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Jack Bauer, PhD
Department of Psychology
University of Dayton
Dayton, OH 45469
(937) 229-2617

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Psychology Department

College of Arts
and Sciences

PSY 361: Personality

Download the review for exam 3

Fall 2008
Sec. 1: MWF 1:00 - 1:50, SJ 013
Sec. 2: MWF 2:00 - 2:50, SJ 013
Office Hours: MW 3-4:00 and by appointment

T.A.: Liz Campbell, office hours by appointment

Syllabus
Required Texts
Course Objectives
Grading & Requirements
Assistance & Attendance
Schedule

Required Text
McAdams, D. P. (2006). The Person: A New Introduction to Personality Psychology, 4th Edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Course Objectives
This course presents an overview of the field of personality psychology. This course has four main aims. (1) The course is designed for you to cultivate your ability to think more comprehensively and carefully about persons as wholes. (2) More specifically, the course is designed to help you better understand yourself and the people in your life. (3) The written assessments in this course are designed for you to sharpen your skills at identifying a main idea and explaining that idea clearly. (4) The course is designed to prepare you for future studies and work in psychology.

The human personality is one of the most complex and difficult psychological topics to study. Personality psychology is the study of the individual’s characteristic ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. Other disciplines generally study a particular way of thinking, feeling, or acting—like anxiety in clinical psychology, memory in cognitive psychology, and attitudes in social psychology. Instead, personality psychology aims to study all those things together—i.e., how routine patterns of the individual’s anxieties, memories, attitudes, etc. are integrated. This integration defines, from at least a descriptive standpoint, “who a person is.” Plus, it’s one thing to observe the person from the outside, and another to get an understanding of how that individual perceives his or her own life. Personality psychology aims to do both, because both the objective and the subjective facets of the person influence who one becomes. In an increasingly complex world, our understanding of who we are as individuals and of what we can be becomes increasingly complex as well. Therefore, when studying personality in this class, we view the individual person not as a static thing in the here-and-now. Instead, we view the person as part of a lifelong process of individual development that is inextricable from the developmental processes of other individuals, all of whom are developing within contexts of families, friends, communities, and cultures (with their political, religious, educational, commercial, artistic, and other institutions)—all of which evolves over the course of history! All this is part of the study of personality, and all of it makes us who we are, whether we think about it or not. It’s my aim for this course to help make us more aware of how these kinds of life forces operate, ultimately toward the end of shaping our individual lives and the world in a more examined direction.

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Course Grading & Requirements
Your grade will be calculated from a total of either 500 or 600 points, depending on whether you choose to write a research paper.

Exams. Four exams will cover the content of the class lectures and text. Therefore you are expected to attend class, take notes, and read the text as the course progresses. The exams will require you to integrate information, not just memorize it. The final exam is not cumulative. If you miss an exam, you must have a legitimate reason (by university standards) for taking a make-up exam in order to earn points for that exam. In such a case you must make every attempt to notify me in advance. Exams are worth 100 points each.

