Introduction to Scientific Thinking and Design in Psychology
Psychology W123
GLADFELTER HALL (Room:L024)
M W 12:40 PM - 2:30 PM
Syllabus

Dr. Thomas F. Shipley
Office 818 Weiss Hall
204-7665
email: tshipley@temple.edu
Office hours: W 8:30-9:30,11:30-1:30 & by appointment (held in Weiss Hall Room 729)

Teaching Assistants
Jose M. Soler-Baillo
Office 829 Weiss Hall
Email: jmsb@temple.edu
Office hours: M 2:30 - 4:30

Jessica Costosa
Office TBA
Email: jcostosa@temple.edu
Office hours: TBA

Tom Umina
Office TBA
Email: troybaggio@aol.com
Office hours: TBA

Grade: Final grade will be based on exams and papers as follows:

10 % Attendance
30 % 10 Weekly papers (12 papers will be assigned, you may hand in more than the required 10 papers for extra credit)
15 % First draft of Final paper
15 % Final draft of Final paper
20 % 2 Midterm Exams (10 % each)
10 % Final Exam

Midterm and final Exams will be short-answer questions.

You must take all three exams, and hand in both drafts of the final paper to pass the course. All papers will be reduced one full letter grade for each day late.
Make-up exams: Make ups will be given during (or by arrangement after) the first available class after the missed exam. Please bring a note from an outside authority to explain why you were not able to take the exam at the scheduled time.
Because you will be working on projects in small groups failure to show up for class will affect others, therefore class attendance is mandatory. Your grade will be reduced 3% for each missed class. (To be credited with attending class you must not arrive more than 10 minutes late or leave more than 10 minutes early). Plan your schedule accordingly. Up to 2 absences may be excused for health reasons. You MUST bring a note from an outside authority to explain why you were not able to make it to class at the scheduled time.
Weekly papers are due in class Monday. Papers will not be accepted after Thursday of the week they were due.

The course will have a Blackboard site. On the site – under course documents – is available a copy of this syllabus, in case you lose your copy. Details of lab and writing assignments after week 4 will be available on Blackboard. In addition, grades will be posted on blackboard. The text’s for the course are (all are available at the Temple Bookstore):

Required
1) Stanovich. How to think straight about psychology. 7th edition. Pearson/Allyn & Bacon (paperback). Assignments in the schedule below are noted as S.
2) Solso & MacLin. Experimental psychology. A case approach. 7th edition. Allyn & Bacon (paperback). Assignments in the schedule noted as S&M.

Recommended
3) American Psychological Association. Publication manual. 5th edition (paperback).

The class will be a mixture of lecture and small group lab project format.
This course presents an introduction to critical thinking and the scientific process in psychology, as well an introduction to the actual carrying out and writing up of research, weekly writing assignments emphasize the importance of practice in developing skills in writing. We will examine the scientific attitude in psychology on a relatively informal level, as it is presented in Stanovich’s book. This book will serve as the basis for discussions of errors in thinking that most of us make at various times, and how these errors impact how we understand and deal with scientific material, especially psychology as a scientific enterprise. We will study the scientific method in more detail, centering on Solso and McLin. We will be cycling through some information more than once, on different levels of specificity and abstraction. Going over material more than once, from slightly different perspectives, should help with understanding and should make more clear connections between the material in the course – approaching psychology as a science – and your experiences as a consumer of scientific information.
Roughly every two weeks we carry out and write up a experiment. Most of these will be carried out in small groups of 5 students. The data may be analyzed within the group, or by the class as a group. Each of you will separately write each assignment.
Important aspects of this course are figuring out how to design an experiment and participating in the research carried out in class. Adequate written presentation of a research project depends on complete understanding of what was done, and why. One’s understanding of the logic of an experiment is greatly enhanced by participating in the research; therefore, it is crucial that students be in class for all sessions.
PLAGIARISM
This course centers on research and writing, and in order to learn how to carry out research and how to think and write in scientific style, it is imperative that each person carry out all assignments and submit his or her own work. Presenting someone else’s work as your own is plagiarism, and it undermines any learning that might be possible in the course, as well as making other people’s honest efforts worth less. It is of utmost importance that all the work handed in in this course be your own, and therefore plagiarism will be dealt with severely. If you try to present the work of others as your own, and you are caught, you will fail the course. That is, plagiarism will have impact far beyond the assignment on which it occurred. (For the information of students, it is usually not very hard to tell when someone is handing in another author’s work as his or her own.) We will spend time in class discussing what is and what is not plagiarism. If you have any questions concerning the ethical implications of any aspect of your work in this course (or in any other course, if you want an outside opinion) come and talk to the instructor or one of the teaching assistants.
Cheating on an exam is comparable to plagiarism and is just as serious. It will also result in failure for the course (not just for the exam on which cheating occurred).
It is expected that all students will have taken the introduction to psychology course and introduction to statistics. The department prerequisite for this course is the completion of Psych 60 or Psych 70, and Psych 67.

Any student who has a need for an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services at 215-204-1280 at 100 Ritter Annex to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities.

