ocial

sychology

yllabus

Texts and Other Materials
    1. Cialdini, R. B. Influence: Science and Practice (most recent edition)
    2. Handouts prepared by the instructor
    3. Various readings placed on reserve in the library
    4. Materials available on the web
    5. Things that just go through your head.

Of Textbooks and Parrots.  Before Gutenberg's invention of the printing press, college professors were forced to lecture.  There were two very good reasons that my medieval predecessors used the lecture method.  Most students could not afford a book and many students could barely read.  Much has changed since the fifteenth century, but universities still press on as if students cannot buy books and are illiterate.  Why should a professor lecture on what most students can easily master from reading the text?  I believe that the lecture practices in most courses are examples of thoughtless endeavors, which long ago lost their utility.  I am just thankful that medieval faculty did not slap their students to keep them from freezing in virtually unheated buildings.  Otherwise, we would probably be whacking our students in today's cozy classrooms and evaluating faculty to determine who are good and who are not so good whackers.

From my perspective, parrots make excellent pets but poor professors.  Therefore, we will not spend a minute covering straightforward material that is well described in our text.  Class time is just too precious for wasteful repetition.

The Cialdini paperback can be purchased at select locations (e.g.,  bookstore).  I believe that you will find that Cialdini is a writer of grace and refinement.  Being a person of obvious grace and refinement, you will certainly know one when you meet one.  The bookstore staff and I have a curious custom.  Every semester they ask me how many textbooks will be needed.  I tell  them.  Then they order fewer books than I request.  By the second day of class some student will inform me that there are no more textbooks available.  I call the bookstore and ask why aren't there enough books for the students.  They say that they don't  know, but it is unfortunate.  To avoid this tragic fate, hurry to the bookstore before it is too late.

Lectures, the Web, and Laughter
Lecture will cover a series of topics that do not fit well in the average textbook.  You will find a series of study questions on the lecture component of our course, which are an important part of our class web site.  You will come to love these study questions.  In the past, the study questions have been the subject of poems.  Several semesters ago, a student was so moved by the study questions that he wrote a song about them.  I hope that you find the same degree of pleasure and excitement that I do in examining these issues that comprise the lecture component of the course.

Many course assignments are available only on the web.  In fact, you will not be able to perform successfully in our course unless you frequently access the web.  Our society has now reached a level of technological sophistication, such that no one can claim to be educated, who is not computer literate.  It is a cruel, but undeniable fact, that people who are not well versed in computers are confined to live through a series of yesterdays.  As your instructor, it is my responsibility to prepare you for tomorrow.  I would be negligent if I failed to consider valuable material that is on the web.  Therefore, I have developed a web site that is an integral part of our course.

The material covered in our course is often both thought provoking and exhilarating.  Psychology is such an exciting field of study that students frequently find that they are unable to control their emotions.  Please attempt to refrain from demonstrations of extreme passion in class.  Wallowing in the aisles is especially unseemly. However, despite the fact that I am a defender of the true propriety, I realize that there must always be time for laughter.  Did you ever find yourself in this predicament?

You smile at something said in class.  The chuckle inside you builds into a full- fledged laugh.  It explodes into a big "hee haw."  You attempt to get control of yourself.  You try not to think about it.  It doesn't work.  You put a hand over your mouth.  You are gritting your teeth to withhold an outburst.  Oh no! You can't stop thinking about it.  Little tears are starting to roll down your face.  Occasionally, a chortle erupts.  Your lips sputter as you fight to hold it down.  Your classmates are beginning to notice.  They look at you, smiling, aware that you are on the verge of falling off  the edge.  Now, the professor focuses on you and says, "Is there some problem?"    That's it!!  That's it!!  It's all over now.  Uproarious laugh after uproarious laugh gushes forth.  The class is staring, snickering at the hoot you have made of yourself.  There is nothing else left to do.  Your foolishness has halted the lecture.  You struggle from your desk, mumbling; "I'm sorry," as one "ha" "ha" after another shakes your chest.  Face flushed, one hand over your brow, you totter toward the door, convulsively bellowing guffaw upon guffaw.

The tragedy of this incident is not that the student has committed a social indiscretion.  Our glorious animal heritage has given us all the capacity to laugh from the belly until we quiver.  Society with its perverse politeness, has censored the heart out of us, replacing the wild whoop, with the tame "hmm" "hmm."  Correctly restrained people wither, like petals on a sucked dry vine.