Research Project. This project gives you experience in conducting a personality research survey from start to finish—or close to it, anyway. The project starts in class, when we discuss the measures to be used in the study, how to form hypotheses, and how to administer the survey. The project as a whole is worth 100 points.
• PART 1 - FORM HYPOTHESES: After looking over the survey, you are to formulate two hypotheses of your own for the study. Be sure to follow the guidelines for writing the hypotheses. You are to write down and turn in these hypotheses on the date specified on the course schedule. This part of the project is worth 20 points.
• PART 2 - GATHER DATA: You will also administer the personality survey to at least three people you know—one of whom can be yourself. It is your responsibility to make sure that participants know the instructions on completing the survey. After finishing the survey, participants are to put the consent form, survey booklet, and scantron form back in the envelope, to seal it, and to return it to you. IMPORTANT RULE OF RESEARCH ETHICS: You are NOT to look in any way at another participant's responses to the survey. Doing so is a serious breach of your participant’s trust in you as a person and a researcher as well as a serious breach of confidentiality, which is among the highest concerns in research ethics. You are to turn in your three envelopes on the specified day in class. This part of the project is worth 20 points.
• PART 3 - ANALYZE DATA: The TA will aggregate everyone’s data into a single file. In class we will examine the correlational findings from the data. You will receive a copy of the findings. The next step is to analyze the correlations and organize the main idea(s) of your paper. If you have any questions about the findings (e.g., how to interpret the correlations), ask in class (someone probably has a similar question), after class, or in an email to the T.A. or me.
• PART 3 - WRITE THE PAPER: You are then to write your research report. You are to follow APA format for the structure of the paper. Namely, the paper should have four sections (labeled in your paper as such): Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. You are responsible for knowing how to write these sections. The best way to do this is to read below and to look up research articles on your own to get a sense for what kinds of information go in what section. You do not need to cite outside references other than the text for this paper. You may rely on the textbook for any background information, provided you cite it. Your job for this paper is to create a coherent main idea, outline two hypotheses dealing with it, demonstrate how you measured it, report the statistical findings, and then provide an integrated discussion of why the findings turned out as they did. The Introduction should clearly and concisely state your main idea (i.e., two hypotheses) for the paper. The Introduction should state the hypotheses as well as a brief rationale for them, just like you did for Part 1 of this project. Ideally the two main hypotheses will be related in some way. An excellent paper will address an overarching main idea that runs through the two hypotheses. Even if the two hypotheses involve entirely different measures, try to find a way to integrate them conceptually. Perhaps there's some underlying idea running through them both. Remember: Your job is to provide a coherent paper that is anchored by the ideas in your introduction (see "Notes on organization and coherence" below). Otherwise, the paper will come across as sounding like two papers just thrown together. NOTE: The hypotheses that you present in the paper do not have to be the same hypotheses that you turned in for credit earlier. However, you should not just hunt for significant findings, and then claim you had the hypothesis in the first place. The point is to first formulate a prediction (hypothesis), and then see whether the prediction pans out. If you do create new hypotheses for the paper, you must still find a way to address the findings of your original hypotheses. For example, if your paper has a different hypothesis/-es than you originally turned in, then use your new hypothesis/-es as the main idea in your introduction, and then say something toward the end of your introduction like, "My original hypothesis was..." Also, your findings do not need to turn out the way you wanted in order to write the paper. In this case, you do everything the same, except that you report that the correlations were not significant, and in the discussion you'll explain why you think they were not significant. The Method section should have the following subsections (labeled in your paper as such): Participants, Procedure, and Measures. The Participants subsection should describe at least: how many participants were in the study, what percentage was male or female, and what percentage of participants was in each of the different categories of ethnicity. The Procedure subsection should describe how the data were collected. The Measures subsection should describe the survey’s questionnaires individually. Aside from the demographic information just mentioned, you need only describe the measures that are used to test your hypothesis. To describe a measure (all measures are questionnaires), give the name of the measure, how many questions (called "items") are on in it, what scale is used to rate each item (e.g., 1 to 7 or 1 to 5), and a brief description of the phenomenon that is being assessed by the measure. You do not need to report things like internal validity. The Results section should present only the findings that relate to the predictions you described in the Introduction and that were assessed by measures explained in the Method section. The Results section should have two subsections (labeled in your paper as such): Descriptive Statistics and Correlations. In the Descriptive Statistics section, you should report the range of scores (i.e., the minimum and maximum scores), the mean (i.e., the average score), and standard deviation (this gives a sense for how much the participants scores were the same as or different from the mean). In the Correlations section, you should report the correlations for the variables mentioned in your introduction. Refer to the instructions on how to read correlation statistics. The Discussion section is where you write about your conclusions from the findings. Here you describe your interpretation of what the findings mean, why you think the findings turned out as they did (with greater elaboration than in the Introduction), and what you think the findings suggest about personality. You might also describe some limitations to this study or cautions on interpreting the results.
• GRADING: The paper grade is based on the logic, coherence, and organization of the presentation of hypotheses, methods, results, and conclusions.The grade is not based on whether your hypotheses work out. However, if your hypotheses reveal a lack of understanding of the personality characteristics we covered in class, this will count against your grade. In other words, part of your job is to understand the concepts and measures you're using. Note on organization and coherence: The introduction (and thus the hypothesis/-es) is what drives the entire paper. Everything in the rest of the paper--methods, results, discussion--should deal directly with the main ideas in the introduction. For example, the reader should not read about measures in the Method section that are unrelated to the hypotheses stated in the introduction. Similarly, the reader should not read about statistics in the Results section that come from measures that were not explained in the Method section. Finally, the reader should not read in the Discussion section about other correlations from this study or random musings. If you want to talk about other findings, weave them into your entire paper, starting with the introduction. The paper should be 3-4 pages maximum and is due in class Wed., November 19. This part of the project is worth 60 points.
• Download a DRAFT of the survey so you can form hypotheses
• These articles provide info on survey topics not covered in class so far: Achievement Goals, Meaning in Life, Generativity
• Also: Growth memories in relation to traits and well-being

