(a) Do not carry out any particular exercise in a unit that calls for group discussion or involvement. Simply omit that small section of the unit. Your work on these units are strictly for your eyes and my eyes only. all that you write will be confidential. However, we may take some class time to discuss the Frick assignments in a general way.

(b) Be prepared to hand in your Frick text at the designated times. The "grace period" (discussed later in this syllabus) does not apply to the handwritten exercises in the Frick text. Handing your book in late will mean that you lose some credit.

(c) On the outside of the front cover, write your name at the top on the white sticker which I will provide.

(d) Evaluation of these experiential exercises will depend on completeness (i.e. general effort), neatness and timeliness, rather than content. Each of the three (3) assignments will count 10 points toward the final grade.

a) Personal Project. Complete two standardized personality instruments: the NEO-PI-R and the 16PF. After you complete both instruments by February 15, you will receive a more extensive handout describing how to proceed to finish the 7-8 page project. It will involve recruiting several family members or friends to participate--people who know you well. The emphasis is on evaluating your own personality by making predictions of your own profile and then comparing this to the results of the two instruments. The handout is very detailed (about 12 pages) and will take you through the process step by step.

b) Case Study. A written case study is a time-tested method of personality research, but is only Aempirical@ in a loose sense of the term. There are many instances of individuals being evaluated according to some theoretical perspective, such as Freud=s Cases on Hysteria and Allport=s Letters to Jenny. Such cases may also be viewed as a means to evaluate the theory=s usefulness. This project involves writing a 7-8 page case study on someone much older and who you know very well. You will select one theory, from among those we study in this course, and use information from your subject=s life pattern of personality development to evaluate the theory. Thus you are not evaluating the person but the theory. A separate handout given later will explain the steps to follow.

A decision as to which project you select is due February 3.

a) Attendance at class is presumed and you are responsible for information given in this forum. But you can get extra credit for being there! We keep records of attendance every day, but six class periods will be selected randomly--three at mid-semester and three at the end. You will receive one point for each of those random days you were present, and, if you missed none of the six randomly selected days, you get a bonus of four points, for a total possible of 10 points extra credit. HOWEVER, if you miss more than four class periods for the entire semester, you forfeit all extra credit opportunities offered in this syllabus.

(NOTE: It is your responsibility to be sure you have signed the attendance sheet each day, even if you happen to arrive late. Once we have left the classroom, the attendance is decided for the day. Thus someone may not explain to me at the next class meeting that she really was present, but forgot to sign in. And while we are speaking about attendance, please know that your integrity is on the line and that the honor code should be followed when the sheet is passed around class. You must sign your own initials only--and for that day only.)

b) You may elect to present your results of the major paper (Personal Project or Case Study) to the class during one of the last two class periods of the semester, regardless of the grade you received on the paper. The amount of time allotted depends on the number of students, but it will not be less than six minutes nor more than ten. Depending on the organization, quality, and presentation style, you may achieve up to 3 extra points.

d) Another way to achieve more substantial extra credits is to do one of the following two mini-projects. Both would take about the same amount of time, in my judgment, and either one can earn up to 20 extra credit points, if done well. Evaluation will be 20=superior, 17=quite good, 15=acceptable, 13=barely acceptable, 0=unacceptable. Remember, you do not have to do any of these!!

1) Rorschach Ink Blot mini-project. Read about Hermann Rorschach and how he got started using ink blots. Among any other sites, check out <www.phil.gu.se/fu/ro.html>. This project involves first understanding about the background, theory, and technique of ARorschaching,@ then moving ahead to make your own "instrument," collecting data from some friends, and finally completing a three page summary of your findings. What I am about to ask you to do is not the way a true Rorschacher would proceed. There are very complex scoring procedures. The first time I gave a full Rorschach (ten blots) it took me more than 12 hours to score and interpret the results. With practice I got it down to several hours. So, do not assume your results will confirm or disconfirm the usefulness of the Rorschach technique.

First, make ONE ink blot by folding a piece of full-sized, plain white paper in half and pouring a little black ink on one side of the fold. Then fold the paper down on the ink so a symmetrical ink blot appears in the middle of the page. You may have to experiment a little and do it several times before you have a usable blot. Make about 12 photocopies of your blot after it dries.

Standardize the ink blot by asking ten friends, each interviewed separately, to look at the blot as you say these words exactly: AWhat might this be?@ Hand them one copy, and as they talk, have a separate copy on which you can write. Record on your copy--one clean one for each friend--their descriptions of what they say and indicate where they see it.

Summarize your findings in a short paper of about 750 words, which is normally about three double-spaced pages. However, you can single-space this assignment because it will be posted in the shared folder and take less space. The first 25% of the paper should be introduction and a summary of what you found out about Hermann Rorschach and his technique. In the middle 50% explain any common responses to the blot, compare the number and types of content in their responses, and perhaps share one or two unique responses. Knowing your friends, you might try categorizing them beforehand as, say, introverts versus extraverts, and see if one group gives different responses from the other. Or, select some other way to make pre-test categories for comparison (see me, I have some ideas). The final 25% should give your reactions to doing all this and what you learned.

Post your paper in the shared folder for all of us to read. The same day send a hard copy to me with a copy of the blot. Both must be done for consideration of extra credit. (Your classmates will want to see your blot, so let=s make an overhead of it and we will view it in class.) I hope you find the activity enjoyable and instructive, even though it is not highly reliable and valid.

2) Biography mini-project. There are many dozens of personality psychologists around the country (and world) who specifically teach and research many of the concepts we learn about in this course. One fun website by Dr. G. Scott Acton, of Northwestern University, is called Great Ideas in Personality. Use the following address to go to his list of active researchers in personality, with hyperlinks to their home pages (note the absence of www):

<http:galton.psych.nwu.edu/greatideas/gallery.html>

Select one of these researchers on whom to write a short biography to post in the shared folder. However, to avoid two students selecting the same person, announce your selection in the shared folder early in the semester. No one else may use your researcher for this mini-project. Your report will be no more than 750 words (about three double-spaced pages) but you may use single-spacing to save space when you post it in the shared folder.

The first 25% of the report will be about the researcher from information you gather from his/her website. The middle 50% will discuss his/her current research interests, either gleaned from your web search or by e-mailing the researcher and finding out! If you do use e-mail for contact, explain who you are very briefly, where you go to school, and that you are doing a report on his/her general research program. (Of course it would be helpful for you to have read at least one article by the psychologist so you know something about the line of research. These will probably be listed online in the author=s curriculum vitae.) Ask simply: AWhat is your current research project and what are you hoping to find? Are your students involved, and if so, how?@ That should be enough information. You don=t want to ask for an extensive response--make it short and courteous. The final 25% will be your reaction to this little project and what you have learned by doing it.

Post the report in the shared folder and the same day send a hard copy to me. It must be filed both places for the credit. Make it creative, fun-to-read, and even humorous, if that is your style.