Psychology 350 - Fraley - UIUC - Personality Research Lab

Instructor

R. Chris Fraley, PhD
Department of Psychology, Room 409
E-mail, phone, and other information: http://www.psych.uiuc.edu/~rcfraley

Teaching Assistants

Josh Jackson | Email: jjackso7[AT]uiuc.edu
Jamie Marcus | Email: marcus2[AT]uiuc.edu
Serena Wee | Email: swee2[AT]cyrus.psych.uiuc.edu

Class web page

http://www.yourpersonality.net/psych350/spring2006/

Updates

Mar 14th, 2006

We will not have class on March 17th, 2006.

May 1, 2006

Student projects

If you're in one of the three sections, please participate in the studies that your classmates are running.

http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/P350PNH.pl
http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350jjdfinalproject.pl
http://swbresearch.netfirms.com/dailystudy.html

Readings

There is no textbook for this class. However, there will be reading assignments announced from time to time. These readings will be made available on the class web page and will be announced in class.

Structure and Overview of the Course

The discipline of psychology occupies a peculiar niche in modern universities. Contemporary psychologists are concerned with basic humanistic issues (e.g., the nature of emotions, the mind, relationships, free will, and consciousness) that have traditionally been studied by philosophers, poets, and historians. However, unlike scholars in these other disciplines, modern psychologists employ the methods of the natural sciences (e.g., measurement, experimentation) in order to understand these phenomena.

The objective of this course is to introduce you to scientific methods, explain why they are valuable, and illustrate how they can be used to understand psychological phenomena. More specifically, we will focus on the methods used to study the psychology of personality. Personality psychology is concerned with understanding the ways in which people differ from one another, the origins and development of those differences, and the implications of those differences for important outcomes (e.g., life satisfaction, marriage, career performance, mental and physical health). The study of personality is arguably one of the most integrative areas in contemporary psychology, bringing together theories and data from multiple disciplines to better understand the way in which the mind works, how we develop, and what makes us different from one another. As such, the methods we will discuss in this course will be broad in scope, ranging from those concerned with low-level aspects of human functioning (e.g., perception) to those that are more abstract (e.g., the organization of the self-concept).

This specific course will not discuss in much depth the "content" of personality psychology (i.e., the knowledge that has accumulated over the last few decades). A prerequisite for the class is Psych 250, so I will assume that you already know something about what psychologists have learned about the nature of human personality. This course will focus on the methods that personality psychologists use to acquire this knowledge. As such, the emphasis will be on providing you with a broad set of skills rather than facts and trivia.

I will deliver lectures on Mondays. I expect you to be in class on time, and, if you cannot make it to class for some reason, I strongly encourage you to obtain the lecture notes from one of your classmates as soon as possible. (Do not come to me or one of the TA’s for lecture notes.) After the first few weeks, the Monday class meetings will become a bit less formal as we move into group activities, discussions, and continuations of activities that are relevant to your lab sections. There will be two lab sections, led by the TA’s, held on Wednesdays and Fridays of each week. In those sections you will design studies, collect and analyze psychological data, and expand your critical thinking skills.

The Class Webpage

I will post lecture notes and other materials relevant to the class on the class web page. You should treat the class web page as your primary syllabus. I will be updating it on a regular basis and it will be your responsibility to keep up-to-date on any changes that are made. (I will, however, announce significant changes in the lecture sessions.) The lecture-topical schedule listed below is preliminary and will change as a function of how quickly or slowly we are progressing though the course. If you do not have Internet access at home, please visit one of the many student computer facilities on campus on a regular basis.

Grading

Grades will be based on a combination of tests, papers, and laboratory participation. The tests will cover some of the basic concepts that we will discuss in lecture, as well as some of the skills you acquire during the laboratory sessions (e.g., data analysis). The purpose of the tests is to provide you with a means to ensure that you are mastering the skills appropriately (i.e., the tests will be used as a feedback mechanism). Thus, if you do not do well on a test, you will have the opportunity to determine where you went wrong, practice some more, and then try the test again. In an ideal world, every student will earn A's on the tests by the end of the semester. You can only retake any one test twice, and that re-test has to be done within 8 days of the first time. There will probably only be 2 to 3 tests, concentrated primarily in the beginning of the semester. (The latter part of the semester will be focused more on papers and participation.)

The tests will compose 30% of your grade. 50% of your grade will come from the papers you write for the class. During the course of the semester you will have to write two major papers. The first paper will be a report on the results from studies that we conduct during the lab sections. The second paper will be a report on a group project that you design in collaboration with other students. This project will be an empirical research project in which you and your group design a study, collect the data, and analyze and interpret those data.

The remaining 20% of your grade will come from your participation in the lab sections. It is expected that you will be in attendance for all lab sections. Moreover, it is expected that you will participate fully in all lab activities. There will be many hands-on exercises over the course of the semester. It is essential that you engage in these activities in order to fully gain as much as you can from this class.

