/pgs350/
Office Hrs.: M: 11:40am - 1:30pm
T: 11:40am - 1:30pm
and by appointment only on Mondays and Tuesdays
Textbook: (1) SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (3rd Ed.) [required]
- Kenrick, Neuberg, & Cialdini
(2) STUDY GUIDE [optional]

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will address the issues of Social Psychology in a survey-style format (see the topics listed below). We will examine how the real, imagined, or implied presence of others motivates individuals to think, feel and behave in the ways they do.

The following topic areas will be addressed in this course. I may alter the order in which I deal with these topics during the course of the semester. (Please note that all chapters must be read in advance of the corresponding lecture. I do not follow the book's chapter organization in my presentation of the material.)
*See copyright notice at the end of this syllabus.

PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

The purpose of the course is to educate you about and, therefore, sensitize you to the various areas of study germane to Social Psychology. My ultimate purpose is to have you internalize the information in the course, to the extent that you are capable of utilizing it to better understand, predict, and control situations in your daily life.

LECTURE

Before coming to class, I expect students to have read the material assigned in the text. By so doing, it allows a higher and more informed level of discussion to take place. I feel that by waiting until the week before the test to read the material, students are cheating themselves out of their education and are also unable to effectively participate in the class.

I encourage your participation in class; I view you as consumers who pay to have me relate information on this topic to you. I want you to get as much from this course as you can. Consequently, by providing input during lectures and office hours, I feel you will be able to get the type and level of information from this class that you seek.

My lectures are oriented toward the practical application of Social Psychology in a wide variety of fields and settings. I generally provide lecture outlines to the class that act as guides for the topics under discussion and also as study guides for the tests. During lecture, I focus on having you UNDERSTAND CONCEPTS, as opposed to merely memorizing definitions. Consequently, I stress my in-class examples as vehicles for allowing students to generate their own intuitive definitions of the concepts. The standardized definitions are available in the textbook chapters (which, as I said, should have been read in advance).

TESTS

Four (4) tests will be given. They will be multiple choice tests, with the number of questions per test varying according to the schedule presented below. On the average, about 60% - 70% of the test questions are taken from lecture, while the remainder come from the text. The final test is weighted just as heavily as all of the other tests. No test will be eligible to be dropped and NO MAKE-UP TESTS will be given.

The following represents the tentative test schedule for this semester. I reserve the right to alter the dates as I see fit.
TEST # DATE CHAPTERS

Test I 19 Sep. 2005 1, 2, 3, 4

Test II 17 Oct. 2005 6, 11

28 Oct. 2005 Restricted Course Withdrawal Deadline

Test III 21 Nov. 2005 5, 9, 10

Test IV 05 Dec. 2005 7, 8, 12, 13, 14

Accommodations for students with disabilities: ASU complies with all federal and state laws regarding discrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. Necessary accommodations will be made for any students with disabilities who are registered with Disability Resources. If you have a disability and need reasonable accommodation for equal access to education at ASU and are not yet registered, Disability Resources is located on the first floor of the Matthew's Center Building; their office hours are from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday (965-1234). Any information about a disability provided to Dr. Neidert or his teaching assistants will remain confidential.

CLASS PAPERS/PROJECTS/EXERCISES

Papers and Projects: These will be assigned in class and due at the beginning of the next class meeting. In other words, all papers and projects are due by 1:40 pm on the assigned due dates. Assignments handed in after the beginning of class will receive a grade of F or receive 0 points (HINT ... there is no penalty for getting your papers or projects in early).

All written assignments will be laser printed, double-spaced, with 1" margins about the papers. They will be written in American Standard English, written in clear typeface, in accordance with the style recommendations advanced by the American Psychological Association. Excessive (more than about 5 - 7) grammatical or typographical errors will result in a grade of F or receive 0 points for the assignment.

Exercises: In addition to papers and projects, there may be some in-class exercises for which you will be graded. Being late for or absent from these exercises will result in the same penalties as handing in papers/projects late (a grade of F or 0 points will be given) [refer to the relevant paragraphs above].

