PSY21

Experimental Psychology, PSY21
Dr. Nancy Frye
Spring 2009
Office hours: Tues and Thurs 4:45-5:45 and by appointment
Email: Nancy.Frye@liu.edu
Office: Life Sciences 152-C

Text    APA and Writing    Policies and Expectations    Grades    Calendar of Assignments

Announcements and new information
Date New information
March 3 Citations for measures:
  • Commitment: Stanley, S.M., & Markman, H.J. (1992). Assessing commitment in personal relationships. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 595-608
  • Relationship satisfaction: Shumway, S.T., & Wampler, R.S. (2002). A behaviorally focused measure for relationships: The couple behavior report (CBR). The American Journal of Family Therapy. 30, 311-321.
  • Sexual satisfaction: Traupmann, J., Hatfield, E., & wexler, P. (1983). Equity and sexual satisfaction in dating couples. Bristish Journal of Social Psychology, 22, 33-40.
March 5 Click here for the measures for the correlation study. Be sure to staple these together, and provide participants with an envelope in which to seal their responses.
March 31 Note: The assignments for Thurs, April 2 have changed slightly
April 1 Self-esteem: Rosenberg, M., Schooler, C., & Schoenbach, C. (1989). Self-esteem and adolescent problems: Modeling reciprocal effects. American Sociological Review, 54(6), 1004-1018. Retrieved March 26, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Global database.
April 2 TV watching: Shrum, L., Wyer, R. & O’Guinn,T. The effects of television consumption on social perceptions: the use of priming procedures investigate psychological processes. The Journal of Consumer Research, 24, 447-458.
April 2 BMI: Formula: weight (lb) / [height (in)]2 x 703

Weight Status Below 18.5 Underweight 18.5 – 24.9 Normal 25.0 – 29.9 Overweight 30.0 and Above Obese

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/index.html#Interpreted

April 2 Here are the materials for the second study. Gather data from 8 people by Tues. Don't forget to staple the pages together, and give each participant his or her own envelope.
April 16 Here are the materials for the experiment. Gather data from 8 people by Tues. Don't forget to staple the pages together, and to write a "M" on the back of the makeup condition and a "NM" on the back of the no makeup condition, and give each participant his or her own envelope.

The hiring measure is from: Sheets, K.J. (1999). Effects of extraversion and introversion on job interview success. Journal of Psychological Inquiry, 4, 7-11.

April 18 Click here for information about a course in Applied Behavior Analysis being offered in the fall that you may be interested in.

Required texts
Corey, J.R., & Lachter, G.D. (2004). Practicing Experimental Psychology. Long Beach, NY: Whittier
Perrin, R. (2007). Pocket Guide to APA Style (2nd ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Recommended texts
Truss, L. (2003). Eats, Shoots and Leaves. NY: Penguin Group.
American Psychological Association (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.

Journal articles
Additionally, you will be reading journal articles related to topics we discuss in class and relevant to class research topics. All articles cited in the syllabus can be found on google scholar. Note: you may need to visit the library's circulation desk to get a bar code for the back of your card, or update the bar code on the back of your card in order to access these articles. Be sure to find out whether this is the case (by trying to find each of the articles on the syllabus) well before the articles are due!.

Wiki
I have set up a wiki for this course. This is a page that you can each edit. Please try it out, and continue using it if it's helpful. The goal of this page is to give you a place to share your notes with others, and to get access to their notes from the class. You may want to use it as a means of generating a list of topics that may be on the midterm, for instance, and sharing definitions of those topics. You can find the wiki here. You do not need to log in or create an account. You can simply begin to edit the page.

APA style:
You will be writing two APA style papers. These will be papers in which you write up the results of studies that the class conducts. These papers (and the drafts that you write of sections of those papers) must be in APA style. We will be going over this in class. A review of APA style can be found at this site. Tips on writing introductions and literature reviews can be found at this site. A sample student paper, with notes highlighting ingredients I'm looking for, can be found here.

