Syllabus
Spring 2023
Psychology 405; Seminar in Psychology
A Capstone Course
Instructor: Douglas Miller, Ph.D.
Office: Nance Hall 313
Phone: 536-8691
Office hours/ emails: Miller@SCSU.EDU
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Tuesday, Thursday 12:30-2:00 p.m.
Friday by appointment as needed
- All emails will be returned, but for best results, students should email MondayFriday during regular work hours. Overnight and weekend emails may take longer
to receive a reply.
- Remember, email is not the same as texting; when emailing your instructor, be
sure to include the course, a topic, be specific, and make complete statements.
- When starting a new email remember to include the course number and topic; this
will distinguish the email from the many others received by the instructor.
- Phone calls: if calling the instructor, use the same curtesy expected. If there is no
answer, follow up with an email.
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Text: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed)
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Student technology requirements for this online course:
As this time, PSY 405 is a face-to-face course. However, students must meet the
minimum technology requirements to successfully access and submit class assignments,
retrieve electronic documents, and view their grades.
A. Students should enter Blackboard using Google Chrome as Internet Explorer is
inadequate for this purpose.
B. Students should complete the course using a PC, tablet or laptop computer; cell
phones are inadequate for this purpose. Your device should have internal speakers
for viewing videos or other presentations.
C. Students should have reliable internet access. This way, you do not lose contact
with the course during the term.
D. All course material will be delivered through the university email system and
blackboard; students must be able to reliably gain entry to and monitor their
course.
E. Students must be able to view and submit work and assignments in word, TIF,
PDF or video format. Students may want to install the smart scanner app on their
phone. This app allows taking a photo which is then converted to a PDF file. The
PDF file can then be emailed as an attachment.
F. For technical support contact:
For blackboard:
https://help.edusupportcenter.com/shplite/scsu/home.
For your username or password: helpme@scsu.edu
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Course Format:
New material for this course will be posted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Scheduled class
periods will be consumed with any lectures, completing exams, working on the group
project, and working on the individual project. Any documents or instructions completing
the assignments will be posted in blackboard in the assignments folder.
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I.
Course Description
Psychology 405 is an advanced course intended for psychology majors with senior
standing. It is also required that students successfully complete psychology 307 and
401 before enrolling. In the course, students will conduct, analyze and write up a
research project. Thus, they will apply the concepts of experimental psychology,
statistics, and other content courses. Reports will be written tin the accepted format of
the American Psychological Association (APA). There is extensive student-teacher
interaction during the report writing process.
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II.
Course Objectives
There are three goals of this course. The first goal is to provide students with hands-on
application of the data collection and analyses commonly used in psychology
experiments. The second goal is for students to experience the application of the writing
style and analysis techniques used in psychology research reports. The third goal
involves the application of goals one and two through completion of a polished individual
research report written in the APA format.
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III.
A.
B.
Course Competencies
Students are expected to demonstrate knowledge of the APA writing style.
Students are expected to be active participants in demonstration of the SPSS data
analysis software and to be competent when examined over the SPSS analyses.
C.
Students are expected to turn in drafts of the projects on or before deadlines.
D.
Students are expected to complete a research project written in the APA format;
Final drafts of the projects are to be turned in on or before the assigned deadline.
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IV.
Expected Measurable Outcomes
Students will be evaluated on the following:
A.
Examination over the APA writing style
B.
Examination over the SPSS analyses
C.
Approval of topic for individual paper
D.
Approval of rough draft for individual paper
E.
Polished final draft of individual project
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V.
Course Content
The format of this course requires maturity, patience, and organization on the part of the
student. The instructor will present information regarding the use of the APA style as
well as information regarding the writing of the sections of individual and class projects.
The instructor will also provide materials on the SPSS statistical analyses and hands-on
experience for computer use. The remainder of the time will be spent reviewing
student’s drafts of the class project and individual project.
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VI.
Description of assignments and due dates
A.
B.
C.
Test over the APA writing style
uses. (5th week).
Test over the SPPS data analyses (8th week)
Approval of topic for individual project: students secure two empirical
articles and present a proposal to the instructor: On or before 3/23.
D.
Rough draft of individual project; After topic approval, students write a
rough draft of their individual topic. The instructor provides needed
corrections to the rough draft. Rough drafts at submitted before 4/18.
E.
Final draft of individual project. Final Drafts must reflect changes made
to the rough draft. The final draft must include an introduction, proposed
method section, and references. All writing is to be double-spaced and in
APA style. A minimum of two references to empirical articles found in the
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection are required. Due day
for final draft is 4/20.
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VII. Evaluation of writing assignments (class project, individual project):
A. Use of APA style: 25%; use of referencing style, headings, section content,
numbers use
B. Grammar: 25%; use of complete sentences, s-v agreement; word form; spelling
C. Organization: 25%; non duplication; order of paper; completion of idea
D. Factual accuracy: 25%; documentation of facts; contradiction of idea
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VIII. Total Evaluation
The following assignments will be evaluated as follows:
APA test =
40
SPSS test =
40
Topic approval =
5
Rough Draft =
15
Individual project = 60
total
160 A typical SCSU grading scale will be applied: 90% = A; 80% = B; 70% = C
IX.
Policy on cheating and plagiarism
Research papers may involve taking the published idea of another and expanding it.
Research papers, however, are not to be a word-for-word reproduction of a published or
unpublished work of another-- this constitutes plagiarism which violates copy right law
and or university student codes. Plagiarized papers will result in failing grades in the
course. Information gathered from the internet must include author’s name(s),
publication dates, and sources; sources must be empirical with supporting data.
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X. Internet sources
Reference information gathered via the internet must be an electronic copy of a valid
scientific article published in a valid scientific journal which is available in a hard copy.
When using internet references, make sure to print the article such that the date of
publication, title of the journal and publication information are available. If an internet
article, or any article for that matter, has no method section, no results, no statistics, or no
references, it is not suitable for use in your paper. Papers must include a minimum of
two empirical articles. For best results, the Psychology and Behavioral Science
collection should be the electronic search engine for articles.
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XI. Replication of Previous Student Work
Papers and projects from other courses, especially PSY 401, will not be accepted as
papers and projects for PSY405 without instructor approval.
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XII. Policy on class attendance
A. Student attendance will be indicated by submission of required work requested by
the instructor. Online learning is not to be accomplished at the end of the
semester only. Discontinuing a course may result in a grade of UF which may
have a negative impact on financial aid availability.
B. ****Students are expected to visit the blackboard web site and monitor their
university email to retrieve course materials as announced.

Classroom accommodations/support – Office of Student Disability
Services (536-8700)