This category of course work is solely for your benefit and has the capacity to reduce your minimum number of total points for your Final Grade by 5% (15 points) [see the following page for details]. All Papers/Projects/ Exercises which are graded on a Pass/Fail basis must be completed and receive a grade of Pass to be counted toward the reduction in the total points necessary to achieve each grade level for your Final Grade determination. If any does not, then none of the Papers/Projects/Exercises Pass credits count toward a reduction in the total points necessary to achieve each grade level for your Final Grade determination. After grading, papers will not be returned to you. Rather, the grades will be posted on the attendance sheet and the papers will be available in Dr. Neidert’s office for review. You may come by during office hours or set an appointment to review and discuss your work.

Attendance Policy: Attendance throughout each entire class period is required & will be taken by Dr. Neidert every class period via a sign-in sheet. Individuals who arrive late or leave early, without prior permission of the instructor (for a verifiable and unavoidable reason), will be counted as absent, even if they signed-in on the sheet.

If a you are not present when attendance is taken for two (2) class periods, your final grade will be reduced by one full grade level. If a you are not present when attendance is taken for three (3) or more class periods, you will receive a final grade of E for the course.

Only absences preapproved by the instructor, or those for which there is a verifiable and unavoidable reason, will be excused. Individuals missing four (4) or more classes for verifiable and unavoidable reasons may submit appropriate documentation to receive a grade of I or W for the course. If the appropriate documentation is not submitted, the student will receive an E for the course.

Finally, only students registered for the course are allowed in the class. Visitors are allowed to attend only with prior permission from Dr. Neidert. Individuals not enrolled in the course will be referred to the Dean of Students for appropriate University disciplinary action.

GRADING

The exact numerical value/point scheme for tests is listed below. Your grades will be based on your performance on the assignments & exercises and tests. I grade strictly on a 90% (A), 80% (B), 70% ©), 60% (D), 50% and below (E) scale. Contributions to class will be duly noted and will help you if you are on the (exact) borderline of a grade at the end of the semester. You can examine the GRADING SCHEDULE for the exact point requirements for each grade level. If the number of Total Test Points/Total Possible Course Points varies from 300, then the cut-off scores for each grade level will be proportionately adjusted to compensate for that variation.

GRADING SCHEDULE

TESTS 300 POINTS

Test I 70 pts.

Test II 70 pts.

Test III 70 pts.

Test IV 90 pts.

PAPERS/PROJECTS/EXERCISES Pass/Fail
(All must be completed with a grade of Pass, or none count toward your Final Grade)

Cut-off scores for each grade level:
A = 270 pts. or 255 pts. with grades of Pass on all Papers/Projects
B = 240 pts. or 225 pts. with grades of Pass on all Papers/Projects
C = 210 pts. or 195 pts. with grades of Pass on all Papers/Projects
D = 180 pts. or 165 pts. with grades of Pass on all Papers/Projects
E < 180 pts. or <165 pts. with grades of Pass on all Papers/Projects

POLICY ON FINAL GRADES

If, in fact, you missed a grade level by one point, then you missed that grade level. Please do not call or visit after the Last Test to try and extract one point from one of your tests. If you want to do that, do it must be done after each Test is handed back. Attempts after the Last Test will be in vain.

TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR GRADES

If you wish to get a reasonable grade in this course, here are the steps I recommend you take to help you insure good performance:

