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PSYC 345 Course cover

Psychology (PSYC) 356
Introduction to Personality Theories and Issues (Revision 3)

Revision 3 closed September 13, 2006, replaced by current version.

Delivery mode: Individualized study or grouped study. Online-enhanced.

Credits: 3 - Social Science

Prerequisite: PSYC 289 and PSYC 290 are strongly recommended.

Centre: Centre for Psychology

PSYC 356 has a Challenge for Credit option.

Course Web site

Overview

This course surveys the field of personality from a scientific perspective. It examines four general approaches to understanding personality, namely the psychoanalytic, the dispositional, the environmental, and the representational. The key theorists and concepts associated with each perspective are highlighted, along with the strengths and limitations of that approach.

Outline

Part 1: Introduction

Unit 1: Overview

Unit 2: Methods of Personality Research and Assessment

Part 2: The Psychoanalytic Strategy

Unit 3: Introduction to the Psychoanalytic Strategy

Unit 4: Freud's Psychoanalytic Theories

Unit 5: Post-Freudian Perspectives

Unit 6: Applications and Limitations of the Psychoanalytic Strategy

Part 3: The Dispositional Strategy

Unit 7: Introduction to the Dispositional Strategy

Unit 8: Evolution of the Trait Concept

Unit 9: The Biological Approach

Unit 10: Applications and Limitations of the Dispositional Strategy

Part 4 The Environmental Strategy

Unit 11: Introduction to the Environmental Strategy

Unit 12: The Behavioral Approach

Unit 13: The Social Learning Approach

Unit 14: Applications and Limitations of the Environmental Strategy

Part 5 The Representational Strategy

Unit 15: Introduction to the Representational Strategy

Unit 16: The Phenomenological Approach

Unit 17: The Social Cognitive Approach

Unit 18: Applications and Limitations of the Representational Strategy

Part 6 Epilogue

Unit 19: Commonalities and Continuing Controversies

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Evaluation

To receive credit for PSYC 356, you must submit all the course assignments and complete them to the satisfaction of your tutor. Students must achieve a composite course grade of at least “D” (50 percent) and a grade of at least 50 percent on the final examination. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

5 Quizzes (4% each) Case Study Assignment Research Paper Final Exam Total
20% 20% 30% 30% 100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Liebert, R. M., & Liebert, L. L. 1998. Liebert & Spiegler's personality, strategies and issues. (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Liebert, R. M., & Liebert, L. L. 1998. Testing your understanding: Practice tests for Liebert & Spiegler's personality strategies and issues. (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Serebriakoff, V. 1996. Self-scoring personality tests. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble.

Other materials

The course materials include a study guide, a student manual, and an assignment manual.

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