Social Psychology: Book Report
Psychology/Sociology 210 -- Fall 2004 -- Dordt College

Choose your own due date - papers will be gladly accepted without penalty until November 18

To help you learn more about a particular social psychological topic and to help you better understand how social psych research applies to everyday life, you will read a popular/"trade" book and write a paper that reviews the book and connects it to your own life.  I hope that this assignment will deepen your understanding of psychology and will reinforce a holistic understanding of human beings (the bio-psych-social-spiritual model). 

Choosing your Book

Choose one of the following books and let me know your decision by Sept 9; I'll pass on the class orders to the Bookstore (if you want to buy your own through some other source, let me know that, too).

Baumeister, R. (1999). Evil: Inside human violence and cruelty. New York: Owl Books. ISBN: 0805071652
 

Langer, E. J. (1990). Mindfulness. New York: Perseus.  ISBN: 0201095025 or 0201523418. Langer has long been fascinated with how much human behavior is done on autopilot; as such, her book actually focuses on mindLESSness - how even highly intelligent people's actions are directed mostly by routine, tradition, and pre-formed mindsets.  She engagingly shows the problems of mindlessness in people young and old, how to recognize it in your own life, and how to become more mindful in everyday living.

Lerner, H. (2002). The dance of connection. New York: Quill.  ISBN: 006095616X.  Lerner, a clinical psychologist,  is renowned for her books on helping women dealing with anger, deceit, and intimacy in relationships.  This book broadens her approach by helping men and women talk through and heal rocky relationships with friends, family, or marriage partners. 

Levine, R. (2003). The power of persuasion: How we're bought and sold. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. ISBN: 0471266345. A social psychologist, Levine's very readable descriptions of how gullible we all are range from financial manipulation, the power of salesmen, and the techniques used to cults to indoctrinate and sometimes kill their members. 

Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Influence: Science and practice (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN: 0321011473. Cialdini writes a very interesting book about why do what others want us to - ranging from buying  unwanted things to copycat crimes. His highly readable analysis of 6 major categories of influence, combined with solid research to back it up and everyday examples as illustrations, helps readers to identify and combat influence tactics in their own lives.

Reading your Book

Different kinds of books should be read in different ways - newspapers, novels, and textbooks are not the same.  Here are some suggestions for reading these books:

• Commit to reading early and often - for example, start October 1 and read 1/2 hour or 1 chapter each day.  If you wait too long, you'll keep putting it off and end up with a quick skim, weak personal applications, and a poor paper. One approach is to commit to reading the whole book by November 1 and spending the next 2 weeks collecting personal application ideas and drafting your paper.
• Before you read your book, find out some information about it - who is the author? why did he/she write this? (hint: don't skip the Introduction or Preface)
• Next, look over the requirements for the paper and look for that information as you read - what's the thesis? what are the arguments?  what applications do you see for yourself?  You aren't being tested on the book, so you don't have to worry about memorizing details.
• Mark in your book - after all, you paid for the privilege of doing whatever you want with it. Bend down corners of pages you want to come back to, underline important or personally relevant parts, takes notes in the margins, make stars or checks by the author's arguments or places that connect with Social Psych concepts, etc.   Your future paper-writing self will thank you for your trouble.
• If in your everyday life you notice everyday examples of the things you're reading about, write them down somewhere right away (even on your hand) so you can later put that with your book - this practice helps your memory of concepts and your ability to apply social psych to your life.
• After you read each chapter, immediately summarize it in your own words or phrases on the first or last page of the chapter - that helps you to quickly remember what it's about when you write your paper.

Writing your Paper

 Papers should be about 6 double-spaced pages long (11 or 12 point font; 1" margins) and address the following points:

• Do some web research on the author and give some background information on him/her (make sure you properly reference your information).  Why do you believe the author was qualified to write this book (or not)?
• In a few paragraphs, summarize the author's thesis and his/her main arguments.  Then, evaluate them: To what extent were you convinced?  What weaknesses did you see in the arguments or the information used to support them?
• Summarize the author's assumptions about the nature of people (like we did with Chapter 1 in your text).  In what ways are this author's assumptions or arguments (in)consistent with Christian beliefs about the self? What's left out?
• Besides the obvious connection to persuasion, what other connections to social psych do you see in this book?  (for example, the authors often refer to social psych concepts without using the terminology found in your text).  Clearly demonstrate the connections with specific references.
• Offer several personal applications or examples - how you see this book relating to your life now or in the future (think of your roles as student, a spouse, a church member, an employee, a neighbor, etc.).  Again, use specific page references to information in the book and specific, concrete examples from your everyday life.
• Finally, comment on your impressions of the book - whether it was appropriate for this class, something you'd recommend, etc.

Evaluating your Paper

Your paper, worth 100 points, will be graded based on the following criteria:

• Depth of critical insight
• Ability to apply material appropriately to one's own life
• Comprehensiveness of responses (addressed all required issues in appropriate depth)
• Clarity of written expression
• Appropriate supporting references
• Mechanics & format (spelling, punctuation, organization, etc.)

Please recall the Psychology Department's late policy on the course syllabus. Also note that the due date for this assignment is not later than November 18; feel free to turn it in earlier. It is wise to have someone help you proofread your work to avoid silly writing errors.