Psychological Statistics
SUNY New Paltz
Fall 2007
Professor: Glenn Geher
• Office: HUM 9B
• Office hours:
T (12:00-1:50); H (10:00-11:20);F(1:30-2:50)And by appointment.
• Office phone number: 257-3091
• Home phone number: 255-1992
• E-mail: geherg@newpaltz.edu
• Web address: http://www.newpaltz.edu/~geherg/
Required Materials
• Aron, A., & Aron,
E.N. (2003). Statistics for Psychology.
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
CHAPTERS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ON BlackBoard. Note that all students, regardless of actual section of this course, are enrolled into section 01 on BlackBoard – and it is there that you will find the chapters. Feel free to purchase a copy of the 2003 edition from amazon.com or another retailer. On the other hand, feel free to save your money.
Other required materials: a calculator with a square root function (not your cellphone, please!!!).
Course Description:
Welcome to Psychology 80275, Psychological Statistics. Prepare for a fun time! Believe it or not, understanding statistics is important for lots of reasons. Primarily, understanding statistical concepts and specific formulas will provide you with a very useful and interesting way of understanding the world -- what could be more important than that? In addition, having a solid understanding of statistics is necessary for many careers in psychology, as well as for careers in several other fields such as economics, sociology, insurance, forestry, etc.
Statistics is different from all of the other courses offered in the psychology department in that there are right answers. Statistics can be challenging, but, as you will see, statistics can also be enjoyable. In this course, you will learn several different statistical methods, including their rationale as well as specific formulas related to them. In addition, you will learn how to perform several statistical analyses using some awesome statistical software. I told you this was going to be fun!
Course Requirements:
1. Five Exams (64% of total course
grade); There will be five examinations consisting of both problems and short
answers. Exams 1-4 will each count
toward 12% of your course grade. The
final exam will count toward 16% of the final grade.
2. Homework problems(24% of final grade): Twelve homework assignments will be assigned throughout the semester. Each will count toward 2% of the final grade. Home work assignments will be handed in during lab. Each assignment will be due at the beginning of the subsequent week’s lab (as noted in the lab manual for this course).
3. Computer assignments(12% of final grade): During 4 labs, in addition to going over the homework, you will be given relevant computer assignments that will each count for 3% of your final grade. These assignments will be due at the beginning of the subsequent week’s lab.
4. Extra Credit for Research Participation in Psychology Department Human Subject Pool (up to 12 points added to final examination grade).
You can earn up to 12 extra-credit points added to your final examination grade in this class by participating in research conducted through the Psychology Department Human Subject Pool. Each study counts for a certain number of credits. For every credit you receive, a point will be added to your final exam grade. You may obtain up to 12 credits total.
To sign up for extra-credit opportunities, go to:
http://newpaltz.sona-systems.com/
See the Subject Pool Coordinator (in JFT 316) for details on the process.
Grading: Grades for all examinations and assignments will be converted to percentages. The following equation will be used to determine your final grade:
(Exam 1 * .12) + (Exam 2 * .12) + (Exam 3 * .12) + (Exam 4 * .12) +
(Final exam * .16) +
(Homework assignment 1 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 2 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 3 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 4 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 5 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 6 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 7 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 8 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 9 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 10 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 11 * .02) +
(Homework assignment 12 * .02) +
(Computer assignment 1 * .03) +
(Computer assignment 2 * .03) +
(Computer assignment 3 * .03) +
(Computer assignment 4 * .03)
= Final grade.
Your final grade will be on a scale from 0 to 100. Final grades will be converted to letter grades using the following criteria:
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94 - 100 = A 90 - 93 = A- 87 - 89 = B+ 84 - 86 = B 80 - 83 = B- 77 - 79 = C+ 74 - 76 = C 70 - 73 = C- 67 - 69 = D+ 64 - 66 = D 60 - 63 = D- Below 60 = F |
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Calendar (Week of): |
Topic |
Chapter in text |
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8.20; 8.27 |
Welcome to class. |
Chapter 1 |
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Frequency Tables and Graphs |
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Distribution Shapes |
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9.3 |
Mean, Median, and, Mode |
Chapter 2 |
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Variance and Standard Deviation |
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9.10 |
Z Scores |
Chapter 3 |
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Correlation |
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9.17 |
Correlation |
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Bivariate Regression |
Chapter 4 |
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9.24 |
Intro to probability |
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9-25 (T) 9.27 (H) 10.1 |
Exam 1 (Chaps.
