Personality Psychology

Transcription

1 Personality Psychology Instructor: George Chavez Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:45pm- 3:45pm (or by appointment) Contact Info: Tillett Hall 423 (primary) Livingston Campus 53 Ave E Piscataway, NJ Time & Place: Mondays - Thursdays 12:20pm-2:15pm, Beck Hall 250 Course Description: To have personality a phrase that begs the question, What is personality? Is personality what divides us and makes us individuals? Or is it a quality that unites us, a distinctly human feature not found anywhere else in the world? In this course, we ll explore the meaning of personality from a psychological standpoint. To date, there is no fully defined and agreed upon paradigm in personality. But that is part of the beauty of the discipline: The ability to find a theory/view that is uniquely personal. Course Goals: Understanding of the different perspectives of personality psychology Knowledge of key personality theorists and their respective theories Familiarity with the diversity of methods used to test theories and assess constructs Application of personality theories to one s own life Ability to logically critique the testability, validity, generalizability, and significance of theories Requirements: READ readings and ATTEND lectures COMPLETE in-class exams and online quizzes Textbooks and Readings Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2012). Perspectives on Personality (Seventh Edition) o There have been some substantial changes in this edition. Some chapters in earlier versions have now been entirely removed (ego psychology and personal construct chapters). Others have been merged. Scholarly articles assigned on the syllabus can be found on the sakai website (Resources > Readings) Classroom Rules Turn off cell phones You may use laptops, but only for taking notes or looking up relevant class materials. Raise your hands before speaking unless otherwise instructed. 1

2 Grading 25% Exams 1 & 2 (Each 12.5% of grade) 25% Final Exam 25% Sakai Quizzes (Each 5% of grade) 18% Attendance (Each non-exam day after the first day is 1%) 7% Class Pops (Number of pop quizzes TBD) Class Batteries Other Issues Exams: Two non-final multiple choice exams will be given throughout the semester. Exam material will be approximately 70% lecture and 30% book. Note that the lecture and book overlap heavily so these are approximations. Each exam is 12.5% of your grade and they are NON-cumulative. Final Exam: The final exam is 25% of your final grade. It is cumulative. Sakai Quizzes: There are 5 required online sakai quizzes given throughout the semester. I will not accept any late quizzes. There are no excuses for missing these quizzes. Attendance: I will be taking attendance every lecture day after the first day. Every day you miss class is a percentage point lost. Attendance points can be gained through the completion of Personality Challenges (see Personality Challenges below). Class Pops: Pop quizzes will be given throughout the semester. These will generally be short (5-10 Multiple choice/true or False questions) and you will have only 5 minutes to answer all questions. I will not tell you when I will hold these or how many there will be (Though, for bookkeeping purposes, you can assume that it is a multiple of 7). I recommend that you prepare for these with the completion of Personality Challenges (see Personality Challenges below). Throughout the course there will be three class batteries that will assess your personalities with the methods discussed in class. These batteries are completely anonymous, but allow us to discuss the personal relevance of personality psychology theories. Questions about grades: If you have a question about your grade in the class, please come to me before the last two weeks of class. If you come in those last weeks, it will be far too late for you to do anything to improve your grade. Plagiarism and Cheating: Plagiarism in all forms from print, internet, or friends: Don t do it. Cheating: Don t do it. Under no circumstances will I tolerate cheating on any of the exams. You will automatically fail the exam and have my undivided attention for the rest of the course. Do not do it. If you want a review of the University policy on cheating: 2

3 Personality Challenges Personality Challenges are generally online quizzes that are not directly related to your grades, but allow you the opportunity to gain extra credit, attendance points, practice for exams, and other rewards. There are quite a few personality challenges that vary in length and difficulty. It is unlikely that you will complete all Personality Challenges, since there are quite a few of them. However, if you do manage to complete all of them... Challenge Rank Each Personality Challenge has a different Rank. As challenges go up in Rank (starting from Rank C), they will become more difficult. Questions will come from the text, the lecture and, with higher ranked challenges, suggested readings. Higher ranked challenges are timed, which limits open-book strategies, so be warned. Here are a couple of the Ranks available. 1. Rank C (Curious Participant) a. For the curious psychology study participant. Questions taken mainly from the text and early chapters. 2. Rank B (Clever Student) a. For the clever personality psychology student. Questions taken mainly from the text and early to mid chapters. Some challenges timed. 3. Rank A (Youthful Scholar) a. For the youthful scholar of personality. Questions taken from the text and lecture. Questions taken from the early to late chapters and lectures. Challenges timed 4. Rank X (Insightful Theorist) a. For the insightful personality theorist. Questions taken from the early to late chapters and lectures. Some questions taken from bonus readings. Challenges timed. 5. Rank You must complete Personality Challenges in order of Rank and number. Each rank has approximately 5 challenges within it. You must complete them in order from 1 to 5. Therefore, your first Personality Challenge is Personality Challenge (Rank C, Challenge 1) and your second is Personality Challenge (Rank C, Challenge 2). Unless stated, you may only submit each challenge ONCE. You may not have unlimited tries at all Challenges. Completing a rank will grant you a username and password for the next rank. Do not share this username and password. With it, you will be able to access only the next ranked challenge (e.g. After completing Personality Challenge (Rank C, Challenge 5), you will be given a username and password that you will use to access all challenges of Personality Challenge Rank B. Rewards Completing certain challenges will grant you rewards. You will not know which challenges will provide rewards in advance. Some rewards (extra credit) are based off of how well you do on the challenge, so take all challenges seriously if you want full credit. Rewards can include extra credit, attendance points, or a try at the grab bag. If you obtain the highest available rank and complete all challenges 3