Read the material before lectures.
Use your study guide appropriately. In other words, before reading the corresponding chapter in your text you should:
1. Review Chapter Goals and Summaries
2. Take the sample test on a separate sheet of paper and grade it.
  1. Answer all of the multiple-choice items. These will cover all of the essential information from the text. The fill-in questions are not essential, however they are effective as an extra study tool.
  2. Note the topics related to the questions you got wrong or had to guess on
3. Use your text appropriately. Read the chapter in your text, paying special attention to those topics which you had trouble with on the practice test.
  1. Every time you come across a new concept, define it in your own words and come up with at least 2 examples which illustrate it. If you cannot, then you do not have an adequate grasp of the concept and you need to come and see Dr. Neidert or the T.A
  2. You should highlight portions of the text. Effective highlighting will result in only 10-20% of all the material being highlighted. For example, you want to highlight the definitions and main points, but do not want to highlight any examples given in the text. (You should be generating examples of your own, not trying to memorize the ones provided in the text.)
  3. Take notes while you are reading. Write the notes either right in your text or on notepaper that you will use when you are studying.
4. A few days after reading the chapter(s), take the test(s) in the Study Guide again. Those questions that you still answer incorrectly represent issues that you still need to study, because you still do not know them adequately enough.
Attend all class sessions
1. Note-Taking
  1. Organization is the key to having notes that are good study tools. Here are a few tips to help you organize your notes:
    1. Use the outlines provided to help organize your notes. Write the headings and subheadings on your notes to separate the different topics.
    2. Use indentation, underlining, and highlighting.
    3. Skip several lines between topics
    4. When going back to fill in examples of your own (see below), use a different color pen.
  2. Write down the definitions given by Dr. Neidert.
  3. Do not write down the examples given by Dr. Neidert.
    1. The examples are provided for two reasons:
      1. To clarify the issue for you
      2. To give you time to "catch up" in your notes. When Dr. Neidert is giving an example, finish writing down what was said before and then just listen to the example and make sure that you understand the concept. (If you don't understand, raise your hand and ask for clarification.)
    2. Leave a few blank lines in your notes at the point that Dr. Neidert gives the example. That way, you can go back and fill in examples of your own.
    3. If you do not understand what is being discussed, raise your hand and ask for clarification.
  4. If you miss some of the material as it's being presented, draw a line in your notes to indicate this, skip several additional lines, and continue taking notes.
    1. When you go back to review your notes, the line will indicate to you that you are missing some material. Try to fill it in for yourself. If you cannot, ask another student or see Dr. Neidert or the T.A. in office hours.
  5. You should read over your notes before the next class period. This will allow you to go over the material while it is still fresh in your mind and make it easier for you to think of your own examples and fill in any material you missed.
2. If you have to miss a class, get notes from at least two other people in class. You should then write your own notes. Organize them in the same fashion that you organize all of your notes so that they will be useful to you as a study tool.
  1. If you had a good reason for missing class, you can come to office hours and ask Dr. Neidert or the T.A. for clarification of material after you have gone through the notes of at least two other students.
Use office hours
1. Come in and speak to Dr. Neidert or the T.A. during office hours to clarify issues from the text and lectures about which you are uncertain
2. If you are having trouble generating your own examples, you need to talk with Dr. Neidert or the T.A. as soon as possible.
3. Appointments will be made outside of regularly scheduled office hours only if you cannot make any of the office hours for Dr. Neidert and the T.A.
  1. If you fail to show up for a scheduled appointment, you will not be able to make any additional appointments with either Dr. Neidert or the T.A.

Tests

During tests, raise your hand if you are uncertain about any question on the test (e.g., vocabulary, etc.).
1. Obviously, if it is a term that you should know from the text or lecture, we will just tell you that and will not be able to define it for you.

After tests, come in and review your test to ascertain the areas in which you are having trouble.

In order to evaluate your performance on tests, use the following procedure:

Create a table just like the one below for yourself.

	Text	Lecture
Conceptual

Text

Lecture

Factual

Conceptual

During the class period immediately following the test you will be given a feedback sheet. This sheet lists all the right answers to the test and tells you which questions you answered incorrectly. For each item Dr. Neidert will announce which type of question it was (e.g., Text-Conceptual).
If you have a valid reason for missing class the day after an test, you can do the following: Come to either Dr. Neidert's or the T.A.'s office hours with the table that you've created, and ask to see your feedback sheet and the test. Each question on the test will be labeled as having come from the text or the lecture, and will be either a factual question or a conceptual question. Your feedback sheet will tell you which questions you got wrong, and the test will tell you where each question came from.

For each question you got wrong, place the number of the question in the appropriate box in the table. For example, if you missed question #25, and it was a factual question based upon information from lecture, you would write "25" in the upper right hand box (see example below).

