PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY

PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY
PSY345 MTWTF 8:30-11:30
SUMMER 1999

NOTE: This syllabus may be changed at any time at the discretion of the instructor. Changes will be announced in class. It is your responsibility to ensure that you become aware of any changes.

PROFESSOR OFFICE HOURS

Perri B. Druen, Ph.D. Office: LS 315C
Office Phone: (717)815-1768
E-mail: pdruen@ycp.edu

REQUIRED TEXTS

Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1996). Perspectives on Personality (3rd ed.). Allyn and Bacon: Boston.

Merrens, M. R., & Brannigan, G. G. (1998). Experiences in Personality: Research, Assessment, and Change. New York: Wiley.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course will provide you with the opportunity to master basic concepts in Personality Psychology, gain insight about yourself and others, learn how psychology research is conducted.

Successful completion of the course will require you to:

1. Understand and apply basic principles of Personality Psychology.

2. Acquire an understanding of how scientific research is used to explore the human dimension.

3. Comprehend the prominent theories in the study of Personality. 4. Master the vocabulary of Personality Psychology. 5. Demonstrate critical thinking skills in evaluating research and theory in Personality Psychology.

6. Prepare for and participate in class discussions.

7. Effectively work together with others to achieve a joint outcome

8. Relate material in novel and creative ways to your own experiences and to material from other areas of psychology and other disciplines

9. Communicate clearly and accurately what you have learned, both verbally and in writing. WRITING STANDARDS Students in this course are expected to use literate and effective English in their speech and in their writing. All papers and speeches should be well-written; grades on written (including examinations) and orally presented work will be based on expression as well as on content. Students may be required to rewrite papers which are marred by errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, or organization." CLASS FORMAT

Class time will be used to clarify, expand upon, and apply the principles covered in the text.

In the lectures I will cover difficult concepts and will supplement the text with additional information. I will

not discuss all topics of importance that I deem sufficiently covered in the text. It is your job to read the text

before coming to class and to ask questions about topics that are not clear to you.

We will have reading assignments from sources beyond the text. We will use these assignments to explore cutting-edge research in Personality Psychology from top journals in the field. You should read the material thoroughly until you have mastered its contents. During class discussions, you may be asked to explain the background literature, hypotheses, methods, and findings of the article. ATTENDANCE POLICY Attendance at regular classes is strongly encouraged. You will NOT receive additional credit for attendance--but your final grade WILL be lowered 10 points (a letter grade) if you miss more than 2 classes. If you encounter difficulties during the semester, such as prolonged illness, that may put you in jeopardy for completing the course, you should speak to me as soon as possible.

Exam attendance is mandatory. Your absence from an exam will be excused only if I am notified before the exam with a valid excuse. If you do not reach me in person, it is your responsibility to see that I receive a note explaining your intended absence before the exam. Only then will we arrange a make-up exam.

GRADING POLICIES

CRITERIA?

We will decide the grading assignments in the first few classes. Two alternatives are provided below. Your grade may be based upon the following: Exams

Exam 1 20% 15%

Exam 2 20% 15%

Exam 3 20% 15%

Other

Presentation 10% 15%

Paper 20% 25%

Notebook/journal 5% 10%

Group discussions/class activities 5% 5%

100% 100%

SCALE

90-100% A 60-69% D

80-89% B 59% and below F

70-79% C

EXAMINATION FORMAT

CLOSED-BOOK (No materials, such as notes or texts, will be permitted) QUESTIONS Exams may consist of multiple choice, true/false, short-answer, and essay questions. There will be questions from the text and other readings (not necessarily covered in class) AND questions from class lectures and discussions (not necessarily covered in the readings). EXAM DURATION You will be given an hour and a half in which to complete the exam. We will need to use the other class time to cover material. Your answer sheet will be taken up at the end of that period regardless of whether you have completed your exam. Therefore, if you have any sort of limitation which would prevent you from completing an exam in one class period (e.g. visual difficulty, dyslexia, severe arthritis), please let me know and I will be happy to make arrangements for you to have the appropriate time. However, you MAY NOT decide in the middle of taking an exam that you will not be finished on time and request additional time--the request must be made WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK OF THE COURSE. MAKEUP EXAM FORMAT The format for a makeup exam (if your absence was excused) may be different from the original exam. CLASS ASSIGNMENT POLICIES You may have both in-class and out-of-class assignments.

