It turns out that it is impossible to sort people into two sections as opposed to three. As a result, you are still assigned to the section in which you originally enrolled.
We have, however, modified the structure of the class a little bit, so please read on. As I noted in lecture this afternoon, the formal lecture part of the class will end after the first two weeks so we can focus more on hands-on activities and discussion. Once that happens, you and your fellow lab mates will meet three times a week, according to this schedule:
Section A - David Chuah TAJan 27th, 2005
People in Section A are the ones who are registered for CRN 37360 (the one slated for 10:30-11:50 on MW). You will be meeting at the following times:
Mondays from 10:30 to 11:20 in room 219A
Tuesdays from 3:00 to 4:20 in room 35 (this room might change)
Wednesdays from 10:30 to 11:50 in room 219A
Section B - Yequin He TA
People in Section B are the ones who are registered for CRN 37363 (the one slated for 1:00-2:20 on MW). You will be meeting at the following times:
Mondays from 1:30 to 2:20 in room 219A
Tuesdays from 3:00 to 4:20 in room 37 (this room might change)
Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:20 in room 219A
Section C - Jennifer Smith TA
People in Section C are the ones who are registered for CRN 37367 (the one slated for 2:30-3:50 on MW). You will be meeting at the following times (note: I fixed the typo here on 1-25-2005 | Chris):
Mondays from 2:30-3:20 in room 219A
Tuesdays from 3:00 to 4:20 in room 219A
Wednesdays from 2:30-3:50 in room 219A
A few people showed up for lab sections yesterday. As announced in class on Tuesday, lab sections will not begin until Monday, Jan 31. In fact, starting Monday, we will officially switch into the schedule outlined above in the previous update. You and your lab mates will meet three times a week. I will lead the lab sections on Mondays. Due to the addition of the extra lab meeting on Tuesdays, we will not be holding class on Thursdays. Today (Jan 27th) is the last time we will meet on a Thursday, unless we need to set aside that time for projects later in the semester.Feb 02, 2005
I have created the first two class assignments for you. The first is a simple personality test that you can take on line. We will be using some of the data you provide as fodder for discussion and teaching in our lab classes. You can access the personality questionnaire, as well as some of our future assignments, at the following web site: Personality Research Lab. On the login page you'll need to select your name and enter your password. This should be the password that you gave me in lecture on Tuesday Jan 25th. (If you were not in class and did not create and turn in a password, be sure to e-mail me with a password you would like to use right away. I'll update the password database as soon as I can. If you can't recall your password of the one you gave us isn't working, it is possible that we misread a lowercase letter for an uppercase letter or vice versa. Contact us with your desired password.) Once you've logged in, you'll see a button that will take you to the first personality questionnaire assignment. The personality test should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. When you're finished, the program will make a note of your participation so you'll will get credit. The next time you login, you'll see that the program recorded your participation. This assignment must be done before 9 a.m. on Monday Jan 31st.
The second assignment is a reading assignment. The reading is available as a PDF file at this link. Please note that the file is password protected. I will announce the password in class. If you miss class, be sure to get the password from a friend or a TA. The computers on campus all have the Adobe software that will allow you to view PDF files. If you are using your home computer and don't have Adobe Acrobat, you can download it for free from this link. We will be discussing this article in lab section next week on Wed Feb 2. Please read the article before you come to class. Be prepared to discuss it.
I hope everyone enjoyed the lab experiment on subliminal recordings. The data are available here as an SPSS file: click here to download subliminal data. We will analyze and discuss these data in Monday's class. If you need to refer to the self-esteem questionnaire items, those are available here.Feb 07, 2005
The data for the next assignment are available here as an SPSS file: click here to download personality trait data. The variable labels are explained in a separate txt file that cab be viewed here. In Tuesday's class (Feb 8th) you will be analyzing these data. I'll post more on the exercise before Tuesday.Feb 14, 2005
If you need a complete data file for the subliminal exercises--one that contains composites and change scores, you can download a copy here as an SPSS file: click here to download subliminal data 2. We will refer to this file in Monday's class. If you need to refer again to the self-esteem questionnaire items, those are available here.Feb 15, 2005
Please note that there will be an in-class test this coming Wed, Feb 16th. The test will be "open book/notes." You will be given a small sample of personality data and will need to (a) create a spreadsheet in SPSS, (b) enter the data, (c) compute composite scores, (d) compute mean differences between groups, and (e) compute and interpret correlations. I'll say a bit more about the test in today's (Monday's) class.
Today's lab assignment is explained here.March 2, 2005
In today's class we will be discussing ways to create simple on-line personality questionnaires. To do so, we'll be using a program called metaForm. You can access metaForm here. metaForm is an Internet-based program for creating Internet questionnaires. You should be able to create questionnaire files, save them, edit them, and administer them via the metaForm web page.March 7, 2005
In today's class we will be filling out surveys that our classmates developed. Here are the links to the various surveys; try to complete as many as you can.March 8, 2005
As you complete each 10-item survey, keep an eye out for measures that assess constructs in which you are interested. I will be asking you to identify at least one such construct so that you can correlate the scores you obtain from your measure with the scores based on the other measure. For example, if you and your group mates developed a measure of "conscientiousness" and you notice that another group has developed a measure of "satisfaction with LAS," you might want to inquire whether conscientious people are more or less likely to be satisfied with their college. In short, as you complete the surveys, make a note of the survey name/link for any surveys that assess a construct that might be related to your own.
