Course Outline: Psychology 450-450G

GENERAL INFORMATION: This is a course for college juniors and seniors; it may also be taken for graduate credit.  It is conducted entirely as a face-to-face course, in English.  This on-line syllabus should be regarded as an example only; the "real" syllabus is the one handed out in class.
 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Pre-requisites: Junior standing; six hours of psychology (including Psy. 100)

"An overview of the major theoretical approaches to the study of personality. This will include theorists of historical note as well as contemporary theorists. The course will serve as a survey of major names, avenues of analysis and concepts in the field of personality."
 

COURSE OBJECTIVES
Students will learn:
1. The terms, concepts, and systems of the major theories of personality.

2. What personality is, how it is measured, and how it develops.

3. To use APA publication style in writing an analysis of personality.

4. To describe three methods of doing research on personality, and to determine which method is appropriate to answer a given question about personality.

5. To apply personality theories in describing, explaining, and predicting the behavior of a given person.

6. Psychological principles that may lead to self-insight.

7. To develop and clarify a personal theory of personality.

8. The rationale for various systems of psychotherapy.

9. A foundation for understanding abnormal personality development.

10. Psychological information that may be helpful in various occupations.

11. Criteria for and skills in evaluating the theories of personality, including skills in comparing and contrasting the theories with each other.

12. Ways in which human diversity issues (e.g., gender, ethnicity, etc.) have been addressed in personality study.
 

SPECIAL COURSE EMPHASIS

    Instruction in this course will be directed toward helping each student to improve skills in written expression of ideas and to develop further abilities in analysis and integration of ideas.
    In addition, this will be a "web-enhanced" course.  That is, each student will be required to have and use an e-mail account and to access some course materials via the Internet.  Students will be registered for CourseInfo, where they will have access to course materials and may participate in virtual discussions with the instructor and other class members, check their grades, etc.  Instructions for logging on to CourseInfo will be given out in class.
 

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
 

Liebert, R. M., & Liebert, L. L. (1998). Personality: Strategies and issues (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

There may be additional assigned readings from materials on reserve at the Educational Resources Center, located on the third floor of Tate Page Hall.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS (undergraduate and graduate students)

1. Exams - 250 points, distributed as follows:

• Three unit exams, each worth approximately 50 points
• Comprehensive final exam worth 100 points. The final exam will include a unit exam over the Representational Strategy, along with a comprehensive section.

2. Writing assignments - 100 points, distributed as follows:

Two papers, each worth 50 points. The writing assignments will require you to analyze a fictional character from an approved list, and write about the character from the perspective of different theorists. For the first paper, you will discuss the character using a theorist from either the psychoanalytic or dispositional strategy; for the second paper, you will discuss the character using a theorist from either the environmental or representational strategy.

Additional written and oral information will be presented about these assignments.

3. Participation - 70 points
Participating activities will include:

• Ten 5-point quizzes, including a syllabus quiz
• In-class writing assignments
• In-class group activities
• e-mail assignments
• other homework assignments

    With instructor permission, students with acceptable excuses may be allowed to make up e-mail assignments and other homework assignments.

    In addition, points may be awarded for appropriate, meaningful, thoughtful contributions to class discussion.  These contributions may take the form of asking good questions of the instructor or others, answering questions posed by the instructor or others, or offering insightful comments about course material.

4. Theorist Comparison Worksheets - 80 points
    There will be eight worksheets for you to complete.  Each one will be worth up to 10 points.  Completing the worksheets will help you prepare for exams and for writing your papers.  One copy of the worksheet will be distributed in class to each student.  You may either photocopy it seven times, or you may download it from CourseInfo whenever you need another copy.  Worksheet due dates will be provided on the course outline distributed in class, and will be due at the beginning of class on the dates indicated.  Worksheets submitted after the beginning of class on the due date will be penalized 2 points per day each day that they are late, and they may not be submitted at all after the exam that covers the material relating to the assignment.

5. (Graduate students only) Research paper - 50 points

Students enrolled for graduate credit will be required to write a scholarly literature review paper on a personality topic approved by the instructor. Additional written information about this assignment will be provided to graduate students.

Please note that the academic work of students enrolled for graduate credit will be evaluated separately from, and with higher standards than, work of undergraduate students.
 

Total points possible for undergraduate students: 500

Total points possible for graduate students: 550
 

ACADEMIC POLICIES

Attendance

• Regular, prompt attendance is expected, and attendance will be taken at each class period.
• It is important that you arrive on time to class so that you do not disrupt the learning experience for other class members. During the first five minutes of class the classroom door will be left open for those who are unavoidably late; after that time, the door will be closed, and you should not enter.
• It is especially important that you be present on exam days. An acceptable excuse (e.g., illness) must be provided in order for you to be allowed to make-up an exam.
   

A student with an acceptable excuse for missing an exam will be allowed to take an essay make-up exam, scheduled during the last week of the semester.

Note that it is to your advantage to contact the instructor as soon as possible regarding your absence on an exam day. If you know in advance that you will be absent (and have an acceptable excuse, such as university-sanctioned travel), it may be possible for you to take the regular exam early. It may also be possible for you to take the regular exam late if you can do so before the scored exams are returned in class. Generally speaking, exams will be returned at the next scheduled class period. Therefore, you should contact the instructor as soon as possible to discuss make-up exam arrangements.
 

Academic Honesty

The following guidelines and expectations are quoted from the 2001-2002 Hilltopics, page 5:

"The maintenance of academic integrity is of fundamental importance to the university. Thus it should be clearly understood that acts of plagiarism or any other form of cheating will not be tolerated and that anyone committing such acts risks punishment of a serious nature."
 

" Plagiarism - to represent written work taken from another source as one's own is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offense. The academic work of a student must be his/her own. One must give any author credit for source material borrowed from him/her. To lift content directly from a source without giving credit is a flagrant act. To present a borrowed passage without reference to the source after having changed a few words is also plagiarism."
 

"Cheating - No student shall give or receive assistance not authorized by the instructor in taking an examination or in the preparation of an essay, laboratory report, problem assignment, or other project which is submitted for purposes of grade determination."
 

TOPICS
Course Introduction
Overview of Personality and Personality Theory
Scientific Study of Personality; Overview of Personality Assessment
The Psychoanalytic Strategy
The Dispositional Strategy
The Environmental Strategy
The Representational Strategy
Summary and Review

*** Please note: The above schedule, requirements, and policies are subject to change due to extenuating circumstances.

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Created May 25, 2000.  Last modified: August 19, 2002.
All contents copyright (c) 2000  Retta E. Poe