In-class assignments: You must be present to receive credit.

Regardless of your reason for missing class, you will not be permitted to make up missed in-class assignments.

Out-of-class assignments: These assignments will be announced in class. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to contact a classmate to find out if an assignment was given. Regardless of your reason for missing a class, your assignment will be due on the same date as the rest of the class.

I reserve the right to refuse to accept late assignments.

DESCRIPTION OF CLASS ASSIGNMENTS

In-class assignments

These will be varied throughout the semester. We may have any one or all of the following: group discussions, class demonstrations, quizzes (announced and unannounced), written assignments Out-of-class assignments These will be varied throughout the semester. We may have any one or all of the following: research (library, community, personal), reading, written assignments, and brief projects. ACADEMIC STANDARDS

Research shows that rates of cheating on college campuses is on the rise. Cheating will not be tolerated!!! I will take special precautions in class and for papers to ensure that no academic dishonesty takes place. At no time should you:

1. Copy another's work on an exam or for a paper.

2. Allow another to copy your work on an exam or for a paper.

If you are unsure whether a certain act would constitute academic dishonesty, ASK first so you don't pay later.

If you are suspected of cheating, you will be confronted and may be penalized. From the College Catalog: "When an instructor believes that a student has committed an act of academic dishonesty, the instructor will notify the student and the Dean of Academic Affairs, and the student will receive a grade of "0" in the course." "In cases where a student receives a second finding of academic dishonesty, the student will be suspended from the college."

"Students who believe they have been unjustly charged or sanctioned in such cases, should discuss the situation with the instructor. Following this discussion, students may request a review of their case by the Academic Standards Committee of the College and should contact the Dean of Academic Affairs regarding their request for such a review hearing."

EXTRA-CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES

There may be times throughout the semester in which you will be offered extra-credit opportunities. These opportunities may or may not be announced in advance, therefore, you must usually be present in class in order to gain the extra-credit.

Participation will be voluntary. If you do participate, you may increase your grade. If you do not participate, your grade will not be affected.

Extra-credit options

1. Extra credit opportunities may involve being a participant in a research study. The point value associated with any study will depend upon the difficulty and/or the length of participation.

2. If you prefer for any reason not to participate in a research study (even after you have started to participate--you can withdraw at any time) you may do a research abstract or summary instead. You may choose from among the following journals or get approval from me for an alternative (Do so before you write the abstract). Further instructions are listed on the next page.*

Acceptable Journals:

American Journal of Psychology, Behavior Research and Therapy, Behavior Therapy, Behavioral Science, Child Development, Developmental Psychology, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Animal Behavior, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, Memory and Cognition, Perception and Psychophysics, Perceptual and Motor Skills, and Professional Psychology, Journal of Health Psychology.
3. If an extra credit opportunity is offered to the class, and you prefer not to do what is offered and prefer not to do a research abstract, you may propose an equivalent alternative. However, you must obtain permission first--and your project will be due the same time as the other extra-credit (unless you arrange other plans with me ahead of time). *Instructions for Research Abstract

Select a research article from a Psychology Journal related to the topic of the research study you chose not to do (e.g. if the study is on adjustment to college life--find an article on the same topic). Acceptable journals are listed below.

Abstracts must be typed or word-processed and be in prose (not outline form) and conform to good English usage. You should be able to summarize the article in two to three double-spaced pages.

Summarize the article by providing the information listed below:

1. Title, Author(s), Journal, Date, Volume, Number, pages

2. Introduction:

What basic question(s) are the experimenters trying to answer? What is the general problem area? Why is the study being done, or why is it important? 3. Method: a. Describe the research participants.

b. What task did the participants perform, or what tests did they take, or what characteristic were observed or measured?

c. What was the design of the study? Was it descriptive only, correlational, experimental, or quasi-experimental? (Choose one)

d. Was it a case study, naturalistic observation, participant observation, cross-sectional study, longitudinal study, survey, interview, archival, meta-analysis? (Include all that apply).

e. If it was experimental or quasi-experimental:

1). Are there different groups? If so, describe what they are, how they differ and how participants were assigned to groups.

