Experimental Methods in Psychology Syllabus

Transcription

1 Psychology 200 Fall 2001 Experimental Methods in Psychology Syllabus Monday and Wednesday 11:00-12:15; Reese 302 Instructor: Mija Van Der Wege Office: 123 Psych-Ed Bldg. Phone: Office Hours: Monday1-3, or by appt. Lab Director: Lisa Blouin Office: 143 Psych-Ed Bldg. Phone: Office Hours: Wednesday 9:30-11, or by appt. Lab Instructors: Office Hours: Office: Melynda Casement tba 140 mdcaseme Kathryn Marszalek Tu khmarsza Nicole Gilbert tba 142 nlgilber Course description: This course is an introduction to experimental methods. The goals of the course are for the student to learn how research is planned, carried out, communicated and critiqued. This course will focus on developing general research skills that can be applied within any area of psychology. These skills include knowledge of experimental design, statistics, report writing, and ethical standards of research. Although only a few of you may pursue a career as a research psychologist, all of you are consumers of research from psychology and other scientific disciplines. As such, a major goal of this course is to develop your capacity for critically evaluating "scientific evidence" that is communicated in journals, magazines, newspapers, and news programs. Mastery of the material covered should enable students to evaluate the adequacy of research findings reported by others, design research studies of their own, collect and analyze data, and write up APA style research reports. Required Textbooks: Shaughnessy, J. J., Zechmeister, E. B. & Zechmeister, J. J. (2000). Research Methods in Psychology, 5 th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill. American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, 5 th ed. Washington, DC: Author. Textbook Website: The publishers and author of the textbook have created a supplemental website with useful information on it. It will help you review your statistics if it s been a while since you last thought about it, as well as supplying additional thought questions and practice review questions. You can find the site at

2 Grading: Your grade in this course will be based on: Research project 100 pts. Exams (2) 200 pts. Lab Exercises 275 pts. Article Presentation 25 pts. (Articles by the MHC Psych-Ed faculty) Experimental Participation 25 pts. (3 hours of experiments approved by the Psych-Ed Dept) Article Presentation: The presentation will be a group project (groups consisting of approximately 4-6 people). You will choose one of the assigned articles and prepare a class presentation of that article (approximately 30 minutes in length). In that presentation, you will discuss the background literature that the study was based upon, the design and methods (including IVs, DVs, hypotheses, operational definitions, and procedure), results, and discussion. In addition, you will prepare a critique of the study which will include why you liked or disliked the article, criticisms of the paper, and a proposed follow-up study which either addresses the problems you posed or presents an interesting continuation of the study. Your group must meet with Prof. Van Der Wege before your presentation to the class. Articles (available on WebCT): Cohen, J. (1976). Is there a greater incidence of color-vision deficiencies in learning disabled children? Clinical Pediatrics, 15, Deutsch, F. & Saxon, S. (1998). Traditional ideologies, nontraditional lives. Sex Roles, 38, Hollis, K., Pharr, V., Dumas, M., Britton, G., & Field, J. (1997). Classical conditioning provides paternity advantage for territorial male blue gouramis (Trichogaster trichopterus). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 111, Hornstein, G. & Truesdell, S. (1988). Development of intimate conversation in close relationships. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 7, Lawrence, S. & Tatum, B. (1997). Teachers in transition: The impact of antiracist professional development on classroom practice. Teachers College Board, 99, Packard, B. (2001). When your mothers asks for another book to read: Fostering an intergenerational exchange through shared reading of culturally-relevant books. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 44, Ramsey, P. & Lasquade, C. (1996). Preschool children s entry attempts. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17, Simone, R. & Shilkret, R. (2001). Attachment, guilt, and symptomatology among incarcerated women. Poster presented at Biennial Meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, (SRCD), Minneapolis, MN, April, Van Der Wege, M. & Clark, H. (2001). Taking turns in face-to-face, telephone, and keyboard conversations. Manuscript submitted to Discourse Processes.

