Psychology Honors Program
Psych 2991-4996
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D.
Bess Puvathingal, MA
Spring 2010
Study the science of art and the art of science.
--(Leonardo da Vinci)
Welcome to the psychology honor’s program. This course is designed as a mini tour
through the field of psychology. Where did the field come from? How did the field mature into
the subdisciplines that we have today? What counts as evidence in psychology? What methods
do we use to secure the evidence and why? Finally, how do we build a base of understanding
about the human condition?
This semester we take on the new and somewhat fuzzy area of study – psychology and
the arts! Amazingly 40 million students will have no arts or music training in their schools this
year. According to a new study by the National Center for Education Statistics, fully 50% of
children in this country do not have access to art training in their schools. The focus on high
stakes testing has pushed art training to the background as lessons in reading and math take
center stage. What is even more interesting, however, is that this year several scientific pieces
appeared suggesting that training in the arts might be related to learning, innovation, and
scientific thinking. Though there is not much evidence in this area, we thought it might be fun to
evaluate what exists and to asks for ourselves whether there can be a scientific study of visual
art, dance, music and theater. What can they teach us about the human condition? What can the
study of the arts teach us about the brain, about cognition or about social processes? This
semester you will probe the answers to these questions as you try to link the nascent study of the
arts with scientific methodology and theory. What you will undoubtedly find is that we are just
beginning to explore these questions. There is much we do not know. Hence your voice –
tempered by your scientific lens – will be critical in shaping our views of a new frontier in
science.
In the first semester, you addressed questions about the human condition by examining
several techniques in experimental design and by seeing these in action as you explored the area
of morality and its potential applications and drawbacks.
This semester, we revisit some of the methods you studied with a new eye. As noted last
term, our methodology has in large part been shaped by reliance on lab research, assumptions of
truth and thus on true experimental designs: the golden temple of true experimental design. This
semester we add to our methodological arsenal. Moving beyond the classic experimental design,
we investigate the ways in which the true experimental design was altered to meet the demands
of real world research. Starting with a review of the true experimental design with its emphasis
on prediction and control, we enter the “dark side” of quasi- experimental design, through
observation, questionnaires, survey research and naturalistic designs. In short, we enter the
messiness of the real world – a place that social psychologists love to visit and a place that artists
find more comfortable than labs. We ask whether it is possible to learn about the human
condition scientifically while still preserving ecological or face validity. Indeed, we will read
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two pieces that pierce the veil here by asking about our ability to scientifically study the arts.
One, by the National Science Foundation is still in draft form. The second, by the Dana
Foundation is a report issued in June of 2009 on the first phase of funding for brain science and
the arts. What we will see as we read these articles is the struggle we face in psychology is
between the cleanliness of lab design with its ability to isolate one factor for study – and some of
the “chaos” of the real world in which multiple factors often define who we are and how we will
behave. In a sense, this is the same struggle that we read about in the first term when the logicomathematical scientist met the romanticist and narrative scientist in the Bruner article. As before
in our study of morality, we are about to enter into uncharted domain and to re-examine the
assumptions we bring to the study of psychology. We will ask about the optimal method – or in
this case methods – that the scientist can bring to bear on an issue so central to our human
existence and so woefully underexplored within the scientific arena.
The class is organized as two classes in one. The Tuesday meetings offer a basic course
in research methodology demonstrating classic and new designs that allow us to make progress
across all of the subdisciplines within psychology. On Thursday we will sample some of the
writings that illustrate these methods within the context of the arts. We will read articles,
evaluations and even a case study on how different art forms – visual, dance, theater and music –
might be related to the growing study of brain science and the science of learning. I hope we
will also notice how we frame our discussions. What questions does science deem to ask? Are
these the right questions? Does it really matter if the arts relate to creative, cognitive or social
outcomes? Don’t the arts have a role to play just because they help us interpret our social and
historical time?
Finally, we end the course with reflection. In the new age of psychology, just one decade
into the new millennium, we can ask what our science looks like, how it is changing and whether
psychology can become united by a common foundation based on philosophical and
methodological choices about how to best study the factors that make us human.
All 2991 and 3991 students must attend both the Tuesday and the Thursday lecture/
discussions. 4991 and 4996 students must attend the Thursday classes. These students also
become the elder statespersons who will be there for research and social support.
