Course Description

Purpose:

This course builds on prerequisite knowledge about social psychology, and of research methods in psychology, to explore important cognate areas of social psychology in more depth, including critical attention to theoretical and empirical literature, research methodology, and our own experiences. This semester focuses on intimate relationships, their development, their evolutionary background and some of the biases and decep

tions of self and other that may be entailed. Our discussions will include general issues about the evolutionary roots of our social nature, and our most profound intimacies, and how they are so tied to our cognitive and emotive equipment. We will look in detail at the evolutionary psychology of relationships, specifically sexual strategies and mate selection, to better understand the distal causes of some of our most intimate emotions and behavior. We will look at research on systemic aspects of relationships, attachment, and emotional interdependence. We will examine the internal organization of our relational lives, including our behavioral and physiological patterns and interdependencies. Finally, give time, we may also take a look at some controversies about the roots of gender differences, and about applications of research on relationships to issues like date rape.

In tandem with classroom discussions, laboratory sessions will focus on advanced issues of methodology, many of which are specific to the subject matter of social psychology. In addition to a review of elementary statistics and research design, we will explore the use of more complex research design including multiple regression, and more advanced forms of ANOVA and MANOVA, and become literate in reading literature using multidimensional and multivariate designs. Honors project students will cover topics at greater depth and includes coverage of more sophisticated techniques.

The course will be run in seminar format, and will attempt to increasingly involve you in thinking about, evaluating, and ultimately contributing to ongoing empirical explorations of modest and answerable research questions. We will tie the use of theoretical reviews and sample empirical studies drawn from the literature, with your own explorations of the literature in the field and of your own experience. The formulation of a research questions will be accomplished in cohort via classroom critiques of the research literature, laboratory work with various methodologies, and explorations of data sources. Subsequently you will formulate your ideas via a prospectus, and via increasingly well specified research proposals. Ultimately you will answer a research question of your own, write it up, and present it in the context of a course mini-conference, planned by you and your colleagues, to take place the last week of class. The goal is to gradually increase the sophistication and professionality both of your ability to communicate in the context of rational, empirically based dialogue about those issues.

Objectives:

1. To better understand the environmental, social, and biological bases of human relationships, as they form, develop, and deteriorate within an evolutionarily constrained and symbolically constructed world, rooted in but interactive with deeper patterns of emotion and physiology.

2. To better understand the theories purported to account for human relationships, their presuppositions, their rationale, their conceptual form, and the empirical investigations bearing on them, as well as their sociohistorical limitations.

3. To improve abilities to critically evaluate accounts of relationships and their biological and interactive foundations, to deepen understanding of the uses and limits of scientific methodology, to hone capacities for asking specific empirical questions, and to more carefully and objectively attempt to answer such questions via the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data.

4. To being to articulate independent conceptions of intimate human connections which are value-based, rationally justified, and scientifically addressable and therefore able to be modified or discarded in the face of counter-argument or evidence.

5. To become more sensitive to the variety, the organization, and the importance of human relations, aware of their evolutionary, physiological, and psychosocial constraints, and respectful of their historical and cultural embedding.

Instructor Goals:

This semester's topic, close relationships, is intended to cut obliquely across a cycle of topics including, social-interaction based theories of relationships, evolutionary social psychology, and finally, some recent work bearing on biases and deception. These topics cross a range of interests in social psychology, and each involves an intensive literature in a subfield, and should allow the generating of a wide range of empirical projects. This semester I have an advantage. Not only am I in a position to select the best and most interesting theoretical work, but the department is also developing sophomore-level laboratories, the "trial runs" for some of the material in the research course. I believe that psychology in general, and social psychology in particular, are concerned primarily with the negotiation of boundaries, constrained by but not reducible to biology, between what is inside us, as individuals and as large social units, and what is outside us. We begin with the evolutionarily central boundary between self and other, produced and negotiated in ways consistent with the sexual strategies and mate selection preferences of reproductively viable male and female human beings, using some data on judgments of dating scripts, and perhaps generating more. We will also look at the temporal course of social interconnection, and how boundaries of self and others, sharing and exclusion, disclosure and reticence, assertion and withdrawal are maintained over time. Finally, we will explore a frequently "subdoxastic" level of boundary formation and maintenance, that of biases and self-deceptions, particularly in terms of how they might influence and effect the our conscious beliefs about our relationships, and how they might fail to do so, despite their causal involvement.

