PSY 422 Experimental Psychology Syllabus

PSY 422 D/DC EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Spring 2008 Robert B. LeLieuvre, Ph.D.

Wednesday 1 - 1:50 PM Roswell, New Mexico

Office Hours:

BY E-MAIL @ ANYTIME

Between discovery and action lies the realm of values, questions of how we shall live together and by what guiding principles.

---Seymour B. Sarason ---

Required Textbook:

Slater, L. (2004). Opening Skinner’s box: Great psychological experiments of the

twentieth century. New York: W. W. Norton.

Milgram, S. (1974, 2004). Obedience to authority: An experimental view. New York:

Perennial Harper Collins.

Additional Reading:

PSY 422 Workbook --- Available through UGF Bookstore

The Trial

Arthritis Research Article

Chronic Pain Research Article

PURPOSE:

This course is an introduction to and an overview of the basic principles and processes of experimentation and psychological research. It is designed to familiarize students with the scientific method and empirical research. Given the Providence Leadership Covenant and UGF’s Catholic identity, mission, and philosophy, students are expected to learn to think charitably, compassionately, critically, and ethically about human and social problems. In accordance with the goals and objectives both of the psychology major and of the School of Human Services, they are also challenged to learn to develop applied research skills. These skills can then be applied, using the empirically derived findings, to questions of human dignity and social and economic justice, as well as to help them meet the challenges and prospects of the modern world. As learners of and about the science of psychology, students are expected to learn from the “Queen of the Sciences” to act in all matters with respect, compassion, and charity. It is through the value of simplicity, inherent in science and embedded in UGF’s values, that students can approach other people and the world with simplicity as the means and excellence as a goal.

Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an appreciation of the complexities and subtleties of the scientific method and distinguish between it and other methods of inquiry;

2. Formulate an applied research question, proposition, and/or a testable hypothesis focused on real-world human and/or social issues;

3. Design an applied empirical study to investigate #2 above;

4. Select or design a reasonable data-gathering strategy;

5. Choose and use an appropriate statistical or data analysis technique;

6. Draw conclusions or make inferences from the data;

7. Outline and write a clear and cogent research proposal.

8. Demonstrate an understanding of the practical and ethical issues involved in applied research and an appreciation of new and informed ways to think optimistically about applied research and its practical and ethical uses, consequences, and implications.

Assessment of Learning & Teaching:

Below are the five (5) assessment procedures and the percentages for each involved in the final grades.

1. Attendance & Participation --- 20%

You are expected to read all assignments before the on-line sessions. You are also expected to attend each and every on-line session, and to keep an Attendance Card.

Due: With the Portfolio.

2. Minute Papers --- 20%

Each week, after, and only after, the on-line session, you are to compete The Minute Paper. You are to submit them each week. They will be returned to you.

Due: Every week.

3. The Course Portfolio --- 20%

To include the following ~

Attendance card

Minute papers

Summary sheet(s) for all research articles you read for and cite in your

research study proposal (see below)

Notes you take on those articles or the articles themselves

Any questions or thought you may have related to your study proposal,

experimental psychology, the course, or the empirical method

Due: Within 1 week of the last on-line session.

4. A research study proposal --- 20%

ELEMENTS:

a. A statement of the research problem

b. A review of the relevant literature related to the problem

(8+ references; use the library and its computer search system to find applicable journal articles)

c. The hypothesis to be tested

d. Method & design --- subjects, sampling procedures, independent & dependent variables, instrumentation or experimental treatment, procedure(s), proposed statistic with level of significance or p value (or data-analysis technique)

e. References (a minimum of 8)

Due: With your portfolio.

5. Pre-test & Post-test --- 20%

You are expected to complete and to submit a blind pre-test before the 1^st on-line session. You will the complete and submit the blind post-test after the last on-line session.

The Proposal:

To assist you in beginning to develop an applied research proposal, go to a public place and observe people until a tentative question, proposition, or testable hypothesis is “discovered.” Outline what you might do to set-up an applied research study focused on what you observed. What might the study look like? Think about the “cycle of discovery” and the possible study during this process and at other times when and if necessary. Repeat this observation process as many times as needed, in order to develop the idea and the outline. Use the library’s electronic resources to search the literature for studies relevant to your question, proposition, or hypothesis. Check the Internet for postings of ongoing research studies that might relate to your proposed study.

Calendar:

Week 1 --- Introduction

Week 2 --- Slater: Introduction & Chapter 1 ~ ‘Opening Skinner’s Box’ …. Supplemental

Arthritis Research Article

Chronic Pain Research Article

Video ~ “B. F. Skinner: A Fresh Appraisal”

Week 3 --- Slater: Chapter 2 ~ ‘Obscura’ …. Supplemental Video ~ “Quiet Rage”

Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect

Week 4 --- Milgram ~ Obedience to Authority (No lecture video or dvd)

Week 5 --- Slater: ‘On Being Sane in Insane Places’

Week 6 --- Slater: ‘In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing’

Week 7 --- Slater: ‘Quieting the Mind’