Document Type
Syllabus
Publication Date
Fall 9-1-2024
Course Description
Personality psychology, or personology, is the scientific study of the whole person. Through lecture and discussion, this course compares and contrasts the major views of personality according to the root ideas in the personological tradition: motivation, personality development, self-knowledge, unconscious processes, psychological adjustment, and the relationship between the individual and society. This course is organized into four parts that mostly follow the structure of the textbook. One part of the course covers the goals of personality psychology, the kinds of data gathered in personality research, and personality research methods. This will cover a major part of the course as you will be learning more about statistics, including reliability and validity estimates, factor analysis, and possibly multiple regression. Another part of the course covers the trait approach to personality. This section considers what kind of consistency is necessary to ascribe a personality trait to someone and examines behavioral consistency and inconsistency across situations. It also looks at how personality psychologists measure traits with tests and how ordinary people make judgments about personality traits in everyday life. Finally, this section reviews representative research on personality traits and types. Part III of the course focuses on personality stability and change over time and also includes the biological and genetic approaches to personality, including evolutionary factors. Due to time limitations, Chapter 8 on the brain will not be covered. Nor will what is called psychoanalytic or depth psychology. Psychoanalysis—the school of thought founded by Sigmund Freud—which emphasizes irrational influences from the hidden part of the mind called the unconscious.
Recommended Citation
Ross, Scott R., "PSY 361A Psychology of Personality Ross Fall 2024" (2024). All Course Syllabi. 659, Scholarly and Creative Work from DePauw University.
https://scholarship.depauw.edu/records_syllabi/659
Student Outcomes
You will be able to… - demonstrate a greater understanding of the complexity of abnormal behavior. - appreciate the philosophical issues involved in classifying psychopathology. - develop a basic understanding of the relationship between maladaptive behavior and neural mechanisms. - appreciate the importance of assessment and diagnosis in clinical psychology and in relation to the course and outcome of specific disorders. - appreciate the importance of psychological and biological treatments for various mental health disorders.