Introduction to Psychology (Honors), Fall 2008: Participation Requirements

 

Psychology knows what it knows largely through empirical research. You will be reading about a great deal of research in your text and book of articles.  You also will be amassing "participation points" through participation in research as a "subject," and/or reading and evaluating research from professional journals.

 

The Participation Point Requirement
In addition to the quizzes and exams, you will earn points towards your grade by taking part in various activities outside of the classroom. This participation is an integral part of the course and will allow you to become involved in genuine psychological research by actually taking part in one or more of the Psychology Department's ongoing research projects, or by learning about psychological research by reading psychological research articles or attending a scientific presentation related to psychological research (see below for more information). Over the course of a semester, you must earn all 30 points, which is equivalent to approximately 5% of your grade. This is an all-or-nothing system: You will not receive any participation points towards your final grade if you fail to earn all 30 points.
 

Available Participation Credit Activities

There are three methods for accruing points. You can do all of one or a mix of the activities
    

     1) Participating as a subject in an authorized psychology experiment.
     2) Preparing a two-page research report on a topic of your selection related to the course.
     3) Attending a Scientific Presentation and submitting a written summary.

 

1) Authorized Psychology Experiments posted on the SONA website

a. At the beginning of the semester, you will need to register on a research participation management website (http://oneonta.sona-systems.com).  The SONA website lists and describe various studies that are underway in the Psychology Department, in which you can participate for credit.

b. Keep checking this website throughout the semester.  You can sign up for studies as they appear. Be sure to record the experimenter’s name, phone #/email address, day, date, and time of your appointment, as there is a significant penalty for failure to attend.  For some studies, you may be able to fill out questionnaires and surveys directly from the website.
c. When you attend the experimental session and are informed about the nature of the study, you are permitted to withdraw your consent and leave the experiment at any time for any reason, with no penalty. After you have participated in a study, you will be debriefed concerning the purpose of the experiment; your confidentiality and anonymity will be maintained.
d. The number of points you will receive for participating in each study is posted on SONA, and varies depending upon what is required of you. When you have successfully met the

obligations of the study, the points will credited to you. You can access your SONA profile at any time, to track your total earned points. It is your responsibility to keep track of whether you have been granted points for all of the studies in which you have participated.
e. Failure to appear for an experiment after agreeing to do so will result in a penalty equivalent to the point value of the experiment.
f. If an experimenter fails to keep the appointment, inform the FACULTY SPONSOR of the research project and your PSYCHOLOGY INSTRUCTOR by email. You will be given credit for “showing up” for the research.

 

2) Research Report

You will earn 10 credits for writing a report on a topic approved by your instructor. Each report must have at least two supporting references. Paper length is two typed pages, double-spaced. Deadline for Research Reports is the day of the final exam.

 
3) Attend a Scientific Presentation

a. You will earn 10 credits for writing a summary of a scientific presentation you attended. You will be informed by your Instructor as to upcoming Scientific Presentations. Many presentations take place on campus so check with your instructor if attendance at a particular presentation can be used toward the requirement. Once you have attended, submit a one-page paper that summarizes the presentation.  Deadline is one week after the presentation.
b. Besides Scientific Presentations, there are two campus-wide research shows that occur during the spring semester. To earn credit, you must visit three research posters, obtain answers to a few specific questions, and write a summary for each of the posters that you visited. Format for the research shows: Title of study, author(s) name(s), what was the problem under investigation, how was the study conducted, what were the findings, what does it all mean, how did the author become involved with this study, and what plans does the author have for future studies/objectives.