Seminar in Social Psychology (PSY U664)
Fall 2004
Wednesday 2:50 ­ 4:50

Instructor
Professor David DeSteno
E-mail: d.desteno@neu.edu
Office: NI 227
Phone: 617.373.7884

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Purpose: This course is designed as an indepth overview of topics related to evolutionary social psychology. Evolutionary psychology views the human mind as shaped by environmental and social forces. That is, the mind, like the body, most likely developed in response to environmental pressures and challenges. Although most psychologists accept this basic premise, debate concerning the howıs and whyıs of such shaping rages. The primary goal of this course is to examine some of the provocative and contentious issues. Therefore, we will cover a wide range of topics in social psychology, seeing where different areas of research and theory agree or disagree regarding the evolutionary shaping of the human mind.. Another aim of this course is to illustrate the range of ways in which the study of social behavior is scientific with regard to methodology and analysis, and in doing so, to enhance the ability to understand, appreciate, and criticize empirical studies in social behavioral science.
Course Structure: The course will function in two ways: guided discussion and presentation. Each week, class members will provide an overview of the target chapter, I will provide additional background and integration, and other class members will lead discussions on the target article from the coursepack.

Texts:

• Buss, D. T. (2004). Evolutionary Psychology: The new science of the mind. Boston, MA: Pearson.
• Coursepack from Gnomon Copy

Assignments:

• Approximately 1 presentation involving an overview of the target chapter. Plan to provide your classmates with an overview of the main messages and points of the chapter, spending a approximately 20 minutes summarizing some highpoints, as well as raising issues for discussion. On the first day of class, people will indicate their preferences
• Approximately 1 presentation of associated research articles from the coursepack. Here, youıll need to provide a critical overview of the research studies and lead discussion/analysis of the paper.
• Weekly reflection papers will be collected in which you should generate brief comments or questions regarding what you find interesting, compelling, puzzling, or erroneous about topics covered in the target chapter or articles. Be prepared to share these with classmates in class as part of the discussion.
• Take home final exam.
• Engagement in the material. Participation in class is important to active learning; thoughtful questions and comments help all of us.

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS

Dates	Topic	Text Readings	Coursepack
9/8	Course Overview
9/15	Foundations of Evolutionary Psychology	Chap. 1 & 2
9/22	Combating Nature: Human Survival Problems	Chap. 3	Ohman et al., 2001
9/29	Womenıs Long-Term Mating Strategies	Chap. 4	Singh, 1995 Kasser et al., 1999
10/6	Menıs Long-Term Mating Strategies	Chap 5	Singh, 1993
10/13	Short Term Mating Strategies	Chap. 6?	Gangestad et al., 2004 Schmitt & Buss, 2001
10/20	Problems of Parenting	Chap. 7	Zebrowitz et al.., 1992
10/27	Problems of Kinship	Chap. 8	Burnstein et al.
11/3	Cooperative Alliances	Chap. 9	Frank & Ekman, 1997 Eisenberger et al., 2003
11/10	Aggression	Chap. 10	Buss, 1989 DeSteno et al., 2004
11/17	Conflict Between the Sexes	Chap. 11	Buunk et al., 1996 DeSteno et al, 1996
11/24	No Class ­ Thanksgiving
12/1	Status, Prestige, and Social Dominance Take Home Exam Distributed	Chap. 12	Mast, 2002
12/8	A Unified Evolutionary Psychology?	Chap. 13
12/10	Take Home Final Exam due by 2 pm