My goal is to explore with you the theoretical background for understanding a wide range of relational issues, focus specifically on theories of value in generating questions which are answerable in terms of extant data, or independent data which you generate yourselves, and explore some of these issues with you, sharing some of my own excitement with them, but also encouraging you to share your own experiences, your own memories and anticipations of your own relational lives. This is the fun part. The hard part is going to be to wheedle and cajole you, to encourage you, and occasionally to give you a swift kick in the direction of critical thinking, rational discourse, and empirical evaluation of these same issues, the questions we raise, and the answers we begin to tentatively formulate. But then, things that are worthwhile, that are ultimately rewarding and fulfilling, are rarely easy.

Reading

                    Some kind of SPSS Guide. Unfortunately, as of the preparation of this syllabus, the status of the network version
                    of SPSS is unknown, and the student guide Norusis, M.J. (1990), SPSS Advanced Statistics Student Guide is
                    out of print. We will either find a new guide, use Norusis from reserve, or use the encyclopedic SPSS-X user’s
                    guide. (1994). Publication Manual of the APA (4th Edition). Washington, DC: APA.

The remaining readings can be found in library journal holdings, or on reserve.

                    Simpson, J.A. (1987). The dissolution of romantic relationships: Factors involved in relationship stability and
                    emotional distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 683-692.

                    Gottman, J..M. (1996). What predicts divorce?: The measures. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Attendance:

Since participation is graded, attendance is required but will not be recorded separately. Occasionally, lecture will clarify and build on assigned reading, but most classes will involve discussion of readings, so detailed preparation of assigned reading is expected. Appropriate questions, comments, and discussion are an expected part of participation. Students are also asked to bring in outside examples and personal observations.

Research Discussions and Critical Evaluations:

Each topic of discussion through October will consist of a focus on theory or overview, and an intensive focus on one or more sample studies from the literature. All students will write one or two page critiques of the research to be discussed. These will not be summaries, though a first paragraph might identify the key conditions, measures, and results. These are intended to be exercises in relating particular research to the broader theoretical issues, and to critically analyze methodology for understanding its particularities in this field, and to aid in the design of one's own research. Discussion will generally begin with a handful of students reading their critiques. These will be selected by lot; each student may pass once before losing credit for the preparation (instructor to be notified in advance for unavoidable failures in preparation), and may have one "brag" -- turning in a critique they think is particularly good even if not called upon. Those called upon to share their critiques will also hand them in for a grade, modified in response to classroom feedback. The entire class is nevertheless responsible for (a) reading the article(s), (b), formulating relevant questions or comments, and (c) writing a 1-2 page critique of the research and evaluating where it fits in the context of the material discussed earlier. Students are also expected to read at least two additional articles per week, in the process of developing research topics, and will hand in these references with annotations as to their relevance for a developing topic (in whatever stage it is in).

Laboratory Exercises and Reports:

Each laboratory period will involve at least one exercise in methodology or analysis of results. Students will write short accounts of these, as they might appear in methods or results sections of APA format research papers. Laboratory periods will also include the examination and clarification of methods or analyses used in research literature discussed during class.

Research Projects:

Since the research project is the culminating effort for the course, it will obviously be the bulk of your grade. Nevertheless, your grade for this project will be in a number of pieces. First of all, many of you are likely to choose topics which will draw on theories or reviews used in class, so class work may help play the role of the literature search for your topic, which will also give you a chance to talk about it in a class context, get feedback, etc. You may also wish to raise questions or issues that have arisen in your two-article a week outside reading (this will also avoid people doing their literature reviews in short time spans immediately prior to due dates!). We'll take projects step by step. We'll spend part of a class period on initial planning before the Fall Break. I want to see a prospectus (a 2-5 page initial formulation of an idea for a project, your source of data what kind of analysis of data, etc.) before Fall Break.

