Introduction:

Should include the following:

(a) Introduction of the research done by Pavlov (classical conditioning)
(b) Introduction of the research done by B.F. Skinner (operant conditioning, shaping)
(c) Discussion of your purpose and hypotheses (one hypothesis [if...then...] for each phase of the experiment)

Use the following as references:
B.F. Skinner
Pavlov

HW: By the beginning of class on Tuesday you should have completed the bar press training phase of the experiment and written up the procedure section for this phase.

Shaping Instructions:

1. Open file and use Save As to rename your file to save it as a different version (so you don't lose your magazine training progress if something goes wrong).

2. Display the Operant Associations mind window.

3. Go to Windows, then Cumulative Record, to display the cumulative record, which will graph Sniffy's progress during this portion of the experiment.

4. Select the Design Operant Conditioning Experiment command from the Experiment window.

5. In the dialog box that appears, select Bar Press from the Target Behavior section of the drop-down menu under Reinforcement Action. Click OK to close dialog box.

6. Note that the terms CRF and Bar Pressing appear in the cumulative record. CRF stands for continuous reinforcement, which means the program will automatically reinforce every bar press with a food pellet. The Bar Press notation means that the graph will record bar presses.

7. As your first step in shaping, give Sniffy a pellet of food when he rears up facing the back wall (the wall with the hopper) anywhere in the operant chamber.

8. Once Sniffy has begun rearing toward the back wall more frequently, gradually require him to rear closer and closer to the wall, ultimately only rewarding him when he rears with his front paws touching the wall.

9. Whenever Sniffy rears directly in front of the bar, there is a chance that he may press it. If he does, he will hear the magazine sound, receive a food pellet, and the bar-sound association will begin to develop. You will be watching the bar graph to see when the Bar-Sound and Action Strength bars indicate learning.

10. When the Bar-Sound column reaches 1/4 height, the Lab Assistant will give a message. Note the time at this point in the training.

11. Each time Sniffy presses the bar, watch closely what he does after eating the food pellet. He may press the bar again immediately, which means he is making progress. Allow him to continue pressing the bar as long as he will do so. However, if he rears more than twice without pressing again, continue reinforcing the rearing behavior, as he has not learned the bar press fully.

12. If you are patient, Sniffy will eventually press the bar 8 to 10 times in rapid succession. Note the time here. You may now stop shaping and allow the CRF program to do the work as Sniffy continues to bar press more and more frequently.

13. Sniffy's training is complete when the Lab Assistant indicates as such. Note final time and save the file.

HW: If you haven't already, finish the magazine training. Complete the Participants, Materials and Procedure sections of the lab report for Friday.

Magazine Training: A classical conditioning procedure to create an association between the sound of the food pellet falling into the hopper and the reinforcing properties of the food itself.

Note: You will need to describe this process in your lab report. Take notes to indicate how long it takes you to reach the 1/4 association, the 1/2 association, and the 3/4 association mark. Jot down any other notes about Sniffy's behavior that you can use in your description later.

1. Start with a new Sniffy file.

2. Use the Save As command in the File menu to save the file under an appropriate name (ex. MagTrain) in the Sniffy Files folder.

3. Display the Operant Associations mind window by selecting it from the Mind Windows section of the Windows menu.

4. Note the Lab Assistant says "If you wish to issue a reinforcement, press the space bar or click on the bar."

5. Wait until Sniffy closely approaches the food hopper. Then deliver a food pellet.

6. To save time at the start, you may want to give Sniffy several pellets in rapid succession before he wanders away from the hopper.

7. After Sniffy has received several pellets, you can let him wander away a short distance before giving him the next pellet.

8. Keep an eye on the Operant Associations mind window. When the height of the sound-food bar reaches about one quarter of the way up the scale, you will receive a message that Sniffy is beginning to develop an association. Follow the Lab Assistant's advice and continue to reinforce Sniffy when he is near the hopper.

9. When the height of the sound-food bar reaches about three quarters of the way up the scale, the Lab Assistant will alert you that the association is strong enough to use as a reinforcer for shaping. Magazine training is now complete.

