Exam (elaborations) PSYC UN2689: Introduction to Sociali

I. Bulletin description II. A full description of the content of the course III. The rationale for giving the course IV. The reading list and weekly syllabus V. Course requirements I. Bulletin description PSYC UN2640: Introduction to Social Cognition (3 points). Spring 2018. Mondays & Wednesdays, 10:10 a.m. – 11:25 a.m., LOCATION TBD. Prerequisites: An introductory psychology course. An introduction to basic concepts in social cognition, an approach to understanding social judgment and behavior by investigating the underlying mental processes. Topics include attitudes, identity, and prejudice, among others. Instructor: Larisa Heiphetz 355C Schermerhorn Extension Office hours: TBD. If you have another class during this time, please e-mail me to set up a meeting at another time. Please also let me know which of your classes conflicts with my office hours so that I can consider how best to arrange my office hours around popular courses in future semesters. I am happy to meet with you throughout the semester to discuss anything related to the course. I typically reply to e-mails within 48 hours, although I don’t check my e-mail on Sundays. The TAs and I are happy to meet with you throughout the course of the semester to discuss the course material. If you have questions about course policies and logistics (like when something is due or what will be on an exam), please e-mail one of the TAs or come to their office hours. Questions about course content or psychology more broadly can be directed toward any of the TAs or me. Teaching Assistants: TBD II. A full description of the content of the course. How do we understand the social worlds we inhabit? This is the guiding question of this course, which focuses on understanding the mental processes that underlie social judgments and behaviors. This class will include a discussion of the theoretical frameworks psychologists use to understand social cognition. We will also explore classic and recent experiments on topics including (but not limited to) attitudes, identity, and prejudice. This course consists of biweekly lectures that will include time for student participation. Evaluations include small in-class assignments, two in-class exams, and a cumulative final exam. III. The rationale for giving the course This is an introductory class designed for undergraduates who have passed an introductory psychology course and who wish to learn more about the mental processes underlying social judgments and behaviors. It fulfills the following requirements: • For the psychology major or concentration in the College and in the School of General Studies, for the psychology minor in Engineering, and for the psychology postbac certificate, this course will fulfill the Group III (Social, Personality, and Abnormal) distribution requirement. • For other undergraduate students, this course will fulfill one term of the social science requirement of the School of General Studies. This course complements several courses that are already offered in the psychology department at Columbia. Social Cognition builds on the foundation that students acquired in their introductory psychology course and sets the stage for more in-depth study of topics within social psychology (e.g., Cultural Psychology, Moral Psychology, Psychology of Stereotyping and Prejudice). This course also dovetails with Social Psychology, providing a more in-depth look at the mental processes underlying some of the topics typically covered in that course (e.g., stereotyping, emotion). IV. The reading list and weekly syllabus A few notes to keep in mind: - The schedule below is subject to change. - The course includes three main components, going from the smallest unit of analysis (an individual person) to an intermediate unit (processes that occur between several people) to the largest unit (groups of people). - You should read the article(s) for each day before coming to class on that day. Articles are available on the course website; please e-mail me immediately if you cannot access them. - We will read a combination of classic and newer articles as well as empirical articles (articles that present data from new studies) and review articles (articles that describe a theory or provide an overview of a body of research). This will provide exposure to different kinds of psychological work. For example, some of the older studies we read may have been discussed in your introductory psychology textbook; in this class, you will have a chance to delve more deeply into some of that primary literature. - One way to think about the relation between readings and lectures is that in any given week, one of these usually provides breadth while the other provides depth. For example, in some weeks, you may read a review article summarizing the results of many studies (breadth), and lecture will describe 1-2 studies in detail (depth). Other weeks, you will read an empirical paper detailing 1-3 studies, and lecture will provide a bro