Research Review Paper. This paper requires you to form and communicate an idea or perspective on a specific aspect of personality. This idea or perspective must be well reasoned and firmly grounded in research. How to choose a topic: You are encouraged to pick a topic of personal interest to you that relates somehow to personality psychology. You are also encouraged to start by thinking broadly and creatively about your own personal interests—the topic need not be a “textbook” topic—and only then look for some tie to development. If you want help coming up with a topic that interests you or refining your topic, let me know. How to find research articles: This paper is to be based on 3 articles that report on empirical research and that appear in academic, peer-reviewed journals (not newspapers, magazines, websites, etc). Use PsycINFO or another search engine on the library's web site to find peer-reviewed journals. You may use only academic articles that either (1) present original research or (2) present a statistical meta-analysis of original research from various articles. Thus, you may not use purely theoretical articles, literature-review articles that do not present original research or statistical meta-analyses, commentaries, or other essay-type articles, even if they appear in peer-reviewed, academic journals. How to write the paper: Later in the semester, about a month before this paper is due, we will spend an entire class period explaining and talking about how to do this paper (make sure you attend; it's a difficult assignment). In a nutshell, you are required to use a rigid structure to organize your paper. (This forces you to pour your creativity into the ideas, not the organization of the paper.) This structure will help you organize your thoughts in a way that is required for scientific writing—plus it provides a good basic structure for thinking systematically and for writing about fact-based opinions in general. The sections of the paper are: (1) introduction (which briefly states the main point of the paper), (2) summaries of the three articles (each one separately; each including a summary of the article’s main purpose, methodology, results, and conclusions), and (3) integration (which compares and contrasts the articles as well as elaborates on the main point of the paper). The grading key gives more detail (download it!). The paper should be 4-5 pages, double-spaced. Remember to give yourself enough time for this project: You will need to have a very well-organized paper in order to cover the necessary ground in such a short paper without sacrificing substance. I strongly recommend having your topic and articles chosen a few weeks before it is due. Be sure to include the first page of each article with your paper; it should have the article's abstract on it. Due in class: Wednesday, December 10. This paper is worth 100 points. Be sure to download the grading key. Finally, download a description and examples of how to format citations and references in APA style.
Link to PsycINFO
Download:
• Grading key
• Examples of citations and references in APA style

Note on plagiarism. Plagiarism is grounds for getting 0 points (not just an F) on any assignment (see UD’s policy on plagiarism and its penalties on page 3 of the Student Handbook). So be very careful. If you have any questions, ask. Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty that I take very seriously.

Film Paper (Optional). We will watch the film Girl, Interrupted, which deals with borderline personality disorder in particular, and personality conflicts in general. You may write a paper on the film if you wish. The paper should present a critical examination of some part of the film in relation to psychology (not necessarily just personality psychology), e.g., character development, self-identity (in any of the ways we’ve discussed in class or otherwise), charisma, meanings of psychological health, mental illness in society, uniqueness v. conformity, medical v. psychological treatment, meanings of freedom. Besides that, however, you have a lot of latitude in choosing your topic for the paper. If you have any questions about how to approach this task, please ask. This project is designed to strengthen your ability to think about and describe people’s lives in a way that is conceptually clear and well organized. The paper should be 4-5 pages, double-spaced, and is due via email no later than Noon, Friday, December 19. This paper is worth 100 points. Note that this optional paper is not extra credit; it is an additional, graded assignment.

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Assistance. Please let me know if you would like any form of help or accommodations in this class. Feel free to call or email me for an individual appointment, or stop by during my office hours. UD asks that we state the following: To request reasonable accommodations due to disability, please contact LEAD: Disability Services in the LEAD office in the Learning Teaching Center, LTC 023, 229-2066. If you have a Self-Identification form indicating that you have a disability that requires reasonable accommodations, please present it to me so that we may discuss your needs.

Attendance. While you will not be graded for attendance, students find it very difficult to do well on my exams if they miss classes, since my exams are based not on the memorization of facts but on the ability to integrate information—a skill we develop in class.

Questions. If you have a question, please ask. I am happy to address questions in class, in my office, or by email about how to do an assignment, study for a test, etc. However, if the question deals with material explained in this syllabus, read about it first. Also, do not email me to calculate your course grade. It is your responsibility to keep track of this. The grade is a matter of points. If you want to know what grade is possible for you, just do the math.

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Tentative/Revised Course Schedule

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