Syllabus

Psychology 360

Attitudes, Persuasion, & Social Influence: Social

Psychological Perspectives

Spring 2001

Professor: Francine Rosselli, Ph.D.

Office: B21 Judd Hall

Phone: 685-2318

e-mail: frosselli@wesleyan.edu

Office hours: Tuesday 3:00 – 4:00, Wednesday 2:00 – 3:00 and by appointment

Readings

	Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Influence: Science and practice (4^th edition). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon Publishers.
	Kilbourne, J. (1999). Deadly persuasion: Why women and girls must fight the addictive power of advertising. New York: The Free Press.
	Shavitt, S. & Brock, T. C. (1994). Persuasion: Psychological insights and perspectives. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon Publishers.
	Reserve Readings. Supplementary reading will be assigned for most topics. These readings will be on reserve at the psychology library.

Course Goals & Format

The purpose of this course is to survey one of the oldest and most dynamic areas of social psychology – the study of attitudes, persuasion, and social influence. Students taking this course should acquire knowledge of classic and contemporary theories of attitudes, persuasion, and social influence, as well as the research methods used to develop and test such theories. Students should also gain an understanding of the pervasiveness of influence attempts in everyday life.

This course is designed to be a seminar for upper division psychology majors who have already completed courses in social psychology, research methods, and statistics. Class meetings will have a lecture/discussion format, with occasional in-class demonstrations and exercises. Discussions are encouraged whenever students wish to pursue them, and questions are welcome at any time. Active participation in consideration of course material is strongly encouraged. We will attempt to cover a lot of material in this course. In order to master this material, it will be necessary to come to class regularly and become actively engaged in thinking about and evaluating the theories, concepts, and research that will be presented. Please read all assigned readings prior to class and come prepared with questions, comments, criticisms, etc.

Course Requirements

	Class participation. Given the format of this course, your active participation in all aspects of the course is absolutely essential. A portion of your grade in the course will be determined by your active involvement in class discussions and exercises.
	Class presentations. Each student will be responsible for two brief (10-15 minutes) class presentations. Presentations will concern an empirical study and students should strive to provide a concise and cogent explanation of the hypotheses, procedures, results, and conclusions of the research to the rest of the class. Students are expected to meet with me to discuss their presentations, prepare a handout for each presentation, and be prepared to answer questions from the class.
	Papers/Projects. There will be several written assignments. All written assignments should be typed (double-spaced). Please refer to the description of each individual assignment for specific instructions and requirements. Assignments will generally be discussed in class on the scheduled due date, therefore no late assignments will be accepted. You are, of course, free to hand in assignments prior to the scheduled due date.
	Final Exam. There will be a final exam during finals week. The exam is designed to assess how well you have learned and can integrate the principles and concepts covered throughout the semester as well as your ability to apply these concepts. The exam will include both short answer and essay questions.

Grading

Your course grade will be determined by the following:

Class participation & presentations….................................… 30%

Papers…………………..……….....................................…….. 40%

Final Exam………………………......................................…… 30%

Letter grades will be assigned according to the following scale:

A+ = 97-100%, A = 94-96%, A- = 90-93%, B+ = 87-89%, B = 83-86%, B- = 80-82%,

C+ = 77-79%, C = 73-76%, C- = 70-72%, D+ = 67-69%, D = 63-66%, D- = 60-62%,

F = < 59%

Academic Integrity

Academic dishonesty is a violation of the Honor Code and will not be tolerated. If you are caught cheating during an exam or plagiarizing someone else's writings (published or unpublished), you will be referred to the Honor Board with the recommendation that you receive an "F" for the course.

Students with disabilities

If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodations to enable you to participate in this course, such as note takers, readers, or extended time on exams and assignments, please contact the course instructor during the first two weeks of class. The Dean’s office (see Dean Heacock) can provide you with additional with information and review appropriate arrangements for reasonable accommodations.