Undergraduate Course: Social Psychology of Groups and Bias (PSYL10189)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines the social psychology of groups, bias, and prejudice. We will focus on gender and race/ethnicity as two major dimensions of group identity but cover other dimensions of identity as well (e.g., minimal groups, age, nationality, and class). We will examine group-based bias in minds (how individual people think) as well as bias in systems (collective, institutional). |
| Course description |
This course examines the social psychology of groups, bias, and prejudice. We will read original scientific articles spanning from classic pieces to recent, high- impact updates. Throughout, we will learn about foundational psychological processes (e.g., attitudes) that, when applied to social groups, can result in discrimination and group-based hierarchies. We will take both a micro approach, considering evidence for social biases in individual minds, as well as a macro approach, considering evidence for biases in collective systems.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Psychology 2A (PSYL08011) AND
Psychology 2B (PSYL08012)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Psychology Honours courses are strictly only available to students in Y3 or Y4 of a Single or Joint Honours Degree in Psychology, Cognitive Science students, or medical students who are intercalating at Psychology. Visiting undergraduate students should check with the Visiting Student Office. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should be studying Psychology as their degree major, and have completed at least 3 Psychology courses. We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission.
**Please note that upper level Psychology courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces.** These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Annotated bibliography: 30% (1000 words, including the end-text style references)
Essay: 70% (2000 words, excluding the Abstract and the end-text style references)
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically examine the scientific literature to identify evidence for/against scientific claims.
- Differentiate between claims that are well-supported by strong evidence and claims that are only supported by weak evidence or not supported by evidence.
- Present and defend a written evidence-based argument or claim.
- Demonstrate a command of key theories and findings in the social psychology of groups and bias.
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Reading List
Allport, G. W. (1954). The normality of prejudgment. In The nature of prejudice.
Charlesworth, T. E., & Banaji, M. R. (2022). Patterns of implicit and explicit attitudes: IV. Change and stability from 2007 to 2020. Psychological Science, 33(9), 1347-1371.
Cole, E. R. (2009). Intersectionality and research in psychology. American Psychologist, 64(3), 170-180. Dunham, Y. (2018). Mere membership. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(9), 780-793.
Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J., & Glick, P. (2007). Universal dimensions of social cognition: Warmth and competence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11(2), 77-83.
Wood, W., & Eagly, A. H. (2002). A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: implications for the origins of sex differences. Psychological Bulletin, 128(5), 699-727.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
This course will cultivate desired graduate attributes. First the course will cultivate personal and intellectual autonomy. To do this, the course will make use of frequent in-class polling to facilitate a virtual conversation between the instructor, course content, and students. The purpose of this approach is to ensure that students "critically evaluate ideas" and practice evidence-based reasoning. Second the course will cultivate communication. Prior to submitting formal assignments, students will have frequent opportunity to informally practice effective written communication about complex content (i.e., the assigned original scientific articles). |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr April Bailey
Tel:
Email: abailey4@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Cameron Findlay
Tel:
Email: cameron.findlay@ed.ac.uk |
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