The University of Maryland

European Division

Lecturer: Michael S. Ofsowitz
E-mail address: mofsowit @faculty.ed.umuc.edu
Term 5, 1996-1997


Textbook:
Social Psychology (8th edition), by Baron & Byrne. (Note: Textbooks are selected by the administrative heads of each academic department for all courses.) Additional readings, selected by the lecturer, will be distributed in class.

Social Psychology:
(3 credit hours in PSYC or SOCY): An introduction to the study of social psychology. This course investigates the mental processes, situational factors, individual differences, and group phenomena that influence the way people interact with other people. The range of topics covered by social psychology is limited only by the degree to which the topic involves the influence of people on other people.

In other words, social psychology is a broad field that tries to scientifically investigate the mental and behavioral aspects of our interactions with other people. It looks at the ways people influence one another, at the ways people think about one another, at the ways we come to think about ourselves, at the ways aspects of our personalities come to influence our actions around other people and our thoughts about other people, and so on. Some of the specific topics that we'll cover in this class are: person perception (how we process thoughts about people and come to our conclusions about them); self (how we come to think about ourselves and get others to think of us); attitudes (how we develop likes and dislikes, including prejudices, how we act on them, how we change them); aggression (how we come to act violently against others); helping (how we come to assist others); attraction (how we come to like or dislike others); conformity and social influence (how we get others to do what we want them to); group processes (what happens when people form groups); and health behavior (how our social actions influence our physical and mental health).

The course takes a psychological perspective of most of these topics, although in social psychology there are both psychological and sociological viewpoints. That's why you can use this course for interdisciplinary credit. (It's also why you can't receive credit for both PSYC 221 and SOCY 230.) Some of the topics, however, allow us to do as much sociology as psychology (we'll clarify the difference between the two in class). One of the main aspects of a psychological approach is the methods of study -- strictly scientific. Since most students haven't had exposure to research methodology, or the scientific method, we'll spend a little of our time reviewing how social scientists do their work. There won't be any heavy statistics to deal with, however, so the course should be anxiety-free.

General purpose:
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the work of social psychologists. Students who develop a good grasp of the materials presented in this course should be able to understand some of the basic components underlying the behaviors and mental processes of people involved in social interaction, and the methods used to ascertain them. Students should then be able to comprehend the various discussions going on around them -- in the media and in private -- that have to do with the reasons and tendencies of human interaction and the functioning of the human mind as it is influenced by social interaction.

Responsibilities:
The student's responsibilities for this course are the same as the student's responsibilities for any course attempted at the university level. See the additional study and grade guides ("How to Study" and "How to get an A") for an idea of how much work you are expected to put into this course. During class, come prepared to listen to and understand what I have to say. The class will be in a lecture and discussion format. I will be prepared to lecture on and discuss a variety of topics -- some covered by your readings, and some not -- and you will be held responsible for attempting to understand the readings, the lectures, and the discussions. Of course, I do not hold myself to be a sole authority on the subject, and therefore it is part of your job to protect yourselves from my own peculiar biases and perspectives by formulating questions and comments on my presentations. You can ask questions directly on the spot, and if you wish, raise issues for discussion, or you can ask me in private. Regarding your written assignments, you may show me outlines and rough drafts prior to the due dates; I expect your final drafts to be neat, well thought-out, free of plagiarism, and on time. Scheduling arrangements can be made for work-related absences that interfere with tests and homework assignments, although such arrangements are at the discretion of the instructor.


Grades:
Grades for this course are based on the following: two quizzes (short essay type) worth 20% of the final course grade each, three homework assignments worth 10% each, and a final exam worth 30% of the final course grade. This means that your entire course grade is calculated on the basis of written communication. Please take care and try to develop good writing habits.

Michael S. Ofsowitz:
Born and raised in Rochester, N.Y. Studied psychology and sociology at The University of North Carolina-Charlotte, before going to Tulane University for graduate study in social psychology. I've been teaching with the European Division since 1990, and usually teach: PSYC 100, PSYC 221, PSYC 334, PSYC 341, SOCY 100, SOCY 105, SOCY 230, SOCY 300, and SOCY 430. My dominant interests concern the relationship of macro and micro social structures to interpersonal interaction and personality. My dominating non-academic interests center around my kid (a four-year-old boy), my appetite (for French-styled cooking, with an emphasis on game), and comedy. Since I am not part of the U.S. military, try to avoid calling me "sir." Also, since the University of Maryland European Division has no formal titles, use of the label "professor" is colloquial at best. Feel free to call me Mike, Michael, Mr. Ofsowitz, or "teach."