1, 2, 3, & 4) Probability Normal Curve |
Chapter 5 Chapter 5 |
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10.8 |
Hypothesis Testing (on
Tuesday, 10/9, MONDAY classes meet) |
Chapter 6 |
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10.15 |
Distribution of Means; Hypothesis Testing (N>1) |
Chapter 7 |
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10.22 10.23 (T) 10.25 (H) |
Exam 2 (Chaps.
5, 6, 7) Power and Effect Size |
Chapter 8 |
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10.29 |
Power and Effect Size; start t-test |
Chapters 8 & 9 |
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11.5 |
One-Sample t-test;
Dependent-Means t-test |
Chapter 9 |
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11.12 (11.13; T) (11.15; H) |
Exam 3 (Chaps. 8
& 9) Independent-means t-test |
Chapter 10 |
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11.19 |
Independent-means t-test; ANOVA No classes
11.21-11.23; Thanksgiving – enjoy! |
Chapters 10 & 12 |
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11.26 (11.29; H) |
ANOVA Exam 4 (Chaps. 10 & 12) |
Chapter 12 |
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12.3 |
Chi-Square Test of Goodness of Fit |
Chapter 14 |
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FINAL EXAM |
IF your class meets on Tuesdays/Thursdays at 2, your exam will be: TUESDAY, DEC 18 |
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IF your class meets on Tuesdays/Thursdays at 3:30, your exam will be: THURSDAY, DEC 13 |
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Course policies:
1. Cheating. DO NOT
CHEAT. Any student caught cheating on an
exam will automatically fail that exam and, perhaps, the course. In addition, his or her name will be reported
to the administration.
2. Plagiarism.
Plagiarism occurs when material is taken from a source without proper
citation. If you quote something
directly (i.e., if you use another authors EXACT WORDS), you must use quotation marks. If you borrow an idea and reword it, you must report your source. Any student caught plagiarizing will
automatically fail the assignment and, perhaps, the course. In addition, his or her name will be reported
to the administration. DO NOT
PLAGIARIZE.
Note that some of the lab assignments for this course require you to
collect data in groups. Importantly, for
each such assignment, each individual person is required to hand in his or
her own unique paper. In other
words, the writing of the paper is to be done by you alone. See me if you need help. Instances in which multiple students submit
assignments with identical wording of at least one entire sentence will result
in punitive outcomes for said students.
3. Missing exams. A
make-up exam may be given if
there are extenuating circumstances AND it (the make-up exam) is officially scheduled
before the scheduled examination. If
such circumstances are shown to exist, you may be able to take a make-up
exam. Special arrangements will be made
as to the time and place of any make-up exams.
If a student requests a make-up exam after the scheduled examination,
and especially extenuating circumstances (e.g., a serious illness) are
demonstrated to exist, scheduling of a make-up exam might be considered.
4. Late assignments. All
homework and lab assignments will be due at the beginning of lab on the week
after the assignments are given out.
None of these assignments will be accepted late. Any assignment that is not handed in on time
will be assigned a grade of 0.
5. A note on “Lab
Switching”
To reduce confusion and keep the lab instructors' responsibilities
organized, it is most important that students attend only their assigned
laboratory sections. To ensure such
behavior on the part of students, please note that your homework and computer
assignments will only be accepted under the following conditions:
A. They are handed in by you
personally (i.e., not by a friend).
B. They are handed in at the
meeting of the laboratory section in which you are officially enrolled. Exceptions to this rule will not be made
unless extreme extenuating circumstances are shown to exist and students
seeking exceptions obtain the approval of Dr. Geher beforehand.
6. Electronic Devices.
All electronic devices must be turned completely off during examinations.
“Electronic devices” in this context refer to Blackberries, i-phones,
cellphones, beepers, Sony Playstations, etc. Any student caught with an
electronic device operating during an examination may automatically fail the
course and have his or her name reported to the administration.
As a teacher I feel that my role is to help you learn,
not to grade you, so please feel free to come see me or call me throughout the
term if you have any concerns or questions.
I mean it. Have a great semester.