1000 words essay about social psychology

O’Brien revised 1/18/20 with new parts in blue Psy 342 / Soc 342 – Winter, 2020

Guidance for your two mini-papers: What difference does social psychology make?

Follow this guidance to write two mini-papers for our course. Each mini-paper counts for 10% (up to 20 points) of your course grade, so that’s 20% of the course grade altogether. You’ll use each paper to explore a specific social psychological concept. Each paper will be 900 to 1000 words, single spaced, with one inch margins. Papers will be graded using a  framework: + is like an A (this translates to 20 points in our 200-point system)  is like a B (16 points) - is like a C (12 points), and so on. I’d like to assign as many  and + grades as possible, and if you plan ahead, follow this guidance, and so on I believe you can do fine work on both your mini- papers. In each paper you will show that you know how a given concept in social psychology is defined, describe how it relates to other social psych ideas, give an example how it applies in real life, and describe what impact this knowledge makes. In addition to your name and the usual info at the top of the document, your paper will include: (Section 1) Use this caption: Concept: _____________ [fill in the blank with the name of the concept]

 Name an established concept or theory from our social psychology text and/or from classroom lecture. Don’t use Wikipedia, etc., for your concept – use our class text and/or lecture notes. You may use any chapter of the text even if we’re not covering that chapter this quarter.

 Provide the definition of the concept or theory. Use quote marks and provide the page number for the definition by adding an in-text citation like this: (Myers & Twenge, 13/e, page xx). If you use another recent edition of the book, that’s fine, just cite it appropriately (11/e or 12/e). It's also okay to copy a definition directly from your lecture notes, but I still expect you to use quote marks and tell the date of your notes in which you wrote the definition.

(Section 2) Use this caption: Related ideas: __________[fill in the blank by naming the 2-3 related ideas]

 Using your own words, connect this concept to 2-3 related ideas from our social psychology textbook. You’ll probably need 5-6 sentences to do this. Use more sentences if necessary to meet your 900-1000 word target for the paper overall.

 Make it easy for us to tell what the related concepts are. Besides naming them in the caption for the section you might underline them in the paragraphs.

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(Section 3) Use this caption: Factual example. In your own words, describe a factual situation in your own life, in which you saw this concept or theory at work. You might be recalling something that happened before you knew the concepts, and you only realize the concept applies in retrospect – that’s okay. Even though I probably have no way to check, I'm counting on you to tell a true story. You’ll probably need a few paragraphs for this section. (Section 4) Use this caption: What difference does knowledge make? This section is the hardest part. Reflect on your story to tell what difference it makes to be knowledgeable about the concept you’ve chosen. You might tell how you act differently, how you think differently, how you understand yourself or other people differently, how you have a different attitude than before, how exactly you plan to act or think or feel differently in the future, and/or, how your emotions are different because of your knowledge of this concept. For example, let’s say you write a paper on the door-in-the-face technique. What follows is not the whole 1000 words but an outline of what the paper might say. Section 1 would include: • Concept: Door-in-the-face technique (remember, these captions are required) • Door-in-the-face is “a strategy for gaining a concession. After someone first turns

down a large request (the door-in-the-face), the same requester counteroffers with a more reasonable request”

• (remember to add the page number) (p. 185, Myers and Twenge, 13th edition). • If you like, you can elaborate saying more in your own words about what the

concept is. Section 2 could say: • the required caption Related ideas: Compliance, Persuasion, Foot-in-the-door, Concessions • This comes under the general concept of compliance, which is a social influence

process. • Door-in-the-face is only one of several persuasion methods covered by the text. • It contrasts with the foot-in-the-door technique which starts with a small request and

proceeds to the larger one (describe foot-in-the-door in your own words). • The success of door-in-the-face could be explained by perceptual contrast

(describe that idea in your own words), reciprocal concessions (describe that idea in your own words), or even by social desirability (self presentation; describe that idea in your own words).

(Usually there are no quotations needed for this section of the paper -- this section is in your own words.)

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Section 3 could say: • The required caption Factual example • Two weeks ago, our teenage daughter asked to borrow keys to the van to drive

herself to the Saturday soccer practice. When her father and I refused, she followed up with a request that we drive her to the practice.

• We said okay, but soon we realized we'd fallen for door-in-the-face--in fact our daughter already knows that we expect her to take the bus to her soccer practices.

Section 4 could say:

 The required caption What difference does knowledge make?

Last week our daughter made the same request and instead of car keys she got a Tri-Met bus pass. Our Saturdays are already very busy, and knowledge of social psychology is saving us from having to drive our daughter to practices.

Additionally, because of our knowledge of door-in-the-face, we understand that sometimes the best solution to a problem isn’t a solution midway between the two extremes. Sometimes the extremes are even more extreme in order to manipulate how we see the situation, and we understand that now.

Notice how knowledge of social psychology makes a difference in the writer's life, even if it’s only a difference in the writer’s understanding. Even though your own paper will be written out with captions and regular prose, the above outline gives you the idea. Next, here’s how to format your papers. For each paper, at the top of the first page type:

 Your name  Your D2L email address in case I have follow-up questions… Your D2L

email address is the same as your @pdx.edu address without the @pdx.edu at the end

 The date  Social Psychology, Kerth O'Brien  And then either say “Okay to quote me” or “Don’t quote me.” It doesn’t

affect your grade but it lets me know whether it’s OK to read part of your paper aloud in class someday. Either way is okay.

Save your files in one of these formats only: .doc (Word) .docx (Word) If you’re using Microsoft Word on a Windows machine, your file will save in .doc or .docx already. Otherwise you may need this paragraph. How do you convert your files to .doc or .docx? Get a head start with a bit of advance planning:

 You can come to campus where you may use Word on a Windows machine at

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almost any campus lab.

 Or, you might go into the software you prefer to use and search its help menu for help.

 Or, you might conduct an online web search using a search phrase like “how to convert files to .docx”. This is how one student I know found a site called zamzar.com (there may be other, better sites).

 Beyond the above possibilities, your go-to resource is the PSU Help Desk during their ordinary weekday hours. Approach them either at 503-725-HELP or in the basement of Smith Memorial Student Union and ask, “How do I convert my document from some other word processing software into an MS Word file ending in .doc or .docx for Windows?” You could bring the same assignment guidance that you’re reading now and show it to Help Desk staff.

Your file must be in .doc or .docx format before you upload it to D2L Assignments. Name your files with your last name as part of the filename. Example: YourLastName_Paper1 Notice how there’s a “1” at the end of the filename? Please end one filename with 1 and the other with 2 so we can tell them apart. Some helpful hints:

 When you’re using Microsoft Word the status bar at the bottom of the screen tells you the number of words at a glance, and/or, you could go to the ribbon at top and select review and then word count. Again your paper needs to be 900- 1000 words.

 If you find yourself not quite there at 900 words, you may find it helpful to elaborate in your own words about the related concepts.

 Check our course D2L discussions for updates and FAQs. See me in office hours or post questions on D2L if you get stuck. TAs Sheila and Tim are also available by appointment.

 Before uploading your papers, double-check your work against this guidance.

Late papers: Upload your two files to D2L Assignments by or before class time on the due date (see syllabus schedule). Late papers will be graded down (e.g., from + to  after class time on the first day, then  to -- after class time on the second day). I’d rather not have to grade any papers down for lateness, so I hope you’ll take advantage of this guidance for an early start. I hope this detailed guidance offers you confidence how to proceed. The course TAs and I look forward to learning about your experiences with concepts of social psychology! Kerth