A little something to keep you occupied...

Assignment 5 is another essay. This time, you will be graded on your ability to reference. But also there’s the content of course. And the structure.

The content is all about memory. Short term memory in particular, and is really a long winded evaluation of short term memory via levels of processing theory and working memory. There are resources in your Focus book, as well as the links on the cognitive psychology page. I’ve copied those for everyone, and you will find them most helpful.

So, here are the hints for doing assignment 5:

1. Plan it first. But you know that by now.

2. Word limit is 1500 words. Aim for plus or minus 10%. But you know that by now as well.

3. Use the fishbone as a reminder – link here.

4. You’ve got a long time for this assignment thanks to the Christmas break. But don’t leave it to the last minute!

5. Essays shouldn’t have diagrams in them. A bit of a challenge for this one!

6. Time for a glass of wine.

7. Don’t forget the evaluation. You really do need to read up on the evaluation. Find some in the Focus book  and also in the resources supplied. You could look under “Evaluation of the levels of processing theory.”   K.I.S.S!    Don’t look for something difficult unless you feel supremely confident, (and I am starting too think that most of you are by now).

8. Similarly, evaluation of working memory is all available in the resources given.

9. Bring the whole thing together in a concluding paragraph. You will need to think this through for yourself. Answer the essay question here, with a summary of what you have written.

10. Time to have another slurp.

11. Check the references. There could be some easy but good grades here.

12. Finish the bottle.

You might notice that this has been posted before you have had the lesson input.  Don't worry, I'll be doing it this week.  Although by now I don't think you'll care, after all that wine.

Meanwhile, here is a seasonal wish for you.  You need sound for this.  It's amazing what you can do with a spreadsheet!

Need for Speed 2

So we discussed some of the issues in assignment 4. Without giving too much away:
• Questions 1-8 are about correlation
• Questions 9-21 are about experiments
The rest are self explanatory

Graphs:
These can be done either by hand on graph paper (see me if you want some) or by computer. I’d prefer it if they were not freehand – I need you to convince me you can draw a graph. (I know, I know!) Don’t join the points on a scattergram – it’s not a dot-to-dot game!

Reminder that correlations have covariables and experiments have IV and DV. Correlations have intervening variables and experiments have extraneous variables, confounding variables, situational variables, spam variables, spam and chips, egg spam and variables, aaarrrgggghhhh!!!!

Design has a special meaning in experiments. It’s all about allocation of participants to conditions. Only two for you to worry about – independent subjects and repeated measures.

Ethics has a whole chapter – there’s also a section in the research design chapter in Psychology in Focus.
The *best* source for hypothesis, null hypothesis, sampling and such is my website.
See how you get on. You’ve got this week in lesson time to go for it!

The Need for Speed

Well, here's the hints for assignment 4 - Need for Speed.
 

This is the story of the psychology student with the boyfriend and the fast car.  It has elements of relationships (between variables, that is), of emotion and electricity, of fast driving with fast women and breaking speed limits.  All the stuff of a good Mills and Boon.  You should be so lucky!

The assignment is in four main parts, each with set questions that must all be answered:

·         A case-study/interview

·         A correlation

·         A questionnaire survey

·         An experiment

But not necessarily in that order.

The resources you need for this are:

·         Class notes

·         Handouts

·         Psychology in Focus

·         www.jeffstanden.net

In theory, you can find everything on my website, in the research methods section.

Don’t worry about references for this assignment.  Have a good look at it, talk to your friend and I’ll put up some more info in a couple of days.

What's stress, Mummy?

Grab the burger!

The burger has the plan for assignment three. That is, the plan we talked about in class. But you don’t have to use that!

Remember that an essay is a style of writing, a kind of literary form I suppose. Think of it as telling your reader what you are going to say, then saying it, then telling them what you’ve just said. The introduction and the conclusion are a bit like the bun, and the meaty stuff in the middle is the bit that matters.

You could write the essay by including Fantz (pattern and face recognition in infants) and Gibson and Walk (depth perception using the visual cliff) for the nature side. Then, use cross cultural studies (e.g Segall et al.) to illustrate the nurture side. BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO! You could use any research you want to illustrate the arguments, just as long as it is evaluated and referenced. You might like to use the animal studies such as Blakemore and Cooper, or Held and Hein. Riesen with the three Chimps is an old favourite. Or you might like to illustrate the argument using recovered sight case studies, or research with the spectacles that turn the world upside down. I could go on.

You can use any text book you want, just as long as it is referenced appropriately. The world doesn’t stop at Gross or the pink handout!

Try to come to a conclusion. Is it nature, or nurture or something else; either in between or an alternative?

Then the usual Jeff advice: Don’t worry. Wine sometimes helps the process. I doubt you think clearly at 3am. Don’t let it fester, ask somebody. You know the drill by now!

Word length is important. Aim for plus or minus 10%.

No references no pass. It doesn’t worry me if you get it wrong first time.

You want referencing? You got it to go...

Here is my short

summary on referencing.

Remember it's only to get you started. If you can understand this bit, you can understand the rest!

I suppose you want a picture?  Well, this is what I've been doing.

