PSYC 202
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH II
PSYC 202. Psychological Research II
Two hours lecture. Two hours lab (3).
Prerequisites: Psyc 201
This course is a survey of the principle topics and methods used to perform scientific research in various fields of Psychology. Topics include naturalistic observation of behavior in children and adults, measurement and scaling of attitudes and perceptual phenomena, qualitative and quantitative description and analysis of behavior, correlational research in personality and social psychology, and sampling as applied to the study of intelligence and other normative psychological scales.
I.Experiments Involving Groups of Subjects
A. Brain/Behavior Relationships, Memory: Chunking
B. Memory: Levels of Processing
II.Experiments involving a Single Group of Subjects
A. Attention: Habituation
B. Health Psychology
III. Experiments Involving Relationships Among Different Content Areas of Psychology
A. Emotion and Memory, human psychophysiology
B. Stress and Performance
IV. Experiments with Single Subjects
A. Conditioning
B. Signal Detection
V. Quasi-experimental Research
A. Subject Variables
B. Age as an Independent Variable
C. Field Research
The course may include formal lecture, demonstration, discussion, student presentations, and hands-on projects.
After successfully completing this course students will be able to:
(1) Discuss the advantages and limitations of using different groups of subjects and multiple measurements on a single group to study psychological processes.
(2)Apply knowledge of the various experimental designs to conduct research on specific topics in psychology.
(3)Describe how psychologists study the combined effects of different variables on behavior.
(4)Describe the advantages and limitations of performing experiments with single subjects.
(5)Critically evaluate experiments in various fields of psychology.
(6)Write a formal experimental laboratory report to communicate results of research.
(7) Describe the use of non-experimental variables in psychological research.
(8) Describe the advantages and limitations of experiments in field settings, and the settings in which such studies are often conducted.
Graded assignments may include in-class tests, a final examination, pop quizzes, the assignement and presentation of exercises/labs and projects, and class preparation and participation.
A textbook supplemented with original journal articles may constitute the reading material for the course.
Date Action Reviewed
September 2001 Updated and put Alastair V.E. Harris