Requirements:
Class Meetings: The class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 ‘til 12:20 in room 711
in Weiss Hall. Students are expected to attend all classes and to have the reading assignments
and paper assignments completed before the assigned class meets. “Juniors” (2991/3991
students) attend both Tuesday and Thursday classes. “Seniors” (4991/4996 students) must
attend the Thursday classes. The syllabus that follows has both Tuesday and Thursday reading
assignments.
Blackboard: Everyone must use Temple e-mail accounts to participate in this course. When
you register for the course, you will immediately become a member of the class listserv account
and will be eligible to look at the class blackboard. You access blackboard by going to
tuportal.temple.edu and by clicking on blackboard. Once you reach this site, you will need to
enter your user name and your password. This then gives you access to this class on line. For
the syllabus, goals, end-of-semester evaluation forms and philosophy in the course, look at the
buttons on Blackboard under “Course Information.” Under the button labeled “Course
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Documents” you will also find electronic copies of additional readings. Under External Links,
you will find other websites useful for your studies. Finally, the journal synopsis forms appear
under “Assignments. “
Discussion postings:
All discussion comments or questions from the upcoming Thursday class are to be posted the
Tuesday before class (by 8 am) to assist the discussion leaders for that week. This means you
should read the Thursday material by Tuesday morning to post provocative questions and
comments. This posting and familiarity with all class postings will be considered in your class
participation grade.
Discussion leaders, please post your questions for the discussion by Wednesday night at 5pm so
all can be prepared to participate on Thursday. All students will be assigned to participate as
discussion leaders for particular weeks. All are expected to be familiar with the articles, but
discussion leaders should prepare in more depth by gathering additional relevant information
about the day’s topic (articles, news, etc) as they prepare to lead the class.
There are required texts for this course:
Rosnow, R. & Rosenthal, R. (2008) Beginning behavioral research. Sixth
Edition Upper. Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall.
Rosnow, R., & Rosnow, M. (2009). Writing papers in psychology: A student guide (8th ed.).
Pacific Groves, CA: Brooks/Cole
Highly Recommended (especially for those unfamiliar/need refreshers on APA style):
APA (2001). Publication manual for the American Psychological Association (5th ed.).
American Psychological Association
Grading: JUNIORS will have a midterm, a final and two journal synopsis papers for this class.
Class participation is central. NOTE: SENIORS will be graded both from your advisor and for
class attendance and participation.
Midterm: 25%
Final: 25%
Paper 1: 15%
Paper 2: 15%
Class participation: 20% for all students
Important: Now that 2991 is recognized as a writing intensive course it is imperative that
you not only write, but expect to rewrite all paper assignments until they are excellent
samples of scientific writing.
Note: Honors is a program that is by invitation only. Students must maintain a 3.5
cumulative average to stay in the program. Further, if for any reason student performance
is deemed unacceptable with respect to class requirements or to lab requirements, they can
be asked to leave the program.
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Reaching me:
My office hours are from 12:45 to 1:30 in 316 Weiss Hall after class on Tuesdays and Thursdays
and by appt. I can also be reached by phone at my office phone, 215-204-5243 or at my lab
phone in Ambler 267-468-8610. My e-mail address is khirshpa@ temple.edu. Bess will be
available on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 2:00 in 532 Weiss Hall. Her email address is
bpuvathingal@temple.edu.
Note: The syllabi, forms for assignments and some interesting links to others sites can be found
on blackboard and on my website - http://astro.temple.edu/~khirshpa/
Disability Statement:
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me
privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible.
Statement on Academic Freedom: Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable
facets of academic freedom. The University has adopted a policy on Student and Faculty
Academic Rights and Responsibilities (Policy # 03.70.02) which can be
accessed through the following link: http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02
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Psychology Honors Syllabus
Professor Hirsh-Pasek
Spring 2010
Week 1
January 19: Introduction to the class
– What science can and cannot address
– The Matrix and beyond: Questions of reality vs constructed reality
– Where knowledge about the human condition meets science
– Expectations: What makes honor’s students special
Reflection, inquisitiveness, active thinkers not passive learners
– Where you should be if you are in 2991/3991/4991 & 4996
– The Tuesday course outline
January 21: Art in the news
Psychology arises in the most unexpected contexts. Indeed current news stories
often frame our operational definitions. Just what is art? How might we begin to
define it? If we want to study it with a scientific lens, then our first job is to know
definitively what it is. But that – we are about to see, can be a challenge. Take the
case for example of the South American Dog art or the case of the great art work
passed by all in the know as classics and later determined to be mimicry. What is a
scientist to do?