2). What are the independent variable(s) and dependent variable(s)? How was the independent variable manipulated? How was the dependent variable measured?

f. If it was correlational or descriptive: 1). What variables were measured and how were they measured?

2). Did one variable precede another in time?

4. Results 1. What were the results of the study? (e.g. Did any groups differ, or were variables related?)

2. Did the results support hypotheses (if any were given)?

5. Discussion 1. How are the results important (e.g. Can they be applied to solve a real-world problem, do they change the way other studies are interpreted, do they support one theory over another, do they summarize a diverse body of literature?)

2. What were any problems with the study?

3. What were the author(s) suggestions for future research? Tentative course outline

NOTE: This schedule may change--it is your responsibility to become aware

of changes.

Date Class Activity Assignment/Reading
May 19 W	Intro to the course ALE 1.4 Discussions of assignments (papers and presentations) Presentation groups Library	Ch. 1 Ch. 2 (all if you are unfamiliar with methods, pp. 33-36 if you are) ALE 1.1 EP 5-7, 17-18 (do this! and bring results to class tomorrow) Read article for your presentation
May 20 R	Personality Theories Methods & Assessment Presentation groups	Ch. 3 EP 19-21 C&S 56-57 Ch. 4 (58-85) EP 89-92, 95
May 21 F	Types, Traits, and Interactionism Presentation groups APA Reference list with abstracts of all articles (from the database, Psych Abstracts, or 1^st page of article)	Ch. 5 (93-114) C&S 124-126 ALE 4.2 EP 105-107 Begin theorist list
May 24 M	" Needs and Motives Presentation materials due	C&S 128-129 Ch. 7 (161-173) ALE 5.1 EP 128-132
May 25 T	Biological Processes	Ch. 6 (pp. 134-143; 150-153) EP 137-142, 119-126 ALE 5.2, 5.3 (actually read some personals from a newspaper or the Web)
May 26 W	Inheritance and Evolution First draft of paper due (2 copies of paper, plus copies of all references, all in a folder)	C&S 196-197 Ch. 8 (should be mostly a review) ALE 2.1 (p. 33 and #1 of p. 34), 2.4 C&S (192-194)
May 27 R	EXAM 1 Psychoanalytic Structure and Process	Ch. 9 (pp. 226-238) EP 46 (spotlight) EP 80-84 Baumeister & Cairns article C&S 258-261 Read peer’s papers for peer feedback
May 28 F	Paper feedback day Peer feedback due Anxiety, Defense, & Self-Protection Presentation of Baumeister & Cairns article	C&S 264-265 Ch. 10 (pp. 266-284; Box 10.4 on p. 286; p. 288 circumplex) EP 59-64, 65 ALE 3.1, 3.2
May 31 M	Holiday: NO CLASS
June 1 T	Ego Psychology	Ch. 11 (pp. 293-316; p. 319 Neurotic needs) ALE 3.3 EP 79 Kirkpatrick & Davis article C&S 324-326
June 2 W	FINAL DRAFT OF PAPER DUE (1 copy plus any new references) Psychosocial Theories Presentation on Kirkpatrick and Davis article	C&S 398-399 ALE 7.2, 7.3
June 3 R	EXAM 2 Self-actualization and Self-evaluation	Ch. 14 (pp. 400-420) EP 173-177, 197-204 EP 187 ALE 7.1(whole thing--incl. calculations)
June 4 F	"	Ch. 15 (pp. 434-437, 445) C&S 456-458 C&S 460-461 Ch. 16 (Box 14.6 on p. 425; pp. 470-472) Ch. 17 (pp. 501-507) EP 109-116 (you do the scoring) C&S 528-530
June 7 M	Personal Constructs, Contemporary Cognitive Views, Self-Regulation	C&S 328-329 Ch. 13 (pp. 370-375) ALE 8.2 EP 215-218 C&S 394-396 Snyder et al. article
June 8 T	Conditioning Theories Social-Cognitive Learning Theories Presentation on Snyder article	C&S 533-551
June 9 W	EXAM 3 Informal Presentations Notebook due

Chapters and C&S refer to the Carver & Scheier text

EP refers to the Merrens & Brannigan book

ALE refers to the Active Learning Exercises in EP

ARTICLES:

Baumeister, R. F., & Cairns, K. J. (1992). Repression and self-presentation: When audiences interfere with self-deceptive strategies. JPSP, 62, 851-862.

Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Davis, K. E. (1994). Attachment style, gender, and relationship stability: A longitudinal analysis. JPSP, 66, 502-513.

Snyder, M., Gangestad, S., & Simpson, J. A. (1983). Choosing friends as activity partners: The role of self-monitoring. JPSP, 45, 1061-1072.

CLASS PRESENTATION-1

You will be placed into small groups and will be responsible for presenting and leading the discussion of a topic related to one of the chapters we’ll be covering. Everyone is the class will be responsible for a reading associated with the presentation before your presentation. The presenters’ tasks are to use additional information to elaborate upon the reading, to find a creative way to engage the class in the material, to organize a study guide to hand out to the class, and to generate a productive class discussion and mechanism by which students can test their understanding of the material. You should assume the role of teacher in this presentation, in which your main goal is to help the students learn the material!

CONTENT OF PRESENTATION:

One of the three articles on the previous page will be assigned to you.

NOTE: Your quizzes will most likely contain questions about the material in the presentation, so you should be sure that you fully understand each presentation. To this end, time will be allowed for you to ask questions of presenters.

SUGGESTED PRESENTATION GUIDELINES: Plan the presentation to last no more than 45 MINUTES.

Introduction of presenters

II. Brief introduction of the topic. (Unless it is more appropriate to do a class demonstration first)

Describe the focus of the presentation, and the main point you will make.
Help the audience know what to expect by giving an outline of the presentation and following it
Include important definitions in the introduction or anything the audience will need to know to understand the rest of the presentation
Do NOT spend time reviewing the material that everyone else was already expected to have read

III. Body of the talk: This will vary depending upon what will work best for your particular presentation. You may alternate between describing the results of a study, giving a demonstration, showing a video clip, etc

IV. Discussion questions for the class: Must be on a handout. Give students 1-2 minutes to consider them before beginning discussion--or embed the discussion throughout the talk.

A test-yourself activity: Somehow let the students test their understanding of the material. You could provide a brief quiz (something challenging--not just definitions!), could ask them to describe something in their own words, etc.

MEDIA

You may enhance your presentation by using multimedia equipments, such as overhead projectors, VCR’s, etc. Please note the following:

Pay most attention to using these media to make your presentation clear and interesting.
Text is best displayed from the computer or overheads (as opposed to the board). MAKE THE TEXT LARGE ENOUGH FOR THE CLASS TO READ FROM AFAR!
You are encouraged to use PowerPoint to organize your presentation, using color, graphics, motion to keep the attention of the class (careful not to overdo it).
Have a back-up electronic copies of all material (in case you have a corrupted disk, etc.) and have hard copies (e.g. overheads in case PowerPoint isn’t working).
Test all materials and learn to use the equipment well in advance of your presentation
For videos from the library, make sure to check them out or request them with enough advance notice.

LEVEL OF DETAIL

Be sure not to simply describe the information that the other students should already have read.
You must use a sufficient level of detail to support your major points--just don’t make an assertion. For example, you may need to briefly describe the methods and results of a research study.
You should be judicious in the details you leave out. You should balance the need to support your points with the need to be clear and complete the presentation in the allotted time.

For example, it is not necessary and may even detract from your presentation to present every detail of the theory, method, and results of a study. Highlight each, giving the most important details. It is usually not necessary to describe the sample size or characteristics, unless that information is crucial to the outcome and main point you are supporting. But be sure to know all the details, however, in case your classmates have questions.
Do NOT include information in your presentation that you don't understand (e.g. "The hypotheses were tested with MANOVA's"--either tell the class what that means or do not include it. If the information is essential to understanding the article, you need to ask me in advance of the presentation so that you will be able to discuss it).

