POLI 433: Political Psychology
UVIC2022
Instructor: Joseph Fletcher (josephf@uvic.ca)
Dates: July 4 – August 19
Schedule: Tuesday & Thursday 1:30-4pm
CRN: 31183

This is a seminar in Political Psychology. It explores fast and slow processes in political thinking. The substantive focus is on the measurement of implicit attitudes toward indigenous and homeless populations in times of rising authoritarianism.

Please note that the UVic department erroneously posted the course description for Poli323 which is a lecture course in Political Psychology last offered in the summer of 2021. 

Session 1 Outline

Class Resources
Three distinct websites will be utilized in this course.

Zoom is where we will hold our virtual meetings;
BrightSpace is where you submit your work for the course. It will also contain some scheduling information.
PolPsy.ca  is where to find links to required and recommended readings, as well as additional details on scheduling and assignments.

Getting Started
Class sessions for his seminar will be conducted online using Zoom
Students may access our online class session at:
https://uvic.zoom.us/j/89900825204?pwd=nPcKPYDnM4bfkawB5JKf6kZ7huSSbJ.1

Please do not share this link.

After clicking this link please “Open Zoom.us” when prompted.
Click “Join with Computer Audio” when prompted.

Some tips on using Zoom are available here.

Before our First Session:

1. Do the readings (listed below) for the first class;
2. Write a short response to the first class readings on the Session 1 Forum;
3. Email to the instructor your preferred dates to introduce/facilitate one of the six available sessions listed below.

Class Format

After the first two class sessions, there will be two types of classes.

Type 1–Topic Introduction and Facilitation

Several students will be designated as presenters to co-introduce a particular approach to implicit or indirect attitude assessment and facilitate discussion. For this system to work well students must sign up for an Introduction/Facilitation slot before the second class session. Presenters may work in small groups or individually.

Prior to each Type 1 session, all members of the seminar are to post a brief reflective note on the relevant BrightSpace forum. These must be posted no later than 6pm of the evening prior to class. Presenting students may draw upon these forum postings as well as their own work in preparing their presentations.

Type 2–Sharing Measurement Designs

In each Type 2 session, all seminar participants will present their own work toward an implicit/indirect attitude measurement. These presentations are to take the form of no more than a small number of slides (2-3) to be shared via Zoom. Break-out sessions during our class time will facilitate the formation and working of groups. Students may present their research design ideas either as part of a group or individually.

The purpose of the Type 1 and Type 2 format is to prepare students for the workplace and/or study at the graduate level. Note that the readings and class discussions focus on the creation and use of indirect and implicit attitude measures. Our approach will thus be to create and pre-test such measures, not to critique their philosophic underpinnings. Such criticisms are covered in POL 323 and some relevant readings may be found on its course outline.

UVIC2022
CLASS TOPICS AND READINGS
(subject to change) 

Tuesday, July 5 (session 1):

Introduction

Choose Presentation dates

*Ending Bias?

*Low&HighRoadImages

*Pandemic Decision Making Covid 2022

*COVID and the Amygdala Strait

 

Thursday July 7 (session 2)

Traditional Measures of Ethnocentric, Racist & Authoritarian Bias

 

Tuesday July 12 (session 3)–Type 1

Overview of Fast and Slow Thinking

Discuss Framing

 
Thursday July 14 (session 4)–Type 2

Present Framing Experiment Designs

Tuesday July 19 (session 5)–Type 1

Discuss Dumbfounding & Taboos

Thursday July 21 (session 6)–Type 2

Present Dumbfounding examples

Tuesday July 26 (session 7)–Type 1

Discuss Semi-Structured Measures

Thursday July 28 (session 8)–Type 2

Present Semi Structured measures

Tuesday August 2 (session 9)–Type 1

Discuss implicit measures

Thursday August 4 (session 10)–Type 1

Discuss Paper Implicit Measures 

Tuesday August 9 (session 11)–Type 2

Present implicit attitude measures

Thursday August 11 (session 12)–Type 1

Discuss Mirror Neurons

Tuesday August 16 (session 13)–Type 2

Present Mirror Neuron Narratives

 

Thursday August 18 (session 14)

Summary

UVic Pol 433 Evaluation Scheme/Summer 2022

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

a) Co-Introduce/facilitate Topic Discussion (15%)
b1) Political Framing Experiment Design (15%)
b2) Political Dumbfounding/Taboo Vignette (10%)
b3) Partially Structured Narrative (10%)
b4) IAT design (15%)
b5) Mirror narrative (10%)
c1) Participation through BrightSpace forum postings (10%)
c2) Participation via Zoom (5%)
d) Summary paper focused on political implications (10%)

Assignment details

Requirement a) Co-introduction and facilitation = 15%)

Up to five students will share the introduction and facilitation role during each Type 1 class.

