PSYCHOLOGY AS NATURAL SCIENCE LAB
1. Course Information
PSYC-116 003: Psychology as Natural Science Lab
Asbury 212 / 216
Tuesdays 8:30 AM - 11:10 AM
2. Instructors’ Contact Information
Lab Instructor: Paul Harrell
e-mail: paul.harrell@american.edu
Office: Asbury 137
Office Hours: Tuesdays 3:00 - 4:00 pm (Or By Appointment)
Please send an email with “Psyc-116” in the subject line letting me know you’re
coming
Lab Director: Maria Gomez, PhD
e-mail: mgomez@american.edu
Phone: (202) 885-2681
Office: Asbury 131
3. Prerequisites
Completion of the University Mathematics Requirement or concurrent enrollment in a
mathematics or statistics course that has MATH-15x Finite Mathematics as a prerequisite. Must
be taken concurrently with PSYC-115.
4. Requirements
1. Be prepared for every class
2. Submit your assignments on time (there will be no exceptions, so plan accordingly) in Hard
Copy. The Instructor will not be accepting emailed assignments for any reason.
3. Conduct a group research project and submit related proposal and papers
4. Completion of NIH Protection of Human Research Participants Certification
5. Attendance: Class attendance is mandatory; therefore you will not get points for coming to
class. Missing one class (no excuses) will not have terrible consequences. If by any reason you
have to miss more than one class you will need a note from your doctor (notes from a visit to the
health center will not be enough). If you miss 4 or more classes (excused or not) you will fail the
course.
Course Goals
a) Learn how to translate a question into an experiment utilizing the Scientific Method
b) Learn how to abide by and identify the APA’s Guidelines for formatting a paper
c) Be able to efficiently and accurately identify the parts of a scientific journal article and
comprehend the information being presented
d) Focus on critical thinking when acquiring information
e) Learn how to use the MediaLab Software, software commonly used in the Psychological Field
PSYCHOLOGY AS NATURAL SCIENCE LAB
5. Course Outline
Date
Topic
Activity
Assignment Due
1/13
Writing APA Style Papers
Lab 1: Water Tasting
1/20
NO CLASS
NO CLASS
1/27
Design of Experiments
Lab 2: Face Recognition
Correction of lab report
2/3
Ethics and HSC
Lab 3: Dichotic Listening
Lab 2
2/10
Questionnaire Design
Lab 4: Memory
Lab 3
NIH PHRP Certificate
2/17
Data Analysis
Group Work on Proposal
Lab 5: Mirror Drawing
Lab 4
2/24
How to Think Critically
Group Work on HSC
Applications
Group Proposal
Lab 5
3/3
EXAM 1
Topics from 1/16 to 2/20
HSC
3/10
NO CLASS
SPRING BREAK
NO CLASS
3/17
How it all started: Wundt
Lab 6: Discrimination
3/24
Learning
Collect Data (Groups 1, 2, & 3)
Lab 7: Sniffy the Rat
Lab 6
3/31
Social Psychology
Collect Data (Groups 4, 5, & 6)
Lab 8: The Dating Game
Lab 7
4/7
Cognitive Psychology
Collect Data (Groups 7 & 8)
Lab 9: The Stroop Effect
Lab 8
4/14
Neuroscience
Lab 10: Neuronal Transmission
Lab 9
4/21
Class Presentations
Class Presentations
Lab 10
4/28
EXAM 2
Topics from 3/6 to 4/17
Group Research Paper
PSYCHOLOGY AS NATURAL SCIENCE LAB
6. Important deadlines
1. Every week you will need to write a lab report, the printed lab report will be collected AT
THE BEGINNING OF CLASS
2. The day of Exam 1 the Human Subject Committee application will be collected
3. Class Presentations on the group research project will be 4/14 NO EXCEPTIONS
4. Your final research paper is due the date of the Exam 2
7. Academic Integrity Policy
Cheating of any form will be reported to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (see
Academic Integrity Code, The American University, Spring, 1991). PLAGIARIZING IS
CONSIDERED A FORM OF CHEATING AND WILL NOT BE TOLERATED IN ANY
FORM. BE SURE TO CAREFULLY CITE WHEN YOU WRITE YOUR LAB REPORTS AS
TO NOT JEOPARDIZE YOUR ACADEMIC CAREER AND FUTURE.
8. Description of Types of Examinations
* Examinations: There will be a total of two examinations. The first exam is worth 15%, and the
second examis worth 15 % of your total grade. There will be no make-up exams (unless there is
a medical emergency, requiring a legitimate doctor’s note). No other exceptions will be made.
* Lab Reports: There will be a total of 10 Lab Reports. each lab report represents a 5% of your
final grade (total value of the lab reports is 50% of your final grade). If you miss more than one,
you have to realize that you will lose 5% of your final grade for each missed report. Lab reports
will be collected each session AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS, NO EXCEPTIONS. If you
miss the experiment in class YOU WILL NOT BE PROVIDED WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO
MAKE UP THE ACTIVITY AND NO LATE LAB REPORTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. In the
event that a classmate can explain the concepts and procedure to you accurately, you will be
permitted to hand in a lab report of an activity you did not complete due to absence but it will
start off with a penalized score and is highly subject to plagiarism scanning.
* Class presentation (10% of your final grade): Fifteen minutes (minimum) group presentation
about your research project. Each member of the group is expected to contribute equally.
* Please note that if you are taking the course pass/fail, you need at least a C to pass.
* For those students taking the class for a letter grade, the grading will be as follows: A = 93 or
above; A- + 90-92; B + = 87-89.99; B = 83-86.99; B- = 80-82.99; C+ = 77-79.99; C = 7376.99; C- = 70-72.99; D = 60-69.99; F = 59.99 or below
* Class participation represents 5% of your grade. DO NOT ASSUME THAT COMING TO
CLASS IS THE SAME AS PARTICIPATING IN THE CLASS. Class attendance is mandatory;
therefore you will not get points for it.
PSYCHOLOGY AS NATURAL SCIENCE LAB
9. Breakdown of your grade
Exams: 30%
Lab Reports: 50%
Class presentation + Written (APA style) group project: 10%+ 5%
Class participation: 5%
10. Computer Usage Guidelines
a) Each student working on the computer will have to sign for it on the Computer Sign Out
sheet
b) Computers are never to be taken out of class
c) When working on computers (the lab’s or your own) you are not to do anything other than
work for this course. If anyone is instant messaging, g chatting, emailing, facebooking,
myspacing, or generally surfing the web or doing work for other courses, their computer
privileges will be revoked and they will have to do all computer type activities on their
own time for this course.
d) You are not allowed to download unauthorized programs or applets or change any inherent
settings on the computers unless specifically told to do so by the instructor
e) If a computer fails due to user error, the names of the students responsible from the
appropriate section of this course will be reported to the dean and compensation for repair
or replacement may be required
f) When saving your work, save to your G-drive or a flash drive, you are not to be emailing
work in class unless instructed to do so
g) Do not save anything to the desktop. If you do, it may be erased. Also, please be aware
that other students use these laptops.
Please Note: The instructor reserves the right to modify, and notify the class of such
modification, of this syllabus at any time throughout the semester as he sees fit.