PSYC 5354: SECTION 001

PSYC 5354: SECTION 001
PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY
MWF, 3:00-3:50 pm, Fondren Science, Room 133
Syllabus and Course Description

Stuart N. Robinson, Ph.D.

Hyer Hall, Room 311C, stuartr@smu.edu, 214-768-1545
P.O. Box 750442, Dallas, TX 75275-0442
Office Hours on MWF by Appointment Only

How To Contact Me

By emailing me at stuartr@smu.edu with “Personality Psychology: Section 001” in the Subject line of your email, followed by the subject of your email.
For example: Personality Psychology: Section 001 – I would like to make an appointment
Email me. Do not leave me voicemail messages. I check my email daily. It may take up to five days for me to get a voicemail message. Unless you indicate otherwise, I will send emails to you to your SMU email address.

How To Make an Appointment

My office hours are by appointment only. This means I may not be available if you decide to drop by during office hours. Email me at least three days in advance, requesting a specific day and time to meet. Do not come to an appointment unless I email you back confirming that I will be available at the day and time you requested. If I am not available at the day and time you request, I will give you an alternative time to meet. I have almost 200 students and meet with students on a regular basis, so you must email me back confirming you can meet on the alternative day and time or I will schedule a meeting with another student for that time slot. Visit as often as you like. If you miss an appointment without notifying me in advance, it may take up to two weeks before I can reschedule you.

Textbook and Course Content

The first required text for this course is: Personality, 7th Edition, Jerry M. Burger – Santa Clara University, ISBN-10: 0495097861 ISBN-13: 9780495097860, Published by Thomson/Wadsworth, 2008.
Also required is: Sniffy-The Virtual Rat: The Lite Version 2.0, 2nd edition, 2005 by Tom Alloway, Greg Wilson and Jeff Graham, published by Thomson/Wadsworth. Both the Sniffy CD and the Sniffy paperback text are required.

Course Objectives

1. To help you gain an appreciation for the various perspectives in Personality Psychology and their relevance to your everyday life and personal relationships.

2. To introduce you to the major forms of personality disorders and to the clinical approaches to therapy and counseling.

3. To introduce you to the biological and physiological bases of personality.

4. To introduce you to the various career opportunities in Personality Psychology including Clinical and Counseling Psychology, Health Psychology, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Engineering Psychology, Social Psychology, Consumer Behavior and Advertising Psychology, Environmental Psychology and Experimental Psychology.

5. To introduce you to the various ways Personality Psychology can enhance your success in non-Psychology careers.

• To introduce Pre-Med students to the value of understanding personality in treating illness and disease and to introduce Pre-Law students to the value of understanding personality in criminal and civil litigation.

• To introduce students interested in business, communication and engineering careers to the value of understanding personality in developing and advertising new products, starting new businesses and managing employees,

• To introduce students interested in careers in the Arts, Liberal Arts, Social and Political Sciences how understanding, predicting and modifying personality can contribute to society and culture.

Using Our SMU Course Blackboard

Our entire course is organized and offered on the SMU web-based, course management system called BLACKBOARD. Not being able to access your blackboard will seriously impair your ability to pass this course. Please sign up and check that you can access our course before class begins on Friday, August 24, 2007. The URL for BLACKBOARD is http://courses.smu.edu/. For help, go to http://smu.edu/cms/.

It is your responsibility to check each of the following sections on the course blackboard before each class: Announcements, Assignments and Lectures
These sections will include changes to this syllabus, changes to your assignments, changes to test dates and test locations, changes to class dates and locations, and changes to lecture and lecture notes, and other important revisions, additions and updates as they occur throughout the semester.

The course blackboard also includes my personal advice and guidance as to how you can do well in this course. Although getting an A or B in this course is not difficult, relatively few students do well mostly because they fail to do certain things on a regular basis. Many students wait to ask for guidance until they see their grades for the first few tests. By this time, it is usually too late.

The course blackboard also includes my personal advice and guidance as to how you can do well in this course. Although getting an A or B in this course is not difficult, relatively few students do well mostly because they fail to do certain things on a regular basis. Many students wait to ask for guidance until they see their grades for the first few tests. By this time, it is usually too late.