Introductions should, first and foremost, highlight the main contribution of the required reading as well as identify something of interest in an additional reading. It is not necessary to summarize the required readings in any detail, as we can assume that everyone has done the required reading. Rather, the emphasis should be on briefly situating the reading(s) in our ongoing concern with indirect measurement of implicit rather than explicit attitudes. These introductions, and more particularly facilitation efforts, should point toward further research steps with emphasis on political applications. In this way the presenter should offer a general example to seminar participants as to how to work toward their own research designs for the subsequent class.  Introductions should be concise and to the point, taking no more than 3 or 4 minutes to deliver. That’s around 500 words. A copy of prepared, practiced and timed notes is to be submitted to the instructor on BrightSpace. Presenter/facilitator’s names and student numbers must appear prominently on the first page of the submission. Reading prepared remarks is fine, so long as you practice their effective delivery, e.g., looking up and connecting with your audience. No PowerPoint or other audio/visuals are required beyond a few sheets shared with the class using Zoom’s screen sharing tool. Be sure to have these sheets open on your desk top and available for sharing.

Facilitation should also be pre-planned with two or three written suggestions as to possible prompts or questions to stimulate further discussion, focusing particularly on possible political implications. These should be included in the submission to the instructor.

Co-introduction and session facilitation schedule–Type 1 sessions. Please email to the instructor your preferred dates to introduce/facilitate a topic. Each student will present on only one of the six available sessions listed below. It will be helpful, however, to indicate more than one preference. This chart will be updated as the schedule fills up.

Class session	Topic	St 1	St 2	St 3	St 4	St 5
3: July 12	Framing/Emotion	Doyle	Wilczak	Cej
5: July 19	Dumbfounding		Gaina	Cameron
7: July 26	Semi-structured	Rossi	Crawley	Stevenson
9: Aug 2	Implicit/IAT	Connolly	Kosalko	Yilmaz	Buisa
10: Aug 4	P&P Implicit	Alva	Ballantyne
12: Aug 11	Mirror Neurons	Ku	Vokey	Jiradecharkorn	Barker

Requirements: b1-5 Measurement designs

Working either in groups or individually students will create and present five measurement designs for assessing implicit or non-conscious attitudes.

These include:

b1) a framing experiment design (15%)
b2) a dumbfounding vignette (10%)
b3) a partially structured narrative (10%)
b4) an IAT design (15%)
b5) a mirror narrative (10%)

Each of these should focus upon bias on a political issue.

These designs will consist of several elements:

1. a very brief background on the approach and political concern (1 paragraph);
2. a concise rendering of the proposed measure or indicator;
3. a statement of the hypotheses underlying the measure.

Presentation of these measurement designs will consist of no more than a three minute oral summary using no more than one or two sheets suitable for screen sharing via Zoom. Have the .doc, .pdf or comparable document open on your desktop and reading to share prior to class

A copy of the design and presentation sheet, with identifying student name(s) and number(s), should be submitted via BrightSpace to the instructor no later than 11am on the day of the presentation.

Due to time constraints, missed presentations will likely not be able to be made up in subsequent class sessions. If you expect to miss an online session, carefully consider partnering with a student who will be present.

Measurement proposal topics Schedule–Type 2 sessions
(Note this is a general guide for student planning, not a sign-up sheet.)

