Research Experience in Psychology, Fall 2020

Class Information	Instructor Information
PSYCH 4705/5705		Helen C. Harton, Ph.D.
Bartlett 34; 2079		Bartlett 2080
tba		273-2235; harton@uni.edu

Office Hours: M 3-4; WF 11-11:50; whenever I’m around

Course Information

Course Learning Outcomes: By the end of this course, you should be able to:

· Demonstrate an understanding of the scientific literature relevant to a hypothesis or research question;

· Collect, manage, and/or analyze empirical data or obtain an existing dataset to test a hypothesis or research question;

· Demonstrate knowledge of ethical principles in research;

· Present a research project to others;

· Participate actively in discussions about research; and

· Use research tools and programs (e.g., SPSS, Qualtrics, SONA, mTurk, salivary cortisol analyses, biometric equipment)

Instructor Course description: You will work on one or more research projects. You must have or obtain IRB training, participate regularly in research team meetings, and present your research at at least one conference. You will be involved in at least one project as a co-PI. In a small group with other students, you will help design a study, collect data, analyze the data, and present it at a conference. I will help and advise you during all the steps of the project. You will also help with other projects in the lab though providing feedback on designs and results and helping collect and/or analyze data. One credit equates to about three hours per week of work for undergraduates and four for graduate students.

Course Catalog Description: Conduct a supervised research or scholarly project. Highly recommended for students planning to enter graduate programs. Majors with an overall GPA of at least 3.50 may earn departmental honors if their projects are deemed worthy of honors by the department. May be repeated for a maximum of 12 credit hours. Prerequisite(s): PSYCH 1001 (400:001); PSYCH 3002 (400:101); 15 hours in psychology; junior standing; consent of instructor.

Benefits of Research Experience:

• Gain a better understanding of the scientific process through hands-on experience with impactful psychological research
• Learn content knowledge about an area of interest
• Learn more about opportunities within the field
• Learn technical skills important for psychology-related fields
• Enhance critical thinking
• Gain professional communication skills (writing, oral presentations, informal communication)
• Build a relationship with faculty mentor
• Begin building a professional CV
• Practice organizational and time management skills
• Learn leadership and teamwork skills

Course Policies

Missed Meetings Policy: We will have regularly scheduled meetings to discuss the progress of your project. When you miss a meeting, you affect the progress of the entire research team. You may miss one meeting per type (i.e., large group, small group) for good reason (e.g., illness, conference presentation, religious observance) per semester without any penalty (make sure to let me know ahead of time to check with group members for any assignments). You can meet with me virtually or be zoomed into meetings at your request. If you have a need to miss more than one meeting, talk to me.

Academic Ethics Policy Statement: Students must observe the Academics Ethics Policy (http://www.uni.edu/policies/301). You should adequately cite your sources on PowerPoint slides and in your presentations and papers. You should not use another’s words on your slides or in your presentation without proper attribution. All sources should be ones that you’ve read directly; do not cite secondary sources.

Open Science Policy: My lab is committed to open science principles. As such, all studies will be pre-registered, materials and data will be made public where possible, and we will strive for transparency and ethicality in all our projects.

COVID-related Policies: You are required, per university policy, to wear a face covering in all campus buildings. You should also self-screen and not come to meetings if you are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19. If you need to miss meetings because of COVID-related reasons, let me know so that we can include you virtually and/or work together to make up missed work.

Diversity and Inclusion Policy: My goal is to present materials and activities that are respectful of various types of diversity, including but not limited to gender, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, religion, and culture and to create a positive learning environment for all. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let me know if there are ways I can improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally or for other students or student groups.

Civility Policy: It is important that we discuss topics calmly and respectfully. We want to have an open setting where everyone feels free to contribute, where no one tries to dominate the conversations, and where we all remain open to other’s ideas. Ad hominem comments are not appropriate.

Harassment Policy: You do not have to put up with inappropriate treatment (e.g, verbal, physical, or sexual harassment) of any kind. If you have problems with a lab member, participant, or conference goer (or other person you interact with through your lab assignments), please let me know. It is important to note that if you do report it to me, I may have to report it to the university. If you are not comfortable talking with me about the issue, you can talk to the department head, Adam Butler.

Authorship Policy: For small group projects, authorship is determined by the amount each person in the group contributes to the project. For conference presentations, I will usually take last author, but for manuscripts the order may change based on contributions, especially to writing. See APA guidelines for more information on authorship order.

Credit Hour Statement: This course meets the Course Credit Hour Expectation outlined in the Course Catalog. Students should expect to work a minimum of 2 hours per week outside of class for every course credit hour. You should expect to work a minimum of three hours per week (including meetings) for every course credit hour for undergraduate credit and four hours per week for graduate credit.

Required Readings

Required readings can be found at https://osf.io/enm45/. They include:

· Harton Lab pre-registration form

· Harton Lab instructions for running psychology studies

· Introduction to OSF

· Lab inclusion-exclusion (of data) document

· Qualtrics basic information

· Harton, H. C., & Nail, P. R. (2008). Political orientation and contemporary racism in America. In M. A. Morrison & T. G. Morrison (Eds.), The psychology of modern prejudice (pp. 51-75). New York: Nova Science Publishers.