OUTLINE OF LECTURES AND ASSIGNMENTS:

(Note: occasional readings will be handed out in class, for which you will also be held responsible.)

Week One:

A. Introduction to social psychology.

B. Historical developments in social psychology.

The field is a gold-mine of interesting discoveries and developments. Don't worry, though, no boring run-down of who did what when.

C. Research methodology.

So how do you know if there's some truth to a claim?

Text: Chapter 1

A. Person perception and social cognition.

We'll see just how we form impressions of other people, how we form impressions of ourselves, how we use what we already know about people when interacting with them, thinking about them, and so on. In the field, this topic is generally referred to as social cognition, and it's become a major aspect of social psychology. What conclusions we draw about people (and what conclusions they draw of us) plays a big role in guiding the way we act around each other.

Text: Chapters 2 & 3

A. The self.

A somewhat more sociological topic. Here we'll look at how a person comes to develop a sense of self, what's involved in having a sense of self, and how we use our sense of self when interacting with one another.

B. QUIZ 1 (end of week three, independent of progress).

Text: Chapter 5

A. Attitudes: formation and change.

Our evaluations of things and people around us. But where do these attitudes and prejudices come from? When do they really influence our actions? How can we get people to change their attitudes?

B. Prejudice and discrimination.

Is prejudice unavoidable?

Text: Chapters 4 & 6

Week Five:

A. Close relationships: attraction, liking, loving.

What makes people become attracted to one another? How do they know when they like someone? What's different about love and how do people act when they're in love? How do liking or love change over the course of a relationship?

B. Explaining aggression.

We all know that people have the ability to become aggressive, but what do we really know about why people act aggressively? Is it a personality factor? Is it due to situational forces? Are there ways to curb aggression so people would be less likely to act aggressively?

Text: Chapter 7, parts of chapter 8, chapter 11

Week Six:

A. Explaining prosocial behavior.

Prosocial behavior is the other side of the coin from aggression. As with aggression, we all know that people can act to help one another, but again, the big question is: Why? Are there personality factors that just make certain people more likely to come to the aid of their fellow human, or do situational factors play a big role?

B. Conformity and social influence.

Your mother probably asked you, when you were a kid, whether "you would jump off a bridge if your friends do?" Well, would you? Would she? How easy is it to get other people to conform to your instructions, your rules, or simply your ideas of what is and what isn't normal?

C. QUIZ 2 (end of week six, independent of progress).

Text: Chapters 10 & 9

Week Seven:

A. Group dynamics.

As you might imagine, social psychologists are interested in the study of groups -- how groups are formed, how they maintain their structures, how people behave when in a context of a group, how groups interact as a group with other groups, and so on.

B. Health behavior.

One of the more modern fields within social psychology is the study of the social behaviors of people in relation to sickness and health. How do our relationships with others influence our own rates of illness? And if ill, how do our relationships with others influence the progression of disease.

Text: Chapters 12 & 14

Week Eight:

A. Humor.

This is no joke. Why do we tell jokes? Why do we laugh at others' jokes? How do we know when something is meant as a joke? What goes on in the mind to cause us to laugh in the first place?

B. FINAL EXAMINATION.

Text: No textbook assignment.

A tentative list of the additional readings:

Allport, G. W. (1958). Selected chapters from The nature of prejudice. New York: Doubleday-Anchor Books.

Giles, H., Bourhis, R. Y., Gadfield, N. J., Davies, G. J., & Davies, A. P. (1976). Cognitive aspects of humour in social interaction: A model and some linguistic data. In A. J. Chapman & H. C. Foot (Eds.) Humor and laughter: Theory, research, and applications (pp.139-154). New York: Wiley.

Kelley, H. H. (1976). Processes of causal attribution. In E. P. Hollander & R. G. Hunt (Eds.), Current perspectives in social psychology (pp. 364-374). New York: Oxford University Press.

Merton, R. (1972). The self-fulfilling prophecy. In E. P. Hollander & R. G. Hunt (Eds.), Classic contributions to social psychology (pp. 260-266). New York: Oxford University Press.

Morris, D., & Montague, A. (1980). Are we born with a natural inclination to fight? In J. Rubinstein & B. D. Slife (Eds.), Taking sides: Clashing views on controversial psychological issues (pp. 66-85). Guilford, Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group.

Saks, M. J. (1992). Obedience versus disobedience to legitimate versus illegitimate authorities issuing good versus evil directives. Psychological Science, 3, 221-223.