Class session	Topic
4: July 14	Framing/Emotion
6: July 21	Dumbfounding
8: July 28	Semi-structured
11: Aug 9	Implicit/IAT
13: Aug 16	Mirror Neurons

Requirement c Participation & Engagement = 15%

c1. Prior to each Type 1 class session, each student is to post on BrightSpace a short (250 words) comment or reflection regarding the required readings for that session. These comments/reflections should be brief consisting of only two paragraphs. The first paragraph should be analytic; the second synthetic.  The analytic paragraph should discuss the reading in terms of its constituent elements. In other words, what are the essential components of the intellectual contribution made by the author(s). The synthetic comment/reflection should draw a connection between the reading and the overall focus of the course. Students will be able to see each others comments/reflections only after the forum is closed.

c2. Ongoing participation in class discussion is expected. This requires regular attendance via Zoom. Students will be evaluated on their contributions to class discussion, their displayed understanding of the readings, and their ability to listen and engage with others constructively and collegially.

Requirement d) Summary paper = 10%

At the close of the course students will prepare a very brief (max 750 words) summary of one important thing learned about fast and slow thinking in our course and describe how it has influenced their thinking about politics regarding indigenous, immigrant or homeless populations. Papers should be submitted as a .pdf or .doc attachment via BrightSpace no later than 3pm on Friday, August 19. As with all assignments in the course, papers may be either individual or joint efforts. As a rehearsal for the paper, students should be prepared to make an informal three minute presentation on the paper topic during the final class session on Thursday, August 18.

UVic Statement regarding PLAGIARISM AND ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Academic integrity is intellectual honesty and responsibility for academic work that you submit individually or as a member of a group. It involves commitment to the values of honesty, trust and responsibility. It is expected that students will respect these ethical values in all activities related to learning, teaching, research and service. Therefore, plagiarism and other acts against academic integrity are serious academic offences.

The responsibility of the institution – Instructors and academic units have the responsibility to ensure that standards of academic honesty are met. By doing so, the institution recognizes students for their hard work and assures them that other students do not have an unfair advantage through cheating on essays, exams, and projects.

The responsibility of the student – Plagiarism sometimes occurs due to a misunderstanding regarding the rules of academic integrity, but it is the responsibility of the student to know them. If you are unsure about the standards for citations or for referencing your sources, ask your instructor. Depending on the severity of the case, penalties include a warning, a failing grade, a record on the student’s transcript, or a suspension. It is your responsibility to understand the University’s policy on academic integrity, which can be found on pages 32-34 of the undergraduate calendar.

UVic PERCENTAGE GRADING SCALE

Passing Grades	Grade Point Value	Percentage	Description
A+ A A-	9 8 7	90 – 100 85 – 89 80 – 84	Exceptional, outstanding and excellent performance. Normally achieved by a minority of students. These grades indicate a student who is self-initiating, exceeds expectation and has an insightful grasp of the subject matter.
B+ B B-	6 5 4	77 – 79 73 – 76 70 – 72	Very good, good and solid performance. Normally achieved by the largest number of students. These grades indicate a good grasp of the subject matter or excellent grasp in one area balanced with satisfactory grasp in the other area.
C+ C	3 2	65 – 69 60 – 64	Satisfactory, or minimally satisfactory. These grades indicate a satisfactory performance and knowledge of the subject matter.
D	1	50 – 59	Marginal Performance. A student receiving this grade demonstrated a superficial grasp of the subject matter.
Failing Grades	Grade Point Value	Percentage	Description
F	0	0 – 49	Unsatisfactory performance. Wrote final examination and completed course requirements; no supplemental.
N	0	0 – 49	Did not write examination or complete course requirements by the end of term or session; no supplemental.

1. The percentage grading scale applies to all Faculties at the University of Victoria.
2. The percentage grades should be associated with a letter grading schema.
3. A percentage grade for an N grade should be assigned in the following manner:

N GRADE: If a student has not completed the exam, or has not completed the course requirements, but has submitted course requirements that total more than 49% of the total grade for a course, an instructor will assign a percentage grade of 49%.

UVic COURSE EXPERIENCE SURVEY (CES)

Towards the end of term, as in all other courses at UVic, you will have the opportunity to complete an anonymous survey regarding your learning experience (CES). The survey will help the department improve the overall program for students in the future. The survey is accessed via MyPage and can be done on your laptop, tablet, or mobile device. The department will provide you with more detailed information nearer the time of the survey.