GROUP WORK

Your presentation grade will depend both upon your own contribution and the overall group effectiveness. Thus, to achieve the highest possible score, you will need to do your best and also help the others to do their best. Working in a team environment is more comfortable for some than for others, but the following tips may help:

Be prepared for meeting in your group: You should have read all of the material and have some ideas for the presentation. If you haven’t read the material, you may be sending the message to your teammates that you don’t care about the presentation or worse, that you expect others to do your share of the work.
Group discussion and decision-making:

Decide up-front how you will proceed in your discussions and decision-making. For example, you could decide to have one person in charge of directing discussion, could have each person take a turn, or could let it occur freely (unless nobody is willing to speak). You can make decisions by having a secret or public vote, or divide up tasks and have each person make an independent decision (be careful of cohesion if you select this option).
Keep the lines of communication open. You must be willing to talk about your own ideas, as well as to listen to others’ ideas. Suspend final decisions until all have a chance to be heard.
If arguing for a position, try to be persuasive with your information, rather than domineering with your personality. Be precise in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of different positions.
Acknowledge other people’s contributions, accept personal responsibility for your mistakes.

Who does which tasks?

At some point, you will need to decide who will be responsible for certain parts of the presentation. For example: Each person MUST have a turn speaking during the presentation.
Try to be fair in determining responsibilities. Not everyone can do the introduction, though. You will need to decide how much independence versus how much cooperation you will need. Your individual parts must integrate into a cohesive whole.
Besides the content about which you will speak...other tasks must be accomplished:

Preparation of PowerPoint presentation
Creation of study guide hand out for the class
Design or selection of creative elements (skit, role-play, video)
If used: analysis of data from survey, creation of tables or figures to show results
Preparation of discussion questions, including a hand out for the class
Preparation of the test-yourself activity
Preparation of report describing group tasks and members who were responsible.

You might consider having one person in charge of making sure all these elements are completed and for putting it all together to submit.

CLASS PRESENTATION-3 PRACTICE

Most people are not naturally good at giving presentations. Yours will be much improved if you will practice in advance. You are not expected to memorize your presentation, but are expected to refrain from reading it, so some practice will help. You should also practice the coordination among members of the group, so that each knows how the whole presentation is organized. Practice with each other and give each other hints about the clarity of the presentation and about the content.

ITEMS TO TURN IN ON __________________

All of the elements of the presentation should be in place by this date.

Study guide for class

PowerPoint presentation or other materials to be projected during the presentation (Presentation outline, tables, figures, pictures, etc) Discussion questions on a handout for class

Test-yourself activity: Describe how you plan to help the students test their understanding of the material--if a

quiz will be used, submit it.

Description of the presentation: What topics will be discussed, what major points will be made, how will the

creative element support the other materials, what research studies will be described to support the main points Description of creative element: Video, role-play (with instructions), skit (with lines), etc.

Summary report of tasks listing which members were responsible for each (e.g. who prepared the intro, who

did the study guide, etc.)

CLASS PRESENTATION-4

PRESENTATION GRADING: Organization of presentation

Are the goals of the research/presentation presented first?

Other information ordered appropriately?

Transitions between topics?

How was the coordination among the group members?

Did the presenters keep the presentation within the time guidelines?

Adequacy of amount of information presented

Was background/foundational information provided?

Was the information too complex or too simple? Did the body of the talk address the main points provided in the introduction to the presentation? Understanding of topic/article Did the presenters appear to understand the background information, concepts, research studies involved?

Did the presenters answer questions appropriately?

Clarity of presentation

Did the presenters use appropriate terms and define unfamiliar terms?

Did the presenters use good examples and research studies to support their major points?

Did the presenters enunciate and speak at an appropriate tempo and volume?

Did the presenters avoid distracting verbal or non-verbal mannerisms?

Did the presenters avoid reading the presentation and make eye contact with the audience?

Did the presenters make appropriate use of overhead transparencies (or other projections).

Did they present material in an optimal manner (e.g. clear, precise, uncluttered, meaningful,

useful, etc.)?

Did the presenters provide helpful, professional-looking, organizational handouts?

Creativity

Did the presenter find an effective way to capture the interest of the audience?

Demonstration, own research study, video or other media, skit, role-play, other?

Did the presenters stimulate a good class discussion Were interesting questions posed?

Did the presenters guide the discussion (e.g. highlight relationships among

concepts/examples/testimony from the audience; point out discrepancies

between people's experiences and the material/findings of the studies, etc.)

Learning opportunities

What was the quality of the study guide (of not more than 2 pages)?

What was the quality of the test-yourself exercise?

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This document was last modified on Saturday, May 22 1999.