PSYC 121B Advanced Research Methods: Cognition/Perception Laboratory

PSYC 121B – Advanced Research Methods: Cognition/Perception Laboratory

Fall 2011 Course Syllabus

San Jose State University

Instructor: / Dr. Cary S. Feria
Office Location: / DMH (Dudley Moorhead Hall), Room 312
Telephone: / (408) 924-5620
Email: /
Office Hours: / Monday 2:45-4:15pm, Tuesday 4:30-5:30pm, Wednesday 2:45-4:15pm, and Thursday 4:30-5:30pm
You are welcome to schedule an appointment with me for a different time, if these times don’t fit your schedule. Also, I’m often in my office at other times, and you’re welcome to stop by!
Class Days/Time/Location: / Lecture Section 10: Tuesday, Thursday 1:30-2:45pm in IS 113 or DMH 236
Lab Section 11: Tuesday, Thursday 3:00-4:30pm in DMH 339
You must be registered both in the lecture (section 10) and in the lab (section 11).
Prerequisites: / Prerequisite: PSYC 1, STAT 95, PSYC 100W, plus any one of: PSYC 135, PSYC 155, or PSYC 158.
Pre/Corequisite: PSYC 120 must be taken either before, or concurrently with, this course.
Preferred method of contact: / in person!

Course Description:

The primary purpose of this class is to engage students in perception research. You will gain knowledge of the methodologies used to perform research in perception, and how to analyze and interpret the results. Course lectures will provide a background in the foundations of research design in perception. During laboratory sections, you will gain hands-on experience carrying out a variety of different common research methods in perception. You will also work in a group to develop an idea for an original perception study, design and conduct your study, analyze its results, and report the results in written and oral formats.

Course Objectives:

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

· Understand the experimental methods that are used to study perception

· Use experimental evidence as a tool for critically assessing theories about perception

· Read and understand journal articles in perception

· Synthesize several research studies and draw conclusions, in written format

· Design and conduct an independent, original perception research study

· Use statistics to interpret the results of research studies

· Write reports of research findings according to APA style

· Give a professional oral presentation of research findings

Course Requirements:

Lab Reports:

· There will be 3 lab reports over the course of the semester. Lab reports will be turned in by each student individually. Each lab activity will include instructions about the product (calculations, graphing, write-up, etc.) that should be turned in. You will lose 10% of the point value of a lab report for each day it is late. If the assignment is returned to the class before you hand in your lab report, you will receive no credit.

· In class, you will perform research studies giving you hands-on experience with the type of research that is carried out in the field of perception. After performing each study, you will analyze the results of the study, and do a written assignment about it. Because each assignment requires participation in the lab activities, attendance is mandatory. If you are absent on the day that we perform the study or the days that we analyze the study, you cannot receive credit for the assigned work from that day. In some cases, you may also be responsible for completing some of the data collection outside of class time.

Quiz:

There will be one quiz, covering lecture material. The quiz will be mostly multiple-choice, but may also include short-answer and diagrams. The quiz is closed-book and closed-notes. A study guide will be given out before the quiz. The quiz date will be Tues. Sept. 27.

Project:

In small groups, you will conduct an original research study, of your choosing, from beginning to end. You will decide on a topic of investigation, conduct a literature review of the issue, design your study, conduct the study, write a paper, and give an oral presentation of your research to the class. The progression of your project will be divided into 6 Project Steps. The project schedule on page 5 of this syllabus gives the due dates for each step. Most of the steps of the project will be completed in groups, but writing the paper will be done individually. For most of the steps, you will lose 10% of the point value of the step for each day that it is late. However, the oral presentation must be completed on time, and cannot be accepted late. Further information on the project will be provided later.

Grading:

Lab Reports (total) 90 points

3 x 30 points each

Quiz 30 points

Project (total) 180 points

Project Step 1 (idea summary) 5

Project Step 2 (proposal worksheet) 25

Project Step 3 (IRB protocol) [final draft] 35

Project Step 4 (experiment data) 5

Project Step 5 (final paper) 85

Project Step 6 (oral presentation) 25

Total / 300 points

Final course grades will be based on the scale below:

A+ ≥ 97% A 93-96% A- 90-92%

B+ 87-89% B 83-86% B- 80-82%

C+ 77-79% C 73-76% C- 70-72%

D+ 67-69% D 63-66% D- 60-62%

F < 60%

Extra Credit Opportunity: Research Review Paper

You may choose to write a research review paper (4-6 pages) on a topic of interest to you for extra credit. The paper should focus on a specific topic within sensation and perception. The paper should discuss at least 6 references, at least 5 of which must be articles from scientific research journals. The extra credit paper topic you choose may not be related to your project topic for this course. If you choose to write a paper, you need to have your topic approved by me no later than Thursday November 17. Depending on the quality of the paper, you may receive up to 10 bonus points. The paper may be turned in at any time during the semester, but not later than the start of the final exam period.

Desire2Learn (D2L):

Lecture slides, quiz grades, article readings, and other materials will be posted on the course D2L website. Please do not email me through D2L – email me at instead.

Checking Your Email Account:

I will from time to time send email messages to the class, using your email address listed in MySJSU.

Getting Help:

If you are having difficulties with any aspect of this course, please come to my office hours, and I will do my best to help you. If you are unable to come to my office hours, you can contact me to make an appointment for a different time. If you have just a short question, you also can send it to me by e-mail.

Group Participation:

Active participation in your lab group is required, and on many days students will be working in their groups on their projects. If you do not participate on group work days it may result in a reduction of your (individual) grade on your proposal and/or talk.

