Washington & Lee University

Theories of Personality (PSYCH 202)

Course Syllabus Winter 2011

 

Instructor:                  Karla Murdock, Ph.D.

Email:                         murdockk@wlu.edu

Phone:                        458-8248

Office:                         Parmly Hall Room 238

Office Hours:             MWF 1:30 – 3pm or by advance appointment

Class Meetings:         MWF 9:05 – 10am

 

COURSE GOALS

 

This course will introduce you to some of the major theories of personality and the research methods used to test these theories. Several perspectives on personality will be introduced and critical evaluation of these alternative perspectives will be encouraged. From each theoretical perspective we will address questions such as: What is personality? What are the similarities and differences among individuals’ personalities? What factors influence the development of personality? How can we investigate the nature and cause of personality? What are the implications and consequences of our theories of personality?

 

I will ask you to be active learners in this class – to go beyond rote memorization of theories, concepts, and terms. Our class meetings will consist of a combination of discussions, activities, lectures, films, and writing exercises, all of which will encourage and require you to think critically about how we conceptualize and assess personality.

 

It will be essential for you to complete reading assignments BEFORE class because the activities of each class meeting will revolve around them.  You will be bored, lost, and potentially embarrassed if you haven’t read the material.

 

READING MATERIALS

 

Cloninger, S. (2008). Theories of Personality: Understanding Persons (5th Edition). Prentice-Hall.

ISBN: 0132434091

 

PDF versions of journal articles will be made available via email.

 

GRADED ACTIVITIES

 

CLASS PARTICIPATION                         10%

 

Your class participation grade will be generated on the basis of your attendance record, full engagement in each class meeting, and contributions to small- and large-group discussions. Much of what you learn from this course will come from the materials that are presented and discussed in class.

 

 

WRITING PORTFOLIO                30%

 

Your critical thinking and writing will be assessed in this class through a writing portfolio containing entries that you generate throughout the semester. For several class meetings (indicated by WP on the schedule below) you will prepare a typed response to a reading and/or prompt for that day. Although these writing portfolio entries should average about one page in length, it is most important that they reflect a thoughtful consideration and analysis of the relevant issues (see evaluation criteria below). Please be prepared to present your entry to the class and then turn it in during the relevant class period. Only partial credit will be awarded to entries that are submitted after the relevant class period for any reason.

 

These entries should be collated in chronological order and submitted on Friday, April 8th.

 

Your writing portfolio will be evaluated as a complete body of work at the end of the term, based on the degree to which it reflects:

·         Consistent effort

·         Mastery of concepts

·         Clarity and sophistication of analysis

·         Thoughtfulness, creativity, and originality

·         Polish and professionalism

 

 

EXAMS         60%

 

There will be three exams in this course, all of which will include objective items as well as essay questions. The final exam will not be cumulative.

 

 

EXTRA CREDIT

 

You may earn four points of extra credit throughout the semester to be added to your third exam score.  The following extra credit activities are suggested:

 

v  Participate in a Psychology Department experiment or study. Extra credit will only be awarded with appropriate documentation that verifies your voluntary participation.  Extra credit will not be awarded if you have received monetary compensation for your participation (1 point).

 

v  Write a 500-750-word response to a book, film, play, or current event related to personality theory and/or research (2 points).  

 

 

SEMESTER SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO REVISION)

 

 

CLASS MEETING

Class meeting

TOPIC

READING / PAGES

Mon Jan 10

 

Introduction to Personality Theory

 

Chapter 1

Wed Jan 12

 

Psychoanalytic Perspective:

Classic Psychoanalysis (Freud)

 

Chapter 2

 

Fri Jan 14

 

Psychoanalytic Perspective:

Analytical Psychology (Jung)

 

Chapter 3

Mon Jan 17

WP

Psychoanalytic Perspectives

 

Wed Jan 19

Founders Day  8:55–9:40am

16 PF administration

 

Fri Jan 21

 

Psychoanalytic-Social Perspective:

Individual Psychology (Adler)

Chapter 4

 

Mon Jan 24

 

WP

Siblings and Personality Development

Brody, G. (2005). Siblings’ direct and indirect contributions to child development. In C. Morf and O. Ayduk (Eds.), Current Directions in Personality Psychology, pp. 143-148. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Society.