Grammar and writing:
It is expected that you will use correct grammar for all your papers. Some writing and grammar tips can be found at this site. At this site, you can review grammar and help feed the world. Additionally, don't forget about the writing center at CW Post. Information about the writing center can be found here.

Policies and Expectations
It is expected that you will attend every class. Should something occur that is beyond your control and you are forced to miss class, it is expected that you will find out what material and information you missed in that class from a classmate. Additionally, if you are forced to miss class, it is expected that you will nonetheless turn in the assignments that are due. Unless there are extraordinary circumstances involved, 10% of the possible points will be deducted for late assignments, with an additional 10% of the possible points deducted for each 24 hour period that that assignment is late.

Unless otherwise specified, please email me your assignments. Be sure to check that your email account is set to save sent mail. If for some reason I do not receive your assignment when you initially send it to me, you will need to forward me the initial email from your sent mail file, so I can see when you first turned it in. I will generally email you within 24-48 hours to let you know I received your assignment. If you do not receive an email from me, please feel free to re-send me your assignment. I would rather have multiple copies than no copies.

Provided that you get them to me at least 48 hours before an assignment is due (and ask politely!), I will look over drafts of your assignments. Send me an email, with a draft of the assignment attached. Let me know in the subject line that the email concerns a draft that you are asking me to look over.

Accommodation needs:
Anyone with a disability that requires classroom or testing accommodation must bring me documentation by the end of the second week of class.

Grades will be based on:
Assignment Possible points
Advertising assignment 5
Ethics assignment 5
Single subject design paper on article 5
Observation paper on article 5
Paper on observations you conducted 5
Paper on the scale you created 5
Review of correlation 5
In-class causality assignment 5
Table 1 5
Table 2 5
Items for correlation study 5
Midterm 100
Rough draft literature review 5
In-class type of study assignment 5
Table 3 5
Rough draft methods and results sections 5
Items for non-experimental study 5
Rough draft discussion section 5
Table 4 5
Correlation paper 100
Items and manipulations for experimental study 5
Operational definitions review 5
Applied review 5
Final exam 100
Second paper 100
Attendance and participation 25
Total possible 530

If you have given me a 4-digit id, you can check your grade by going to this site. If you have not yet given me an id, but would like to check your grade, email me with a four digit number (any number that you will easily remember), your name, and what class this is for.

Calendar:
Date Topic Assignment/reading due
Thurs, Jan 15 Introduction  
Tues, Jan 20 What is research methods? Read Corey & Lachter chapter 1

Advertising assignment due

Thurs, Jan 22 Ethics

Single Subject Design

 Ethics:
  • Read Corey and Lachter pages 65-80
  • Print out this page. Respond to the first page of questions at home, before class. Bring in both the first and second pages to class.

Single subject design:

  • Read Corey and Lachter pages 96-104 and chapter 7
Tues, Jan 27 Observation Single subject design paper due

Read Corey & Lachter chapter 2

Thurs, Jan 29 Self-report If your social security number is odd, click here. Print out this survey, complete it, and bring it in to class.

If your social security number is even, click here. Print out this survey, complete it, and bring it in to class.

Regardless of your social security number, the observation paper is due

Tues, Feb 3 No class -- snow day Paper on observations you conducted due
Thurs, Feb 5 no classes Think of 3 quantitative (i.e., continuous) variables you are interested in, such as relationship satisfaction, levels of self-esteem, and so on. Look on Google scholar and Library databases to get a general idea of what previous research has to say about these.
Tues, Feb 10 Reliability and validity Bring 3 blank copies of the scale you created to class
Thurs, Feb 12 Correlation Paper on the scale you created due

Review of correlation due

Print out this paper and bring it to class. You do not need to complete it before class

Tues, Feb 17 no classes - Mon classes meet  
Thurs, Feb 19 Literature reviews and narrowing the class research topic Using at least 3 articles that are related to the broad topic the class selected on Feb 12, fill in this table in your own words, and email it to me before class. Also, bring in a hard copy of the table to class.

