TEXT

EXPECTATIONS

1. The prerequisite for this class is one upper division Psychology course, but Research Methods in Psychology or an equivalent scientific methodology course is highly recommended.
2. This is a university class. Therefore university work and attitudes are expected.
3. All writing assignments will:
   1. be TYPED, DOUBLE-SPACED, Stapled (no paper clips or "cool" covers, please) and will include Xeroxed copies of relevant journal articles (use a large envelope); and
   2. the final paper will be a literature review written according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.). IF IN DOUBT ABOUT THE MEANING OF THIS STATEMENT BUY THE MANUAL!
      START NOW AND YOU WILL HAVE TEN WEEKS!
      YOUR CHOICE!
4. All assignments are due at the START OF CLASS. DATES are FIRM! Late work will be subjected to a 10% deduction in points, per day late (starting with 10% @ 8:01 am). If there is a problem, see me BEFORE THE DUE DATE, NOT AFTER !
5. PLAGIARISM, CHEATING, or FABRICATION OF DATA will automatically result in an "F" for the course. And excessive sloth in class attendance or participation will result in deductions of points (See Academic Acculturation).
6. Our job is to HELP you with your WRITING and CLASS MATERIAL. In general, if you do not use our assistance, your grade will probably reflect your lack of contact.

Final Paper: Due Tuesday November 23 by 5:00 PM.

This paper should provide a thorough review of the literature on the topic you will choose the first day of class. The paper WILL provide sufficient detail to understand the topic, the direction of research in the area (including scientific conclusions to date) and the implications of the research in the area. Remember, a COMPLETED research paper is expected ON TIME, TYPED and ACCORDING TO APA STYLE. IF IN DOUBT ABOUT THE MEANING OF THIS LATTER STATEMENT BUY THE MANUAL! The paper should have at least TEN references(but more are encouraged) and you are REQUIRED to include complete Xeroxed copies of the articles. NOTE: Many articles are not available on this campus. USE DOCUMENT DELIVERY NOW!

Presentations: Begin on Tuesday November 16 @ 11:10 am. (be prepared)

The presentation will be approximately 15 minutes in length (12 minutes for you and 3 minutes for questions). The presentation will be your final paper in abbreviated form. You should provide the audience with a clear discussion of the research in your paper. Visual aides are strongly recommended and should be professional looking. Do not show up with something that was hand drawn 10 minutes before your arrival. The order of the presentations will be determined at random and disclosed the day of the presentations. In lieu of a Verbal Presentation you have two alternatives: (1) you can develop a POSTER. like those you would see at a professional conference or the local Psi Chi Conference held here each year. Examples can be seen in the Psychology Department H hallway or outside Dr. Vega's office. (2) You can develope a Homepage that presents your paper in 3W form. Examples of previous work by students can be seen by clicking here

Homepage Article Write-ups:

Due dated and time stamped by noon on Mondays.

Each week you will be given a short article, usually from one of two international journals "Nature" or "Science". Your task is to read the article and provide a summary of the article as you understand it in a succinct nature. The write-ups should be grammatical correct and free of spelling errors, but this is on line so minor infractions will be overlooked.

Each write-up will require you to make logical sense of the of the article in your own words. Do not quote the source! This is a thinking exercise so think. Do not spend enormous amounts of time on the reading. Read the article once without much thought. This will be hard, because most of the articles are a condensed in-depth topic specific discussion. Then after a day or so re-read the article and attempt to make some sense of the reported findings. The following question may be useful as you read the article. What did the research show and what are the implications?

Links to the abstracts of the articles can be found each week on the Homepage for this Class.

P303 Article Web Links

It is your job to track down the article and read the entire text. You will also be required to post your article responses on the Homepage. THIS IS A REQUIRED PORTION OF THE CLASS so do not take this lightly.

PLEASE NOTE: (a) Others in the class, and the world, will be able to read your responses. If this is a problem then you should let the instructor know that you will be using an alias to post your messages. (b) If you respond with a typed paper response, it will not be accepted. The use of AOL (America Online) is not supported by this instructor.

Extra Credit:

In addition to the above HOMEPAGE work, Extra Credit will occasionally be made available on the Homepage. This will often involve the reading of an entire text of an article taken from a biweekly paper "The Scientist" and commenting on the article. Another possible Extra Credit Assignment will involve the commenting on previous posts from members of the class. These opportunities will be noted on the Homepage when they become available. You should also note that Extra Credit is magical points that remain in the ether until the grades have been assigned. Then they are added to the point total you have accumulated, possible moving your grade to the next level.