Course Description

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The goal of this course is to evaluate contemporary solutions to important problems in personality psychology, with special attention to historical context and anticipated future directions. The course provides an understanding of what problems personality psychologists are working on, an evaluation of how far personality researchers have gone, and speculation about what will be next. The course will also allow students to learn how to create and edit pages on Wikipedia, and thereby contributing to the World Wide Web of information. Forever.

(Ref notes for me)

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  • Funder, D.C. (2010). The Personality Puzzle. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
  • Epstein, S. & O'Brien, E.J. (1985). The Person-Situation Debate in Historical and Current Perspective. Psychological Bulletin, 98 (3), 513-537.
  • Kenrick, D.T. & Funder, D.C. (1988). Profiting from Controversy: Lessons from the Person-Situation Debate. American Psychologist, 43 (1), 23-34.
  • Hogan, R. (2009). Much ado about nothing: The person-situation debate. Journal of Reserach in personality, 43 249.
  • Mischel, W. & Shoda, Y. (1995). A cognitive-affective system theory of personality: Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure. Psychological Review, 102, 246-268.

Potential Topics

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1. Self-esteem and personality

2. Behavioral genetics

3. Person-Situation debate

4. Effortful control

5. Approach-avoidance conflict

 
Chemical structure of serotonin

Week 8 (3/09)

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  1. Made changes on the approach-avoidance conflict page.
  2. Selected Person-Situation debate as topic.
  3. Possible references include:
  • Cervone, D. (2005). "Personality architecture: Within-person structures and processes." Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 423-452.
  • Epstein, S., & O'Brien, E. J. (1985). "The person–situation debate in historical and current perspective." Psychological Bulletin, 98(3), 513-537. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.98.3.513
  • Hogan, R. (2009). "Much ado about nothing: The person–situation debate." Journal of Research in Personality, 43(2), 249-?.
  • Kenrick, D. T., & Funder, D. C. (1988). "Profiting from controversy: Lessons from the person-situation debate." American Psychologist, 43(1), 23-34. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.43.1.23
  • Mischel, W. (1973). "Toward a cognitive social learning reconceptualization of personality." Psychological Review, 80, 252-283.
  • Mischel, W., & Shoda, Y. (1995). "A cognitive-affective system theory of personality: Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure." Psychological Review, 102, 246-268.