For today's lab section you will need to download your data from metaForm, import it into SPSS, and clean up the file (i.e., make sure you've deleted repeat cases or test cases from when you and your group mates were testing your questionnaire. Once the data set is clean, you'll need to answer the questions available at this link.March 14, 2005
Before you leave class today, please e-mail me (http://www.psych.uiuc.edu/~rcfraley) and send me your SPSS data set as an "attachment." The file should contain your composite variable, in addition to the other variables. Please label the composite variable in a way that makes it easy for me and others to identify (e.g., extraversion, riskbehavior, divorcestatus, agreeableness). Later tonight I will post all the data sets on the class web page so you and your group can download the data sets of interest tomorrow and compare your variables with those collected by others.
Today we will discuss the next major group project. The handout containing the details of this project is available here. Please note that the project is due on April 15th.April 18, 2005
Today we will discuss the final group project. The handout containing an overview of the three projects to choose from is available here. I'll tell you more about each project once you've selected one. Please note that the project is due on May 6th, but we'll probably push that date back to the day for the final in this class and count the paper as the final.April 25, 2005
The final paper will be due on Tuesday May 10th, not May 6th.May 03, 2005
If you have a moment, please take a couple of minutes to answer a short survey regarding your TA for the semester. Your responses will be confidential. I will aggregate the various ratings and provide those averages to the TAs. -- ChrisReadings
http://www.yourpersonality.net/psych350/tarate.htm
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, 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 a diverse set of facts.
For the first few weeks of the semester, I will deliver lectures on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 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 Thursday class meeting will be used to group activies, 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 Mondays and Wednesdays 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.) For example, 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. Also, practice test questions, answers to exams you've taken, exam grades to date, etc. will be updated as necessary. 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.
The tests will compose 40% of your grade. Another 40% 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.
Schedule for the Class
Since I have not taught this course before, I will be constructing my lectures over the course of the semester. As the lectures and plans become more crystallized, I'll post the necessary materials on the class web page. 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 17 - Jan 21 Date Topic Jan 18 Introduction to the Science of Personality
[download lecture as PowerPoint file]Jan 19 no class - SPSP conference Week 2 ~ Jan 24 - Jan 28 Jan 25 Four limitations of personal experience
[download lecture as PowerPoint file]Jan 27 The scientific method and pseudo-science
[download lecture as PowerPoint file]Week 3 ~ Jan 31 - Feb 4 Jan 31 Subliminal recording experiments - experiments Feb 1 Subliminal recording experiments - How to enter and manage data in SPSS Feb 2 Subliminal recording experiments - Discussion of Greenwald et al. (1991) article Week 4 ~ Feb 7 - Feb 11 Feb 6 Subliminal recording experiments - How analyze simple experimental data in SPSS - Composite variables, mean differences and Cohen's d
[download lecture as PowerPoint file]Feb 7 Subliminal recording experiments - Analyzing difference scores in self-esteem Feb 9 Practice in creating composites using class life satisfaction data Week 5 ~ Feb 14 - Feb 18 Feb 14 Correlational analyses: Theory and practice
[download lecture as PowerPoint file]Feb 15 In-class exercises on correlations using class data Feb 16 Test 1: In class exam on creating a data spreadsheet, creating composites, and studying mean differences between groups Week 6 ~ Feb 21 - Feb 26 Feb 21 Some overly simple steps for creating a measure of individual differences in a personality variable
[download lecture as PowerPoint file]Feb 22 Group work on item pool generation Feb 23 Data collection Week 7 ~ Feb 28 - Mar 4 Feb 28 Entering data and initial examination of questionnaire properties Mar 1 Examination of questionnaire properties - Selecting 10 items for a new scale Mar 2 Using metaForm to create on-line questionnaires Week 8 ~ Mar 7 - Mar 11 Mar 7 Work on metaForm questionnaires Mar 8 Importing metaForm data and analyzing item properties Mar 9 Investigating the relationship between the measure of your construct and other constructs measured by the class Week 9 ~ Mar 14 - Mar 18 Mar 14 Orientation to next group project Mar 15 Group meetings to discuss project Mar 16 Group meetings to discuss project Week 10 ~ Mar 21 - Mar 25 Mar 21 Spring Break Mar 22 Spring Break Mar 23 Spring Break Week 11 ~ Mar 28 - Apr 1 Mar 28 Working on first major project Mar 29 Working on first major project Mar 30 Working on first major project Week 12 ~ Apr 4 - Apr 8 Apr 4 Working on first major project Apr 5 Working on first major project Apr 6 Working on first major project Week 13 ~ Apr 11 - Apr 15 Apr 11 Working on first major project Apr 12 Working on first major project Apr 13 Working on first major project Apr 15 First major project due Week 14 ~ Apr 18 - Apr 22 Apr 18 Introduction to final project Apr 19 Work on final project Apr 20 Work on final project Week 15 ~ Apr 25 - Apr 29 Apr 25 More discussion on PCA
[download notes as PowerPoint file]
[download SPSS dataset used in notes]Apr 26 Work on final project Apr 27 Work on final project Week 16 ~ May 2 - May 6 May 2 Lecture on partial correlations
[download notes as PowerPoint file]
[download SPSS dataset used in notes]May 3 Work on final project May 4 Work on final project
Final paper due May 10th