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Dr. Lisa Grimm

grimm@tcnj.edu

Office: TBD

Student hours: TBD

PSY390/492 (1 unit): Laboratory Learning Syllabus

In this course, we will work together on projects directly and/or indirectly related to my core research

program. My lab is the Motivation, Individual Differences, and Stereotypes in Cognition (MISC) Lab. I

am interested in basic cognitive processes, such as categorization, learning, reasoning, and decision

making, and how individual difference variables influence processes. My lab is appropriately titled the

MISC lab because I do have varied interests and am interested in working collaboratively on both my

research ideas and your ideas.

Format

As a laboratory learning course, we will meet once a week as a group for our 3 hour lab meeting. In this

meeting we will discuss articles (that will be e-mailed or provided in Canvas), discuss experimental

design/methods, interpret data, and explore professional development issues. You will also work in the

lab individually or in teams on research projects for an additional 7 hours a week. We may also meet

informally or in small groups as necessary.

Lab/Reading Weekly Schedule: The specific schedule will be determined at our first lab

meeting of the semester.

Please see the syllabus supplement for our weekly schedule.

Course materials

You do not need to purchase any materials for this course. All articles will be provided in Canvas.

Course purpose and learning goals

This course exists to give you primary research experience in an active psychology laboratory, and

provides you with the opportunity to work closely with me on research projects. There are several

learning goals and related learning activities associated with this course:

1. Intellectual development: All lab related activities are intended to improve critical thinking,

increase knowledge, and expand your research skills.

2. Professional development: You may either work on developing or improving a personal

statement for graduate school or a C.V./resume. We also will talk as a lab or individually about

graduate school and getting a job after graduation. My goal is to help you meet your professional

goals to the extent that I am able. We may also have lab tutorials on useful software packages.

3. Understanding of lab research objectives and methodologies: I will strive to help you understand

the research objectives of the lab and our various research methodologies. We will spend time

during lab meeting and individually discussing various projects and explore the advantages and

disadvantages of theoretical positions and methodological approaches.

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4. Understanding and communicating research ideas: You will present articles to the lab on a topic

related to our research program and weekly discuss research done in the lab and by other

researchers.

For PSY492 students, this is a speaking intensive and writing intensive course. Throughout the

semester, students will present in lab meetings and, near the end of the semester, students present

as a 09x event. Moreover, students will write a 20-25 page paper with at least 3 drafts that have

my feedback.

This course fulfills the following Middle States Learning Outcomes:

Written Communication (1)

Scientific and Quantitative Reasoning (3)

Technological Competence (4)

Critical Analysis and Reasoning (5)

Information Literacy (6)

Ethical Reasoning and Compassion (10)

Psychological Knowledge (12)

Career Preparation (14)

[PSY492 only] Oral Communication (2)

Requirements: Each category below will be 20% of your final grade

Lab meeting:

1. For this lab to function effectively, it is expected that all students come prepared to lab

meetings, feel comfortable sharing their ideas and opinions, and that more advanced students

(i.e., 492 students) generate their own research ideas and methods for investigating their

hypotheses and offer more insightful feedback on articles and lab presentations.

2. Weekly informal progress reports. At every lab meeting, we will touch base with everyone

on how the projects are going. Be prepared to discuss the number of participants run in

studies, any issues with data collection, and new data (if applicable).

Lab Protocol:

1. You must complete a research and ethics training module (see

http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php/) during the first week of the semester

2. Individual differences research does require that the experimenter carefully follows research

protocols. All students should have appropriate interactions with our research participants,

take care of the laboratory equipment, have knowledge of software/equipment use and

operation, adherence to schedules, the ability to learn and respond to feedback, and more

advanced students should be able to troubleshoot problems.

3. All students should alert me of any issues concerning software or research participants. It is

always easier to fix problems right after they develop.

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Intellectual Development:

1. You will offer useful feedback to your peers on their personal statements or C.V./resume (as

applicable). It is expected that more advanced students take the lead on feedback and provide

actionable suggestions for improving the statements.

2. Every student will be responsible for leading the discussion of articles for lab meeting. It is

expected that more advanced students select their own article and offer novel insights and

assessment, and more clearly communicate research outcomes. More advanced students will

also be responsible for describing the results of laboratory studies without difficulty.

3. Every student is expected to develop an understanding of the research objectives of the lab

and basic scientific abilities. Advanced students should display a complete understanding

and can read, understand, and create complex research designs with the possibility of

preparing large sections of an experimental manuscript.

Professional Development:

1. Every student will produce a one-page personal statement for graduate school. The exact

requirements and due date will be discussed in lab meeting. A rough draft will be due in the

middle of the semester. This draft will be reviewed by all other lab members. I recognize

that not all of you may decide to attend graduate school. I believe this is still an important

exercise because it will get you to focus on what you like about psychology and what areas of

study are most fascinating to you and why. The final draft will be due two weeks after you

receive peer feedback. More advanced students are expected to write with more clarity

without grammatical or spelling errors.

OR

2. Every student will create a Curriculum Vitae/Resume. The exact requirements and due date

will be discussed in lab meeting. I will make my curriculum vitae and an old job resume (for

a non-academic job) available to you to use as a model.