3 Final Research Project: Your final research project is due in Lisa Blouin or Prof. Van Der Wege s office by 3:00pm, December 18, See the lab schedule for more information on the term research project. Extension and Lab Absence Policy: Because (1) the information that you learn in this course is cumulative, and (2) you collaborate often and your collaborators rely on your input and participation, completion of assignments and attendance of lab sessions is crucial. For these reasons, there are two situations that can acceptably result in an extension of the date for assigned work or a missed lab: (1) personal illness, and (2) personal or family crisis. You are entitled to an excused extension or lab absence if either of these situations arise. You are not entitled to an excused extension or lab absence if the illness or crisis allows you to complete work for another course. If an extension of lab absence is needed, take the following steps: (1) If at all possible, notify me prior to the class in which the assignment is due or the lab period that will be missed. (2) If you are eligible for and wish to take an excused extension or lab absence according to the guidelines above, submit to me a written statement indicating that you are acting in accord with Mount Holyoke s Honor Code, and that your reason for the late assignment or the missed lab is consistent with the criteria established above. You do not have to specify the reason, only that you meet the guidelines. Late work or missed lab periods without a written statement are unexcused. The assignment date for an excused extension is one week later than the original due date unless other arrangements are made. Arrangements must be made for excused lab periods. Grading of unexcused late assignments: Work that is late without a valid excuse (see above) will be treated in the following way: I (or the lab instructors) will read the work and assign it a grade as if it were on time. I (or they) will then deduct one grade for each day late. For example, an assignment due in class on Oct. 15 th that is turned in after class on Oct. 15 th or on Oct. 16 th given a grade of A would receive a B. Unexcused work later than 1 week will not be accepted and will automatically receive a failing grade. Semester Schedule: Sept. 10 READING: SZZ, Chapter 1 CLASS: Introduction to Course Is Psychology a Science? Sept. 12 READING: SZZ, Chapter 2 Sept. 17 CLASS: Ethical Issues in Research Class exercise in ethical experimentation READING: SZZ, Appendix C CLASS: Scholarly communication of information Ethical Issues in Research (cont.) GUEST LECTURE: Julie Boisselle Sept. 19 READING: SZZ, Chapter 1 CLASS: Introduction to Experimental Design Sampling and Confounds

4 Sept. 24 READING: SZZ, Chapter 6 CLASS: Independent Groups Design Sept. 26 READING: SZZ, Chapter 6, Appendix A CLASS: Independent Groups Design (cont.) Oct. 1 READING: Hornstein & Truesdell (1988) Van Der Wege & Clark (2001) CLASS: Independent Groups Design (cont.) Oct. 3 READING: SZZ, Chapter 7 CLASS: Repeated Measures Design Oct. 8 Oct. 10 Oct. 15 Fall Break - No class READING: SZZ, Chapter 7, Appendix A Cohen (1976) CLASS: Repeated Measures Design (cont.) READING: None CLASS: Data Collection in class Oct. 17 READING: SZZ, Chapter 10 Deutsch & Saxon (1998) Oct. 22 Exam 1 CLASS: Quasi-Experimental Designs Oct. 24 Oct. 29 Oct. 31 Nov. 5 READING: SZZ, Chapter 8 CLASS: Complex Designs Nov. 7 READING: SZZ, Chapter 8 CLASS: Complex Designs (cont.) Nov. 12 READING: SZZ, Chapter 8, Appendix A Hollis, Pharr, Dumas, Britton, & Field (1997) CLASS: Complex Designs (cont.)

5 Nov. 14 READING: SZZ, Chapter 3 CLASS: Observational Research Nov. 19 READING: SZZ, Chapter 3 Ramsey & Lasquade (1996) CLASS: Observational Research Nov. 21 Thanksgiving Break no class Nov. 26 READING: SZZ, Chapter 5 Lawrence & Tatum (1997) CLASS: Unobtrusive Measures Nov. 28 READING: SZZ, Chapter 4 CLASS: Correlational Research Dec. 3 READING: SZZ, Chapter 4 Simone & Shilkret (2001) CLASS: Correlational Research (cont.) Dec. 5 READING: SZZ, Chapter 9 Packard (2001) Dec. 10 Exam 2 CLASS: Single Case Research Designs Dec. 12 Dec. 18 Poster Presentations Final Research Projects DUE 3:00pm in Lisa Blouin or Prof. Van Der Wege s office