AN INVITATION

            According to J.B.S. Haldane, "the world will not perish for lack of wonders but for lack of wonder." Or, as Jennifer Ackerman paraphrased St. Augustine, "we go forth to wonder at the heights of mountains and the courses of the stars, yet pass by the miracle of our own inner lives without wondering." Thus, a course about how to study human beings should be an invitation to wonder.
            Welcome back from your winter break! I hope that you've returned to campus energized and ready for the challenges of this new semester. This informational packet is intended to provide you with a clear orientation to the course--its content, goals, evaluation process, etc. It's a course that I very much enjoy teaching and I hope that some of my enjoyment is contagious. I also hope that you come to see the course as a valuable experience and an important contribution to your development within the discipline of psychology.

PREREQUISITE

            PLEASE NOTE THAT PS 217 (STATS) IS A PREREQUISITE FOR THIS COURSE. IF YOU ARE REGISTERED FOR THIS COURSE AND YOU HAVE NOT SUCCESSFULLY PASSED STATS, YOU NEED TO DROP THE COURSE! This is also a QR2 course, so you must have passed QR1.

Course content and goals

            My goal in this course is to explore and to understand the methods of science, and, in particular, how science is done in the field of psychology. This course will introduce you to some of the common methods for doing research in psychology. This process involves learning about various research methodologies, their strengths and weaknesses, and the ways they are used to address questions. The course will also provide you with material on theories and recent research findings in various areas of psychology that involve the use of these research methodologies. By the semester's end, not only will you learn a great deal about research methodologies and their applications and a great deal about how to begin to conduct research but I hope that you will also become more sensitized to the ways in which you think about and read about others' research (e.g., asking questions about the basis of conclusions, implications beyond the lab, etc.).

Four important objectives guide our work in this course:

1. Learning how to evaluate research and research claims

            You will gain the ability to look critically at other people's research reports and determine whether their conclusions are correct. (For example, how might you decide if it is correct to claim that left-handed individuals are at a psychological disadvantage compared to right-handed individuals?) This ability for critical analysis and evaluation is useful in many situations including when you read scientific papers, when you read newspapers claiming to review scientific work, or when you listen to what your friends and instructors have to say about some topic.

2. Learning about important topics & controversies in psychology

            You will also learn about specific examples of recent research in psychology and neuroscience. This objective of the course should give you a good feeling for the difficulties that we encounter when asking particular kinds of psychological questions and provide you with knowledge about specific areas of psychological research. In the process, you will also grapple with some of the controversies associated with doing these kinds of research.

3. Setting up, proposing and conducting research

            This course will enhance your ability to form a scientifically testable question about a psychological process and to implement the test of that question. This aspect of the course involves learning about formal research methods used in the design and implementation of research. In the lab section of this course, you will experience many different aspects of the research enterprise and actually help design and carry out several collaborative research projects that use some of the designs and methodologies upon which the lecture portion of the course will have focused. By the end of the semester, your understanding of these designs and methodological issues, and your experience in the research laboratory, will help you to think critically and communicate clearly about psychological research. This experience will therefore serve as a foundation for future research and laboratory courses in psychology and other science courses. Although some students are convinced that they won't like doing research (or may feel intimated by the prospects), we hope by "rolling up your sleeves" and diving into the research experience, you will discover what a fun and fascinating endeavor it can be! Perhaps best of all, the course should also enhance your ability to think scientifically when addressing psychological problems in everyday life (and we will discuss why you should care about that).

4. Reporting research and evaluating written reports--yours and others

            You will learn more about the process of scientific writing by way of your own written work and your critique of others' written work. One of the best ways to sensitize ourselves to the writing process is to read one another's work, noticing authors' different approaches to the same goals. You will learn to write formal research reports--or learn to write better ones if you have some experience along these lines. In your role as reviewer of your fellow students' work (as well as the work of other researchers), your own writing skills should be enhanced. As in previous years, you will have the opportunity to revise some of your written work. However, the feedback will now be more extensive, coming from us and other members of the class.

These writing experiences are invaluable if you plan to pursue graduate work in psychology (or any other science). However, even if you don't have those kinds of plans right now, these writing experiences should enhance your ability to express yourself in written form in more cogent and persuasive ways. Enhancing your ability to express yourself, particularly when trying to describe a phenomenon objectively, is a valuable tool no matter what your future plans.

EVALUATION

The lecture and lab portions of the course will each count as 50% of your grade. The lecture portion of the course will be evaluated by two in-class exams (see lecture plan), each worth 15% of your grade, and a final exam, worth 20% of your grade. The final exam is cumulative. If you miss an exam, notify me as early as possible and provide documentation for the basis of your absence. If your reason for missing the exam is an acceptable one, a make-up exam will be scheduled during the final exam period--no exceptions!! I have placed old exams on the web to give you a sense of what to expect.