Policy on Missed Tests and Assignments

Students will be eligible for a make up test if an officially documented excuse if provided (i.e., court order, police report, death certificate). I do not accept doctor's notes, but I will accept medical billing statements (with any personal/confidential information omitted). If there is a scheduling conflict that will prevent you from taking a test, you must let me know in advance of the test date. Please contact your TA regarding missed tests and assignments.

Schedule for the Class

The outline below is a preliminary outline (i.e., one that is subject to change) of what will be covered during the lab sections of the class.

Week 1 ~ Jan 13 - Jan 27	Date	Topic
	Jan 23	Introduction to the Science of Personality [download lecture as PowerPoint file]
	Jan 25	no class - SPSP conference
	Jan 27	no class - SPSP conference


Week 2 ~ Jan 30 - Feb 3
	Jan 30	Four limitations of personal experience [download lecture as PowerPoint file]
	Feb 1	The scientific method and pseudo-science [download lecture as PowerPoint file]


Week 3 ~ Feb 6 - Feb 10
	Feb 6	Subliminal recording experiments - experiments
	Feb 8	Subliminal recording experiments - How to enter and manage data in SPSS
	Feb 10	Subliminal recording experiments - Discussion of Greenwald et al. (1991) article Download PDF version of article


Week 4 ~ Feb 13 - Feb 17
	Feb 13	Subliminal recording experiments - How analyze simple experimental data in SPSS - Composite variables, mean differences and Cohen's d [download lecture as PowerPoint file] Download SPSS data file \| view copy of original self-esteem questionnaire
	Feb 15	Subliminal recording experiments - Analyzing difference scores in self-esteem In class assignment - Personality Test
	Feb 17	Practice in creating composites using class life satisfaction data Download SPSS data file View item labels and variable information In class assignment


Week 5 ~ Feb 20 - Feb 24
	Feb 20	Correlational analyses: Theory and practice [download lecture as PowerPoint file]
	Feb 22	In-class exercises on correlations using class data In class assignment Download SPSS data file (note: same dataset as before, but I modifed it slightly to make the assignment easier)
	Feb 24	Test 1: In class exam on creating a data spreadsheet, creating composites, and studying mean differences between groups Download Quiz Here Note: The quiz is due at the end of class. Feel free to print the quiz if you like; you should be able to print a limited number of pages from your account free of charge. If you cannot make it to class for the quiz, please contact your TA to arrange an alternative date.


Week 6 ~ Feb 27 - Mar 3
	Feb 27	Some (simple) steps for creating a measure of individual differences in a personality variable [download lecture as PowerPoint file] Download SPSS data file
	Mar 1	Group work on item pool generation
	Mar 3	Data collection


Week 7 ~ Mar 6 - Mar 10
	Mar 6	Entering data and initial examination of questionnaire properties
	Mar 8	Examination of questionnaire properties - Selecting 10 items for a new scale
	Mar 10	Using metaForm to create on-line questionnaires


Week 8 ~ Mar 13 - Mar 17
	Mar 13	Work on metaForm questionnaires Complete metaForm questionnaires for classmates as part of data collection. Use your Alias as your user ID so that responses from multiple questionnaires can be combined if needed. http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350agreeableroommates.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/Jealousy.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350narci.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/phobia06.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350conformity.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350mattabby.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/optimismacghk.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/drinkingattitudes.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350anxiety.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/Psych350LifeSatisfactionDBAM.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350eXtroversion.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350AN2.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350sleep.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/stress.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350meb1.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350awtp.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350obligation.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/psych350jjj.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350uofisatisfaction.pl http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/metaform/p350alcohol.pl
	Mar 15	Importing metaForm data and analyzing item properties
	Mar 17	We will not have class on March 17th, 2006.s


Week 10 ~ Mar 20 - Mar 24
	Mar 20	Spring Break
	Mar 22	Spring Break
	Mar 24	Spring Break


Week 11 ~ Mar 27 - Mar 31
	Mar 27	Orientation to next group project See this link for a full description of the assignment Jen Smith's PowerPoint slide on Paper Writing Tips Jen Smith's MS Word file Sample Paper (corrupted file fixed)
	Mar 29	Group meetings to discuss project
	Mar 31	Group meetings to discuss project


Week 12 ~ Apr 3 - Apr 7
	April 3	Working on first major project
	April 5	Working on first major project
	April 7	Working on first major project


Week 13 ~ Apr 10 - Apr 14
	Apr 10	Working on first major project
	Apr 12	Working on first major project
	Apr 14	Working on first major project


Week 13 ~ Apr 17 - Apr 21
	Apr 17	Working on first major project
	Apr 19	Working on first major project
	Apr 21	First Major Project Due


Week 15 ~ Apr 24 - Apr 28
	Apr 24	Information regarding Final Project
	Apr 26	Work on final project
	Apr 28	Work on final project


Week 16 ~ May 1 - May 5
	May 1	Lecture on partial correlations [download notes as PowerPoint file] [download SPSS dataset used in notes]
	May 3	Work on final project
	May 5	Work on final project Final paper due May 8th