Course description: This course introduces students to the basic concepts and theories in the area of Personality Psychology. It is designed to encourage students to develop their own understanding of human nature by considering a wide range of perspectives used to understand human functioning. The perspectives range from psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioral, cognitive, trait, biological, to evolutionary approaches to personality.

Textbook: Personality Theories, an E-textbook on the major theories of personality written by Dr. George Boeree on the internet (http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/perscontents.html: For pdf version, go to http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/perschapterspdf.html).  Additional internet sites will be assigned for course reading.

Evaluation: You will have three non-cumulative exams and one cumulative final exam throughout the semester. Each exam will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions covering all readings and material discussed in class. All four exams will each be worth 20% of your final mark. Your lowest exam score will not count toward your final grade. For the first three exams, a study guide with a list of important concepts and theories will be available on a website (http://webspace.ship.edu/tosato/pstg.htm) one week before each of the exams. Since the study guide for the cumulative final exam would consist of all of the material on the study guides for the first three exams, there will be no study guide made specifically for the cumulative final exam. The first two writing assignments will be worth 5% each and the third writing assignment will be worth 20% of your final mark. 10% of your final mark will be based on in class assignments and participation.

Class Assignments: You will have numerous in class assignments throughout the semester. You may have up to 5 excused absences without penalty from your class assignment grade throughout the whole semester. Missing more than 5 classes will lower your overall class assignment grade (regardless of the reason). Tardiness as well as leaving the classroom during class time will result in a deduction from your class assignment grade even if you have completed the assignments.

Missing exams & Tardiness for exams: Since your lowest exam grade will not count toward your final grade, you may miss one exam without penalty. Therefore, if you miss one of the first three exams, you will need to take the cumulative final exam to avoid any penalty. If you miss two of the first three exams, the two exams will be replaced with your cumulative final exam score minus 10%. If you miss all of the first three exams, the three exams will be replaced with your cumulative final exam score minus 20%. Regardless of reasons, exams cannot be made up. There will also be an additional 10% deduction from your exam grade for arriving late for any exam.

Electronic Devices: Any use of electronic devices (e.g., mp3 players, cell phones, headphones, laptops, etc.) in class will result in a 10% deduction from your next exam grade.

Extra Credit: You will have numerous opportunities to earn extra credit throughout the semester.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

All three writing assignments and due dates will be announced/explained in class at appropriate times during the course. For the first two writing assignments, you only need to submit a hardcopy of your paper. For your third writing assignment, you must submit both a hardcopy of your paper and an electronic copy of your paper to http://www.turnitin.com. Any hardcopy paper that does not have the identical contents submitted to http://www.turnitin.com will not be graded.  E-mailed papers are not accepted.

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Purdue University

Vanguard University