– Introduction to our main theme
– Expectations
– Where you should be if you are in 2991/3991/4991/4996
– The Thursday course outline
Readings:
Rozin, P. (2009). What kind of empirical research should we publish, fund and reward?
Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4(4), 435-439.
On the South American Dog:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89830782
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/mar/30/art.spain
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/belisa-vranich/the-starving-dog-artist-a_b_97512.html (a
"clinical" analysis of him based on the story)
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Week 2
January 26: Reviewing assumptions behind the true experimental design.
Last term we discussed the Temple of the true experimental design – a beautiful
monument to design brought to us through John Stuart Mills necessary and
sufficient conditions, randomization and the desire to find truth and cause. Is this
the pinnacle of science that will teach us about the human condition? Why or why
not?
Rosnow & Rosenthal, Chapter 7, 150-176
January 28: Are you born an artist or do you become one?
Some would argue that Shakespeares are made not born and that with enough
practice, anyone can become a great artist. What is the evidence for such a
proposition? Today we look at this issue as a way of framing our debates on the arts
and the development of artistic potential. Could you be a Picasso if you just had
enough practice and training? Is what we call artistic talent just the acquisition of
expertise? Ericsson et al. (1993) and Weisberg (2006) say yes. Winner suggests, no.
Reading:
Ericsson, K., Krampe, R., & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in
the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363-406.
Winner, E. (1996). Gifted children: Myths and realities. New York: BasicBooks
(Chapters 1 & 6)
Weisberg, R. (2006). Creativity: Understanding innovation in problem solving, science,
invention, and the arts. New Jersey: Wiley. (Chapters 3 & 4)
Week 3
February 2: Prediction and Control
One of the hallmarks of the true experimental design with its randomization is that
it allows for perfect prediction and control. Or does it? How much can we really
control? What does it mean to be double blind? To counterbalance? And what can
we really say about our findings once we collect them? In this class, we finish issues
of design and move to questions of interpretation. In what ways does the true
experimental design allow us to approximate truth. In this class we challenge
ourselves to come up with alternative explanations for the findings we generate in
well designed true experimental paradigms. Read the article below before you
come to class and do a journal synopsis on this article.
Article for journal synopsis:
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Green, C.S., and Bavelier, D. (2007) Action-video-game experience alters the spatial
resolution of vision. Psychological Science, 18, 88-94.
**Note first journal synopsis is due today. Please follow the journal synopsis form
and type your answers to the questions about the scientific article cited below. You
will bring your synopsis sheet to class and it will be edited by a peer who will return
it to you on Thursday so that you can turn it in on February 9. Please also note that
while I had hoped to only have articles for you on arts and science, it was not
possible as the field is just too new. So we will learn about practice with visual
signals in video games. Hope you like it.
February 4: The Science of Art? Can we find out by using true experimental designs?
The world is often quite complex and we just cannot control everything. First, art is
a broad term that includes visual art, music, dance and theater. Perhaps we must
consider each as a separate domain with separate developmental and processing
trajectories. Or perhaps there is a more common denominator to the study of the
arts such that each increases motivation and attention. Second it is possible that
there are so many individual differences in both the biology and the experience of
individuals that it will be hard to control for all of the factors that will enable us to
better understand the role of the arts in understanding the human condition. How
might we get a handle on this topic? Today we explore one attempt spearheaded by
the National Science Foundation that convened a panel of experts to ask how
psychology might go about studying the arts. As we read their report, we can ask
whether the questions that they raise are amendable to study in true experimental
designs.
Reading:
Tyler, C., Levitin, D., Likova, L. (2008) Art, creativity and learning. National
Science Foundation Final Report.
Week 4
February 9: Reliability and Validity
Cornerstones of all research, reliability and validity ensure that what you see is
what you get. They are key research concepts that allow us to have confidence in
our findings. But how do we reach adequate levels of reliability and validity –
especially when so much can go so wrong even in the contexts of true experimental
designs. In this class we examine reliability issues that we face when we do
experimental lab designs and contrast that with some of the issues we face when we
look into school systems. What are the advantages or disadvantages of being in a lab
or being in the world. How might we design our projects so that they are sensitive
to issues of reliability or validity?