Course Reserves:

The following books are available on Course Reserves at King Library, and may be helpful for reinforcing material:

Gravetter, F. J., & Forzano, L. B. (2009). Research methods for the behavioral sciences. (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage.

Wolfe, J. M. et al. (2009). Sensation & Perception (2nd ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer.

Attendance:

Missed Classes. If you are absent, you should consult a classmate to get the lecture notes and to find out about any announcements made in class. You should also contact your project group, and contribute to the group work.

Missed Exams. I strongly discourage make-up quizzes. No make-up quizzes will be given unless the student presents a valid excuse. I reserve the right to decide if the excuse is valid. I will be more likely to allow you to make up a quiz if you make every effort possible to contact me before the scheduled date of the quiz. The fastest way to contact me is often by e-mail.

Note:

The procedures and schedule in this course syllabus are subject to change at the instructor’s discretion. I will announce any changes of project step due dates or quiz dates in class and by email.

Class Contacts

Name:______Name:______

Phone number:______Phone number:______

E-mail:______E-mail:______

Name:______

Phone number:______

E-mail:______

Additional Points:

- Please be certain to turn off all cell phones, pagers, and any other devices that produce distraction prior to entering the classroom.

- If you must arrive late or leave early, please do so quietly and with a minimum of distraction.

- You are responsible for understanding the dates, policies and procedures about add/drops, academic renewal, fee payment, withdrawal and so forth. These are listed under: http://info.sjsu.edu/home/schedules.html.

Disability:

SJSU complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act: If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with your instructor as soon as possible, or speak with your instructor during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires that students with disabilities register with DRC to establish a record of their disability.

Academic integrity:

The Office of Judicial Affairs at SJSU has a documented Academic Integrity statement via Academic Senate Policy Recommendation S04-12. “Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San José State University, and the University’s Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the Office of Judicial Affairs. The policy on academic integrity can be found at” http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf.

Academic integrity is essential to the mission of San José State University. As such, students are expected to perform their own work (except when collaboration is expressly permitted by the course instructor) without the use of any outside resources. Students are not permitted to use old tests, quizzes when preparing for exams, nor may they consult with students who have already taken the exam. When practiced, academic integrity ensures that all students are fairly graded. Violations to the Academic Integrity Policy undermine the educational process and will not be tolerated. It also demonstrates a lack of respect for oneself, fellow students and the course instructor and can ruin the university’s reputation and the value of the degrees it offers.

Cheating:

At SJSU, cheating is the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for academic work through the use of any dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means. Cheating at SJSU includes but is not limited to:

Copying in part or in whole, from another’s test or other evaluation instrument; Submitting work previously graded in another course unless this has been approved by the course instructor or by departmental policy. Submitting work simultaneously presented in two courses, unless this has been approved by both course instructors or by departmental policy. Altering or interfering with grading or grading instructions; Sitting for an examination by a surrogate, or as a surrogate; any other act committed by a student in the course of his or her academic work which defrauds or misrepresents, including aiding or abetting in any of the actions defined above.

Plagiarism:

At SJSU plagiarism is the act of representing the work of another as one’s own (without giving appropriate credit) regardless of how that work was obtained, and submitting it to fulfill academic requirements. Plagiarism at SJSU includes but is not limited to:

The act of incorporating the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, or parts thereof, or the specific substances of another’s work, without giving appropriate credit, and representing the product as one’s own work; and representing another’s artistic/scholarly works such as musical compositions, computer programs, photographs, painting, drawing, sculptures, or similar works as one’s own.

The following URL will take you to the SJSU library’s plagiarism tutorial. If you have not yet completed this, it is worth your while to do so. http://tutorials.sjlibrary.org/tutorial/plagiarism/index.htm

Project Schedule

Note: This project schedule is subject to change.

Quiz date and lab report due dates are not listed here.

Wk / Date / Project progress / Project Steps due
1 / Thu. 8/25 / begin IRB training
2 / Tue. 8/30 / form groups
Thu. 9/1 / discuss ideas for project / completed IRB training
3 / Tue. 9/6 / discuss ideas for project / each student bring 1 idea for project
Thu. 9/8 / discuss ideas for project / idea summary (PS 1)
4 / Tue. 9/13 / design experiment
Thu. 9/15 / design experiment / proposal worksheet (PS 2)
5 / Tue. 9/20 / work on IRB protocol
Thu. 9/22 / work on IRB protocol / draft of IRB protocol
6 / Tue. 9/27 / work on IRB protocol
Thu. 9/29 / work on IRB protocol / final IRB protocol (PS 3)
7 / Tue. 10/4 / prepare experiment
Thu. 10/6 / prepare experiment
8 / Tue. 10/11 / prepare experiment
Thu. 10/13 / prepare experiment
9 / Tue. 10/18 / prepare experiment
Thu. 10/20 / prepare experiment
10 / Tue. 10/25 / run your studies!
Thu. 10/27 / run your studies!
11 / Tue. 11/1 / run your studies!
Thu. 11/3 / run your studies!
12 / Tue. 11/8 / run your studies!
Thu. 11/10 / run your studies!
13 / Tue. 11/15 / analyze project data
Thu. 11/17 / analyze project data
14 / Tue. 11/22 / analyze project data / experiment data (PS 4)
Thu. 11/24 / Holiday -- No class
15 / Tue. 11/29 / work on oral presentation
Thu. 12/1 / work on oral presentation
16 / Tue. 12/6 / work on oral presentation
Thu. 12/8 / work on oral presentation / final paper (PS 5)
17 / Wed. 12/14 / (12:15-2:30pm) / oral presentations (PS 6)

PSYC 121B Advanced Research Methods: Cognition/Perception Laboratory