Instructors:

Office / Phone:

Office Hours:

You should note that the CSU Trustees and Chancellor have agreed with the CFA (California Faculty Association) membership that we (your professors) should take Furlough Days (a reduction in work of 10%), resulting in a similar deduction in our monthly paychecks.

The student should therefore really appreciate the fact that fees have increased about 32% for a 90% education.

Hurrah for the Great Tarnished State of California!!
(where Prisons are funded better than Universities!)

TEXTS

Required:

Highly Recommended:

Graziano, A. M., & Raulin, M. L. (2010). Research Methods: A Process of Inquiry (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.*

ISBN 13: 978-0-205-63402-6
ISBN 10: 0-205-63402-8

American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.*

ISBN 10: 1-4338-0559-6 (hard cover), 1-4338-0561-8 (soft cover), or 1-4338-0562-6 (spiral bound)
ISBN 13: 978-4338-0561-5 (soft cover)

EXPECTATIONS

1. The prerequisite for this class is Psyc 300A, with a "C" or better. If you did not complete the 300A course with a "C" or better, you cannot continue in this course and for your own sanity you should not continue in this course .
2. You will need some type of portable storage device. My personal choice would be a USB (Flash Drive) of at least 2 MB. Regardless of the media used, I recommend that you back-up your files regularly.
3. You should have Internet Access, but the use of on-campus computers may meet your needs for this course.
4. This is a university class, therefore university work and attitudes are expected.
5. All composing (writing) assignments will
   1. be completed using a word processing program , with a DOUBLE-SPACED format imposed. Those few papers submitted on paper will be Stapled; no paper clips or "cool" covers (please). Regardless of the program used the files submitted must be either "doc", "docx", or "rtf" files. If you cannot save the file in one of these formats, I may not be able to read it and you will not receive a grade.
   2. be submitted on-line, with feedback provided on-line. Each file submitted will have the proper File Name and e-mail Subject Line. File names should be the assignment name (e.g., ruler) and your NetID (e.g., jchapman2), such that the example here would be "ruler jchapman2.doc" or "ruler jchapman2.docx" (the latter is MS Office '07). The Subject line for the e-mail will be provided, though in the above case we would use "P300B Ruler". If you do not know your NetID, use the following link: https://netid.csub.edu/search/
   3. include Xeroxed copies or PDFs of the referenced journal articles (use a large envelope for paper copies and a zip file for PDFs).
   4. be individual work even though group efforts may be used to collect data.
   5. be in APA STYLE (except as noted).
6. All assignments are due on the date indicated at 12:20 PM--submitted on-line, unless otherwise noted. DATES and TIMES are FIRM! Late work will be subjected to a 10% deduction in points, per day late (starting 1 minute past the due time). The Final Project Paper is due Friday Nov 20, 2009 at 5:00 PM, not 5:01 PM! If there is a problem, see me BEFORE THE DUE DATE NOT AFTER !
7. PLAGIARISM, CHEATING, or FABRICATION OF DATA will automatically result in an "F" for the course. (See Academic Acculturation).
8. Excessive sloth in class attendance or participation will result in deductions of points.
9. Turn off your cell phones and pagers. If they have a vibrate function, use this. DO NOT LET YOUR CONVENIENCE INCONVENIENCE THE REST OF THE CLASS. Unless I am notified ahead of time of a special need by you to have your cell phone active, there will be a 10 point deduction for your cell phone or pager disrupting MY class.
10. My job is to HELP you with your PROJECTS, WRITING, and CLASS MATERIAL. In general, if you do not use my assistance, your grade will probably reflect your lack of contact.
11. To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) as soon as possible. The office is located in SA 140, and may be contacted at 661-654-3360 (voice), or 661-654-6288 (tdd). If you have an accommodations letter from the SSD Office documenting that you have a disability, please present the letter to me during my office hours (or after class if you are comfortable doing so), so we can discuss the specific accommodations that you might need in this class.
12. Holidays this Quarter are:
    • Sept. 18-19, Rosh Hashanah – Jewish Holy Day
    • Sept. 20, Eid Al-Fitr (end of Ramadan) – Islamic Holy Day
    • Sept. 26, Dasera – Hindu Holy Day
    • Sept. 27-28, Yom Kippur – Jewish Holy Day
    • Oct. 17, Diwali – Hindu Holy Day
    • Nov 11, HOLIDAY – Veteran's Day – Campus Closed
    • Although every effort is made to note Religious Holiday, please forgive me if I missed one. Please note Holidays do not change due dates. Other important dates can be found on the Academic Calendar - 2009/2010
    .