Readings:
Rosnow & Rosenthal, Chapter 6, 124-149
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February 11: Applying true experimental designs to the study of the arts: Part 1
The Dana Foundation commissioned a set of leading scientists to see if they could
ask focused questions about the role of arts and brain neuroscience. In what ways
might the study of or practice in the arts be related to the science of the brain? In
2009, they issued a report of their preliminary findings. Today we read a few of
those reports. In what ways are these studies operationalizing the arts? In what
ways are they truly true experimental designs with perfect randomization of
participants. In which ways are they bending away from a true experimental
design?
Readings:
Spelke, E. Effects of music instruction on developing cognitive systems at the
foundations of mathematics and science. In C. Asbury & B. Rich (Eds), Learning, arts,
and the brain: The DANA consortium report on arts and cognition. New York: The
DANA Press. (pp. 17-50)
Posner, M., Rothbart, M., Sheese, B., & Kieras, J. How arts training influences cognition.
In C. Asbury & B. Rich (Eds), Learning, arts, and the brain: The DANA consortium
report on arts and cognition. New York: The DANA Press. (pp. 1-10)
Week 5
February 16: Statistics: A partner in design
Methodology and statistics are often divorced in the ways we present them to
students. Yet, they are intricately tied to one another such that a choice in design is
also a choice in statistical analysis. This class reveals the partnership between the
two and demonstrates how one can plan statistics while also planning the
methodological component of our experiments. How do our statistics flow from the
designs we choose?
February 18: Beyond basic statistics: What we really need to do to build better models of
an artistic experience.
What we are learning is that complexity begets complexity and that an
understanding of complicated behaviors like painting, musical composition, or
theatric performances will probably require more sophisticated statistical
techniques and an appreciation for multiple methods and multiple analyses. Today
we will look at one example of a very sophisticated approach to understanding
musical composition. This attempt uses a combination of case study and
quantitative methods to ask if we can get a scientific handle on musical composition
and productivity. One of our very own graduate students in psychology, Rick Hass
is charting the frontier in this area.
Reading:
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Haas, R., Weisberg, R., & Choi, J. (in press) Quantitative case-studies in musical
composition: the development of creativity in popular-songwriting teams. Psychology of
music. New York: Sage.
Week 6
February 23: Quasi-experimental designs
The first step in the transition to the real world involved abandoning the
requirements for true random designs. One cannot randomly assign some people to
poverty and some to drug use, or to artistic talent and artistic opportunities. Thus,
to study the effects of real world contexts of behavior, we needed a new model that
preserved scientific integrity. The quasi-experimental design offered the solution.
Readings:
Rosnow & Rosenthal, Chapter 8, 177-197
February 25: Did your theater class matter?
Ellen Winner has been doing extensive work to ask just how theater experiences
might be related to social processes like empathy or theory of mind (the ability to
understand that another person might have different views and thoughts than you
have). She was kind enough to share some of her findings with us in several new
papers. Notice that these findings all emerge in the context of quasi experimental
designs. Can you guess why? As we read these works, we might also ponder whether
particular art experiences feed particular outcomes. That is, might musical training
be more related to language and mathematics while theater might be more related
to emotion and social outcomes?
Readings:
Goldstein, R. & Winner, E. (2009) A new lens of the development of social cognition:
The case of acting. In C. Milbrath & C. Lightfoot (Eds.) Art and human development.
New York: Routledge. (see the announcement for the book at –
(http://www.routledgeart.com/books/Art-and-Human-Development-isbn9780415965538)
Goldstein, T., Wu, K. & Winner, E. (in press) Actors are skilled in theory of mind but not
empathy. Imagination, Cognition and Personality.
Week 7:
March 2: Qualitative Research
Case Studies, Diaries, Ethnographies and Protocol Analyses are among the ways we
first explore the research terrain. These methods allow us to probe an area and to
derive the interesting questions based on the contexts and running commentary of
our participants. While these methods have great utility for getting our research
started, they have often been criticized as less scientific than the more quantitative
methods of research. In this class we do a survey of these methods along with their
strengths and weaknesses.
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Your midterm examination will be available today after class. This is a take home,
open–book exam. Please complete the exam and upload it onto blackboard by
March 4, at 5 pm.
Readings:
Rosnow & Rosenthal: Chapter 4. pp 81-92
Rymer, R. (1993) Genie: An abused child’s flight from silence. New York: Harper
Collins. 3-26; 89-130
March 4: Case studies as a way to unlock mysteries in artistic progress?
Case studies often provide a window into artistic thinking and a wonderful first step
towards our understanding of a phenomenon. Professor Bob Weisberg of our
department, a noted researcher in creativity, has used case studies widely to better
understand the work of famous artists and musicians. Today we both his work and
some commentary that it generated along with a piece by Oliver Sacks on music and
the brain. What can we learn from these kinds of studies and what kinds of further
research might they stimulate?
