P217: Thinking Clearly About Psychology
Section 002 MWF 11:00am
Section 004 MWF 1:00pm
Swing 122
Instructor: Dr. Colleen Brenner
Office: Kenny Bldg, room 3507
Telephone: (604) 822-4650
Email: cbrenner@psych.ubc.ca
Office Hours: MWF 12-1, or by appt.
Class website: www.psych.ubc.ca/~cbrenner
Teaching Assistants (TA): There are two TAs for this course. Conny will assist with
section 2 and Dilys with section 4, but you can see either one for help. TAs will be
responsible for all grading, office hours, and handling questions sent via email. They will
also hold review sections before exams and allow you to view your exams in their
offices. They may present a few lectures.
Name: Conny Lin
Office: Kenny Bldg, room 3514
Email: conny@interchange.ubc.ca
Office Hours: MWF 12:30-1:30
Name: Dilys Leung
Office: Kenny Bldg, room 1912
Email: dilys@psych.ubc.ca
Office Hours: by appt.
Required Textbooks
How to Think Straight About Psychology (8th Edition) Keith E. Stanovich
Methods in Behavioral Research (9th Edition) Paul C. Cozby
The book by Stanovich will provide an overview of modern psychology, and it reviews
some misconceptions that many people have about the field of psychology. This book
also presents the rationale for use of the scientific method and critical thinking skills
necessary to interpret psychological findings in our everyday lives. The Cozby book is a
standard research methods text that provides the corresponding details to the concepts
outlined by Stanovich. You will learn about experimental design, research concepts and
an overview of statistics from this text.
Attendance
Examinations will cover both text and lecture material. Some lectures may contain
original material that does not appear in either text. If you miss a lecture, it is your
responsibility to ask a fellow student for notes as the TAs will not attend lectures. I will
try to post overheads on the class website, but these may be cryptic if you missed the
class. You can also use the class website to contact other students or post a question.
Evaluation
Research Experience Component (REC): 5%
Homework: 5%
Midterm Exam: 35%
Final Exam: 55%
Research Experience Component (REC)
As part of this course, you will be asked to spend four hours participating in psychology
studies through the Department of Psychology’s Human Subject Pool (HSP) system. You
can locate and sign up for studies by going to https://hsp.psych.ubc.ca. If you don’t
already have a user account you will first need to request an HSP (human subject pool)
user account on that webpage. Once you have an account and have logged into it, you
will be able to browse through all of the studies that you can participate in, sign up for
studies and confirm your accumulated credits. At the end of the course, you will be asked
to complete a brief research reflection report in which you answer questions about the
one study you found the most interesting. These reports must be submitted to the
instructor or TA on or before the last day of class. The subject pool typically closes the
last week of class so I strongly urge all students to participate and confirm their
accumulated credits before the last week of class. Further instruction on how to use the
HSP online system can be found at http://www.psych.ubc.ca/resguide.psy in the
document entitled “Subject Pool Information for Participants.”
Because introducing you to psychological research is an important part of this course, the
REC is required. However, as an alternative to participation in subject pool studies you
may choose to fulfill the REC by completing four library writing projects. If you choose
this option you will be required to read and summarize (in written form) four recent peer
reviewed research articles. Each summary should be about 500 words and should include
the purpose, method and results of the study. At the end of the course, you will also be
asked to complete a brief research reflection report in which you answer questions about
the one article you found the most interesting. If you choose to make use of the library
option, you must submit your completed article summaries, together with copies of the
summarized articles to, Dr. Liz Dunn at least 10 days before the end of class. The
research reflection reports must be submitted to the instructor or TA on or before the last
day of class.
The REC is worth 5% of your course grade (1 hour of participation or 1 article summary
= 1%; research reflection report = 1%). The REC is designed to help you learn more
about psychology and how research is conducted and to provide you with first-hand
experience with psychological research. This may make understanding research easier
and may help you decide whether research is a career choice for you. Indeed, by
providing you with a window into the diverse types of research conducted in the
psychology department you may find that you are interested in becoming more involved
with one of the labs you visit
Homework
For both homework assignments you are to bring in an article from a newspaper,
magazine, TV (you must provide the video) or online source that discusses a “scientific”
finding. You will be required to write a short paragraph summarizing the findings, the
methods used and some possible misleading or questionable results or conclusions that
the reader might take away from this source. The homework assignments are not meant
to take a lot of time, but are aimed at having you think critically about media reports
armed with the knowledge you’ve gained from class. They can be about any topic you
choose (please no x-rated material) and you must attach the article (or video) to your
paragraph summary. Each assignment is worth up to 2.5%.
Exams:
The midterm exam will be held on Friday, October 17 and will account for 35% of your
grade.
The final exam will be held in December, the actual date and time will be decided upon
by the registrar. It will be cumulative with more emphasis on material covered since the
midterm exam and it will account for 55% of your grade.
Both exams will be a combination of multiple choice, true-false and fill-in-the-blank
questions.
Grade Distribution and Scaling
The UBC Psychology department has instituted a policy of scaling grades in order to
reduce grade inflation and to ensure equity across multiple course sections. This class
will be scaled to have a mean of between 63-67 and a standard deviation of 14. This
means that your grade will be based on your rank within the class, and that individual
grades may be scaled either up or down to comply with departmental norms. I will scale
the midterm grades so that you have a rough estimate of where you stand in comparison
to others in the class, but please remember that this is only a guideline and that more
scaling may be needed to meet departmental requirements at the end of the class.
Exam Days
In an effort to create a positive test-taking environment, the following rules will be in
place during exams. Please no hats, caps, baggy clothes, high boots, etc. No PDAs,
Blackberries, cell phones, calculators, or any other electronic device. If you carry these
devices with you to class, make sure that they are turned off before entering the room.