An initial proposal draft should be handed in the week after Fall Break. This is essentially the introduction and methods section of a research report, i.e. with a nearly completed literature search, a clearly formulated research hypothesis, and an explicitly spelled out methodology. I'll give you some feedback on this and a tentative grade. By mid October you should have a final proposal written, arrangements for data made, and be ready to discuss your proposal in class. In other words, you should be ready to collect, code, analyze or whatever, as soon as you have my OK. From here on in, you are in charge. I will do what I can to help you out, and will be available for individual consultations, both class and lab time will be devoted to research projects, class for theoretical or design issues, lab for data collection and analysis issues. Meantime, you will be coding and analyzing your data interpreting it, and writing it up.

Your conference proposal including short abstract and full proposal should be ready to send to a professional conference. This includes at least preliminary data analysis, so you can include some results. Papers are rarely if ever accepted without at least minimal results, although these may need to be fleshed out for the full paper. If your paper is acceptable, or I suggest minor revisions, it should be submitted for a conference before the end of class.

Your final research report, including Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References, should be ready to present during our Mini-Conference the last week of class. The program committee can expect to have your abstract in hand well before the conference. You may also wish to rewrite your report in light of any feedback you get during the conference. For the last day of class, you will select titles of three projects and will provide written critique of two; final rewrites are also due.

Mini-Conference:

The last full week of class will be a formal mini-conference, with each class period representing a "session." Each person selected to present will have about 15 minutes to present their research, with a few minutes left over for questions. We will meet as a group before Thanksgiving to set up committees and assign tasks. A Program Committee will be responsible for selecting presentations, and for creating a schedule of events (to include individual abstracts). an Arrangements Committee will see to inviting other students and faculty, scheduling additional space (if needed), arranging for any equipment, and doing advertising or PR work as needed. Finally, since no conference would be complete without after-hours socializing, a Social Committee will be responsible for planning a party for a post-conference afternoon or evening, arranging location, refreshments, invitations, entertainment, etc.

Grading:

Since there will be no tests or quizzes, and since this is a seminar class, participation will be an important part of your grade; but remember that it is not how much you say, but what you say that counts (your preparation for class, the relevance and importance of your comments, the reasoning that you exhibit). For any of you that feel like you have talked too much or too little, don't forget that conference planning work is part of participation, and supplementary work can be made available. Semester grades will be broken down as follows:

Outside readings -- annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10%

Critiques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15%

Lab Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10%

Proposal (including prospectus and class participation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15%

Research Paper (including conference presentation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35%

Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15%

Date Topic Reading(s)

Introduction to Social Relationships

M Aug 30 Overview, Conceptual Confusion and Empirical Methods Syllabus, Skim references

LAB: Methodology, Design, and Subject Selection Review Research Methods

HONORS LAB: Subjects, Methods, Artifacts, and Ethics Review Research Methods

F Sep 3 Attribution and Social Cognition Tesser, Ch 1, 4, & 5

W Sep 8 Close Relationships Berscheid (1994),

Clark & Reis (1988), Tesser Ch 8

F Sep 10 Evolutionary Social Psychology Buss (1996),

Kenrick & Simpson (1997)

Relationship Development: Attachment, Interdependence, and Dissolution

M Sep 13 Attachment, Intimacy, and Pair-Bonding Reis & Patrick (1996),

Zeifman & Hazan (1997)

LAB: Causality and Comparison Tesser, Ch 2, pp. 16-26

HONORS LAB: Causal Effects, Contrasts, del, & ARC Tesser, Ch 2, pp. 16-38

F Sep 17 Attachment and Romantic Love Hazan & Shaver (1987), Simpson

(1990), Mickelson et al (1997)

M Sep 20 Interdependence, Process, and Participation Berscheid (1983)

Reis & Shaver (1988)

LAB: Self-Reports, Observation, & Analysis Berscheid et al (1989)

Clark & Reis (1988), pp. 651-672

HONORS LAB: Data, Meta-analysis, & Modeling Berscheid et al (1989)

Clark & Reis (1988), pp. 651-672

Tesser, Ch 2, pp. 38-49

F Sep 24 Friendship and Romance McAdams et al (1984), Hays (1985)