Wed Jan 26

 

Psychoanalytic-Social Perspective:

Psychosocial Development (Erikson)

Chapter 5

Fri Jan 28

 

Erikson

 

Mon Jan 31

Exam 1

 

 

Wed Feb 2

 

Trait Perspective:

Personological Trait Theory (Allport)

 

Chapter 7

Fri Feb 4

 

Trait Perspective:

Big Five: Factor Analytical Trait Theory (Cattell)

 

 

Chapter 8

 

Mon Feb 7

 

Cattell

 

Wed Feb 9

 

16PF Interpretation

 

 

Fri Feb 11

WP

Trait Perspective:

Big Five: McCrae & Costa

McCrae, R. & Costa, P. (1999). A five-factor theory of personality. In L.A. Pervin and O.P. John (Eds.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research (2nd ed.), pp. 139-153. New York: Guilford.

Mon Feb 14

 

Trait Perspective:

Biological Theories (Kagan, Eysenck, Gray)

Chapter 9

 

 

Wed Feb 16

 

Biological Perspectives

 

Fri Feb 18

WP

Biological Perspectives

Dabbs, J. Hargrove, M., & Heusel, C. (1996). Testosterone differences among college fraternities: Well-behaved vs. rambunctious. Personality and Individual Differences, 20, 157-161.

 

Farah, M. (2005). Neuroethics: The practical and the philosophical. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9, 34-30.

Feb 21 - 25

BREAK

 

 

Mon Feb 28

WP

Broaden and Build Theory

Fredrickson, B. L. (2003). The value of positive emotions. American Scientist, 91, 330-335.

Wed Mar 2

 

Exam Review

 

Fri Mar 4

SSA – no class

 

 

 

Mon Mar 7

Exam 2

Learning Perspective:

Behaviorism (Skinner)

 

Chapter 10

Wed Mar 9

 

Cognitive Social Learning Perspective:

Mischel

Chapter 12

Fri Mar 10

 

Cognitive Social Learning Perspective:

Bandura

 

 

Mon Mar 14

WP

Social Learning Perspective

 

Wed Mar 16

 

Humanistic Perspective:

Person-Centered Theory (Rogers)

 

Chapter 14

Fri Mar 18

 

Humanistic Perspective:

Person-Centered Therapy (Rogers)

 

 

Mon Mar 21

 

Humanistic Perspective:

Need Hierarchy Theory (Maslow)

 

Chapter 15

Wed Mar 23

 

Take the VIA Strengths Survey Online;

Print out results

Positive Psychology

 

Fri Mar 25

WP

Positive Psychology

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999). If we are so rich, why aren’t we happy? American Psychologist, 54, 821-827.

 

Dahlsgaard, K., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. (2005). Shared virtue: The convergence of valued human strengths across culture and history. Review of General Psychology, 9, 203-213.

Mon Mar 28

WP

Personality and Well Being

Hampson, S. (2008). Mechanisms by which childhood personality traits influence adult well-being. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 264-268.

 

Folkman, S. & Moskowitz, J.T. (2005). Stress, positive emotion, and coping. In C. Morf and O. Ayduk (Eds.), Current Directions in Personality Psychology, pp. 181-186. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Society.

Wed Mar 30

 

Strengths Assessment

Tasha Walsh, M.S.W.

Bring VIA Survey results to class

 

Fri Apr 1

 

Strengths Assessment

 

Mon Apr 4

 

Buddhist Psychology

Chapter 16

Wed Apr 6

WP

Wrap-up

 

Fri Apr 8

WP Due

Wrap-up