And here's a picture  





Have a nice half term!

Oh No, Not ANOTHER Access Assignment!

Yup.  Time for assignment 2. As promised, here are some hints.

Hint no.1:  Don't underestimate your own capabilities!

And NOW....    

How to do Assignment 2

Q1  You should start with sense 1.  Name it.  Explain it along the lines of “nerve endings in the (organ, e.g. skin) are stimulated by …..”  Then say how that sense is perceived, e.g.  “you sense the heat in a cup of coffee because the nerve endings in the skin are stimulated, both by temperature and touch.  This is perceived as you holding a delicious, warm  cup of coffee.”

Q2  Does look suspiciously like one of the powerpoint slides in ‘sensation and perception’.  Say no more.  Nudge nudge.  Wink wink.

Q3  Describe how the Necker cube is perceived.  It’s sensed as a pattern of black lines on a white background.  Describe the top-down explanation of how the percept is a cube with the corner pointing out of the page.  But our minds don’t stop there.  Describe the top-down explanation of perceiving it as a cube pointing into the page.  And our minds then keep working…  In other words, perception is an active, dynamic process.  (What would happen, do you think, if it was a static process?  Just a thought, I don’t expect an answer!)

Q4   A bit of planned, extended writing is needed here.  Perhaps you'd better have a nice cup of tea and a sit down at this point... 

Click here for a mindmap.

The mindmap should help you plan it.  The question asks you to distinguish between top-down and bottom-up processing.  Basically, you must explain the top down theory approach, i.e. Gregory’s theory.  Use some technical terms, such as hypothesis, schema, matching, constructivist, percept, whatever.  Use an example, e.g. the fox, or the rider or something. Then do the same for the bottom up approach, i.e. Gibson’s theory of direct perception.  Liberally sprinkle a few technical terms such as motion parallax, optical array or visual array, and affordances if you feel like it.

But the main thrust of this assignment is the evaluation.  In your handout you will find a section called evaluation of constructivist (top down) theories and evaluation of bottom up theories.  You see, level three work is all about evaluation.  You are allowed, nay, encouraged to be critical.  As long as you can support what you say with evidence.  In psychology, you usually support with empirical evidence or peer-reviewed published articles or books etc.  You will be taught before too long about referencing – another subject which has a poignancy all of its own.  So you might think that top down and bottom up theories probably should be integrated.  Good idea!  Who says so?  Well, yes, I do, but the expert is Ulric Neisser.  And you’ll find what he has to say in the handout.  ‘Fraid you’ll just have to read it, though.  Sorry!

How long? I hear you saying.  Aim for Q1 about ½ a page to a page.  Q2 about ½ a page.  Same for Q3.  Q4 probably about 750 words.  Ish.  Don't count them though.  These are only a rough guide, because it all depends on how much you get carried away.  Just remember the poor bugger who's got to mark it, though!

As promised here is a picture to gloat over when you've finished.

Personally, I don't understand what you ladies see in him.

The Attention Thing

OK. Some of my students have shared with me the attentional channels thing about the basketball players. The idea is to watch it and count the number of passes. YouTube have taken off the original one, so here is a slightly different version, but just the same principle.

The idea is twofold: first, to show you a bit of psychology; second, to make you think about how attentive you are when you drive. Ask yourself if you really think it's OK to use your mobile phone when you are driving. Or your satnav. Or to change the CD in the player. Or to turn round and swipe at the kids messing around in the back.

Then watch this little clip. WARNING! It's not pretty. But then true life isn't always, is it?

The First Access Assignment

I’ve posted the assignments for the whole course. Well, the first six or seven, but I got fed up with changing the format. I’ll do the rest later. They are also on the college VLE, but that’s not much good when you’ve forgotten your login details. I know, you couldn’t possibly forget them…

Here’s some tips on how to do the first one.

Tip 1 Don’t worry about it. If it looks easy it probably is.

Tip 2 I’m assessing content, not style. Yes, it will be easier in the long run if you can word process it. Get used to it now while you can, because you really will need to word process the later ones!

Tip 3 If you don’t know what to do, ASK. You can ask me, or your friend, or Dear Abby the agony aunt. But don’t just sit and fester until it’s too late.

Tip 4 Describe and draw the basic information process model. Say that you will give an example of an information processing model. Describe and draw the multistore model and explain how it fits the basic model. Sit back and admire your work. Sip at the glass of wine…

Tip 5 Choose a bit of computer, say hard disk. Explain how this is a storage item. Compare it with a bit of the memory process. Explain how it compares with a bit of the memory process. Sit back again, admire the work and have another sip. Hic!

Tip 6 Read your notes, and consider looking at Gross page 27 box 2.6 and page 32 box 2.9. For fun, you might read the pages between as well! Then try your hand at answering the third part of the assignment. If you really are worried about literary style, then write as if you were writing me a letter. If you want. Finish the bottle.

This is you when you've done the assignment. Unless you're one of the blokes. In which case I'll find a suitable picture for a later post.

So good luck!

Welcome to 2009-2010

Suppose I’d better put something up for a new academic year. That’s it. Title says it all. Hopefully, more as the year gets under way…