Time Schedule:
Renee L. Ha
PSYCH 332
Seattle Campus
Selected aspects of animal learning emphasizing behavioral experiments with the rat. Prerequisite: either 2.0 in PSYCH 315, or 2.0 in PSYCH 317.
Class description
We will give you the opportunity to apply your knowledge of experimental design and statistics.
1. By letting you actually use what you know in designing, conducting, and reporting on a fairly major project, we hope that you will:
a. gain an appreciation for what you have learned about psychology, b. get experience with, and gain an understanding of what it takes to carry through on a research project from beginning to end, and c. get a better understanding of data interpretation and summarization. 2. We'll give you a basic understanding of learning theory. An understanding of learning theory will benefit you in many areas of psychology. 3. You will practice writing. You will be asked to write an APA formatted paper. You will interpret your data in relation to your hypothesis and summarize it so others can understand it.
Being able to make others understand your ideas is one of the most important goals in science, and in almost every job. You will also give an oral presentation: it is important to be able to express yourself orally as well as in writing.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Psychology 332 is scheduled as a five day per week course. For the first few weeks of the quarter, there will be lectures or other planned activities. For the rest of the quarter, there will be occasional lectures, but most of your time will be spent working on group projects or doing outside research.
Recommended preparation
Course in Research Methods Course in Basic Statistics Course in Introductory Psychology
Class assignments and grading
You will be responsible for passing the animal care exam prior to handling live animals, four homework assignments, two quizzes, regular attendance and participation, a lab notebook with your rat’s weight and health noted daily, an APA term paper, a group project proposal, a take-home exam, a summary of your group experiment results and discussion, a written “poster” presentation and an oral presentation of your group experiment.
Grading Scale: There is no extra credit in this course. Your final grade will be calculated from the total points on homework, quizzes, participation, lab notebooks, take-home exam, papers and your poster and oral presentation (see information on specific assignments and student responsibilities provided in the syllabus). Your grade will be calculated as follows:
1) Score = (Points / 405) * 100 2) Decimal score = (Score 55) / 10 (a score of less than 62 receives a 0.0)
For example, a course-end total of 388 points would produce a score of: (345 / 405) * 100 = 85.18 Therefore, your decimal score, reported to the registrar, would be: (85.18 55) / 10 = 3.0185 or 3.00.
You can calculate your grade point average on a per-assignment basis by dividing your score by the possible number of points in step one. The other steps are identical to calculating your final grade.
Bases For Grading: I view this lab course as a way for the students to integrate what they have learned in previous classes, (Statistics and Research Methods) into a coherent project. The sequence of assignments is designed to facilitate this process, and how well students do on each assignment will affect the end project.
