PY334 PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY Course Syllabus - Saskia Boggs

Class Attendance, Participation, and Professionalism:

I consider all class absences as "excused" with the following caveats:

• Students must email Saskia prior to the end of a given class period to announce an absence for it to be counted as excused. This must happen for every single missed class. Failure to contact Saskia in the event of missing a class will count as an "unexcused absence"; after two unexcused absences, you will lose 5% of your Attendance, Participation, and Professionalism points for every subsequent unexcused absence. This is in addition to the points gained/lost by submitting "Exit Papers." (e.g., if you have an unexcused absence and also fail to submit an exit paper for that day, you will lose 10% of your points.)
• Students are required to submit an "Exit Paper" at least once a week. Students are required to submit an additional "exit paper" for every class they miss. An "Exit Paper" is a simple 2-minute writing assignment where you jot down one take-away thought from that day's class. The thought can be a connection you have made (e.g., between class notes and textbook, or between that day's class and another topic we have covered earlier that semester) or a lingering question that you have about the material.
• If you miss one class in a week, the missed class can be the one you write an Exit Paper for. If you miss multiple classes, you will need to write an Exit Paper for each of the times that you miss. Exit papers are due within 24 hours of the class you miss and should be submitted to that week's exit paper dropbox. (If your preference is to combine your 'exit papers' into one submission, this is acceptable, but you must clearly mark which takeaways come from which days in class.)
• For each day that you miss class and do not submit an exit paper, you will lose 10% of your Attendance, Participation, and Professionalism points.

Lecture information will often cover material not presented in the textbooks. Students are responsible for knowing the content of both the assigned readings and class lectures – assignments and exams will cover reading-specific and lecture-specific information as well as things covered in both sources. Students who miss class are responsible for any announcements, handouts, or material covered in class (including notes). You may gain this information by checking Blackboard (e.g., for handouts or links to recorded lectures), emailing the professor (e.g., for announcements), or contacting peers (e.g., for announcements or notes). It is similarly the student's responsibility to make up any eligible assignments missed as a result of an absence. For further information, see the current Student Handbook for the college's Attendance Policy, especially as it pertains to excused absences.

Out of respect for your professor and fellow peers, please do not come to class if you are feeling ill. Additionally, should you feel ill at any point during the semester, it is important to contact the college nurse (wchealthcenter@wilmington.edu, 937-481-2217) immediately. If you miss class due to being ill, is your responsibility to contact your professor immediately in order to determine how best to maintain engagement with course content and assignments during your absence. Please note that I do not require doctor's notes – I will trust you if you say you are too ill to attend, but caution you that students who attend class regularly and participate in activities and discussion tend to perform far better on assignments.

Participation and professionalism are also essential in this course. This entails submitting exit papers, participating in discussions, asking questions during class, maintaining courteous and professional communication with me and your classmates about course matters, attending student hours, and completing in-class activities (not for formal course credit) and assignments (for formal course credit) – please note that you will be assessed on your overall engagement across these areas and if you are lacking one area it will not necessarily result in a deduction of your participation and professionalism points.

In addition, all students are expected to contribute to enhance the quality of class discussions. Students are strongly encouraged to keep a list of questions (clarification and discussion-generating) as they read the textbook, and to raise these questions during class. Students are likewise encouraged to share their own viewpoints in a respectful manner so topics can be explored from multiple angles. Please be advised that I keep notes on classroom participation, including whether you spoke during discussion, whether you were prepared for class (i.e., read class readings, brought any required materials, etc.), and whether you violated any classroom policies.

It is my expectation that students will complete all assigned readings and take-home assignments in advance of the class meeting during which they are scheduled to be discussed. Failure to do so may result in a loss of participation and professionalism points.

Participating in class and discussions: 100 points

Application reports:

We are covering a number of different personality theories this semester. At the onset of each broad school of thought (e.g., psychoanalytic, humanistic) you will complete a personality assessment common to that theoretical perspective, provided by Dr. Boggs at the start of the unit. After completing each assessment, you will write a brief (~1-2 paragraph) synopsis of your results. The synopsis should summarize any themes or specific results in your assessment and be robust enough to serve as a primary reference for application reports.

Synopses are due at the start of the class period following the completion of the assessment.

Assessment synopses: 6, at 10 points each for a total of 60 points

Then, for three of the theories we cover, you will complete an application report. Each application report is worth 40 points and should be 4-6 pages unless otherwise indicated, completed in 12-point Times New Roman font, double spaced with 1-inch margins. You may select which three theories you would like to address in your reports, and do not need to focus on theories covered in a particular unit; due dates are spread out through the semester. You are encouraged to submit reports earlier than the listed final deadlines. Reports will be graded in the order that they are received.

