Experimental and Statistical Methods (PSY 22)
Syllabus
Outlines
Psy 22 Laboratory Information and Guidelines
Overview:
Laboratory activities are required and essential to this course. Specific and detailed information about these assignments will be provided in additional handouts throughout the term. Your first project will involve an experiment with rats. The purpose and method of the experiment is already determined for the class. Your second project will involve conducting research on human participants. The class will determine what research question will be investigated and how it will be tested.
You will have laboratory instructors who are psychology majors to assist you and guide your work. Details on who they are and how to contact them will be provided in lab.
Purpose and Nature of the Laboratory:
The purpose of the laboratory is to enable the student who is well prepared in research methodology in psychology to conduct actual experiments in various areas of psychology and to summarize the results in written form, as one would if he or she were submitting an article for publication in a psychology journal. Students should become familiar with several types of apparatus, with testing human and nonhuman subjects, and with different empirical techniques, experimental designs, and statistical analyses.
Different experiments will require varying amount of time in the laboratory and in the library. For example, the first experiment, involving conditioning procedures with rat subjects, will require approximately 3/4 hour of laboratory work daily for about 3 weeks. Library research for this project will not be overwhelming. As the term progresses, however, students will be given more individual responsibility for the lab work and especially for the library research.
Deadlines will be rigorously enforced for all experiments and final papers. The deadlines for your first laboratory project are listed at the end of this handout.
Paper Assignment Information:
Format for Preparing Written Summaries
As you will learn, psychologists usually follow specific guidelines when preparing written summaries of their research. Excellent models of proper format are found in the Journal of Experimental Psychology and Psychological Science. Looking at several articles in these journals will help you become familiar with the form and style of these publications. On technical matters, consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed., 2001. All papers will be neatly typed and conform to the proper format.
Evaluation
Your final papers will be evaluated on the basis of as many of the following criteria as are relevant for each experiment:| 1. | The adequacy of your review and development of the pertinent literature. Your introduction should not exceed 10 pages in length (not including abstract and title page). | |
| 2. | General and specific statement of the problem area and the specific formulation of the hypothesis or hypotheses. | |
| a. b. |
Relationship between your experiment and previous work. Relationship of the hypothesis or hypotheses to your specific experimental design |
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| 3. | Organization, clarity, and presentation of the paper as a whole. Chapter 2 in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association contains excellent stylistic advice for clear and concise writing. Read it before you write. Then, re-read it often as you are re-writing. The Elements of Style can also serve as an excellent reference. | |
| 4. | Organization and presentation of various sections of the paper. (Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion) | |
| 5. | Grammar, neatness, and conformity to APA style. | |
If your laboratory work is done well, you will learn a great deal more from it than from any other part of this course. This is so because you really do not understand something until you do it. Your professor and lab instructors will assist you in any way possible in conducting the experiments and in preparing and writing your papers. Please do not hesitate to ask for assistance and/or clarification. The lab assistants will have regular hours in the lab and will be available for consultation either during these hours or by appointment.
Dates for Lab Project 1
| Tuesday, March 4 | Lab work on conditioning begins. |
| Tuesday, March 18 | All references for rat lab must be read and understood. |
| Thursday, March 20 | Data from lab due (summary sheets). |
| Thursday, March 27 | Draft of the first three pages of your paper is due in class. What you turn in is just a draft, not the final version. It will not be graded. To benefit the most from this assignment, though, work carefully to “polish” this draft. It will be reviewed and returned to you before the final draft is due. |
| Wednesday, April 9 | Final draft of entire paper is due in class. |