Berg & McQuinn (1986)

Simpson (1987)

M Sep 27 Marital Stability and Dissolution Levenson & Gottman (1983, 1985),

Gottman & Levenson (1988, 1992)

Gottman (1993a)

LAB: Arousal Generation & Recovery; Measurement Brehm (1992), White et al (1981),

Zillman et al (1972)

HONORS LAB: Quasi-Experimental and Interpretive Issues

F Oct 1 Gender, Conflict, & Predicting Divorce Christensen (1990), Gottman (1993b,

1996, 1996), Levenson et al (1994

The Evolution of Desire: Sexual Strategies Theory

M Oct 4 Sexual Strategies Theory Buss & Schmitt (1993),

Kenrick (1994)

LAB: Sampling, Scaling, and Responses SPSS Review (Norusis, Ch 1-17ff)

HONORS LAB: Scales, Inventories, Composites & Factor Analysis (Norusis Ch. 21; 22)

F Oct 8 Preferences in Human Mate Selection [Prospectus Due] Buss & Barnes (1986), Buss (1989),

Feingold (1992)

M Oct 11 Sexual Offers, Jealousy, and Attraction Tactics Clark & Hatfield (1989), Buss et al

(1992) Aitala, Neff, Schott studies

LAB: Instruments and Interactions Multiple Regression; MANOVA

HONORS LAB: Interviews, Interactions, and Longitudinal (Norusis, Ch 18, 23; N II Ch 8)

FALL BREAK

Tu Oct 19 Critical Controversy: Gender Buss (1995), Archer (1996),

Wilson & Daly (1992), Miller &

Fishkin (1997), Eagly & Wood (1998)

LAB: Presentation of Individual Designs

HONORS LAB: Presentation of Individual Designs

The Dark Side: Biases and Betrayals

F Oct 22 Friendly Behavior, Sexual Interest, and Date Rape [Proposal Due] Abbey (1982, 1987), Saal et al

(1989), Abbey & Harnish (1989)

M Oct 25 Deception, Betrayal, and Infidelity Keenan et al (1997), Shackelford

(1997), Buss & Shackelford (1997)

LAB: Presentation of Individual Designs (continued)

HONORS LAB: Presentation of Individual Designs (continued)

F Oct 29 Self-Deception, Defenses, and Psychodynamics Krebs & Denton (1997),

Busse & Lloyd (1992), Busse (1999),

Kihlstrom (1996)

Research, Consultation, and Presentation

M Nov 1 Research Sendoff [Final Proposal Due]

LAB: Piloting of Individual Projects Methods/Analysis

HONORS LAB: Project Pilots Methods/Analysis

F Nov 5 Data Collection/Coding Consultations/Computer Work

M Nov 8 Analysis/Interpretation/Discussion Consultations/Computer Work

LAB: Statistical Analysis Computer Lab, SPSS Manuals

HONORS LAB: Advanced Statistical Analysis Computer Lab, SPSS Manuals

F Nov 12 Roundtable Discussion [Abstract Due]

M Nov 15 Analysis/Interpretation/Discussion Consultations/Computer Work

LAB: Results: Handouts, Overheads Selected Examples

HONORS LAB: Results: Slides, Video

F Nov 19 Roundtable Discussion [Final Abstract Due]

M Nov 22 Mini-conference Organization Conference Programming

LAB: Conference Committees

HONORS LAB: Program Committee

W Nov 24 Conference Preparation Research Abstracts

THANKSGIVING BREAK

M Nov 29 Presenting Results Handouts, Overheads, Slides

LAB: Research Paper Writeup APA Style Guide

HONORS LAB: Writing for Publication APA Guide, Prepared Manuscript

F Dec 3 Final Conference Preparations Conference Programs

M Dec 6 Mini-Conference: Oral Presentations & Discussion [Research Paper Due]

LAB: Mini-Conference: Poster Session I Reviews and Evaluations

Mini-Conference: Poster Session II Reviews and Evaluations

F Dec 10 Conference Critique & Course Evaluation [Research Rewrites Due]