Snyder, M., Tanke, E. D., & Berscheid, E. (1981). Social perception and interpersonal behavior: On the self-fulfilling nature of social stereotypes. In E. Aronson (Ed.), Readings about the social animal (pp.391-406).

Writing Assignments.

The writing assignments will be detailed in class. The following guidelines apply to all assignments.

Assignments should be 500 - 1000 words in length each. All assignments will be graded for thought content, clarity, and English (grammar, syntax, spelling, organization, etc.). All assignments should be typed. If you are unable to find a typewriter or computer (although these are often available for student use in libraries), make sure your papers are neatly written and easily readable. Illegible or messy papers will be returned without grades. Papers should be double-spaced, neatly ordered, and stapled together. Don't forget to number your pages.

If you are not satisfied with a grade on an assignment, you may rewrite the assignment and hand in an improved version. The rewritten work is eligible for a maximum 2/3 letter grade improvement (i.e., a change in grade is not guaranteed, and the maximum improvement will be 2/3 of one full letter, such as from B- to B+), however, I will not provide comments or justifications for the rewritten work. (This option does not apply to tests.)

Assignments turned in late will be devalued one-third of a grade (e.g., from B to B-) for each class period. However, due-date extensions can be given for consecutive excused absences.

A note on absences:

Since the military environment often leads to unexpected absences, it is to your benefit as student to be prepared to seek help from, and to give help to other students. If you miss class for any reason, you should find out from other students what went on in the class you missed. Ask for copies of notes, or, if available, tape recordings. I am available to clarify any problems you might have in understanding the material or the assignments, but I can not review entire classes for each student absence. Due to the nature of the course, repeated absences are likely to result in lower grades. In other words, attendance is not mandatory, but tests and homework assignments will relate to material covered in the classroom, which is not always the same as material covered in your textbooks and other readings. Therefore, absences can severely influence your ability to get a good grade in the class.

Incomplete (grade of I):

The grade of I, or incomplete, is available for special cases where the student is unable to finish the course by the scheduled end of the term. To receive an I, students who are having problems finishing the course as scheduled must fulfill the following requirements: 1) 55% of the graded assignments must be completed at the time of the request; 2) 60% of the class sessions must have been attended by the end of the course; 3) the student must provide evidence of a valid reason for not finishing the graded assignments by the end of the course; 4) the student must request an incomplete in writing, prior to the last day of the course, and this request must include the reason for the request and a date by which the work for the course will be completed (which should not exceed one week from the expiration of the reason for the I). Granting the grade of I, and setting a date for its completion remain at the total discretion of the instructor. For students who are unable to finish the course as scheduled, alternatives to the grade of I include the W (withdrawal) and the F(n) (failure for non-attendance).

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is academic dishonesty. In other words, it's a big word for cheating. If you are caught plagiarizing, or cheating in some other form, then you may wind up failing the assignment you were working on, or, if the infringement is serious, the course as a whole. The common form of plagiarism is using someone else's work as if it were your own. That is, by copying the work of another person and presenting that work as if you wrote it, you are plagiarizing. To avoid plagiarism you should learn how to paraphrase and how to use quotation marks. Basically, if you copy anything word-for-word from a previously published source (another book, a magazine article, etc.), using three or more consecutive words, you must put the passage within quotation marks and show where the material came from with a footnote or other reference. If you put the ideas of someone else into your own words (and not just a rearrangement of the original words) you don't need the quotation marks but you still need to show where the material came from.

Under no circumstances should you ever use the work of a fellow student in any of your written work. Consulting with other students is encouraged, but when it comes to writing, you must write your own product. Anything else is down-right cheating. (Never let another student borrow a paper of yours for any purpose other than getting a general idea about the assignment or issue at hand.) Also, if you plan on using something that you had once written for another course as a piece of work for credit in this course, you must get prior approval.

I highly recommend that you get an English manual of some sort to help you avoid some of the common mistakes that result in accusations of plagiarism. The Harbrace College Handbook is one such manual.

Respect:

Go light on your fellow student, and show patience.
Assume your fellow student has good intentions.
Don't try to deceive your fellow students, don't be ambiguous or obscure when discussing.
Allow others to play Devil's advocate.
Take a joke, but don't insult anyone.
Treat the classroom as a confidential situation, and don't gossip.
Listen to others when they speak, pay attention to them, and hope they'll do the same for you.
Allow others to decline comment.
Speak in the first person; recognize that your opinions are your own and that you don't speak for others.
Try to be accurate and try to defend any of the claims you make.

Michael Ofsowitz

European Division