The lab course will introduce you the tools necessary to run experimental psychology experiments. These skills will benefit those who plan to pursue a career in psychology or other research related field. You will also be trained to become a better writer and communicator. One of the primary goals is to develop your scientific thinking and communication skills. You will learn how to write an APA style research report and give a presentation that summarizes scientific data. Learning to become a better communicator will give you the advantage in the job market.
This course is a writing intensive course, it will require a moderate level of effort. BUT, we will train you to become a better writer, and the course has been designed to make sure that you have enough time to complete assignments. If you are unsure of your writing ability that’s ok. Everyone will be the given the opportunity to learn from their mistakes, and improve their final grade.
In general, the papers should be a minimum of 5 pages each, which isn’t too long. Also, one goal of the course is to learn APA style. You will find out that sizeable portions of each paper are simply about following formatting rules.
Whether you can revise and resubmit is determined by your individual lab instructor.
The ability to verbally communicate information is incredibly important, and it is a skill that requires practice. You will be given instruction during the labs and lectures about how to improve your presentation skills. Your first presentation will be a 5 minute individual presentation, and the second will be a 10 minute group presentation.
YES. The lab is divided into projects and papers. For the first two papers you will be running predefined experiments on a computer. The third and final paper involves a group project where you will work with your group to come up with your own research project. However, before you join your group, you will create your own idea for a research project and propose your project to the class (this is your 5 minute individual presentation).
For all of the lab projects you will be asked to create, implement, and analyze experimental procedures in class.
All of the labs will require you to have a basic working knowledge of excel. You will use excel for organizing data, doing basic statistics, and for creating graphs. You will also use SPSS to analyze your data. You may also use powerpoint for presentations, and even for running your own experiments. You will learn these skills throughout the lab course.