PSY 240: Social Psychology


Note: All written assignments can be submitted electronically via e-mail to me at




What should you write about in your journal? Social psychology deals with a number of phenomena that occur frequently in your life and around you. The more you look for these phenomena the more you will see them and see how they affect your life. Moreover, the more you identify them the better understanding you will have of the concepts we are discussing in class or that are mentioned in the text. Thus, the primary focus of your journal should be identifying examples of the phenomena we discuss in class. Additionally, I would like you to reflect upon some of these observations. For example, what does it say about how you (or people) interact with others? What does it suggest about our motives? How does it relate to other observations you have made, either in the journal or prior to it? Do you see patterns emerging? Can you see more than one concept in a single example?

Because of the nature of the journal, I will not require it to be as well organized a presentation as your other writing assignments. Rather, a stream of consciousness may be more appropriate. Some of you may record observations as they occur. Others may take brief notes along the way and reflect on them after a couple of days. Although I will not evaluate the overall organization of the paragraphs, I will look within each paragraph for good writing skills. Because it may take a while to get a feel for what to write about and some weeks you may just make more observations, unevenness in quantity is understandable. On the days the journal is due you will hand in everything you have written in your journal during the term so far. I will return those pages as soon as possible. The journal does not have to be typed, but must be neat and legible. Write or type on only one side of the paper. I will not assign a grade to the journal until it is complete, but I will give you plenty of feedback along the way. On the average, you should write 1.5 pages a week (for a total of 15 pages for the term). The journal will be worth 60 points.