Conditioning and Learning Lab

PSYC 411 Conditioning and Learning Lab Monday & Wednesday 10:00-12:40 p.m. Spring 2009 T.A.: Michael Hylin Office: PM 573 (Lab PM 427/431) Phone: (815) 753-3509 (Office) (815) 752-7088 (Lab) E-Mail: [email protected] Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. Lab Website: http://www.niu.edu/user/tj0dgw1/conditioning.htm

Purpose of the Lab The lab portion of the class is designed to teach students the fundamentals of how research is conducted in experimental psychology. Most of what will be taught in the lab will serve as a supplement to what is taught in the lecture portion of the class. Students in this lab will have the opportunity to conduct literature reviews, participate in experimental procedures, perform statistical analysis, and interpret data from experiments. The primary goal of this class is to help students understand how research is conducted and teach them how to think scientifically.

Grades Laboratory grades will consist of two APA style experimental write ups, one group presentation on selected papers, a methods/statistics quiz, and overall participation. The lab grade is 40% of the final grade in the class, therefore it is important to take the lab seriously.

APA Papers (50%): There will be two APA style papers, which will be described in greater detail prior to when the experimental procedures begin. These papers require the student to be familiar with the APA format. An example of an APA style paper will be available on the website; however it is recommended that students have an APA manual. Both papers will require the student to go through each stage of research (i.e. perform background research, conduct experiments & collect data, analyze data, and interpret results). It is important that the students are present on the days that the experiments are run (there are several weeks where we will be running the experiments). If a student is not present (without prior notice to the T.A.) a 10 point deduction on that experiment’s paper will be given. It is also important that the papers must be turned in on time (in print, no e-mailed copies). The first two papers will suffer a 10 point deduction for each day late and the final paper will not be accepted late.

Presentation (20%): Each lab section will be broken into groups (2-3 people) for a 10-15 minute presentation with 10 minute Q & A. An article related to both experiments conducted in class will be assigned to each group. The article will be presented with all members of the group contributing; therefore the entire group will receive the same grade. However, each member should be able to present and discuss the whole article. The presentation should be a thorough and brief review with the goal of understanding why the authors of the paper conducted the experiment relating the article to the research paradigm as a whole. The presentation can be in any format (power point, overheads, etc.), but it must include visual references to illustrate relevant points of the article. In order to ensure that everyone participates with the presentations each student will have to submit 2 questions related to each paper present. Within each group, two of these questions will be selected for discussion, which will then have to be answered by the presenting group.

Quiz (20%): One statistics quiz will be given during the semester. The date for this quiz is listed below. This quiz will cover statistics/methods that will be used in the class, The purpose of the quiz is to help the student learn the material presented. Make-ups for quizzes will only be given if the student has an excused absence.

Attendance & Participation (10%): Attendance and participation are required for this lab. Students are expected to be on time and participate in the class activities. A deduction from the student’s overall lab grade will be given for each unexcused absence. An absence may be excused if it is due to an official university trip or important personal event with advanced notice given to the TA or personal/family emergency with proper documentation. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the TA as soon as possible if a situation comes up in which the student can not attend class. Please be on time for class and keep personal discussions and cell phone use to a minimum.

**Remember** The goal of this lab is to help students become familiar with laboratory research in general. Students are encouraged to seek out help if they need it. If a student needs to see the TA outside office hours arrangements can be made. Week Monday Lab Wednesday Lab Activity 1 1/12 1/15 Introduction to the Lab 2 1/19 1/21 No class (MLK Birthday) 3 1/26 1/28 Statistical Methods/Experimental Design Introduction to Sniffy 4 2/2 2/4 APA Review 5 2/9 2/11 Methods/Experimental Design Quiz 6 2/16 2/18 Run Exp 1. 7 2/23 2/25 Run Exp 1. 8 3/2 3/4 Analysis of Exp 1. Data 9 3/9 3/11 No class (Spring Break) 10 3/16 3/18 Paper 1 Due 11 3/23 3/25 Run Exp 2. 12 3/30 4/1 Run Exp 2. 13 4/6 4/8 Run Exp 2. 14 4/13 4/15 Analysis of Exp 1. Data 15 4/20 4/22 Presentations 16 4/27 4/29 Paper 2 Due