Week 1. 1/21
The science of psychology vs everyday reasoning

Reading: Stanovich Ch 1-3
Writing assignment 1; due 1/26

Week 2. 1/26, 1/28
Measuring experience: Muller-Lyer Illusion

Reading: Stanovich Ch 4-6
Writing assignment 2; due 2/2

Week 3. 2/2, 2/4
Variability: Chance and ESP

Reading: Stanovich Ch 7-9
Writing assignment 3; due 2/9

Week 4. 2/9, 2/11
The limits of knowledge: Signal detection

Reading: Stanovich Ch 10-12
Writing assignment 4; due 2/23

Week 5. 2/16, 2/18
2/16 Complete Signal detection
2/18- Exam 1

Week 6. 2/23, 2/25
Individual differences: Taste

Reading: Solso & MacLin Ch 1, 2, 6, 11
Writing assignment 5; due 3/1

Week 7. 3/1, 3/3
Complete Taste

Reading: Solso & MacLin Ch 3, 4, 12
Writing assignment 6; due 3/15

Spring Break

Week 8. 3/15, 3/17
Memory: Comfort foods

Reading: Solso & MacLin Ch 5, 6, 13-15
Writing assignment 7; due 3/22

Week 9. 3/22, 3/24
Complete Comfort foods

Reading: Solso & MacLin Ch 7, 9, 10, 16
Writing assignment 8; due 3/29

Week 10. 3/29, 3/31
Social Decisions: Risk aversion

Reading: Solso & MacLin Ch 17-21
Writing assignment 9; due 4/12

Week 11. 4/5, 4/7
4/5 Complete: Risk aversion
4/7-Exam 2

Week 12. 4/12, 4/14
Group project- Design & Collect data

Reading: Solso & MacLin Ch 22-26
Writing assignment 10; due 4/19

Week 13. 4/19, 4/21
Group project- Collect data & Analyze
First draft of final paper due 4/21

Reading: Recommend reading APA manual
Writing assignment 11; due 4/26

Week 14. 4/26, 4/28
Group project-

Writing assignment 12; due 5/3

Week 15. 5/3
Final draft of final paper due 5/3

Final Exam -Friday 5/7: 11:00 – 1:00

 

Writing assignment 1; due 1/26
Find a newspaper article discussing some new finding in any area of psychology.
1. Analyze how the author reports the finding. Write 1 paragraph describing how the information is conveyed. Consider: Where in the article is the basic finding described? Is it related to something familiar to the reader? Why should the reader care? 2. Choose the critical finding and in 250 words or less write a newspaper-style article reporting the finding. Hand in a copy of the original article with your article and analysis.

Lab 1
Equipment:
Ruler
White index cards
Sharp pencil

Directions:
On white cards draw a line with arrowheads at each end pointing in -< and pointing out ->. Take two cards and draw a straight line (beginning at one edge of the card that is shorter than the lines with arrowheads. Be sure to draw the lines so that the two cards can be overlapped to create an adjustable length line.

Use this variable length line to estimate the size of each line with arrowheads. How accurate are you at matching the length of these lines? Have each group member try. Try varying the length and orientation of the arrowheads. Do they matter?

Writing assignment 2; due 2/2
Write a newspaper-style report of your findings from the Muller-Lyer experiment.

Lab 2
Equipment:
10 pennies
graph paper (or graphing software)

Directions:
Before you flip your coins, predict exactly how many heads and tails you will get. Shake ten pennies and count the number of heads. Record the prediction and outcome. Each person should repeat this ten times.

Writing assignment 3; due 2/9
What was the outcome of all of the coin tosses? Graphically display how many of each outcome (1 head, 2 heads, 3 heads, etc) occurred for all of the coin tosses that occurred in class.

How well were the outcomes predicted? Graphically display how many of each outcome (1 head, 2 heads, 3 heads, etc) was predicted before it occurred.
Choose an example, from things you have heard others say, of a case where someone appeared to predict the future. Using the concepts discussed in this lab explain how the prediction could have occurred without invoking ESP.

Lab 3
Equipment:
210 pennies
2 Dixie cups

Directions:
On average humans can tell when one thing is roughly 3 % heavier than another. Put 100 pennies in one cup and 110 in the other. Have someone judge whether 100 or 110 pennies is heavier. Offer first one cup and then the other for lifting. Do the same for 100 and 102 pennies. Have each person try this a few times. If everyone makes some errors, and you have settled on a procedure, have each person make 100 judgments. Next try to change their bias –emphasize the importance of saying heavy if there is any change the second one was heavier. Finally try it one more time with the reverse bias- emphasize the importance of saying lighter if there was any chance the second cup was lighter.

Writing assignment 4; due 2/23
Legal evidence, such as eyewitness identifications, can have high false alarm rates. What would be a hit, false alarm, miss, and correct rejection for eyewitness identifications. Although considered more reliable than eyewitness identifications, fingerprint identification that occurs under sub-optimal conditions may have false alarms rates as high as 50%. Why would the false alarm rate be so high?

Lab 4
Equipment:
Table salt
2 Measuring cups (1 cup)
1/4 tsp measuring spoon
Paper cups
Magic marker
1 gal distilled water

Directions:
Identify the threshold for salt in each of your group members by mixing up solutions of salt water. Start with 1 level 1/4 tsp in 1 cup of water. If this is below threshold add more (measured) salt. If it is above threshold, make more dilute solutions by first mixing 1/4 tsp salt in 1 cup of water and then diluting with a measured amount of water (e.g., mix 1/2 cup salt water with 1/2 cup fresh water, mix a 1/2 cup of the result with 1/2 cup water and so on).
Test each member of the group, for each person ask if the solution tastes at all salty.
If there is time, do the same thing but ask each person for their preference (is the solution too salty or not salty enough).

Writing assignment 5; due 3/1
Choose 3 of the experimental designs provided at the end of chapter 6 in Solso & MacLin . Write a one paragraph critique of each one.

Writing assignment 6; due 3/15
A prepared food producer (e.g., Campbell’s Soup) has asked you to advise them on the use of salt in their products. Use the data the class collected on salt thresholds to write the report. Be sure to consider how the data would be relevant to introduction of new products and the marketing of existing products.