Professor: Richard D. Ashmore
Office Location: 613 Tillett Hall
Telephone: 445-2635
Office Hours: Tues. 2:50-4:10pm
Organization and Requirements
Course Aims and Organization
This course is designed to (1) provide students with a set of heuristics and guides for thinking about social problems and public policy issues; (2) analyze a set of social problems (focusing on those afflicting the U.S.) from a social psychological perspective, where possible highlighting the heuristics and guides for thinking raised in the first part of the course; (3) consider the topic of social change; (4) allow students to make a presentation on a topic selected by the class as a whole.
These four major aims will not receive equal time and attention. The first goal will be treated in the first six (6) class meetings. The analysis of specific social problems is divided into two parts-"Social Problems in the U.S.," which is the core of the course and involves meetings #8 through #22, and "Social Problems and the World," to which only meeting #23 is devoted. The next portion of the course, "Social Problems and Solutions," comprises just one class meeting (i.e., #24); however, the issue of reducing social problems will be discussed where possible during the preceding parts of the course concerned with analyzing specific social problems. Class meetings #26 and #27 are devoted to a social problem picked by the class.
Requirements and Grading
BTBA. It is expected that you attend all class meetings. Attendance will not be taken, but 10% of your final grade will depend on 10 "Be There and Be Alert" (BT&BA) assignments (1 point per assignment), which will be done in class on a random schedule and which will be relatively easy to complete and do well on (i.e., earn the one possible point) if you (1) have done the reading assignment, (2) attend class, and (3) stay alert in class. Quite simply, at the end of some class meetings, we will ask you to answer a small number of questions about the reading assigned for that class and/or what went on during the class. These questions will not be difficult. They will be graded 0 (not present or incorrect answer) and 1 (correct answer). A 1 means that you were prepared, present and alert, hence these are "Be There and Be Alert" (BT&BA) assignments. There will be no make-ups for these assignments.
Exams. There will be three exams. These will involve primarily multiple choice questions, though a few identification or short answer questions may be included. The first exam will be on September 23 and will include all lecture and reading material from 9/2 through 9/18. The second exam will be on October 16 and will include all material from 9/25 through 10/14. The third exam will be December 16 (T) (from 8 to 9:30 pm), which is the time during the final exam period set aside for TTH7 classes. With the exception of one open-ended item, the third exam will cover only material from 10/21 through the final "required" class meeting (12/4).
Make-up exams will be given only if you must miss class for a major religious holiday or where there is documented evidence (e.g., a note from a physician or Dean) of illness or other hardship. Requests to take a make-up exam should be made at the earliest possible date.
Wildcard presentation. On 10/23, we will pick a social problem topic and students will be divided into teams. Each team will present to the class one article from a psychology journal. The word “psychology” must appear in the name of the journal with one exception; articles from Journal of Social Issues are acceptable. Other possible exceptions will be considered on a case by case basis.
Each team will meet twice in class (11/4 and 11/13) and at least twice outside of class to (1) pick an article and to plan for their presentation, (2) finalize plans for the presentation and practice. Wildcard team presentations will be on 12/2 and 12/4. Also, if necessary, teams can meet during the class period on Tuesday 11/25 (RU “Thursday”).
The grading of the presentation will be done by your peers. Each team's performance will be evaluated by everyone in the class (from 0 to 10 points), and these ratings will be averaged. Each person on a team receives the same score/grade. In Deutsch's (1949)terms, you will be means and goal interdependent with the others on your team.
Final grade. Your final grade will be based on a total of 100 possible points. The possible points will be allocated as follows:
BT&BA assignments 10 points (10% of final grade)
Exam 1
20 points (20% of final grade)
Exam 2
20 points (20% of final grade)
Exam 3
40 points (40% of final grade)
Wildcard presentation 10 points (10% of final grade)
Note: (1) Final grades are based only on the BT&BA assignments, Exams 1, 2, and 3, and the wildcard presentation. Thus, it is not possible to earn "extra credit."