10. Save the file in order to save Sniffy's progress.

HW: After watching the Phyllis' Wedding episode, complete the following assignment. Your responses should be written, in sentences, and they will be collected on Monday.

Jim subjects Dwight to an experiment in classical conditioning. Describe what each of the following means in general and then explain how the terms pertain to the experiment.

1. Unconditioned Stimulus
2. Unconditioned Response
3. Neutral Stimulus
4. Conditioned Stimulus
5. Conditioned Response

Here is the official final exam assignment.

Due by noon on Monday, November 23.

Remember, if you'd like me to review a draft, please have it to me by noon on Friday so I can review it with you before you leave for the weekend.

Here is the document you should download, print, and complete for each of your three sources. Remember, you should read the article and once you understand it, summarize it in your own words. Your goal should be to identify the main idea of the article, as well as any specific points the author makes that would be useful in your paper.

Here is the Yale Law School article I used in class in case you'd like to use it as one of your sources.

HW: Do a bit of internet research on the issue of eyewitness testimony. Then, construct a thesis for your paper on the issue. The thesis should look a little something like:

Eyewitness testimony is unreliable so ...

You will need to submit the thesis to me, either in hard copy or electronic form, by the beginning of the class period. If you will not be in class on Friday, please email your thesis to me before noon.

Recovered Memory Therapy

The Reality of Repressed Memories

Recovered Memories of Abuse
Jim Hopper

Recovered Memory Project

False Memory Syndrome Foundation

Note: If you missed some or all of the video we've been watching in class, get caught up. The full video is posted below.

HW: Read the Pleasant Dementia article (also available here) and write a response.

HW: Write down two mnemonic devices you have used in the past to help you remember information.

HW: Take the following online quizzes. Write a response including the results of the three quizzes. How did they compare? Based on your interests and academic strengths and weaknesses, do you think your right or left hemisphere is dominant? Why?

Quiz #1

Quiz #2

Quiz #3

HW: Bring your spinal cord on Tuesday. We'll be testing on the biological info the Monday after Columbus Day, so feel free to start reviewing now!

HW: Create a spinal cord for your thinking cap. Remember, the average spinal cord is about 1 inch in diameter and 45 cm long for males, and 43 cm long for females.

Most accurate/creative representations get bonus credit.

Quiz on Wednesday, October 7: Anatomy of the neuron

Timeline:

Social Psychology experiment essay: Due Friday
Revised interview paper: Due Monday

HW: Writing assignment to complete the Social Psychology unit.

1. Identify the group, the norms of which you challenged in your experiment.
2. Describe the group:
a. Who comprises the membership of the group?
b. How are members chosen for the group?
c. What are some of the informal norms by which group members abide? (Appearance, attitude, speech, behavior, etc.)
3. Identify the specific norm you violated in your experiment, and the way in which you did so.
a. What are the consequences of violating a norm in this group?
b. What response did you receive from members of the group?
c. Did you receive any response from members outside of the group?

Length: 1-2 pages
Text Format: APA title page, 12-pt Times New Roman, double spacing.
Due Date: Friday, October 2nd. (Note: I will be out on Friday, but you will still be expected to turn in your essay by that date. You may submit it either electronically via email or in hard copy, and you must do so by the start of class Friday for full credit.)

HW: Develop a written proposal for Friday describing what behavior you plan to enact in order to violate the norms of one of the groups of which you are a member. Your proposal should contain the following information:

1. What is the relevant group of which you are a member?
2. What group norm do you plan to challenge, and how?
3. How do you expect the other members of that group to respond to your behavior?

Remember: Keep it classy. Your proposal must pass review by the "Institutional Review Board," aka: me.

HW: None. But you will be reworking your essays this weekend, after I had them back to you. So if you want to get a head start, you should some ideas about where you can start the revision process, even though I haven't given your draft back.

HW:

(1) Read the brief description of the Kitty Genovese event on the first page of the packet.
(2) Read the section of the packet beginning on the second page with "When do people help" and ending just before the section "Aggression: Harming others."

(3) Write a paragraph (a good, solid, well-written paragraph) briefly summarizing the Kitty Genovese event and applying the ideas from the following two pages to help explain the actions of the bystanders.