Readings:
Weisberg, R. (2004). On structure in the creative process: A quantitative case-study of
the creation of Picasso’s Guernica. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 22(1), 23-54.
Simonton, D. K. (2007). The creative process in Picasso’s Guernica sketches: Monotonic
improvements versus nonmonotonic variants. Creativity Research Journal, 19(4), 329344.
Weisberg, R., & Hass, R. (2007). We are all partly right: Comment on Simonton.
Creativity Research Journal, 19(4), 345-360.
Sacks, O. (2007). Musicophilia: Tales of music and the brain. New York: Random
House. Chpts. 1 & 27
Week 8: Spring break (write us from someplace warm)
March 9: No class: Spring break
March 11 : No class: Spring break
Week 9
March 16: Observational Methods: An overview
Can we really observe behavior without bias? Without being obtrusive? In this
class we learn how seemingly qualitative research takes on a quantitative flavor.
How do we get “clean” observations that are untainted, reliable and valid?
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Readings:
Rosnow and Rosenthall, Chapter 4, 74-93
Article for journal synopsis 2:
**Thompson, W. F. & Russo, F. A. (2007) Facing the music. Psychological Science ,
18, 756-757.
**Journal synopsis 2 is due today. Tale a look at this quasi experimental design to
see if we learn something about cross-over between auditory and visual cues in
music performance. Don’t get bogged down in the statistical treatments. You give
it to a peer in the class who then reads it and returns it by Thursday March 18.
Please return it to us on March 22.
March 18: Observational methods in the arts is a relatively new phenomenon. What might
we look at to better understand what a child gets from a visual arts class or a class
in music? How do we examine a stream of behavior and find carving joints that will
tell us something profound about relationships between the arts and other cognitive
or social outcomes? And is that even a question we want to ask? Do we care more
about the experience itself of at how that experience relates to other experiences in
the network of human behavior? Do we believe that all of the arts offer similar
benefits in terms of creative thinking or are there particular aspects that we glean
from particular art experiences?
Today you read a new work by Professor Lois Hetland and Ellen Winner that
propose an observational coding scheme for the arts. Jessa Reed from our
department is using that scheme and adapting it for use in an arts-infused school.
You will also get to meet Jill Reese who is doing observational coding not of the
teaching experience, but of infants and toddlers who just might have budding
abilities in music composition. See what you think you can learn about the arts by
being a good observor. How far can these observational methods take us in our
quest to understand the foundations of the arts?
Reading:
Hetland, L., Winner, E., Veenema, S., & Sheridan, K. M. (2007). Studio thinking: The
real benefits of visual arts education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Week 10
March 23: Questionnaires and survey research
The structured interview begins to resemble a questionnaire. And questionnaires
are used widely to get a lot of information quickly. Not only are they used to get a
lot of data from one participant in a study, but also to broadly poll a large number
of participants so that we can better take the temperature of a society on a burning
issue. How often are arts classes offered in the US? What is the performance of
students in different ethnic groups or at different ages? If we do not understand the
structure behind the questionnaire, we might fail to ask the right questions in the
right way – we might not meet conditions for validity and reliability. Today we
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examine the structure behind the questionnaire. On Thursday we look at several
examples of large-scale questionnaires that give us a picture of arts education and
its impact.
Rosnow and Rosenthall, Chapter 9, 198-223
Pasek, J. & Krosnick, J.A. (in press) Optimizing Survey Questionnaire Design in
Political Science: Insights From Psychology. Oxford Handbook of American Political
Behavior
March 25 TURF PRESENTATIONS ~or~ Survey Research in the arts (this may be moved
to a new date, depending on TURF acceptances)
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has a research arm that does
primarily survey research to see how arts training might lead to careers in art or
even into a better understanding of the arts from education in the schools. You
might want to look at the NEA website (http://www.nea.gov/) to learn more about
what they do. Today we look at just two examples of surveys in the arts – related to
but not directed by NEA research. In one we ask how arts education leads to
participation in the arts. The second offers a kind of state of the union on arts
education and understanding presenting a national report card in the arts. You
might find the results shocking. Though the frequency of arts instruction remained
steady since 1997 with around 50% of schools offering arts education, the gap
between races and gender was alarming with average scores for White and
Asian/Pacific students 22 to 32 points higher than those for Black Americans and
with averages scores for females 10 points higher than for males. In what ways are
these kinds of data critical to our understanding of what goes on writ large on the
ground and to how we might direct our educational policies in the future?