Course and Department Goals

1. Although it would be wonderful if everyone became a Research Psychologist, reality says this will not be true. However, it is expected that you will become a better consumer of the Psychological Literature. That is, you will be able to assess the relevance of the literature your read to your own work now and in the future.
2. Although it would be wonderful if everyone became a Research Psychologist, we hope that you will at the very least develop a "questioning approach" to the world around you. However, it is expected that you will become a better consumer of information resources. That is, you will be able to evaluate the appropriateness of the data provided and discussed in a report, magazine, newspaper article, etc.
3. Although it would be wonderful if everyone became a Research Psychologist, we hope that this class will better prepare you to understand information presented in upper division psychology courses, especially those involving laboratories. It is expected that you will become a better consumer of Psychology. That is, you will be able to better choose courses and materials that are relevant to your areas of interest.
4. A review of the Goals listed for the department will show that you should be able to work towards fulfillment, at least partially, of those goals:

   
   Goal 1: Describing Psychological Knowledge

   a. Describes and explains a variety of significant elements of content and/or facts in the areas of learning, sensation and perception, biological psychology, or cognitive psychology.

   b. Describes and explains a variety of significant elements of content and/or facts in the areas of child psychology, social psychology, abnormal psychology, or personality.

   c. Describes and explains a variety of significant elements of content and/or facts in the areas of adult-child relationships, environmental psychology, the psychology of diversity, the psychology of aging, the psychology of women, the psychology of families, health psychology, neuropsychology, tests and measurement, or positive psychology.

   Note that although the specific areas mentioned above in a-c may not be discussed in this course, a general understanding of the research methodology available to psychologists will increase understanding of all the areas in psychology. Thus the inference is that you should be better able to describe an area if you can understand it better.

   
   

   Goal 2: Explaining Psychological Knowledge

   a. Explains behavior using theory-based concepts from a specific psychodynamic, biological, humanistic, cognitive, behaviorist or other equally-broad theoretical system.

   b. Explains behavior using concepts from a specific narrowly-focused portion of a theory or model.

   c. Explains how specific behavior would be understood differently by two theories/models that are both able to offer sensible explanations for it.

   d. Evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of evidence and arguments supporting specific psychological theories or models.

   Note that although specific areas mentioned above in a-d may not be discussed in this course, a general understanding of the research methodology available to psychologists will increase understanding of all the areas in psychology. Thus, the inference is that you should be better able to explain an area if you can understand it better.

   
   

   Goal 3: Discovering Psychological Knowledge

   a. Formulates testable research hypotheses.

   b. Designs appropriate empirical tests of research hypotheses that take into account the strengths and limitations of different research designs.

   c. Identifies threats to internal and external validity, and proposes improvements to reduce these threats in studies from the literature.

   d. Selects and appropriately applies inferential statistics to distinguish between outcomes that do and do not support hypotheses.

   e. Conducts appropriate library and electronic searches in order to identify and acquire information that is relevant to a target topic.

   f. Reads and understands psychological research articles at the level of an educated consumer.

   g. Communicates scientific findings clearly and accurately in appropriate written formats.

   
   

   Goal 4: Applying Psychological Knowledge

   a. Describes major applied areas of psychology and the rationale for applications to these areas.

   b. Explains how psychological science can be used to understand social issues, inform public policy, and improve individuals’ lives.

   c. Demonstrates the application of psychological knowledge outside of the classroom to affect behavior in a desired direction.

   d. Communicates psychological theories, data, or methods clearly to non-psychologists.

   Note that although specific areas mentioned in a-c above may not be discussed in this course, a general understanding of the research methodology available to psychologists will increase understanding of all the areas in psychology. Thus, the inference is that you should be better able to apply that knowledge an area if you can understand it better.

   
   

   Goal 5: Ethics and Values in Psychology

   a. Explains the benefits and acknowledges the limitations of a scientific perspective on human behavior.

   b. Describes and explains ethical codes and standards that guide the work of students and professionals in psychology.

   c. Demonstrates understanding and acceptance of research ethics through relevant behaviors.

   d. Demonstrates understanding and acceptance of practice ethics through relevant behaviors.

   e. Identifies personal values and evaluates them from the perspective of the discipline of psychology.

   Note that although the ideas underlying psychological practice (e.g., clinical work) will not be discussed specifically, the general discussion about research ethics should help to understand the ethical standards and guidelines as applied to this more applied area of psychology.

Although instructors will not "certify" completion of a goal, through the weeks of this course it should become obvious how you can document your own accomplishments.

Quizzes & Tests [52%] (55.3 %)

Points

Participation/Instructor's Rating [2.2%](2.5%)

20

IRB/IACUC Tests [5.4%](6.2%)

50

Write-ups & Data [12.0%](8.7 %)

[110] 70

[Quizzes (n = 3 ; 4.1 %)]
Articles (n = 3 ; [4.1%]5.6 %)

[30]
45

[Project Work. (4.4 %)]

[40]

Midterms (n = 2; [21.9%]24.8%)

200

Project Paper [21.9%](24.8 %)

200

Final [21.9%](24.8 %)

200

TOTAL [48%](44.7 %) =

[440] 360

TOTAL [52%] (55.3 %)
=

[475] 445

GRAND TOTAL =

915 805