4 Bonus Readings Bonus readings are completely optional. This means that material from the bonus readings is NOT included on either the required sakai quizzes or the exams. They may be included in high level Personality Challenges. These readings are for those students who are strongly interested in personality psychology. They can be found in the Resources section of the sakai page. I have loosely organized them based on difficulty. Difficulty Rank The scholarly bonus articles vary in difficulty rank, with the easiest being Rank X and the most difficult being Rank Z. Note that even the easiest article will be quite difficult for undergraduate students to grasp. Rank X Readings: These readings are generally either review or theory papers. There are little to no statistics cited in them. Rank Y Readings: These readings are generally theory and experimental papers. There are some statistical analyses present. Rank Z Readings: These readings are generally experimental papers. There are statistical analyses present. Summer 2012 Session I Schedule for Personality Psychology Week Date Topic/Goals Reading 1 5/29 Introduction: What is Personality Syllabus review - (1) What is personality psychology? Class battery: Time 1 (pp. 1-12) 5/30 Statistical review (Distributions and Correlations) Methods in personality 5/31 Methods in personality Consistency in personality Bonus : (Rank X) Robins, R. W. (2005). The nature of personality: Genes, culture, and national character. Science, 310, (2) Methods in the study of personality (pp ) Bonus : Meyer, G. J. (2001). Psychological testing and psychological assessment. American Psychologist, 56, Bonus : (Rank X) Kelly, E. L. (1955). Consistency of the adult personality. American Psychologist, 10,

5 2 6/4 Intro to psychoanalysis: Freud Topographical model 6/5 Psychoanalytic assessment and therapy Criticisms of psychoanalysis Intro to behaviorism: Skinner Sakai Quiz #1 Due - (8) The psychoanalytic perspective (pp ) Barnier, A. J., Levin, K., & Maher, A. (2004). Suppressing thoughts of past events: Are repressive copers good suppressors? Cognition and Emotion, 18, (Rank Y) Wegner, D. M., Wenzlaff, R. M., & Kozak, M. (2004). Dream rebound: The return of suppressed thoughts in dreams. Psychological Science, 15, (8) The psychoanalytic perspective (pp ) - (10) The learning perspective (pp ) (Rank Y) Cervone, D., Shadel, W. G., & Jencius, S. (2001). Social-cognitive theory of personality assessment. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, /6 Behaviorism Social-learning theory: Bandura & Rotter Cognitive behaviorism Erdelyi, M. H. (2006). The unified theory of repression. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29, (10) The learning perspective (pp ) (Rank Y) Pervin, L. A. (1985). Personality: Current controversies, issues, and directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 36,

6 6/7 Exam 1 Review: - (1) What is personality psychology? - (2) Methods in the study of personality - (8) The psychoanalytic perspective - (10) The learning perspective 3 6/11 Class battery: Time 2 Personality assessment - (3) Issues in personality assessment Nomothetic vs idiographic: Allport (pp ) - (4) The trait perspective (pp ) 6/12 Trait theory: Eysenck & Cattell The five-factor model Criticisms of trait theory: The personality coefficient Interactionism Sakai Quiz #2 Due - (4) The trait perspective (pp ) John, O. P., Naumann, L. P, & Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative big five trait taxonomy. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research (pp ). Guilford Press. 6/13 Movie: Traits and consistency Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Mendoza-Denton, R. (2002). Situation-behavior profiles as a locus of consistency in personality. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, /14 Motives and Needs: Henry Murray Individual difference variables - (5) The motive perspective (pp ) (Rank Y) Diener, E. (2000). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index. American Psychologist, 55,

7 4 6/18 The evolutionary perspective Genetic correlates of personality Criticisms of evolutionary psychology - (6) Genetics, evolution, and personality (pp ) (Rank X) Nettle, D. (2006). The evolution of personality variation in humans and other animals. American Psychologist, 61, /19 Neurotransmitter and hormone correlates of personality - (7) Biological processes in personality BIS/BAS (pp ) Sakai Quiz #3 Due 6/20 Personality neuroscience DeYoung, C. G. (2010). Personality neuroscience and the biology of traits. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4, /21 Exam 2 Review: - (3) Issues in personality assessment - (4) The trait perspective - (5) The motive perspective - (6) Genetics, evolution, and personality - (7) Biological processes in personality 5 6/25 Identity theorists I: Third Force Psychology - (11) Self-actualization and selfdetermination Hierarchy of motives Class battery: Time 3 (pp ) (Rank X) Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Selfdetermination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55,

8 6/26 Existential psychology: Rollo May Humanistic psychology: Carl Rogers Sakai Quiz #4 Due - (11) Self-actualization and selfdetermination (pp ) 6/27 Identity theorists II: Developmental perspectives Attachment theory Psychosocial development: Erik Erikson 6/28 Social cognition Personal constructs: George Kelly Connectionist models 6 7/2 Schemas and scripts: Silvan Tompkins Self-schemas Sheldon, K. M., Elliot, A. J., Kim, Y., & Kasser, T. (2001). What is satisfying about satisfying events? Testing 10 candidate psychological needs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, (9) Psychosocial theories (pp ) - (12) The cognitive perspective (pp ) - (12) The cognitive perspective (pp ) Andersen, S. M., & Berk, M. S. (1998). The social-cognitive model of transference: Experiencing past relationships in the present. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 7, /3 Goal-setting Self-regulation - (13) The self-regulation perspective Sakai Quiz #5 Due (pp ) 7/4 Independence Day (No Class) 7/5 Exam 3 Review: - (9) Psychosocial theories - (11) Self-actualization and selfdetermination - (12) The cognitive perspective - (13) The self-regulation perspective 8