In each application report, you will connect your personality assessment results to the specific theoretical perspective of you have chosen. For example, you could choose to interrogate your projective test results from a Freudian (psychoanalytic) perspective, a Jungian (analytic) perspective, or a Horneyan (neo-Freudian/neurotic) perspective. You are not required to focus on perspectives that actually use that form of assessment in their field, but please know that the connection may be more difficult to make when the assessment is incompatible with the field.

Each application report should start with a paragraph introducing essential information about your assessment results – the relevant information will vary based on the theory you are addressing, and can be drawn directly from your synopses. Throughout the rest of your application report, you should highlight key elements of the theory of your choosing and indicate how they are relevant to your assessment.

You do not need to address every component of each theory, but you should address the most important components. 20% of your grade will come from your discussion of your assessment results, 40% from your accurate description of the personality theory you have chosen, and 40% from integrating the two successfully (e.g., how do your results exemplify or challenge the theory? What would the theorist say about your personality, given your results?). Your writing style may be formal and professional, utilizing APA format and conventions, but you may also be creative with this assignment as long as you include the information about the theory, the assessment, and the way the assessment applies to the theory you have chosen.

Please note that each application report should focus on a UNIQUE THEORY. However, you may use the same assessment for each report, or different assessments for each report.

Your final application report should include an additional 2-3 pages dedicated to comparing and contrasting the three personality theories you covered across the semester. What are the similarities in conclusions across the theories? What are the differences? Do some theories resonate more than others? Why or why not? This additional component is worth 20 points, bringing the final application point to a total of 60 points.

Application Reports: 3, at 40-60 points each for a total of 140 points.

Exams:

There will be two open-book and open-note exams in this class. Each exam will be worth 100 points and consist of both multiple choice and short answer questions. Exams will NOT be in-class: timed exams will be made available on Blackboard for students to take at their leisure within a specified period. Students will be given a list of review topics in advance of the test and permitted to take and use notes on these topics when completing their timed exam on Blackboard. Access to the exams will open immediately after class (2:00 pm) on the listed start date and close immediately before class (12:30 pm) on the listed close date; a review session will be held in-class on the day that the exam opens. Each review session will be student-driven (i.e., students ask questions and instructor responds) and end when there are no more questions.

Exams: 2, at 100 points each for a total of 200 points.

Final Project:

As part of the course grade, each student will be required to complete a final project. This final project can be completed alone or with one partner – if you work with a classmate, you will receive the same grade on your project.

This project will have both written and oral presentation components. For your final project, you will design a personality assessment that you think would be effective for the theoretical perspective you found most interesting.

Your assessment can take many forms and follow any standard “testing” convention (e.g., idiographic, nomothetic, or projective; self-report or other-report; questionnaire or observation (behavioral focus); clinical or experimental, omnibus or focused, etc.). When you are designing your assessment, you should consider the following questions:

1. What school of thought/theory does this assessment address?
2. Why have I chosen to focus on this theoretical perspective?
3. What is the utility of this assessment – how could it be used?
4. What behavior would this assessment best predict?
5. What materials are necessary to conduct and complete this assessment?
6. What kinds of outcomes might I expect?

You must produce a full version of your assessment and administer it to at least five people. The form this takes will vary based on the theoretical approach you are focusing on and the “style” of assessment you are producing. For example, it may include an interview session with a friend, a review of photographs of an individual’s behavior, or even creating an online quiz (such as uquiz) shared over social media. Regardless, be sure to record trends in participant’s results. Time will be set aside in class for pilot-testing and feedback as you develop your assessments; failure to have drafts prepared in advance of these sessions will result in a point deduction from your overall final project.

Once your assessment has been administered, you will write a brief report (2-3 pages, bullet points are fine) detailing your answers to the above questions. You will also address the following:

7. Was this assessment effective in measuring personality the way I intended? Why or why not?
8. Was I surprised by any of my results?
9. What changes might I make in the future so that it effectively measures personality?

During the final week of class, you will present your findings to the class. This presentation should last no longer than five minutes and should include an introduction to your assessment (e.g., show sample materials), a description of what theory your assessment covers and how it does so, and a brief summary of what you found when you administered it. Here, you will be assessed on the clarity of the brief information you provide, as well as how engaging and contained the information is, accuracy and readability of visual aids (e.g., PowerPoint slides), and whether you were able to keep the presentation to 3-5 minutes.

Final project: 100 points; 40 for the assessment, 30 for the report, 30 for the presentation.