	Text	Lecture
Conceptual

Text

Lecture

Factual

Conceptual

Bring the table you created (listing all the questions that you got wrong in their appropriate box) to office hours. You need to go over the ones that you got wrong to learn how to study better for the next test.
Usually, there will be a pattern to your mistakes, meaning that you will have the most mistakes in one or two of the four areas.
1. If you do not do well in both the lecture-factual and text-factual, it is likely that you will also do poorly on the conceptual questions. The factual questions are the foundation for further learning; you need to know these before you can master the conceptual questions.

Tests can only be reviewed in the time between when that test was taken and the next one is given. For example, Test 1 can only be reviewed up until the day before Test 2 is given. Likewise, Test 2 can only be reviewed up until the day before Test 3 is given, and so on.

The following are suggestions for how to improve on your weak area(s):

FACTUAL MATERIAL

1. TEXT FACTUAL: These are questions that concentrate on definitions of terms from the book. To effectively study for these questions, begin by looking at the chapter objectives in the study guide. On a separate piece of paper, take the tests from the study guide so that you may begin to focus your learning. Next, read the text and concentrate on the definitions that were highlighted in the study guide. It may be helpful to cover the definition of the term with your hand, and try to give your own definition of the term. After reading the text, go back and take the tests in the study guide again -- what you still do not know or need to guess on is what you need to focus on.

2. LECTURE-FACTUAL: These are questions which focus on definitions of terms from lecture. If you are having difficulty with these types of questions, you should first ask yourself if the information in your notes is accurate. Look at the answer to the question on the test and see if it is in your notes. If it is not, then you need to take better notes. For instance, if you miss information in class, for whatever reason, leave a blank space in your notes and remember to ask Dr. Neidert or the T.A. to help you fill in these areas. If the information is in your notes, you need to study your notes better. For example, go through your notes and test yourself. Cover the definition of the term with your hand, and try to give your own definition of the term. You may also need to improve the organization of your notes. Notes can be easily organized with the implementation of indenting, spacing, underlining, and highlighting, as discussed at the beginning of the semester.

3. LECTURE & TEXT FACTUAL: Missing factual questions indicates a problem with memorization. When studying terms, don't just memorize the book's definition or Dr. Neidert's definition, make up your own definition for the term. If you can't make up your own definition, you don't have a factual grasp of the term. It may be helpful for you to use techniques, such as anagrams (An example of an anagram is ROY G. BIV, which is used to remember the colors of the rainbow).

CONCEPTUAL MATERIAL

4. TEXT-CONCEPTUAL: These are questions which ask you to apply concepts from the book to other situations. You might be given a situation and asked what it is an example of. When reading the text, think about how the concepts you read about could be applied to your own life, or to situations other than those described in the text. Come up with your own definition for each term and give three examples from your own life. If you cannot come up with three examples, see Dr. Neidert or the T.A. for help.

5. LECTURE-CONCEPTUAL: These are questions which ask you to apply concepts from lecture to other situations. You might be given a situation and asked what it is an example of. If you are having difficulty with these types of questions, you should first ask yourself if you have a discussion of the concept in your notes. The exact answer to the test question will not be in your notes, but a discussion of the concept should be. If it is not, then you need to take better notes. For instance, if you miss information in class, for whatever reason, leave a blank space in your notes and remember to ask Dr. Neidert or the T.A. to help you fill in these areas. If the information is in your notes, then you need to study your notes better. For example, go through your notes and conceptually test yourself. You may also want to show your notes to either Dr. Neidert or the T.A. to make sure that you are taking adequate notes. In addition, both during lecture and when you are reading over your notes, think about how the concepts you read about could be applied to your own life, or to situations other than those described by Dr. Neidert in class. Again, come up with independent examples of the concepts for yourself.

6. LECTURE AND TEXT-CONCEPTUAL: During lecture, when you are studying the book, when you are studying your notes, and in your daily life, think about how the concepts you've learned about could be applied to your own life, or to situations other than those described by the book or by Dr. Neidert in class. If you can't think of an example of how a particular concept applies to daily life, come to Dr. Neidert or the T.A. and ask for an example. Then, generate more of your own examples.

