Experimental Psychology

 

Dr. Zissis Pappas                                                                           50.830.381.40 - Lecture: Tue. & Thur. 6:00-7:20 pm

zpappas@camden.rutgers.edu                                                 Armitage Hall, Rm. 121

(856) 225-2986 (only during office hours)                                50.830.380.40 - Lab:  Tue. & Thur.  7:30-8:50 pm

Armitage Hall, Rm. 459                                                                  Armitage Hall, Rm. B-23

Office Hours: Tues. & Thurs. 5-5:50 pm                                 

                                                                                                           

 

Course Objectives: The two main objectives of this course are 1) provide firsthand experience conducting psychological research, and 2) discuss topics related to conducting research by covering/critiquing a diverse collection of experiments. You will be expected to select a research topic, create the materials, develop a method, collect data, analyze data, and report the findings in the form of a research report paper and a short presentation. In addition, you will also be expected to complete in-class and lab assignments related to the lecture material.

 

Readings:

            Required:

                        1) Experimental Psychology: a case approach (MacLin & Solso, 8th ed.): available at the bookstore.

                        2) Activation Code for Psychmate (item code: PSM-234145): available electronically for $20 at http://www.pstnet.com/products/PsychMate/

            Optional:

                        1) Research Methods Textbook (e.g., Research Methods, McBurney & White, 7th ed.)

                        2) American Psychology Association Publication Manual (5th ed.).

                        3) SPSS for Windows: step by step (George & Mallery, 6th, 7th, or 8th ed.)                  

                        4) Psychmate Student Guide (St. James, Schneider, & Eschman, ver. 2.0): available at the bookstore and at http://www.pstnet.com/products/PsychMate/  

            Supplemental Readings:

                        Articles will be available on Sakai one class in advance of the day covered (An announcement will be made in class and via email when each reading is posted).

 

Requirements and Grading:

            1) Attendance and in-class/lab assignments (15%): Attendance will ensure that you know what information from the readings is emphasized in the lecture and most likely to be encountered on the exams.  Attendance is necessary to complete the in-class and lab assignments, which will serve as the majority of this grade.

            2) Exam I (20%) and Exam II (20%): Each exam will be composed of multiple choice and short answer questions. The questions will test your knowledge of the information presented in the readings as well as the information presented only in the lecture.

            3) Research Paper (30%) and Presentation (15%): Your paper will be a research report in which you will present your hypothesis, a literature review, method, results, discussion, references, and figures.  The paper should be written in APA format and at least 10 pages of double-spaced text (not including the title page, abstract, references, and figures).  Your presentation should at least 6 minutes plus 1 minute to field questions and should present the following using Power Point: research question, method, results, and conclusion.  More information concerning the paper and the presentation will be provided in class/lab.

 

 

 

Date                 Topic                                                                                                   Chapter             Lab               

Week 1

1/22 Tue                       Course Introduction                                                                                  --                    No lab

1/24 Thurs                  Scientific Inquiry & Using the literature as a source of research ideas           1-2                  No lab                         

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Week 2

1/29 Tue                       Basic Designs & Psychmate                                                                    3                    Psychmate

1/31 Thurs                  Advanced Designs                                                                                   4                    Psychmate

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Week 3

2/5 Tue                           Experimental Design and Control & Psychmate                                          5                    Psychmate            

2/7 Thurs                     Control of Subjects                                                                                   6                    Psychmate

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 4

2/12 Tue                       Design Critiques                                                                                      7                    Select Topic

2/14 Thurs                  Ethics & Research Process                                                                     8-9                  Select Topic

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 5

2/19 Tue            Experiment (Exp.): Territoriality in Parking Lots                                          11                   Materials

2/21 Thurs                  Exp.: Cola Tasting & Fanning Old Flames                                                  10, 12             Materials

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 6

2/26 Tue                       Exp.: Picture Memory                                                                              13                   Method

2/28 Thurs                  Exp.: Hormones and Toy Preference                                                          14                   Method

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 7

3/4 Tue                           Exp.: Maternal Behavior                                                                            15                   Collect Data

3/6 Thurs                    Exam I                                                                                                   --                    Collect Data

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 8

3/11 Tue                       Exp.: Children's Reasoning                                                                                16                   Collect Data

3/13 Thurs                  Exp.: Creative Porpoise                                                                            17                   Collect Data

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Break

3/18 Tue            No Class                                                                                                --                    --

3/20 Thurs         No Class                                                                                                 --                    --

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 9

3/25 Tue                       Exp.: Perspective Shifting & Therapy for Anger                                           18-19              Collect Data       

3/27 Thurs                  Exp.: Alcohol and Condoms                                                                     21                   Collect Data     

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 10

4/1 Tue                           Exp.: Prosocial Behavior & Karate Techniques                                           20, 22             SPSS

4/3 Thurs                     Exp.: Disputes in Japan & False Confessions                                             23-24              SPSS                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 11

4/8 Tue                           Exp.: Vision in a Monkey w/o cortex                                                          Sakai             Data Analysis

4/10 Thurs                  Exp.: Seeing w/o a ventral stream                                                             Sakai              Data Analysis

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 12

4/15 Tue                       Exp.: TBA                                                                                               Sakai              Data Analysis

4/17 Thurs                  Exp.: TBA                                                                                               Sakai              Data Analysis   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 13

4/22 Tue                      Presentations                                                                                         --                    No lab

4/24 Thurs                Presentations                                                                                         --                    No lab

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Week 14

4/29 Tue                      Research Paper Due - Presentations                                                     --                    No lab

5/1 Thurs                     TBA                                                                                                        --                    No lab

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

5/8 Thurs          Exam II                        ***6:00-9:00 pm***                                                           --                    --