Social Cognition

Instructor：李同归    

Office:哲学楼113/116室  

微博：weibo.com/litonggui

微信公众号：PKU-litonggui

Course Overview

This course is intended to provide an introduction to research in social cognition. Social cognition is the study of the cognitive underpinnings of social behavior and the ways in which we think about our social world.

Course Textbook

Kunda, Z. (1999). Social Cognition: Making sense of people. The MIT Press: London, England.

Belss, H., Fiedler, K. & Strack, F. (2004). Social cognition: how individuals construct social reality.  Psychology press.

Course Requirements

Readings are assigned for each week, and are to be read by the Wednesday class with which they are associated. Each week’s readings consist of a chapter or two from the Kunda and Bless text and some articles and/or review chapters. Copies of the latter will be provided by website.

Grades will be based equally on a final exam, and a paper. The paper is due the last before the examination week, and should be approximately 5-10 pages in length (excluding references). The paper should be 12-point font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins, and should be written in APA format. The purpose of the paper is to write a research proposal (or paper) based on the material presented in class and a portfolio of real-world examples. It should include a literature review on the chosen topic, and the proposed study should make a novel contribution to the field. You may apply it to your own area of research if you’d like, although you may not propose a study that you are already doing in your study. You are encouraged to meet with us about the paper before you start working on it.

If you are not in the psychology program, you must discuss your topic with me first.