7. ALL TEXT: Missing primarily questions from the text indicates a problem with assimilating information from the text. It may be the result of inattentive reading or poor study habits (such as reading out by the pool while sunbathing). Use the study guide in the following manner to improve your comprehension of the text. Take the multiple choice test in the study guide, then read the chapter. After you've finished, take the test again, and see how many you get right. If you are still getting questions wrong, go back and read those sections of the text again. You should also avoid cramming for the test. Set manageable goals for yourself such as reading a section or a few pages from a chapter each day and then build on your goals (as discussed at the beginning of the semester).

8. ALL LECTURE: First, show your notes to either Dr. Neidert or the T.A. to make sure that your notes are well-organized. Look at the questions you got wrong, and look for the section of your notes which deals with that question. If the correct answer to a factual question or a discussion of a conceptual question is not in your notes, the problem is incomplete note-taking. If you miss a concept or a definition during class, ask Dr. Neidert or the T.A. to help you fill in the gaps in your notes. If the correct answer is in your notes, you need to study your notes more completely. Every couple of days you should go over your notes as if you were studying for the test and quiz yourself.

*COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All rights reserved. No part of my lectures, lecture outlines, syllabus or any other course materials may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author, Gregory P.M. Neidert, Ph.D.

Infringement of this copyright, in any form, by any party, will result in, but will not be limited to, legal remedies as provided under the Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17 of the United States Code).
[cf. U.S.C.A. 102(a)(1)].

PLEASE READ THE ACADEMIC DISHONESTY GUIDELINES ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY POLICY STATEMENT OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

Preamble: Academic dishonesty is both detrimental to the goals of education and scholarship and demoralizing to the spirit of learning and teaching. Students, together with faculty, assume as part of their obligation to themselves, other students, and the University the responsibility to encourage qualities of honesty and integrity. The following statement represents the official policy on academic dishonesty of the Department of Psychology.

Definition of Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, acts of fraud or deception on an examination, laboratory work, or class assignments; acts of forgery or unauthorized alteration of any academic record or document; and attempts to gain credit for work which the student has either not actually performed or has plagiarized from another person's work.

Plagiarism is characterized as the act of taking ideas and writings from another person and passing them off as his/her own work. Quotation marks, page number, and author reference are required for adequate acknowledgment of word-for-word copying of another's work. An author reference is sufficient acknowledgment for the rephrasing in your own words of the work of another person. Other forms of plagiarism include reproducing a friend's paper and obtaining a paper from a paper preparation service. Furthermore, submitting the same paper for academic credit in two or more courses is considered an act of academic dishonesty, except in those rare instances in which the instructor is informed and gives prior approval.

Reporting and Investigation of Academic Dishonesty: The reporting of suspect incidents of academic dishonesty is the responsibility of all members of the University community. Academic dishonesty is of special concern to honest students since they may be deprived of receiving higher earned grades because of artificially elevated grade distributions and inflated grade levels. Apparent instances of academic dishonesty are to be reported to the course instructor who will conduct an investigation in a manner than protects the individual rights of the persons involved.

Sanctions for Academic Dishonesty: When concluding that an incident of academic dishonesty has occurred, the course instructor may apply sanctions ranging from discussion and/or verbal reprimand of the student to more concrete actions. These actions include but are not limited to lowering credit for the assignment, giving a failing grade for either the assignment or the entire course, recommendation to the chairperson of suspension and/or dismissal of the student from the Psychology Program, and/or a recommendation to the Dean of Students to deal with the incident of academic dishonesty.

Student Appeal of Sanction: A student may appeal sanctions imposed for alleged dishonesty by preparing a written report which both disclaims the charge of academic dishonesty and presents alternative information and/or arguments defending against this charge. Appeal shall be made first to the instructor of the course in which the incident occurred, second to the Chairperson of the Department of Psychology, and third to the office of the Dean.

The consequences of cheating and the policy of this course will be discussed at the beginning of the semester.