Honors Experimental Psychology

Course Syllabus, Fall 2004

COURSE: H101B

PROFESSOR: Don Hoffman SECRETARY: Justine Sarashid

Welcome back to school and to your senior year at UCI. This year you will work on a research project culminating in a senior thesis.  By the end of the academic year you must design, execute, interpret and write at least one experiment. This quarter we will help you, collectively and individually, toward this goal.  This course is taught pass/fail. If you registered for a grade then you must register again correctly.

During this quarter you will complete plans for your honors research.  You must meet five requirements:

  1. Two oral presentations: The first is a 15-minute ‘personal statement’ that introduces yourself,  your research plans, your research advisor, and your plans for the future. The second is a more extensive 30-minute presentation of your intended research, including A) its background, B) the hypothesis that you will be testing, C) the methods you will employ, D) the means of analyzing your results and E) the possible outcomes and their implications. You could, of course, include any pilot results that might be available.
  2. Attendance at one colloquium or Sensation and Perception presentation during the quarter, and turning in a one-page summary of the presentation you heard. (Schedules for these talks will be available; colloquia are alternate Mondays 12-1, in SSPA 2112, starting early in October. Sensation and Perception presentations are Wednesday12-1 in SSPB 3218.)
  3. Human Subjects Committee approval of your research plans. Even if you use your advisor’s protocol you should apply for IRB approval.
  4. A first draft and final draft of the Introduction and Methods sections of your thesis
  5. Pass eight quizzes on the books by Williams and Strunk et al.


Oral presentations: You can view the oral presentations as opportunities to practice public speaking and interview techniques.  Your first presentation can also help you to prepare your  personal statement for graduate school. Tell us about your background, career as a student, interests in psychology and plans for graduate school and a future career. Tell us about your advisor and the issues that you will study in your thesis research.  The second presentation can use powerpoint or transparencies. Just let us know in advance.  This presentation should be a lecture that reviews the relevant literature, presents your research hypothesis, describes the experimental design to test that hypothesis (i.e., subjects, materials, levels, factors, procedures), predicts the results that you might obtain and interprets these possible results.  The details of your research plans might, of course, change during the year.  The point of this quarter is a good and quick start.

Colloquia/Perception lunch: These talks give you a chance to hear presentations by professors from other universities. They can help you think about careers, graduate school and ways to present your own ideas.

IRB approval: All projects must have approval by IRB Committee C.  Get a copy of the application form from the Laboratory Office in 488 SSL or from the web at: http://www.rgs.uci.edu/rig/hsindex.htm.  After you read the materials and take the tutorial at http://www.rgs.uci.edu/rig/hstrain.htm, you should complete the IRB form. The IRB office is available for advice that can save you  time.  When the form is completed, submit it for IRB approval as soon as possible. They will contact you through e-mail and web postings. If you file for exempt or expedited status, you may submit at any time, but allow at least a month to get approval. If you require full committee review, the deadlines for submitting applications for this more lengthy review are on the website.

The written paper: The paper should be typed in APA style. It should assume your reader is a psychologist, but not expert in your area. It should acquaint the reader with the relevant literature, develop your hypotheses and present an experimental method.  You should submit your first draft by the Tuesday of the seventh week of the quarter.  We will make comments and return it to you. We expect the final draft to be submitted by the end of the tenth week.  Missing these deadlines will result in an incomplete for the course. The first draft and final draft must be written in clear, flawless and elegant English style. Consult Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph Williams and The Elements of Style (4th Edition) by William Strunk et al.

SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS AND READINGS

Meeting.  Date:        Topic:                                                     Reading

1.      Tu     9/28:     Introduction                                             Williams, Chapters 1-4
2.      Th     9/30:     Writing                                                    Williams, Chapters 1-4
3.      Tu     10/5:     Quiz on Williams 1-4, Writing                Williams, Chapters 5-7
4.      Th     10/7:     Writing                                                    Williams, Chapters 5-7
5.      Tu   10/12:     Quiz on Williams 5-7, Writing                Williams, Chapters 8-10; Epilogue; Appendix
6.      Th   10/14:     Public Speaking                                      Williams, Chapters 8-10; Epilogue; Appendix
7.      Tu   10/19:     Quiz on Williams 8+, Student Talks       Strunk, Intro,  Chapter 1
8.      Th   10/21:     Student Talks                                          Strunk, Intro,  Chapter 1
9.      Tu   10/26:     Quiz on Strunk 1, IRB                            Strunk, Chapter 2
10.    Th   10/28:     Writing                                                    Strunk, Chapter 2
11.    Tu     11/2:     Quiz on Strunk 2, Writing                       Strunk, Chapter 3
12.    Th     11/4:     Writing                                                    Strunk, Chapter 3
13.    Tu     11/9:     First Drafts Due, Quiz on Strunk 3         Strunk, Chapter 4
14.    Th   11/11:     Writing                                                    Strunk, Chapter 4
15.    Tu   11/16:     Quiz on Strunk 4, Writing                       Strunk, Chapter 5
16.    Th   11/18:     Writing                                                    Strunk, Chapter 5
17.    Tu   11/23:     Quiz on Strunk 5, Student Talks
18.    Th   11/25:     Student Talks
19.    Tu   11/30:     Student Talks
20.    Th     12/2:     Final Drafts Due, Student Talks


--- Tu 12/7, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.,  FINAL

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