PSYC 390 Outline

THE KING'S UNIVERSITY

COURSE NUMBER:

PSYC 390

COURSE TITLE:

Psychology of Personality

NAME OF INSTRUCTOR:

Dr. Christopher Peet

CREDIT WEIGHT AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION:

credits 3 (hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 0 - hrs lab 0)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

A survey of classical and contemporary theories of personality with reference to the personal histories of their originators and to the structure, dynamics and function of the theories within their cultural context.

Prerequisites: PSYC 250 or 251

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Engler, Barbara. (2003). Personality theories. (9th Edition). Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin.

MARK DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT:


Minor papers (3)	75%
Major paper	25%

	100%

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

To convey something about the ways of thinking, and to gain some insight into the kind of experimental research conducted, by personality psychologists; to acquire some of the language (vocabulary) used in this sub-discipline and to focus on writing about the diversity of content of personality theories; and, more generally, to gain some perspective on the discipline of psychology as whole by way of personality research. The course is intended to have you read the textbook critically as you come to appreciate the contributions of contemporary scholarship.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Part I: Jan. 8-Feb 9 Psychoanalytic approaches to personality: Chs. 2-7 Freud & his successors

January 24-25 IS Conference (no classes)

February 19-23 Family Day & Reading Week (no classes)

Part II: Feb 12-March 16
Psychoanalytically influenced approaches: psychoanalysis appropriated, revised, altered

Ch. 8. Dollard & Miller, pp. 187-196.

Ch. 10. Henry Murray, pp. 248-253.

Ch. 14. Rollo May, existential psychoanalysis

Humanistic psychology: Maslow & Rogers (Ch. 13)

Non-Western approaches: Zen Buddhism (Ch. 17)

Part III: March 19-April 16
Behavioral & cognitive approaches

Ch. 8 B. F Skinner, pp. 197-207.

Ch. 9 Social learning theories

Ch. 15 George Kelly

Ch. 16 Cognitive-behavioral approaches

Biological approaches to personality ‘traits’

Ch. 10 Gordon Allport, pp. 237-247.

Ch. 11 Factor Analysis and “The Big Five”

Ch. 12 Hans Eysenck

March 25, 28 Good Friday & Easter Monday (no classes)

Required texts, assignments, and grade distributions may vary from one offering of this course to the next. Please consult the course instructor for up to date details.