AND/OR

3. Every student will participate in software tutorials and/or program elements of new

experiments to enhance expertise with important software packages (e.g., MatLab, SPSS)

AND/OR

4. A student may also elect to manage the lab website or the scheduling of paid participants.

Final Project (due the first day of the final exam period):

Every student will produce a final project. Students enrolled in 492 must complete a written

project. Other students may choose between a comprehensive literature review, a proposal for

future research, or a lab project that in some way improves the MISC lab.

a) For the literature review or proposal, papers will include a survey of relevant work. For 390

students, the papers must be 5 to 10 pages. For 492 students, the papers must be 20-25 pages

and need to be revised at least twice using my feedback.

b) If you select the lab project, you may work individually, as small groups, or as one large

group. You will meet with me by mid-semester for approval of your project idea. Some

ideas for group projects: creating/modifying a lab webpage, creating a lab manual with

instructions for future students, or improving the lab layout –please feel free to be creative

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General Grading Criteria

Because this course may be taken at the 300 and 400 level, students at the 400 level will be assessed using

more stringent criteria as described above.

A level performance – Fully engaged in the lab with a commitment to the research goals and a

clear understanding of the research objectives and methodologies. Writing is at a high level with

great organization, insightful analysis, and no spelling or grammatical errors.

B level performance – Generally engaged in the lab with some displayed commitment to the

research goals and a working understanding of the objectives and methodologies. Writing is

generally clear and insightful with no spelling or grammatical errors but some arguments may be

underdeveloped.

C level performance – Modestly engaged with the lab (i.e., attends meetings but does not

contribute and/or misses an occasional participant session) and demonstrates an understanding of

objectives and methodologies that is incomplete, resulting in errors in following the protocol or

miscommunication of key study details. Writing is somewhat confusing and mostly describes

superficial details with some spelling and grammatical errors.

D level performance – Frequently absent from lab activities (i.e., misses lab meetings, misses

appointments with research participants) in a manner that disrupts the general functioning of the

lab, does not come prepared for lab meetings and derails the meeting by steering the conversation

towards completely unrelated topics, and written work is poorly constructed with a lack of

appropriate content, and lots of grammatical and spelling errors and organizational problems.

F level performance – Generally absent from lab activities, shows no understanding of the

research objectives of the lab, and produces minimal input or written work.

*****You will lose half a letter grade for repeated problems (3 or more) following simple protocols, such

as a failure to give PIPER credit, a failure to document participants in the running sheet, or a failure to

shut down computers during the last session of the day.******

TCNJ policies

Attendance

Every student is expected to participate in each of his/her courses through regular attendance at

lecture and laboratory sessions. It is further expected that every student will be present, on time,

and prepared to participate when scheduled class sessions begin. At the first class meeting of a

semester, instructors are expected to distribute in writing the attendance policies which apply to

their courses. While attendance itself is not used as a criterion for academic evaluations,

grading is frequently based on participation in class discussion, laboratory work, performance,

studio practice, field experience, or other activities which may take place during class sessions.

TCNJ’s attendance policy is available on the web:

http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=8162

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Academic Integrity Policy

Academic dishonesty is any attempt by the student to gain academic advantage through

dishonest means, to submit, as his or her own, work which has not been done by him/her or to

give improper aid to another student in the completion of an assignment. Such dishonesty would

include, but is not limited to: submitting as his/her own a project, paper, report, test, or speech

copied from, partially copied, or paraphrased from the work of another (whether the source is

printed, under copyright, or in manuscript form). Credit must be given for words quoted or

paraphrased. The rules apply to any academic dishonesty, whether the work is graded or

ungraded, group or individual, written or oral. TCNJ’s academic integrity policy is available on

the web: http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=9394

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy

Any student who has a documented disability and is in need of academic accommodations should

notify the professor of this course and contact Disability Support Services (609-771-3199) or

http://differingabilities.pages.tcnj.edu/. Accommodations are individualized and in accordance

with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of

1992. TCNJ’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) policy is available on the web:

http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=8082

EEO Policy

The College of New Jersey Policy Prohibiting Discrimination in the Workplace/Educational

Environment governs the college’s commitment to and expectations of having an environment

that respects the diversity of all members of the campus community. Under this policy, forms of

discrimination or harassment based upon specific protected categories are prohibited and will

not be tolerated. If you wish to report a concern, please contact Kerri Thompson Tillett, Chief

Diversity Officer, at 771-3139, or via email at thompsok@tcnj.edu. The EEO policy is available

on the web: http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=9122.

Mid-semester Evaluations: TCNJ policy requires a mid-semester evaluation of your progress

in this class. I will provide a quick, subjective judgment of your class behavior (grades,

attendance, participation, etc.) to provide you with a "satisfactory", "caution" or

"unsatisfactory" rating. These ratings are merely feedback for you to use to improve your class

performance. They are not intended to predict your final grade. As always, I encourage you to

discuss your progress with me in person.

TCNJ’s final examination policy is available on the web:

http://policies.tcnj.edu/policies/digest.php?docId=9136