P421 Lab in Social Psychology

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2:30-3:45, PY 287

Instructor: Elizabeth (Liz) daSilva Contact: elabendy@indiana.edu; Office: PY 190 Office Hours: Mondays 3-4; By appointment Contact: bcelesti@indiana.edu; Office: PY 398F Office Hours: Mondays 11-12; by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Brad Celestin

Course overview and goals: This is a capstone course intended to synthesize and build on your previous coursework in research methods, statistics and social psychology. For the first half of the semester, we will review important concepts in social psychology and in research methods, and learn how to do basic statistical analysis in SPSS. The second half of the semester will focus on applying these techniques through independent student research projects. This course requires a lot from students, but it will also hopefully be rewarding. There is a particular emphasis on being able to think critically and communicate effectively about research. Homework writing and data analysis assignments are intended to break down the whole research process into manageable and meaningful steps. Although we are primarily focusing on social psychology research methods, my goal is for the critical thinking and writing skills of this course to be relevant and applicable across many disciplines and professional settings. Resources: This course will rely heavily on Oncourse: all course materials will be posted here, and all assignments will be submitted through our class Oncourse site. Plan to check Oncourse regularly for materials and updates. Course Schedule: Date 1/14 1/16

Topic Introductions Generating Research Questions Defining Variables; Measurement Scales Descriptive Statistics: Intro to SPSS Questionnaires and surveys

Reading

Assignment

Grey & Wegner (2013) Baumeister, Vohs & Funder (2007)

Homework #1: Background info

1/21

1/23

Social Norms Paper Due Dunn Chapter 6 Homework #2: SPSS Basics

1/28

1/30

Questionnaires and surveys: Validity and Reliability Individual differences/ Intro to correlation Person perception: Correlation in SPSS Person perception: Between-subjects designs Person perception: Within-Subjects designs Person perception: One-way ANOVA Embodied Cognition: Interaction designs (ANOVA) Embodied Cognition: Interaction designs (ANOVA) More interaction designs Brainstorming a Research Topic Literature search skills Confounds/Threats to Validity Confounds/Threats to Validity SPRING BREAK SPRING BREAK Experimenter & Cognitive Biases Fill out March Madness brackets! Dunn Chapter 9 Research Proposal Due Homework #7: ANOVA Rule & Ambady (2008) Hertenstein et al. (2009) Willis & Todorov (2006) Guastella et al. (2008) Adam & Galinsky (2012) Troisi & Gabriel (2011); Deters & Mehl (2012) Homework #6: ANOVA Homework #5: T-tests Homework #4: Correlation Homework #3: Surveys

2/4

2/6

2/11

2/13

2/18

2/20

2/25

2/27 3/4

3/6 3/11

3/13

3/18 3/20 3/25

3/27 4/1

Research Ethics Creating a class IRB: Consent and Debriefing APA Style Writing overview Research proposal meetings Research proposal meetings Data collection Data collection Data Analysis workshop (voluntary) Data Analysis workshop (Voluntary) Student Project Presentations Student Project Presentations Final Papers Due on Monday, May 5th by 5 PM! Dunn Chapter 3

Homework #8: Heuristics & Biases

4/3 4/8 4/10 4/15 4/17 4/22

Ethics Assignment Due

Revised Proposal Due

4/24

4/29

5/1

Finals Week

Grading policy: Your grade will be determined based upon your performance on homework and paper assignments, class participation and your research proposal, paper and presentation. There will also be several periodic pop quizzes throughout the semester, of which your lowest will be dropped. The grade breakdown is as follows: -Homework assignments and Mini-Papers: 30% -Attendance and Class Participation: 20% -Quizzes: 10% -Research Proposals, Presentation & Paper: 40%

Final grades will be assigned according to the following grading scheme: 93%: A 83%: B 73%: C 63%: D 90%: A 80%: B 70%: C 60%: D 87%: B+ 77%: C+ 67%: D+ < 60% = F

Remember: I do not give grades; you EARN the grades! Late submission policy: To be considered on time, assignments (both homework and papers), must be uploaded to Oncourse by the posted submission deadline. Late assignments and papers will not be accepted. Attendance policy: Given the interactive nature of this course, in particular the emphasis on research skills and communication, class attendance is expected. Although I will strive to make course materials and Powerpoints informative and thorough, they are not a substitute for missing class. Everyone is permitted to miss class ONCE without penalty, and then I will subtract 1% per day from your Attendance/Participation grade. In the event of a university-approved absence (i.e. athletic tournaments) or religious holiday observance, please complete the appropriate university sanctioned forms and notify me ASAP in class or via email of your absence. Pop quizzes: Periodically, I will give in-class pop quizzes to assess your understanding of the course material. You must be present in class to receive points for these assignments. Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped. Computer use during class/cell phones/Etc.: No cell phone technology of any type is allowed in class, including text messaging. If you are causing a disturbance, I will ask you to leave class. The same applies to iPods, as well as Facebook or similar electronic diversions and websites. Please be respectful of the classroom environment. Academic Assistance: Writing Tutorial Services (www.indiana.edu/~wts/). WTS will discuss any concerns or problems you may have with a specific writing assignment at any stage of the writing process. You can arrange for a free tutorial with them by calling (812) 855-6738. Academic Support Center (www.indiana.edu/~acadsupp/ASChome.shtml). The ASC can provide you with help in a wide range of academic areas. They offer tutoring and writing help. You can reach them at (812) 855-6931. Ethics/plagiarism policy: Academic misconduct will be taken very seriously in this course. Points will be deducted for sloppy or insufficient paraphrasing of anothers work. All assignments will be processed by TurnItIn.com to detect any instances of plagiarism. This site will assess the originality of your writing, ensuring it is not borrowed from Wikipedia, other

students writing, or other scholarly journals. Any instance of plagiarism or cheating will result in a zero on the assignment, and the very real possibilities of failing the course or being expelled from the University. All instances of academic misconduct will be reported to the University in accordance with university policies. The full code of IU student rights, responsibilities, and conduct can be found here: http://dsa.indiana.edu/Code. If you have questions about what constitutes plagiarism, see www.indiana.edu/~istd/definition.html. As a student, it is your responsibility to understand these standards. Ignorance of these policies is not an excuse. Contacting the instructor: I strive to be available and accessible to my students for consultation. That being said, I have other professional and personal commitments so I cannot be available all of the time. You can expect me to respond to emails on weekdays within 24 hours; on weekends within 48 hours. IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This syllabus is not a contract. All portions of this syllabus are tentative and subject to change at any time at the discretion of the instructor. Changes to the syllabus will be announced in class and/or on Oncourse. You are responsible for determining if any changes to the syllabus were made if you miss class and/or do not check Oncourse.