Course Information

What:  PSY 205-02, Fall 2023
When: Mo/Th, 8:30-11:20 am
Where:
Mo: West Bldg W117
Th: North Bldg 614 
Instructor: Carolina Lopera
Email: cloperaoquendo@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Office Hours: Th 11:30 am - 1:30 pm

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Welcome to the Experimental Psychology Course

About this course

An understanding of the scientific method, and the ability to apply this knowledge every day, is one of the most important skills you will acquire in college. Knowing how science works is an essential aspect of your future. Even if you do not become a scientist, you will make decisions in your everyday life that call up your knowledge of the scientific process and your ability to think critically, like a scientist. Crucially, these decisions will affect more than just you; they will affect your family and your community as well. 

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, you will be able to….

  1. Understand the fundamentals of scientific methodology, including research design, hypothesis testing, variable selection, and sampling methodologies.  
  2. Understand the fundamentals of ethical research, including but not limited to the completion of the CUNY online ethics certification (CBT).
  3. Demonstrate information literacy by conducting literature searches and evaluating source materials.  
  4. Carry out data collection using multiple modalities (observational, experimental, etc.) in conjunction with data analysis using computer-based software. 
  5. Effectively communicate results through research papers and oral presentations.   

Main Topics

1. Research Design

  • Origin of research hypotheses.
  • Dependent and independent variables, determination of relevant variables, controlled and uncontrolled variables, general and procedural (operational) definitions of variables, internal and external validity, reliability.
  • Observational, correlational and experimental research.
  • Within- and between- subjects designs, order effects, counterbalancing, matching by pre-test, random selection, factorial design, single and matched samples, single subject and group data.
  • Organization, summarization and presentation of findings.
  • Calculation and interpretation of descriptive and inferential statistics.

 2. Ethics

  • Informed consent, confidentiality, participant-experimenter interaction, and debriefing.
  • Completion of the CUNY approved human subjects research training (CITI Training).

 3. Information Literacy

  • Information retrieval through library databases (e.g., PsycInfo, PubMed).
  • Use of abstracts, research journals.
  • Evaluation of sources.

4. Techniques

  • Data collection and analysis.
  • Use of computers and other experimental materials/apparatus and equipment for data collection.
  • Use computer programs such as Excel, JASP, Word, and PowerPoint.

 5. Communication of Research Results

  • Students in all sections must complete a minimum of four full APA research reports based on data collected for the course. There may be additional assignments.
  • The final paper should be an original study designed by the student.
  • The results of this experiment are to be presented in class preferably in the form of a PowerPoint presentation.