Psychology 41990
Introduction to Personality-Writing Intensive Component
| Instructor: |
David M. Fresco, Ph.D. |
| Office: |
226 Kent Hall Annex |
| Office Hours: |
TBA; By appointment |
| Email/Telephone: |
fresco@kent.edu (330) 672-4049 |
| Course Web Page: |
Over the course of the semester, we will study many different theories of personality that I like to organize into four main paradigms (or perspectives) As the semester progresses, we will, as a class, consider all four paradigms closely. As fulfillment of the writing intensive component of the class, I am asking you to become more expert on at least one of the paradigms.
Papers should be approximately 8-10 type written pages plus references (10-12 point font, no bigger than 1 inch margins). Citations in the paper need to conform to APA style. Here is great (and free) online resource for APA Style. Papers are to be submitted as an electronic file (e.g., MS Word, RTF file) as opposed to printed out. Word Perfect format is also unacceptable.
In addition, writing intensive students are required to meet with me on a nearly weekly basis to discuss the progress of your paper. For me, writing is as much a process as it is a product. Ideally, we will find a group meeting time for all of us to discuss the progress. You will find that meeting with fellow students will help you develop your ideas into a stronger paper. Topics for these meetings include choosing and narrowly focusing your paper topic, developing a reference list, developing an outline for the paper, and 'putting flesh on the bone' (i.e., adding detail to your outline from the materials you have reviewed). I also encourage you to send me drafts. I will give you feedback that you can incorporate into your final product. Note: The quality of my feedback will be based on how much time you give me to see a draft before a deadline.
You must seek and properly cite outside, original source material for your paper. It is not sufficient for you to cite our text. There are great resources on the Kent Library web page to assist you, such as PsychINFO. Or go to the Psychology Department web page research link.
I have been turned on to a very helpful website that gives good information on writing a research paper. I strongly suggest that you visit http://www.esc.edu/writer for assistance in your writing. Follow the link to the Research Room. I also want you to use APA style in your paper. For this link for a webpage that is a free an excellent resource for APA style.
As indicated above, the process of writing is just as important if not more important that the product. Consequently, your grade for this section will be based on your progress along the way. We will set goals and deadlines for these different components of your paper.
| Choosing a thoughtful, manageable, and appropriate topic |
10% |
| Quality and thoroughness of outside research |
10% |
| Quality, organization, thoroughness of paper outline |
10% |
| Grammatical, organizational quality of your paper |
30% |
| Content, synthesis, creativity of your paper |
40% |
Write an analysis of a person you know well. This can be yourself, a friend, family member, etc. You can use a pseudonym if you wish to conceal the identity of the person in you paper. You must get consent for writing about an actual person (other than your self). A psychodynamic formulation should begin with you researching or making educated speculation on what the impact of early life experiences (and other issues in the person's development) has been in this person¹s life. The superior papers will integrate terminology from the text with real-life examples from the person's life. Also comparisons/contrasts of the different psychodynamic thinkers will be highly prized.
Game theory is a concept that stems from economics that attempts to account for the outcomes of parlor games (e.g., poker and other card games) to the more complex human interactions. Alfred Adler, one of the theorists we will discuss this semester, describes different approaches and strategies humans take to get by in life. A paper topic screaming to be pursued is a comparison and integration of Adler’s theory with contemporary game theory, particularly the nonzero sum game, which is the focus of a recent book by Robert Wright. Visit www.nonzero.org for more details.
Choose a topic discussed in the chapters on the Humanistic Theories or A Non-western Approach from our text. Write a paper that elaborates or expands on your topic. A topic that would demonstrate superior understanding of the material would be an attempt to integrate and synthesize ideas from both Eastern and Western Psychology (just a suggestion).
The psychohistory assignment is available here too.
In his book, The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen J. Gould puts forth the argument that for many years, scientists (especially those who subscribed to the Trait Paradigm) used science to practice racism and to put forth the notion that some races were inherently more intelligent than others. Chose a topic (that you must clear with me first) from this book and write a paper in support or in rejection of Gould's general premise.
The psychohistory assignment is available here too.
Self-monitor the actions, thoughts and feelings for period of two weeks of yourself, a family member, roommate, or pet animal. If you chose a person other than yourself, you will need to get written, informed consent from that person. Choose some behavior or habitual thoughts to modify and (with me) design an experiment to modify the behavior or habitual thought. Then conduct your experiment and keep track of the data to see how successful you are. Your grade will not necessarily be based on the success in changing the behavior. Rather, you will be judged on the merits of the experiment you design, the implementation of the study and your write-up of the study. You will probably have to begin your experiment very early in the semester and will definitely require some reading on this topic before beginning. If you choose this topic, see me so that I can help you get started. A very valuable resource for this assignment is a book written by Karen Pryor called Don't Shoot the Dog. The following website also gives a good introduction to instrumental conditioning.
The psychohistory assignment is available here too.
Chose a character from history or literature and conduct a psychohistory of that person. You must clear the topic with me first. Chose your own paper topic (that you must clear with me first).