Undergraduate Course: Human Personality (PSYL10105)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | The course will give an overview of the major topics in current personality research. Historical personality theories will not be covered. The main but not exclusive focus will be on the trait approach to personality.
The course will start by introducing the major theoretical concepts and positions in current personality psychology. It will then move on to the assessment of personality traits, their evolutionary, biological and genetic underpinnings and development, their cross-cultural patterns and role in predicting major life-outcomes. The final lecture will be about non-trait personality conceptualizations as well as some other phenomena related to personality.
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| Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Psychology 2 (PSYL08002)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 Psychology courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 3 (Sem 2) |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
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Seminar/Tutorial Hours 12,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
86 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
At the end of each of the first four classes, students will be presented with a question related to the lecture material and related reading. They will be offered practice opportunity to turn in a 250-word response to the question in class the next week.
At the beginning of each class after the first one, the instructor will shuffle the papers received and students will mark the papers of other students and offer feedback comments on them. To help them do this, the instructor will spend 15-20 minutes explaining what to look for in a good answer.
The actual course mark will be based on a 1000-word essay, marked by the instructor, in response to a question posed at the end of the last class period.
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Main concepts and theoretical positions in current personality psychology
- Major findings in personality genetics and biology and their theoretical relevance
- Major findings pertaining to personality trait development
- Major findings regarding the predictive validity of personality traits
- Some alternative conceptualizations of personality beside the trait approach
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Reading List
The main textbook
Matthews, G., Deary, I.J. & Whiteman, M.C. (2009). Personality Traits. 3rd Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Additional and/or background reading
Funder, D. C. (1991). Global Traits: A Neo-Allportian Approach to Personality. Psychological Science, 2, 31¿39.
Caspi, A., & Roberts, B. W. (2001). Personality Development across the Life Course: The Argument for Change and Continuity. Psychological Inquiry, 12, 49¿66.
Roberts, B. W., Kuncel, N. R., Shiner, R., Caspi, A., & Goldberg, L. R. (2007). The Power of Personality. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 313¿345.
Cervone, D. (2005). Personality Architecture: Within-Person Structures and Processes. Annual review of psychology, 56, 423¿452.
Cramer, A. O. J., van der Sluis, S., Noordhof, A., Wichers, M., Geschwind, N., Aggen, S. H., ¿ Borsboom, D. (2012). Dimensions of Normal Personality as Networks in Search of Equilibrium: You Can¿t Like Parties if You Don¿t Like People. European Journal of Personality, 26, 414¿431. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Rene Mottus
Tel: (0131 6)50 3410
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Stephanie Fong
Tel: (0131 6)50 3628
Email: |
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