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Regular version of the site

Social Psychology

2019/2020
Academic Year
ENG
Instruction in English
3
ECTS credits
Course type:
Compulsory course
When:
2 year, 2 module

Instructor

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course covers broad range of social psychology topics from both theoretical and applied perspective. The course would be focused on classical social psychology issues such us interpersonal perception and communication, cultural differences, interpersonal and intergroup influences. It would also include several notable applications of social psychology to such issues as judgment and decision making, health and illness and internet communications. The current state of art and emerging initiatives in modern social psychology, including open science movement would be discussed in details.
Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives

  • Ability to undertake research, including problem analysis, setting tasks and objectives, identification of the research object and subject, of research methods as well as assess the quality of the conducted research
  • Ability to analyze socially significant problems and processes with impartiality and scientific objectivity
  • Ability to solve problems in professional practice based on analysis and synthesis
Expected Learning Outcomes

Expected Learning Outcomes

  • Explain specific theories of social psychology and use that theory to interpret and predict behavior in specific social situations.
  • Apply social psychology theories to understand different social problems on group, organization and society level
  • Review and evaluate published works, their strengths and limitations at a basic level
  • Know basic principles of social psychological interventions development on the group and community levels
  • Know and ready to use the effective communication strategies on interpersonal and group level
  • Explain specific theories of social psychology and use that theory to interpret and predict behavior in specific social situations
Course Contents

Course Contents

  • Introduction
    Course overview; Key Definitions; Social psychology applications: social-psychological interventions;
  • Overview of selected classical theories and classical studies
    Seminars 2. Selected social psychological theories: · Social cognitive theory; Social exchange theory; Cognitive dissonance theory; Attribution theory; Social identity theory Seminar 3. Selected social psychological studies: · Stanford prison experiment and its replications; Milgram obedience experiment and its replications
  • Social influence
    Seminar 7 Social influence in the real life: persuasion, normative influence; Identity signaling, social comparison.
  • Self and self-presentation
    Seminar 4: Self; self-concept; self-esteem; Self-presentation strategies
  • Social perception and cognition
    Seminar 5: Social perception and social cognition
  • Groups and group performance
    Seminar 6: Group structure. Leadership. Social inhibition. Social facilitation.
  • Interpersonal and intergroup relationships
    Seminars 8-9. Aggression: definition and types of aggressive behavior. The nature of aggression: theoretical perspectives on aggression and its criticism. Frustration-aggression hypothesis. Aggression as a learned behavior. Determinants of relationship formation. Mere exposure effect. Matching hypothesis. The dynamics of personal relationships. Affiliation, attraction, and close relationships. Homophily. Prosocial behavior: altruism theories, bystander intervention decision model
  • Social psychology from theory to intervention: applied cases
    Seminars 10-12. Social psychological interventions development and evaluation. Interventions focused on aggressive behavior, prosocial behavior, group efficacy, inter and intragroup communication etc. Group projects presentations discussion
Assessment Elements

Assessment Elements

  • non-blocking Seminar participation
    Seminar class absence and retakes ● Students are responsible for notifying the teacher of their absence due to an extenuating circumstance or illness prior to the missed class (by email or in person). ● Classes missed due to illness or an extenuating circumstance are excluded from the calculation of accumulated grade. ● Students who missed more than 6 seminar hours due to illness or an extenuating circumstance have to provide home assignments for missed seminars in a written form not later than 2 weeks before the final examination. ● Assignments, requirements and recommendations are provided individually by email upon request from the student.
  • non-blocking Project Work
    Students who missed more than 1 month due to the illness or an extenuating circumstance and couldn’t participate in the group projects could be assigned another form of the project – a learning diary.
  • non-blocking Exam test
Interim Assessment

Interim Assessment

  • Interim assessment (2 module)
    0.3 * Exam test + 0.3 * Project Work + 0.4 * Seminar participation
Bibliography

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

  • DeLamater, J. D., & Collett, J. L. (2019). Social Psychology (Vol. Ninth edition). New York, NY: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1753380

Recommended Additional Bibliography

  • Knapp, M. L., & Hall, J. A. (2013). Nonverbal Communication. Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=544027
  • Ward, A., & DeLamater, J. D. (2013). Handbook of Social Psychology (Vol. Second edition). New York: Springer. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1074048