(2) Final grades are "final." Thus, it is not possible to
do a "make up" project after the semester is over in order to improve
your
"final grade."
Course Schedule
APPROACHING SOCIAL PROBLEMS
| Mtg. # | Date | Topic |
| 1 | 9/2 T | Introduction, course overview, and ground rules |
| 2 | 9/4 Th | What is a social problem? |
| 3 | 9/9 T | Thinking about social problems. In. A cognitive-Social Psychological Framework |
| 4 | 9/11 Th | Psychology and social problems. I. Advice, advocacy, and education |
| 5 | 9/16 T | Thinking about social problems. II: The scientific method as a set of orienting concepts (AKA “The scientific method made easy” or “Ashmore’s admonitions”) |
| 6 | 9/18 Th | Psychology and social problems. II: Research (Basic and applied; experimental and correlational; evaluation research) |
| 7 | 9/23 T | EXAM 1 |
| SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN THE U.S. | ||
| The use and distribution of resources | ||
| 8 | 9/25 Th | (Wo)man vs. natural environment conflict |
| 9 | 9/30 T | The problems of too little |
| Population density and control | ||
| 10 | 10/2 | The city has too much…or does it? "City and Self" (film) |
| Institutions that provide collective services | ||
| 11 | 10/7 T | Illness, Behavior, and health care systems |
| 12 | 10/9 Th | Can we change things in city schools? |
| 13 | 10/14 T | Crime and the criminal justice system (interpersonal conflict) |
| 14 | 10/16 Th | EXAM 2 |
| How power and prestige are allocated | ||
| 15 | 10/21 T | Race relations (intergroup conflict):Perceiver’s Perspective |
| 16 | 10/23 Th | “The prejudice film” and pick “wildcard” topic |
| 17 | 10/28 T | Race Relations (intergroup conflict): Target’s Perspective |
| 18 | 10/30 Th | “Eye of the storm” (film) |
| 19 | 11/4 T | Female-male relations: I: Gender Roles—“Men’s lives”(film) and meet in “wildcard” teams |
| 20 | 11/6 Th | Female-male relations: II: From sex differences to gender identity |
| 21 | 11/11 T | Female-male relations: III: Sex stereotypes and gender-related attitudes |
| 22 | 11/13 Th | Reducing intergroup conflict and meet in “wildcard” teams |
| SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND THE WORLD | ||
| 23 | 11/18 T | International conflict and nuclear war and terrorism |
| SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS | ||
| 24 | 11/20 Th | Societal-level approaches to social change |
| 25 | 11/25 T | NO CLASS; "meet in wildcard teams as necessary ("Th") |
| "WILDCARD" | ||
| 26 | 12/2 T | “Wildcard” (__________________): Presentations |
| 27 | 12/4 Th | “Wildcard” (__________________): Presentations |
| THE END APPROACHES | ||
| 28 | 12/9 T | Exam review (optional); no new material presented) |
| 29 | 12/16 T | EXAM 3: All material from 10/21 through 12/4 8:00-9:30 P.M. (Note: Only 90 minutes are available for completing this exam |
READING ASSIGNMENTS
Required Text: Most required reading for this course is contained in the text, Applied Social Psychology (2nd. ed.) by Stuart Oskamp & P. Wesley Schultz, available at New Jersey Books, 108 Somerset St., New Brunswick, 732/828-7401. The required reading that is not in the text is on reserve at the Kilmer Area Library (KAL) . Non-text required reading is also available on the web.
All assignments below are required.