If you want to maximize your probability of getting the highest grade possible, be sure to read the following sections on your course blackboard the first week of class.
How You Can Do Well In This Course
Where You Can Go For Help

Extra Credit Opportunities

If you have trouble reading, or if you just prefer listening to audio/video presentations of many of the topics included in this course, you should review the section on your blackboard labeled “More Media, Practice Questions, Flash Cards”. This section also will give you access to many study aids, like practice questions and flash cards, course outlines and to numerous websites on the internet that provide additional information each topics

Attendance Is Not Required, But Here is Why You Should Attend Class

Attendance is in accordance with SMU policies, but I believe attending class is your responsibility. Your grade will suffer significantly if you choose not to attend class on a regular basis. Here is why. First, the class lectures include information that is not included in the reading assignments, so if you do the reading but don’t come to class, you will miss questions on the exams from topics covered in class that were not included in the reading.

Second, a copy of the lecture for each day is available on your course blackboard, but you still need to come to class and you still need to take notes. This is because the actual class lectures include information on topics not included in the prepared lecture from the blackboard. The lectures on the blackboard are meant to be note-taking aids. To take full advantage of their availability, you should printout each lecture and review it in advance, bring the copy to class so you will only have to take notes on the material presented in class not included in the detailed summary. That way you can spend more time intently listening in class than furiously writing.

Third, classes include videos and handouts that contain information on topics that will be included on your exam questions. If you miss a class, check with another student to find out if you missed a video, handout, important announcement or presentation. It is your responsibility to get notes from a classmate for that day, see videos shown on that day that are on reserve at the library, get copies of any handout or other material presented or distributed in class.

I automatically assume students are responsible and conscientious so it is not necessary for you to send me an email explaining why you miss a class, or why you may have to miss a class. More importantly, I strongly prefer you don’t. I am only concerned with excessive absences. If your absences become excessive, I will send you an email requesting that you visit with me to determine whether there are avoidable or correctable circumstances that can be improved to increase attendance.
Also, if a student does not attend class for two weeks, I reserve the right to “Administratively Drop” him or her from the class roll.

I will assign seats at the beginning of the second week of class and ask you to sit in your designated seat for the rest of the term. Assigning seats helps me learn your names and identify students who miss an excessive amount of classes and minimizes talking to neighbors during class. Send me an email if you prefer to sit in the front row. Lastly, class begins promptly on the hour. Please do not be late or leave early.

Examinations

There will be FIVE exams during the semester and a cumulative FINAL EXAM during the final exam period. Exams will be 50 to 100 multiple-choice questions only — no essay or fill-in the blank questions. I can provide no help and answer no questions during exams. If you have a question about a question, write me a note on your exam booklet so we can discuss your concern later.

Exams will be held the on the Exam Days designated on the class schedule. A copy is on the Blackboard and is also included at the end of this syllabus. Examinations must be taken on the date and at the time indicated. There are no make up exams and no early exams. So, be sure not to schedule trips or personal business on an exam day.

Grades on each exam will be available for private viewing on the Blackboard website within a week. Only you will have access to your grades. The average of your best four grades out of the five exams given will count 60% of your final grade. You can miss one exam, and then the average of the four exams you took will count 40% of your final grade. But you will receive no credit, a zero, “0”, for each additional exam that you miss after the first one you miss. The final exam will be cumulative and worth 60% of your final grade.

The final exam is mandatory for all students except for the following students. Students who perform well during the semester and demonstrate their mastery of the course topics will not have to take the final exam. To be excused from the final, first you must take all five exams given during the semester and you must have an average of 90 or better on all five. These students will have the option of taking the average of their five exams taken during the semester as their final course grade, or they may go ahead and take the final as scheduled, in which case their final course grade will be no lower than the average of their grades on the five exams they took during the semester. Lastly, before these students can be formally excused from the final exam, each must received a private email from me confirming their decision.
Grading:
Examination 1
Examination 2
Examination 3
Examination 4
Examination 5
Best 4 out of 5 grades = 40%
Final Exam 60%
Total 100%