Because I believe that practice is imperative to improving one's writing, you will submit several APA-style papers. Although most lab projects will be completed in small groups (because we are dependent on one another for data collection), each individual in the course will submit his or her own lab report and proposal. The lab portion of the course will be evaluated by three lab reports, one research proposal, and critiques of papers written by your fellow students. The guidelines for your research proposal (i.e., parts to include) will follow later in the semester. Some preliminary information about these writing assignments is provided with the lab plan. I will provide more detailed guidance about each writing assignment throughout the semester. But, in brief, here is a summary: Lab 1 (5% points), Labs 2 and 3 (each 10% points), Research Proposal (20%), and Critiques (5%).

I am convinced that that criticizing the work of your peers is another way to improve our writing skills. In my work as an author and reviewer (of manuscripts as well as student papers), I have come to appreciate how much one can learn about the process of writing by the careful review of others' work. Thus, I hope that your fellow students will profit from your feedback (as well as mine), but, in your role as reviewer, I expect that reading alternative ways to approach labs will also influence how you approach your own writing assignments. I will provide you with guidelines in your work as a reviewer. Last, but not least, part of effective writing involves learning how to respond to feedback--deciding what suggestions to incorporate and how to incorporate them into a revised paper. Assuming that your versions of Lab 2 and Lab 3 are completed on time, you will have the option to revise one of them (your choice), incorporating suggestions for revision in whatever way seems appropriate to you. If you decide to revise either Lab 2 or 3, your grade for the revised lab will be the average of the original grade and the grade on the revised version. By giving this special attention to the writing of labs and the proposal, my goal is to strengthen your writing and critical thinking skills.

Because it is important to provide authors with feedback while they still remember what they wrote (if only vaguely), we need to return labs with our comments relatively soon after the labs are due. Your feedback will be due approximately one week after each lab is due, and I’ll return my feedback and yours to the author of a lab within about two weeks of completing the lab. If you turn a lab in late, or if you are late with your critique, your grade will be negatively affected. If your own lab is late, you will lose a point on your lab for each day that it is late, and you will not be able to participate as a reviewer (reducing your percentage points for the critiques). If your own lab is turned in on time, but you are late with your critique, only your critique % points will be affected. The feedback for the proposal drafts will be due before the proposals are due so that you can incorporate the feedback into your final version before the end of the semester. The lab plan provides more detail about due dates, etc. If you miss the lab meeting when this feedback occurs, you will not have the option to obtain feedback (and your % allocated to work on critiques will be negatively affected). If you choose to revise either Lab 2 or Lab 3, the revised version (along with both copies of the earlier version plus our comments) is due no later than the last study day. Finally, all labs must be completed in order to receive a passing grade for the course.

REQUIRED READINGS

Required textbook for Lecture and Lab

Ray, W. J. (2006, 8th edition).   Methods: Toward a science of behavior and experience .

Readings

  Some of the readings are listed below, but others will be added later in the term as each lab is developed.   A few readings are distributed in lecture as part of some exercises about research methods.   Otherwise, the readings are over the web.  

Fine, M. A., & Kurdek, L. A. (1993). Reflections on determining authorship credit and authorship order on faculty-student collaborations. American Psychologist, 48 , 1141-1147.

Mook, D. G. (1983). In defense of external invalidity. American Psychologist , 38 , 379-387.

Ross, L., Lepper, M. R., & Hubbard, M. (1975). Perseverance in self-perception and social perception: Biased attributional processes in the debriefing paradigm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32 , 880-892.

Your presence & My expectations

            Your attendance in lecture and lab is very important for the success of the course. Although attendance is not reflected directly in your final grade, keep in mind that there is a lot of evidence suggesting the value of attending the lecture and lab part of the course. I expect to work very hard in this course and I look forward to the discussions that will unfold during our conversations in and out of lecture and lab meeting times. I also take your presence and your contributions very seriously and value them as well. I expect that you will also work hard and I hope that you will learn a lot about doing and interpreting psychological research. However, if you do not participate in the lecture and lab sessions (and you can't if you aren't here), then don't expect help immediately before exam or lab due dates. Also, if you do not attend lecture and lab regularly, then you cannot expect me to "teach" or "review" a particular lecture or lab meeting during office hours. Last but not least, if you need to miss a lab for a very important reason (e.g., observance of a religious holy day, scheduled sports event in which you are a key player, etc.), let me know ahead of time.

Acknowledging and Respecting One Another

             I also expect that we will all be considerate of each another. You can expect me to respect you and what you have to say. At the same time, we all need to show respect for one another in both verbal and non-verbal behavior.