Bring your picture ID to the exam. Your exam will not be given to you without a picture
ID. Please keep your ID on your desk during the exam. The exams of people around you
will be a different format from yours. The exams in the two sections will be completely
different, so you must take the exam in the section that you are in. When you are finished
with the exam, you must see a TA to present your ID and turn in your exam.
Missed Examinations
If you miss an exam due to illness, contact me and the teaching assistant assigned to your
section either before the exam or on the day of the exam. Failure to immediately notify
us that you missed the exam may result in a grade of 0 with no opportunity to write a
make up. You must notify both myself and your TA again when you are well. When you
arrive for the make up exam, you must present a note from your doctor confirming that
you were sick for the period of time extending from the day of the exam to the day that
you notify us that you are well. You will not be permitted to write the exam without this
note, no exceptions.
If you miss an exam for a reason other than illness a decision about how to proceed will
be made on a case by case basis. However, in most cases missing an exam will result in a
grade of 0 on the exam and no opportunity to write a make-up exam.
Viewing Exams
Your midterm exam grades will be posted on the class website using student numbers (no
names). Please contact the TA assigned to your section to set up an exam viewing time;
however, all exams remain the property of the university and you must return them to the
TAs before you leave their office. If you want to dispute any aspect of the midterm
grading, you may do so with the TA during their office hours. If a resolution cannot be
reached between you and the TA, you must submit a written (email is ok) argument to me
outlining why your answer should be considered correct. This written dispute must be
sent within two weeks of receiving your scores. Please note that if you request that a
question be re-graded, your mark may go up, down or stay the same.
It is a university regulation that students may not view their final examinations without
special written permission from the Dean’s Office – during this viewing, discussion of
grades is strictly forbidden. If you believe that an error has been made in the marking of
your final examination, you may officially request from the Registrar’s Office (within 4
weeks of the announcement of the final grades) that your examination be remarked. See
the UBC calendar.
Psychology Department’s Position on Academic Misconduct
Cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic misconduct are very serious concerns
of the University, and the Department of Psychology has taken steps to alleviate them.
The department has implemented software that can reliably detect cheating on multiplechoice exams by analyzing the patterns of students’ responses. In all cases of suspected
academic misconduct, the parties involved will be pursued to the fullest extent dictated
by the guidelines of the University. Strong evidence of cheating or plagiarism may result
in a zero credit for the work in question. According to the University Act (section 61), the
President of UBC has the right to impose harsher penalties including (but not limited to)
a failing grade for the course, suspension from the University, cancellation of
scholarships, or a notation added to a student’s transcript.
For details on pertinent University policies and procedures, please see Chapter 5 in the
UBC Calendar (http://students.ubc.ca/calendar) and read the University’s Policy 69
(available at http:/www.universitycounsel.ubc.ca/policies/policy69.html).
Course Schedule
Included is a tentative course schedule. I will adapt it accordingly as the term unfolds.
Any changes/additions will be announced in class & posted on the website.
Changes
Information in this syllabus is subject to change, including things such as due dates, etc.
Any changes will be announced in class and on the website. If you miss a class, it is your
responsibility to get information concerning the syllabus.
P217: Thinking Clearly About Psychology
Course Schedule – Term 1, 2008
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Date
Sept 3, W
Sept 5, F
Topic
Course Intro
The Science of Psychology
Sept 8, M
Sept 10, W
Sept 12, F
Sept 15, M
The Scientific Approach
Self-Help In Modern Psychology
Falsifiability
Hypotheses & Predictions
Sept 17, W
Sept 19, F
Sept 22, M
Sept 24, W
Sept 26, F
Sept 29, M
Oct 1, W
Oct 3, F
Oct 6, M
Oct 8, W
Oct 10, F
Oct 13, M
Oct 15, W
Oct 17, F
Oct 20, M
Oct 22, W
Oct 24, F
Oct 27, M
Oct 29, W
Oct 31, F
Nov 3, M
Nov 5, W
Nov 7, F
Nov 10, M
Nov 12, W
Hypotheses & Predictions
The Amazing Randi
Ethics
Ethics con’t
Operationism & Empiricism
*HW Due * Studying Behavior
Studying Behavior con’t
Measurement Concepts
Measurement Concepts con’t
Survey Research
Survey Research con’t
No Class – Thanksgiving
Midterm Review Session
Midterm Exam
The Myth of Clinical Experience
Observing Behavior
Experimental Design
Case Studies & Testimonials
Conducting Experiments
Conducting Experiments con’t
Complex Experimental Designs
Select Experimental Designs
* HW Due* Licensure in Clinical Psychology
Understanding Description & Correlation
Understanding Description & Correlation
con’t
Understanding Statistical Inference
Understanding Statistical Inference con’t
Generalizing Results
Generalizing Results con’t
Psychology in the Real World
How to Think Clearly About Psychology
Review Session
Nov 14, F
Nov 17, M
Nov 19, W
Nov 20, F
Nov 24, M
Nov 26, W
Nov 28, F
Readings
Stanovich Ch. 1
& Cozby Ch. 1
Stanovich Ch. 2
Cozby Ch. 2, &
Stanovich Ch. 8
Cozby Ch. 3
Stanovich Ch. 3
Cozby Ch. 4
Stanovich Ch. 9
Cozby Ch. 5
Cozby Ch. 7
Stanovich Ch. 7
Cozby Ch. 6
Cozby Ch. 8
Stanovich Ch. 4
Cozby Ch. 9
Cozby Ch. 10
Cozby Ch. 11
Cozby Ch. 12
Cozby Ch. 13
Stanovich Ch. 10
Cozby Ch. 14
Stanovich Ch. 12