· Harton, H. C., & Bourgeois, M. J. (2004). Cultural elements emerge from dynamic social impact. In M. Schaller & C. S. Crandall (Eds.), Psychological foundations of culture (pp. 41-75). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Students will do also readings relevant to their projects as well as general readings relevant to psychology methods or lab topics.

Course Elements and Expectations

Small Group Project: You will work on a small group project with 1-3 other students. In this project, we’ll work together to design a study related to one of my areas of research interest (e.g., social influence, political psychology, research ethics). We will design and collect in the fall and analyze and present in the spring.

Lab activities: As a member of my lab, you’ll also work on projects that benefit others in the lab. For example, you may be asked to give suggestions on a questionnaire, pretest a study, or serve as a confederate.

Meetings: You’ll schedule a half hour meeting with me each week for your small group project. We’ll also have one, hour-long large group meeting per week. You are expected to attend and participate actively in these meetings.

Presentation: You will submit to one or more conferences in the fall and present at one or more regional, national, and/or local conferences in the spring. Presentations may be posters or oral presentations.

Open Science Requirements: You will create an account on OSF and keep all of your study materials up-to-date there. All studies will be pre-registered and gain IRB approval before data collection begins. Materials and data will be made public where possible. All data will be independently analyzed by at least two people, and files will contain proper and clear documentation.

Data Blitz: Toward the end of the semester, you will do a 5 minute presentation on your project for the lab.

Final Grade Determination

Grading in the course is based on the quality of your participation (e.g., punctuality, meeting attendance and participation, preparation, ethical behavior, attention to detail, pre-registration, data cleaning, data analysis), timeliness (e.g., meeting deadlines), and your outputs (e.g., quality of poster and presentation). If you do everything well, you will earn an A in the course. Deficiencies in one or more areas will result in a lower grade.

Course Schedule

These are general time guidelines for the small group project. Other assignments related to the large group will arise as needed (e.g., helping as a confederate).

Week of	Tasks/Topic
Aug 17	Introduction to the lab; Read initial required readings; Set up groups
Aug 24	Initial group meetings; Discuss ideas
Aug 31	Form general idea and do literature search (finding more readings); Develop idea; do IAF form
Sept. 7	Continue idea development; Finalize methods
Sept 14	IRB proposal written and turned in
Sept 21	Materials (e.g., Qualtrics survey) developed
Sept 28	Pre-registration
Oct 5	Data collection
Oct 12	Data collection
Oct 19	Initial analyses; MPA proposal
Oct 26	MPA proposal turned in
Nov 2	Continue data collection via other sources
Nov 9	Data cleaning
Nov 16	Data cleaning
Exam week	Clean up files in OSF; data blitz; complete any final documentation

Resources and University Policy Statements

Counseling Center: UNI’s Counseling Center is free, confidential, convenient, and effective. It is the mission of the University of Northern Iowa Counseling Center to promote the personal development and psychological well-being of all students and to encourage a college environment that is conducive to growth and learning. To make an appointment, call 273-2676 (8:00-5:00 M-F). For urgent situations outside of office hours, call the Counseling Center at 273-2676 and press 2 to speak to a crisis counselor. Call 911 in case of immediate danger.

The Learning Center: The Learning Center @ Rod Library has office hours for assistance with writing, math, science, and college reading and learning strategies for both graduate and undergraduate students. For more information, go to https://tlc.uni.edu/tutoring, email TheLearningCenter@uni.edu, call 319-273-6023, or visit the TLC desk located on the main floor of Rod Library. If you are unable to come in during normal tutoring hours, online tutoring is available through Smarthinking. You will need your CATID and passphrase to gain access. To access the Smarthinking platform go to https://tlc.uni.edu/schedule.

Rod Library: Rod Library is here to help, so take advantage of their services. Need help finding resources for a research paper? Need to find some information and can’t figure out where to look? Contact the Rod Library! You can stop by, chat, email, text or call the library all hours the library is open. www.library.uni.edu/research/ask-us

Need Other Assistance?: I am happy to help you with class content, program issues, writing, etc. If you’re a victim of a crime, you can call 1-800-770-1650 to talk to an advocate 24/7 or text IOWAHELP to 20121. If you are experiencing food insecurity, you can access the Panther Pantry in the lower level of Maucker Union (right of the computer lab) from 12-7pm (til 8 S-Th) for confidential help. I can also help you locate other resources, but be aware that if you report certain things to me (e.g., sexual abuse, criminal activity), I may be required to report it to the university.

Office of Compliance and Equity Management Statement: The University of Northern Iowa does not discriminate in employment or education. Visit 13.03 Equal Opportunity & Non-Discrimination Statement (https://policies.uni.edu/1303) for additional information.

Student Accessibility Services Statement: The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Fair Housing Act, and other applicable federal and state laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. To request accommodations please contact Student Accessibility Services (SAS), located at ITTC 007 for more information, either at (319) 273-2677 or via email to accessibilityservices@uni.edu. Visit Student Accessibility Services (https://sas.uni.edu/) for additional information.