            Routinely coming late to lecture or lab meetings or leaving during class is rude and disruptive. This behavior certainly distracts me, and I know that the behavior distracts other members of the lecture and lab sessions. So please avoid rude behaviors. If I have to call our collective attention to these rude behaviors, I will do so, but I hope that you will not behave in ways that require us to talk about this failure to acknowledge the presence and needs of others. I also understand that there are rare occasions when any one of us might be running late. When caught in such a bind, I would rather have you come to the lecture or lab (even though you are late). However, we all know the difference between rare and habitual. I am commenting here on the habitual behaviors that are not welcomed in this course. If medical complications require that you leave during class, then please be courteous and sit in the back near the door.

            Last but not least, turn off all cell phones for the duration of lecture or lab meetings. I don't mean that you should set your cell phone to vibrate. I mean turn it off and put it away from view! You should have no reason to look at your cell phone during a class or lab. Thanks for your consideration.

Last but not least: The Skidmore Honor Code

            I expect that you will abide by Skidmore’s Honor Code as described in your Student Handbook or in the Academic Information Guide.

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Lecture Schedule

Date	Topic	Readings
1/23	Introduction, Psychologists' ways of knowing (video)	R1, R4, R11(253-258)
1/28	Causal vs. correlational hypotheses, correlational designs	R2, R11(251-253)
1/30	Looking for relationships (statistical that is!)
2/4	Null Hypothesis Significance Testing, Type I vs. Type II Errors	R6(128-137), R7
2/6	The logic of experimental design, operational definitions	R3, R5
2/11	External validity and experiments, Internal validity	Mook
2/13	Two or more conditions, independent random groups ANOVA
2/18	More on ANOVA, Post hoc tests
2/20	Two or more conditions, repeated measures ANOVA	R9
2/25	More on repeated measures ANOVA
2/27	Exam 1
3/3	More than two independent variables (factorial designs)	R8
3/5	More on two-factor designs
3/17	Interpreting interactions and post hoc analyses
3/19	Two repeated factors and mixed-model designs
3/24	Review of multi-factor designs
3/26	Those confounded experiments!	R6(138-142)
3/31	More on detecting confounds and avoiding them in designs
4/2	Exam 2
4/7	Ethics in research--Knights in tarnished armor
4/9	More on ethics in research
4/14	Concerns about participants' rights, deception	R14, Ross et al.
4/16	Ethics and authorship considerations	Fine & Kurdek
4/21	Ethics
4/23	The ecology of the experiment--focus on the experimenter	R10
4/28	The ecology of the experiment--focus on the participant
5/8	Final Exam (1:30 - 4:30)

R = Ray

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Lab Schedule

Week	Tuesday	Friday
#1	1/22 Introductory session
#2	1/29 Set up for Lab 1: Bring calculator
#3	2/5 APA style, Writing Lab 1
#4	2/12 Set up for Lab 2	2/15 Two copies of Lab 1 are due
#5	2/19 In-class peer review of Lab 1 Discuss Proposal	2/20 (Wednesday) Lab 2 data due
#6	2/26 Writing Lab 2
#7	3/4 Research Design	3/7 Two copies of Lab 2 are due
#8	3/11 Spring Break!
#9	3/18 Set up for Lab 3 Receive peer's Lab 2 to review (3/20)
#10	3/25 Discuss Proposal Proposal topic & 5 sources are due Review of peer's Lab 2 is due (3/24)	3/26 (Wednesday) Lab 3 data due
#11	4/1 - April Fool's Day!! Writing Lab 3
#12	4/8 Topic to be announced.	4/11 Two copies of Lab 3 are due
#13	4/15 Topic to be announced. Receive peer's Lab 3 to review (4/14)
#14	4/22 Two copies of proposal draft are due Peer review of proposal drafts in lab Review of peer's Lab 3 is due (4/21)
#15	4/29 No lab meeting.	5/2 Proposal is due Re-write of Lab 2/3 is due

 

Data Submission

The success of the class depends on each student for data collection (if we have no data, there is nothing to analyze!).   Therefore it is important that the date for lab be turned in by the date specified above. Because we are so interdependent in terms of these data, there is a one-point penalty on the lab for any data not submitted on time.

Where to submit data, labs, and proposal

Data, lab reports, and your proposal should be placed in HF's mailbox   in the Psychology Department on the dates specified above.

The muses don't speak!

When planning to work on the labs, keep in mind that muses don't come to us (at least not in this course)!!   Sitting and waiting for inspiration about writing a lab will not work.   Write, scribble if you must, and write some more.   Clear thinking and clear writing take time.   But they also take writing!! So avoid reading the papers for the labs only once, the night before the lab is due.   If you read them well in advance, giving yourself time to look at them again, and let the information "perk" or "bubble" in your psyche (even while you think about other ideas), you will be amazed at how much better you will do.   It is rarely the case that the first draft of any paper is a good version; our advice to you is to try to write the lab and leave it for at least a day, returning to it to see if even you know what you meant by what you wrote.   Think of the writing as an act of writing/revising/transforming and finalizing.