Assignments:
| Mtg. # | Date | Assigned Reading |
| 1 | 9/2 T | None |
| 2 | 9/4 Th | Oskamp, Stuart & Schultz, P. W., (1998). Applied Social Psychology, chapter 13 (O&S) |
| 3 | 9/9 T | O&S, chapter 2 |
| 4 | 9/11 Th | O&S, chapters 1 and 16 |
| 5 | 9/16 T | O&S, chapters 4 and 6 |
| 6 | 9/18 Th | O&S, chapters 5 and 7 |
| 7 | 9/23 T | EXAM 1: All of the above |
| 8 | 9/25 Th | O&S, chapter 11 |
| 9 | 9/30 T | Lott, B. (2002). Cognitive and behavioral distancing from the poor. American Psychologist, 57, 100-110. [Not in text; on reserve.] |
| 10 | 10/2 Th | Krupat, E. (1985). People in cities: The urban environment and its effects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Chapter 5. (not in text; on reserve) |
| 11 | 10/7 T | O&S, chapter 12 |
| 12 | 10/9 Th | O&S, chapter 8 |
| 13 | 10/14 T | O&S, chapter 15 |
| 14 | 10/16 Th | EXAM 2: All material from Exam 1 through 10/15 |
| 15 | 10/21 T | O&S, chapter 9 |
| 16 | 10/23 Th | Duckitt, J. (1992). Psychology and prejudice: A historical analysis and integrative framework. American Psychologists, 47, 1182-1193. (Not in text; on reserve.) |
| 17 | 10/28 T | Contrada et al. (in press). Ethnicity-related sources of stress and their effects on well-being. Current Directions in Psychological Science., 9, 136-139 (Not in text; on reserve.) |
| 18 | 10/30 Th | No Reading |
| 19 | 11/4 T | No Reading |
| 20 | 11/6 Th | Ashmore, R.D. & Sewell, A.D. (1998). Sex/gender and the individual. In D.F. Baronne, M. Hensen, & V.B. Van Hassett (Eds), Advanced personality. (pp. 377-408). New York: Plenum Press. |
| 21 | 11/11 T | Ashmore, R. D. & Tumia, M. L. (1980). Sex stereotypes and implicit personality theory: I. A personality description approach to the assessment of sex stereotypes. Sex Roles, 6, 501-518 (Not in text; on reserve.)Kruskal, J. B. (1972). The meaning of words. In: J. Taur, F. Mosteller, W. Kruskal, R. Link, R. Pierters, & E. G. Rising (Eds.) Statistics: A guide to the unknown. San Francisco: Holden-Day, pp. 184-194. (Not in text; on reserve.) |
| 22 | 11/13 Th | Rudman, L.A., Ashmore, R. D., & Gary, M. L. (2001) “Unlearning” automatic biases: The malleability of implicit prejudice and stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 856-868.(Not in text; on reserve.) |
| 23 | 11/18 T | Nelson, L. (1991). Psychological factors in war and peacemaking. Contemporary Social Psychology, 15, 172-178. (Not in text; on reserve.) |
| 24 | 11/20 T | Deutsch, M. (1993). Educating for a peaceful world. American Psychologist, 48, 510-517. (Not in text; on reserve.) O&S, chapter 17 |
| 25 | 11/25 Th | No Reading: no class ("Th") |
| 26 | 12/2 T | No Reading |
| 27 | 12/4 Th | No Reading |
| 28 | 12/9 T | Exam Review: All material from 10/21 through 12/4 |
| 29 | 12/16 Th | EXAM 3: All material from 10/21 through 12/4 8:00-9:30pm (plus a bit from part one of the course). |
| NOTE: | (1) | EXAMINATION POLICY: during the 13th and 14th weeks of the semester tests of more than 30 minutes duration may not be given except where a course gives more than one hour test and a final. If there is no final examination in a course, the last hour test must be given earlier than the 13th week or at the hour scheduled for the final examination. |
| (2) | The examinations for this course require Scantron answer sheets, and the student MUST bring #2 pencil(s) to the exams. | |
| (3) | Any course work turned into the instructor’s mail box (in the departmental office) MUST be initialed and dated by one of the departmental secretaries in Room 101, Tillett Hall, Livingston Campus. Staff office hours are 8:30-12:00 and 1:00-4:30. Elevators and stairwells are locked at 4:30 p.m. |