Text: James H. Korn, Illusions of reality: A history of deception in social psychology; Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. Other readings will be assigned; an emphasis will be on students generating their own reading list for their research project(s).

Office & Office Hours: 203 Scott Hall. Hours: Mondays, 10:15 - 11:45; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:45 - 11:00 and by appointment. Office phone: Ext. 7-3056 (909-607-3056). Home phone: (213) 734-0809. E-mail: Hfairchild@pitzer.edu or E2e4mate@aol.com.

Date Reading/Activity

9-4 Introductions/Course Overview

9-9 Background and methods. Chapter 1: Varieties of Deception

9-10 Laboratory – Library research

9-11 Team work

9-16 More on methodology. Chapter 2: The growth of deception

9-17 Laboratory – Literature reviews

9-18 Team work

9-23 Statistics. Chapter 3: Social psychology becomes experimental

9-24 Laboratory – Instrument development

9-25 Team work

9-30 Chapter 4: Lewin’s legacy

10-1 Laboratory – Pilot testing

10-2 Team work

10-7 Chapter 5: Military deception

10-8 Laboratory – Data Collection

10-9 Team work

10-14 Chapter 6: A voice of independence

10-15 Laboratory – Data collection

10-16 Team work

10-21 FALL BREAK

10-22 Laboratory – Data processing

10-23 Team work

10-28 Chapter 7: Leon Festinger, the seminal theorist

10-29 Laboratory – Descriptive statistics

10-30 Team work

11-4 Chapter 8: Stanley Milgram and the illusion of obedience

11-5 Laboratory – Hypothesis testing

11-6 Team work

11-11 Chapter 9: The stage production era

11-12 Laboratory – Writing the report

11-13 Team work

11-18 Chapter 10: Questions of right and wrong

11-19 Laboratory – Writing the report

11-20 Team work

11-25 Chapter 11: Deception in psychology and American culture

11-26 Library Research - DRAFT OF FINAL PAPER DUE

11-27 THANKSGIVING

12-2 Chapter 12: The power of positive illusions

12-3 Laboratory: Revising the Manuscript

12-4 Team work: Submitting the Manuscript

12-9 POSTER SESSION

12-10 POSTER SESSION

12-11 COURSE CONCLUSION

Course Requirements and Grading: This course requires active participation in an original research project. Students will work primarily in teams in pursuit of their research objectives. It is likely that students will be involved in more than one research project (one project may be considered "whole class"). Milestones in the research process will be developed on an ad hoc basis (these include, for example, the generation of a working bibliography, an annotated bibliography, a research proposal, an instrument, draft final reports, etc.). The course culminates in a "poster session" where students present the results of their research to the rest of the class. Final grading will be done on a subjective basis by the instructor. Students should meet with the instructor (during office hours) on at least a monthly basis to get feedback on their performance. Weekly writing assignment: A very brief summary or abstract of the assigned reading from Korn, and a brief "reaction statement." Final paper: Should be of publishable quality.