Universität Wien

200160 SE Advanced Seminar: Work, Economy, and Society (2024W)

Human Cooperation

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 20 - Psychologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Vertiefungsseminare können nur fürs Pflichtmodul B verwendet werden! Eine Verwendung fürs Modul A4 Freie Fächer ist nicht möglich.
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Students who wish to remain registered for the course must attend the first session (unless a valid reason, e.g., sickness, or family emergency, is provided). Otherwise, your place could be given to those on the waiting list but attending the first session. Note that there will be no class on 22 October.

  • Tuesday 08.10. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 15.10. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 22.10. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 29.10. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 05.11. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 12.11. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 19.11. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 26.11. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 03.12. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 10.12. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 17.12. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 07.01. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 14.01. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 21.01. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618
  • Tuesday 28.01. 08:00 - 09:30 Hörsaal C Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0618

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Cooperation is essential for the success of human beings. Unlike other species, humans often cooperate with total strangers, on a much larger scale, and across different social groups. Studying human cooperation is crucial because solving many current societal challenges, like climate change, requires that people cooperate, sometimes at an unprecedented level. This seminar aims to provide students with solid background knowledge about basic research on human cooperation. While the focus is mainly on research (often in strictly controlled laboratory environments) rather than application, promoting cooperation in real life would benefit from an understanding of its basic principles.

Tentative schedule and topics that will be covered:
- Oct 8: Introduction
- Oct 15: Evolution of cooperation
- Oct 22: NO CLASS
- Oct 29: Research methods
- Nov 5: Social dilemmas
- Nov 12: Trust
- Nov 19: Social norms
- Nov 26: Punishment
- Dec 3: Reputation
- Dec 10: Ingroup favoritism
- Dec 17: Intergroup conflicts
- Jan 7: Inequality and fairness
- Jan 14: Ecology and culture
- Jan 21: Social institutions
- Jan 28: Backup session

This course assumes no prior knowledge about these topics. Nonetheless, given its strong focus on basic empirical research, students would benefit the most if they are generally interested in (multidisciplinary) research processes and methods and find themselves comfortable reading and learning (sometimes advanced) quantitative analyses of behaviors.

Assessment and permitted materials

Assessment will consist of attendance and participation (20%), an individual in-class presentation (15 minutes; 40%), and an individual written assignment (40%). The details will be elaborated during the first session.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

To pass the course, students need to obtain at least 50% for each assessment component.

Examination topics

The individual presentation will be about an empirical paper that is relevant to the topic of discussion of the session. For the written assignment, students will write a reflection essay about an empirical paper.

Reading list

The material list will be provided at the beginning. There are mandatory readings each week, and students are expected to at least skim them. Most materials are empirical journal articles or review articles on the topic of discussion. Occasionally there will be books and podcasts. There will be no assessment of whether students actually read the mandatory materials, but they are mandatory for good reasons.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 07.10.2024 10:06