210
LAB ASSIGNMENT #1
Fall term 2013
Due: Friday, November 22nd at the end of class
General lab info
• 1 lab assignment per term (10% each)
• The entire lab (2 assignments) is worth 20% of your final
grade for 210
Term 1 Assignment - Process
1.
A good understanding of CC and Pavlov’s work is
necessary to start the assignment
•
•
•
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
CC will be covered in class in the coming weeks
Read chapter 7 in your text
Go over the key words in the lab manual
Go over the lab manual before you start
Run the experiments in the CC program
Think about some hypotheses you have for each
experiment and take notes
Open your CC data files and graph your data
Write an APA-formatted full lab report
Lab manual
• Found here
• Read all of the instructions before you start working
• Detailed instructions on running the program and
•
•
•
•
•
experiment parameters
APA info
What to include in your lab report write-up
Instructions for graphing your data
Example figure
Grading scheme and checklist
Classical Conditioning Overview
• 1) US  UR
• 2)CS + US = UR
• 3)CS  CR
Other terms
• Acquisition Trials – present both the US and CS
• Extinction Trials – present CS alone
• Interstimulus interval (ISI) – time between presentation of
the CS and US
• The program calls this the CS-US interval.
• Independent variable – the variable we are manipulating –
changes in each experiment
• Dependent variable – the variable we’re measuring – in
our case this is the # of saliva drops produced
Our Experiments:
1. Experiment 1 - Number of Acquisition Trials
• 5 conditions: 10 AT, 20 AT, 30 AT, 40 AT, 50 AT
2. Experiment 2 - Conditioned Stimulus
• 3 conditions: manipulate the loudness of the bell in db (50, 60, and
80 db)
3. Experiment 3 - Unconditioned Stimulus
• 3 conditions: manipulate the number of food pellets the dogs
receive (4, 6, and 8 pellets)
4. Experiment 4 - CS-US Interval
• 3 conditions: manipulate the time between the presentation of the
bell and the food (0.3 seconds, 0.5 seconds, and 0.7 seconds)
The Program
• Use campus computers
• Apps on Caesar (S:)
• Go to Psych 210
• Click on CC to open the program
• Follow parameters outlined in the manual and run the 4
experiments
Interpreting the data
• After each acquisition trial, assume a test is given in
which the CS is presented alone
• This tells us the strength of the CR after each CS-US
presentation.
• The data given by the CC program are the number of
drops of saliva (dependent variable)
• We are focusing on the means (sum of all drops of saliva
from the 4 dogs / 4)
Graphing your data
• You will need to make 5 APA graphs in Excel:
1. Experiment 1 – acquisition curves for all 5 conditions
2. Experiment 1 – extinction curves for all 5 conditions
3. Experiment 2 – three acquisition curves for each CS
intensity value
4. Experiment 3 – three acquisition cures for each US
intensity value
5. Experiment 4 – three acquisition curves for each CS-US
interval (or interstimulus interval) value
Step by step instructions on making APA graphs in Excel are provided
in the manual.
Writing your lab report
• APA format and APA citations must be used
• Include:
• Title page
• Introduction
• Method
• Results
• Discussion
• References (your text, etc.)
• Figures
• Raw data from the CC program (print and attach this at the back)
Check the manual for details to include in each of these sections.
Resources for Assignment 1
• Template for Assignment 1
• APA Lab Report Manual
• APA citation help
• Assignment 1 Manual
• Chapter 7 in your text
• Come see me during my office hours or email me if you
need any help.