Readings:
Bergonzi, L. & Smith, J. (1996). Effects of arts education on participation in the arts:
Research Division Report #36. Santa Ana, CA: NEA Seven Locks Press. Please read
introduction and skim rest of report.
Keiper, S., Sandene, B., Persky, H., & Kuang, M. (2008) The Nation’s report card: Arts
2008 Music and visual arts.
(http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/main2008/2009488.asp). Please read executive
summary and look over pdf 2, 3 and 4 listed on the home page.
Week 11:
March 30: Self report Methods – Interviews
A powerful way of getting data from people is to ask them directly. But how do we
ensure that we are not biasing their responses? What questions CAN we ask? In
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this class we explore the techniques designed to help us get the best information
from informants in a way that is unbiased and unintrusive. We look at the results
from some interview data that is highly structured to semi-structured to
unstructured. You will also become a diagnostician.
Readings:
Rosnow & Rosenthal: Chapter 5, 105–137; Chapter 9, 198-223
Galinksy, E. (1999) Ask the children. New York: Quill, pp.xix-17; 59-95
April 1: Interviews reveal artistic and creative processes. One way to better understand the
processes involved in the arts is to do in-depth studies through interviews. These
are related to but slightly different than case studies and can be more like in –depth
questionnaires focused on a more limited population. Here we give just a few
examples – neither a perfect fit, but a start. We can use these as jump-off articles to
discuss next steps in methods for understanding the creative process. In this class
we not only look at rock dancing, but also ask whether there is anything to the claim
that artists are more open to new experiences or are even share some characteristics
with psychoticism.
Martindale, C. & Dailey, A. (1996). Creativity, primary process cognition and
personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 20(4), 409-414.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Measuring the flow experience in rock dancing. In
Beyond boredom and anxiety: Experiencing flow in work and play. Jossey-Bass
Publishers. pp. 102-122
Week 12:
April 6: Putting it all together
Traditional research has used one method to the exclusion of the other. Lab-based
research is used or qualitative methods. Yet, we are in the dawning of a new age
where many are beginning to look across disciplinary and methodological
boundaries to take a fuller and more complete look at complex behaviors. As we
have seen in our study of the arts, we will need to invoke multiple methods to fully
understand a complex process and to better understand how the arts contribute to
our understanding of the human condition. I hope these early articles in the study
of the arts also prompt us to ask just why we want to study the arts and how we
might best do so. Do we want to study the arts because it will help children build
better cognitive and social skills that are related to later learning? Will the study of
the arts allow us to be better interpreters of our time and to engage in commentary
and dialogue about major issues that concern us? Today we ask about the methods
we use to study complex behavior and how a cornucopia of methods might enable a
fuller picture of this central human behavior. We also ask whether psychology is
now ready to embrace multifactored approaches that go beyond the true
experimental design. In what ways might adherence to strict experimental designs
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strangle us and in which ways will our traditional approaches allow us to build a
window onto our understanding of music, visual arts, dance and theater?
April 8: Short Presentations 4991/4996
Week 13
April 13: 2991/3991 Progress reports
April 15: Short research presentations 4991/4996
Week 14
April 20: 2991/3991 Progress reports
What research are you conducting? What assumptions did you make, what
subdomain of psychology do you work in? What methods do you use? Today we
hear from those doing research and get an update on their progress.
April 22: Short research presentations 4991/4996
Week 15
April 27: Progress reports/ Wrap up on methodology: Beyond traditional experimental
designs.
*Take home final exam will be available today and must be turned in at the poster session
on May 4.
April 29: Wrap up of main theme: Are we amidst a change in the field?
Here we address anew the question of how the field might embrace a study of
change and individual differences to better understand complex behaviors like art.
Where are we going? In what ways is this move a flashback to older methods? A
repackaging of the older methods in ways that allow us to see more fully the many
pathways that help us construct the reality in which we live?
And how does this newer way of viewing data tell us more about the human
condition or about ourselves?
Class party
Week 16
May 4: Poster Session in 6th Floor Weiss Hall 11-1:00
Join the seniors as we celebrate their posters and have a department wide party!
All 4991 students must report by 10:30 to display their posters.
*Please make sure that your advisors have a copy of the evaluation forms that must
be returned to me by May 4th.
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