APA Formatting Information:

1. Text format: The paper should be written in Times New Roman, 12 pt font with standard margins. You should set the formatting on your document to double spacing before you start and leave it, as every element should be double spaced - no more, no less.

2. Title page: The title page should contain (a) a title for your paper, (b) your full name, and (c) your educational institution: "North Cross School."

3. Header: Go to "View," then "Header and footer" to create a header. This will appear at the top of every page. In the header, type the title of your paper. If the title is lengthy, you may abbreviate it. (Example: If your title is "An Interview with Clinical Psychologist Dr. George Revercomb," you may instead put "Clinical Psychologist," or some other piece of the title, as the header.) Then, at the right side of the header, enter the page number. Be sure to use the "#" button on the header form, rather than typing in a number.

4. Body of paper: Begin your second page with the full title of the paper centered on the first line. Begin the body of the paper just below that. If you have double-spaced the document, you need only hit enter once between the title and the first line.

5. Reference page: The last page should be entitled "References," which should be centered on the top line. Your interview will NOT be listed in the reference section. Any other research sources will be listed here. I am assuming that most of you have used an internet source, so I will provide several options, as the format will depend on the type of internet source you've used. Find instructions here.

6. In-text citation: As all of the information in your paper will come from either your interview or your research source, there should be at least one citation in each paragraph of your paper. Cite your interview like this: (S. Freud, personal communication, September, 15, 2009.) The date should reflect the date of your article. This citation should appear at the end of each paragraph or section of the paragraph where you have discussed the interview, or at the end of each direct quotation. As for your research source, see options for citation format here.

Note: On any writing assignment on which you are asked to use APA format, a portion of your grade will be based on the extent to which you followed APA guidelines. Because this is your first exposure to APA style, I am looking for a reasonable attempt at replicating APA style. Like anything else, it gets easier the more you do it.

Below is the video we watched in class today about the Stanford Prison Experiment.

HW: Read article about the Zimbardo prison experiment. Answer the following questions. I will collect your responses at the beginning of class.

1. Identify the independent and dependent variables.
2. What did the researchers find?
3. What ethical problems do you see in this study?

To-do List:

1. Study for quiz Tuesday. (See review items below.)
2. Watch the YouTube video below and consider the following scenario (For Wednesday):

Researchers find that there is a strong positive correlation between chocolate consumption and automobile accidents after collecting data from various communities in Canada. If we can assume that neither variable is causing the other, what third, "lurking" variable might be influencing the other two?

3. Interview paper is due Monday, September 21. Get crackin'. (Note: The assignment is embedded in the link at the beginning of item #3, in case you lose yours.)

Quiz Tuesday: History and approaches

Figures:

Hippocrates
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
Wilhelm Wundt
Edward Titchener
William James
Sigmund Freud
Charles Darwin
Ivan Pavlov
B.F. Skinner
Edward Thorndike
John Watson
Abraham Maslow

Terms:

Introspection
Functionalism
Structuralism
Psychoanalysis
Psychodynamic perspective
Behavioral perspective
Behaviorism
Cognitive perspective
Humanistic perspective
Biological psychology
Evolutionary psychology

Paper Assignment

Interview subject due: Friday, September 11th
Paper due: Friday, September 18th

HW: Your interview subject is due by the beginning of class on Friday. You will need to provide me with a name and job title so that I can approve your interview subject. If you already know your intended subject, you may email the information to me any time before class begins Friday.

Also, do Tuesday's homework.

Also... Remember Carl Rogers?: The curative property is the warmth and genuineness of the relationship between the therapist and client. I wonder what he'd think about this article...

HW: Read this article from Newsweek about the back-and-forth that should be inherent in scientific study. Submit a paragraph summarizing the author's argument. *This is your first shot at academic writing in this class: Full sentences, spelling, etc... all important! Assignment will be due at the beginning of class.

Have a great long weekend!

HW: Complete this activity on the 7 Perspectives of modern psychology.

Welcome back!

Remember: Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

HW: (1) Print out honor code and syllabus. (Document links are located at the bottom of the tool bar to the right of the blog.)
(2) Have parent/guardian sign both documents. You sign them as well.
(3) Post a comment in response to this posting to indicate that you can access and operate the blog!