Sharing, collaborating and cryptoamnesia

            We encourage cooperation and collaboration among all of us because this exchange can be a place where significant learning occurs.   That means you should freely talk about the labs, and share research articles if you find some that would be of great interest to a friend or someone in the class you don't even know very well.   There is too much to do in the course, and in psychology for that matter, for us to be selfish with our insights or discoveries.   At the same time, it is extremely important that you avoid writing together (literally, that is).   All too often, one lab "emerges" from that interaction of writing together and we are left with a complicated situation.   When you write, write alone!   Cryptoamnesia is a term we memory researchers use for a "problem" that involves a special kind of plagiarism.   That is, inadvertently forgetting the source of information (e.g., writing about something as if it was your own idea).   This can happen all too easily if you write in the presence of another person who is writing the same kind of assignment.   Of course, more damning forms of plagiarism exist and we needn't describe them; you know them as well as I do.   The solution is to write alone and avoid all forms of plagiarism, accidental or otherwise.   Collaborative efforts are encouraged but collaborative writing (or stealing, for that matter) is not. Each of you assigns your own name and not any collaborators to your labs.

Establishing Authorship

            Any ideas that are not your own should be identified as such (e.g., provide credit to someone else when credit is due him or her).   When quoting a source directly, use quotations, cite the author, the year he or she said or wrote, and the specific page on which the verbatim text can be found.   In addition, list the complete reference--APA Style--in the reference section of you paper (even if the reading is not assigned).   When paraphrasing someone else's words or citing his or her research, you are also obliged to credit him or her for those ideas or research findings, and to list his or her article in the reference section of you paper.   Most important, AVOID direct quotes--typically when we force ourselves to make a point in our own words, even if paraphrased, we come to understand better those points we want to make.  

Evaluating Labs and Proposal

The lab reports will be assessed for both content and structure.   It is nearly impossible to overemphasize the importance of revising; please do not turn in your first drafts!   Revising and rewriting and revising again are a vital part of the writing process. All labs and the proposal must be typed and must follow APA Guidelines (you'll get lots of info about those guidelines). When typos get to be distracting, the reader doesn't focus on the content of the paper. So proof your papers; when distraction starts, the grade on the lab will be negatively affected.    More specific details about grading policy and criteria will follow later in the term.

Some guidelines for preparing labs

"Procrastination is bad for your health"

We are happy to invest time and energy helping you with your thinking and writing of the labs. Keep in mind, though, if you do not attend the labs, you cannot expect us to spend a great deal of time helping you catch up during office hours. The course is stressful enough without adding extra burdens to your life (like falling behind or missing labs). So, avoid leaving things to the last minute. Here are some reminders of the "parts" that are due for each lab. More information will follow as we work on each lab.

Lab 1--two copies 1.  I'll answer questions but not look at any drafts (to see how you do on your own). 2.  First lab worth 5% points Parts:  Title Page, Purpose paragraph, Method, Results, Discussion paragraph (very brief -- what you think the results might mean and what might be interesting to do next), Reference page. Although you will receive feedback on the complete lab, the purpose paragraph and short discussion do not affect the grade for Lab 1.

Lab 2--two copies 1.  Second lab worth 10% points             Parts:  Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion (what you can conclude, connect your results to the literature, which means that you need to mention at least two sources, and then close with some indication of what might be interesting to do next), Reference page, Table(s).  2.  Evaluation of feedback--contributes to the 5% points for additional writing. Your review of fellow student’s paper is due one week after you receive the paper.

Lab 3--two copies 1.  Third lab worth 10% points  Parts:  Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, Reference page, Table(s) or Figure(s) (if include figures, need fig cap page).  2. Evaluation feedback--contributes to the 5% points for additional writing. Your review of fellow student's paper is due one week after you receive the paper.

Research Proposal--one copy of final version 1.  Topic and working bibliography need approval (see dates on syllabus). Working bibliography must include at least 5 of the final set of 10 sources that will be included in your paper. These sources must be drawn from peer-reviewed journals. Guidelines about these criteria will be discussed in lab. 2.  Drafts due before deadline--two copies at the beginning of lab meeting (see lab plan for date) 3.  Final version worth 20% points             Parts:  Title Page, Introduction, Method, Predicted Results (including kind of stats you would calculate if you had the data). Again, more details will follow later in the semester, but this last section of text should include comments about what you expect to find and why (drawing on the literature that you read), comments on the opposite of what you expect and what that would mean, and any concerns you have about possible design flaws. Additional sections to include in the proposal itself include References (required), Tables(s) and/or Figure(s), optional. You should also attach a complete version of the Form for the Participant Review Board (or alternative form if you are proposing a study involving non human subjects), Consent Form, and Debriefing Statement. Details will follow much later in the term.