Bring in a copy of Plant, E.A., Ericsson, K.A., Hill, L., & Asberg, K. (2005). Why study time does not predict grade point average across college students: Implications of deliberate practice for academic performance. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 96-116. This article can be found via either Google scholar or Library databases

Tues, Feb 24 Finalizing the hypothesis Using at least 3 articles that are related to the broad topic the class selected, fill in this table in your own words. Be sure to use a different three articles than you used for the previous assignment. Email this to me before class, and bring a hard copy to class.

Don't forget to study for the midterm! You may want to visit this page and work with your fellow classmates to generate a list of terms and concepts that may be on the midterm, as well as definitions and examples

Thurs, Feb 26 Methods Bring in a copy of McNulty, J.K., & Karney, B.R. (2002). Expectancy confirmations in appraisals of marital interactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 764-775.

Don't forget to study for the midterm! You may want to visit this page and work with your fellow classmates to generate a list of terms and concepts that may be on the midterm, as well as definitions and examples

Tues, March 3 Results

Discussion

 Bring in a copy of McNulty, J.K., & Karney, B.R. (2002). Expectancy confirmations in appraisals of marital interactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 764-775.

Don't forget to study for the midterm! You may want to visit this page and work with your fellow classmates to generate a list of terms and concepts that may be on the midterm, as well as definitions and examples

Thurs, March 5 Midterm  
Tues, March 10 no classes - spring break  
Thurs, March 12 no classes - spring break  
Tues, March 17 Data analysis Bring in data from 8 participants

Rough draft of literature review due

Thurs, March 19 Non-experimental designs Print out this document and bring it to class. You do not need to fill it out ahead of time; you will be completing it in class.
Tues, March 24 Interactions Revised answers to midterm due.

In class, download this document. With a partner, start looking up some initial research to fill out the table. You may need to take extra time outside of class. Email me your final completed table.

Rough draft of methods and results due

Thurs, March 26 Finalizing second study hypothesis Discussion of justification for interaction hypothesis

In class, find exact items we could use to measure each variable. Email them to me, along with the citation of where you found them.

Rough draft of discussion section due

Tues, March 31 Experimental research and confounds In class, with a partner, go to this site and complete part 2.
Thurs, April 2 Designing the experimental study Brainstorm 5 different variables we could measure, and 5 different variables we could manipulate.

Go to this site and complete part 2. Once you're finished, copy and paste the text that appears on the screen, and send it to me in an email.

In class, work with a partner on completing this table

Tues, April 7 Non-experimental analyses Bring in data from 8 participants for our second study
Thurs, April 9 no classes  
Tues, April 14 Methods, experimental study Correlation paper due

In class, find articles that have the exact items we could give to participants, and the exact manipulations we could use

Don't forget to study for the final! You may want to visit this page and work with your fellow classmates to generate a list of terms and concepts that may be on the final, as well as definitions and examples

Thurs, April 16 Remebering the beginning Print and bring to class this document. You will work with a classmate on completing it in class.

Don't forget to study for the final! You may want to visit this page and work with your fellow classmates to generate a list of terms and concepts that may be on the final, as well as definitions and examples

Tues, April 21 Data analysis, experimental study Bring to class data from 8 participants

Don't forget to study for the final! You may want to visit this page and work with your fellow classmates to generate a list of terms and concepts that may be on the final, as well as definitions and examples

Thurs, April 23 Some applied review Print and bring to class this document. You will work with a classmate on completing it in class.

Don't forget to study for the final! You may want to visit this page and work with your fellow classmates to generate a list of terms and concepts that may be on the final, as well as definitions and examples

Tues, April 28 Final Final exam
Tues, May 5   Second paper - on either the non-experimental or experimental study - due