Instructor: Janet Morgan Riggs
Office: 323 McCreary
Office hours: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10:00-12:00
Phone: 6178
E-mail: riggs@gettysburg.edu

Required reading:

1. Methods of Research in Social Psychology (second edition) Aronson, Ellsworth, Carlsmith, & Gonzales 2. 314 course pack of selected readings (available in College Store): Gilbert, D. T. (1995). Attribution and interpersonal perception. In A. Tesser (Ed.), Advanced social psychology (pp. 99-147). McGraw-Hill.

Weiner, B. (1995). Responsibility and achievement evaluation. In B. Weiner, Judgments of responsibility: A foundation for a theory of social conduct (pp. 25-51). Guilford Press.

Riggs, J. M. (1992). Self-handicapping and achievement. In A. K. Boggiano & T. S. Pittman (Eds.), Achievement and motivation: A social-developmental perspective (pp. 244-267). Cambridge University Press.

Geis, F. L. (1993). Self-fulfilling prophecies: A social psychological view of gender. In A. E. Beall & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The psychology of gender (pp. 9-54). Guilford Press.

Eagly, A. H. (1987). The analysis of sex differences in social behavior: A new theory and a new method. In A. H. Eagly, Sex differences in social behavior: A social-role interpretation (pp. 7-41). Lawrence Erlbaum.

 
Content Areas

8/27 Introduction

9/1-9/3 Attribution theory (Read Gilbert and Weiner chapters in course pack)

9/8-9/10 Attribution and achievement (Riggs chapter)

9/15-9/17 Gender, achievement, and social roles (Geis and Eagly chapters)

9/22 Exam 1 (50 points)

Methods of Research

9/24 An introduction to experiments (Aronson, et al, Chapter 1) Group pre-proposals due 9/29 Problems with experimentation in social psychology (Chapter 2)

10/1 Ethical issues (Chapter 3)

10/6 Experimental design (Chapter 4)

10/8 Alternatives to the controlled experiment and finding/creating settings

(Chapters 5-6)

10/13 Reading Day

10/15 Independent and dependent variables (Chapters 7-8)

Group proposals for pilot experiment due (25 points)

10/20 Avoiding bias and the postexperimental interview (Chapters 9-10)

10/22 Exam 2

Independent Research

10/27-10/29 Proposal presentations

11/3 Review of data analysis

11/5-11/10 Progress reports

11/12 Group proposals for second experiment due (10 points)

11/17-11/19 Scientific report writing (Chapter 11)

11/24 Catch-up

11/26 Thanksgiving

12/1-12/3 Final presentations

12/8 Summary and evaluation

12/11 Final papers due (50 points)

Grading:

Exams (50 points each) 100 points

Group proposal for pilot experiment 25 points

Group proposal for second experiment 10 points

Presentations and participation 15 points

Final paper 50 points

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Total 200 points

About Group and Individual Work:

Research will be done in small groups, preferably pairs. Each member of the group is expected to do his or her share of the work. I expect to receive one proposal from each group for each of the two experiments. The work of collecting and analyzing data should be distributed fairly among group members. Group members may (and should!) discuss their findings with one another. However, when it comes to writing the final paper, each individual should do her or his own work. Group members may draw from the writing done in the proposals, but each person should edit and add to that work as an individual.