4/23/08

    The final version of the gradebook is complete and posted.  Overall, your final papers were quite well done.  If you have questions about your grade, please make an appointment to speak with me during Spring term.   Good job getting through a challenging course, everyone!  Have a wonderful break and an enjoyable spring!

4/16/08

    The gradebook now shows your Exam IV scores.  The range was 50% - 96% and the mean was 76.9%.  As you know, the course average shown in the pink column may still go significantly up or down depending on your Final Project and Participation grades, since together they comprise 40% of your grade.  Check back next Tuesday to see those and please do come by the office (SC-255) at the start of May term to pick up your papers and test sheets.  If you want to review the packets w/scantrons, check my new office hours or write for an appointment.  Have a great break!

4/15/08

    I believe the gradebook now has all the Extra Credits accurately updated.  Please check these and your attendance for any discrepancies.  I do expect to have Exam IV scores posted by late Thursday and figured into the course average in the pink column.  You can then check back on 4/22 to see how your final course grade was derived (Sub 3 [Final Project] and Participation scores will be posted last).

4/8/08

    I have updated the gradebook for extra credits and attendance penalties.  If you do not see extra credit listed, it may be because I am waiting for your Counseling student's student's signed form which you are to slip under my door.  Otherwise, everything should be up to date.  I'll see you in SC-108 on Tues 4/15 at 9am (unless we arranged something else); bring pencils.  Good Studying!

4/4/08

    I have posted the extra credit for forms I received today.  Please remember the online studies are only worth 0.25%, so if you submitted for 1/2 hr., I decreased it.  For those who are still working on extra credit, please TYPE your responses and put in paragraph form in your own words.

  4/2/08

    Final reminder: Extra Credit forms (complete with signatures, debriefing forms for online studies, and with your printed study summaries attached) are due in class on Fri, 4/4.  You need to speak to me if you have to submit after that time.

4/1/08

    The gradebook is now updated - exam scores and average for the course are now correct.  Again, for anyone who missed it, your Submission 3 is due next MONDAY, 4/7, postponed from 4/2 so you have more time to work on revising Sub 2 and finishing your evaluations.  Please bring Cushman's article to class this Friday.

     The video I mentioned in class (in which a well-respected surgeon, Sherwin Nuland, speaks of his experiences with Major Depression and E.C.T.), from TED.com, is here.  It's about 20 min long and may require some video software to view.  And here is the one featuring Jill Bolte Taylor, the neurologist who had a stroke.

3/31/08

    I have completed grading Exam III.  The MC and Short Answer (fill-ins) each have their own columns and then the final percentage was reached by combining the raw scores and dividing by 58.  The Mean was 79.4% and range: 56%-98%.  Many of you went up this time - great job!  Please remember to double-check the scores on your tests with the raw scores you see in the gradebook.  Also, if anyone has told me about medical absences and you don't see a change in the gradebook from 0 to 0.9, please tell me so I can update the record (if you provided documentation). 

    Otherwise, you can expect to see the Extra credit listed by dead week.  Sub 3s and Final exams may not be graded till after finals week.  Look for those and your Participation score in the gradebook by 4/22.

3/25/08

    I mis-spoke in both classes today.  The structure of Exam III is: 39 Mult Choice questions, 10 Matching (which you'll do on scantron) and 9 fill-ins.  So there is a total of 58 questions, but the last 19 are pretty quick.  Be sure to review all the hand-outs and class notes on transparencies, etc. 

3/21/08

    The answers to the Defense Mechanism Handout are here - please bring in questions if you do not understand why these are the answers.  

    Once again, Exam III is on 3/26, and covers all material since Exam II: video clips, lectures (including transparency material) and all material in ch 9-11 & essays 4 & 5, whether discussed in class or not.  There will be about 50 multiple choice questions.  Be sure to review relavant tables, figures, summaries in the text.

3/14/08

      The corrected grades for Exam II are in the gradebook, along with a pink column showing your current exam average.  The mean was actually 77% and range: 45%-100%.

3/7/08

     While I was able to run the scantrons, I am not able to post the grades yet - there was a problem I want to check and the school is closing early.  I'll try to post them Monday afternoon and will aim to have us go over them in Discussion sessions on Tues.  Again, if you missed either film (Obedience or Quiet Rage) they are both at the library reserve desk - you can check them out for an hour and watch on the library's VCRs. 

     Again, our final exam is scheduled for Tues 4/15, make sure you check when finals are for your other courses so we can catch any overlaps and resolve them early.

3/3/08

    Just another reminder,extra credit forms will be collected at the end of term, during dead week (probably that Monday).  One such study is being run by Steven Minett, a senior psychology major, who is looking for volunteers for his research study, “Perceptions of Relationships”.  He says:

The experiment will examine students’ perceptions and understandings of other peoples’ relationships. You will be asked to fill out some surveys and watch a video about human relationships.  The entire experiment usually takes less than one hour. The sign-up sheet is posted in the Science Center Bison lounge area on the bulletin board by room 147. Please sign-up for one time and write down the time you signed up for on the little tabs provided with the sign-up sheet. The times are as follows and will repeat for the next 2 weeks (same times): 

Monday (6:00 – 8:00 pm) 

Tuesday (2:00 – 4:00 pm) 

Thursday (9:00 – 11:00 am) 

Thursday (3:30 – 5:30 pm)

2/23/08

    Due to Friday's weather cancellation, Sub 2s were to be submitted to me via e-mail.  For those who submitted by noon (a generous definition of 'on time'), you will see a 1.0 in the gradebook.  For those of you who submitted late Friday, you will see a 0.8 which simply means you lost one point out of the possible 30.  Submissions received after 2/22 will show up as 0.5 until they are graded - lost points will depend on how late they are submitted.  For everyone, hard copies of the submission itself and the article are due in class Monday 3/3. 

     The exam has not been moved.  Exam II is still going to be Monday 3/3, the questions related to Essay #3 will be right out of the textbook.  During your studying of Ch. 7, please be sure to pay attention to Kitchener & King's work, as well as all the other parts of the chapter which were assigned but not covered in lecture.  Remember, the pages we omitted will not be on the test, but the pages held over from ch. 3 (102-107) will be.

     Have a safe and restful break - see you Monday.

2/19/08

        As we discussed in class, Exam II covers Chapters 5, 6, 7, Esays 2, 3 and the video clips we've seen.  You may skip the pages we omitted along the way, but remember to review the section on IQ from ch. 3 (p. 102-107).  There will be 40 questions,  ALL multiple choice (no short answer questions).  As with our first exam, the questions are designed to test not only your retention of factual knowledge but also your ability to apply concepts from the course to new examples. 

     Once again, please remember that Hanover Psych research opportunities are advertised on the bulletin board by room 147.  New studies are being posted every week.  Note that some are directed at women only, some are open to all; some are even going to be sent to your email boxes (based on random selection).  Remember to get t he form you need which is linked to my main coursepage and answer the questions on it (typed, not hand-written) as soon as you do the study so you don't forget.  One such study is:

      "...a study for social psychology class .... If you are willing to participate please follow the link below. It should not take you more than 15 minutes and your help is greatly appreciated."

http://vault.hanover.edu/~altermattw/2008/impression/

        Remember that chapter 9 is due for Monday, after break.  We will be watching a film depicting a study described in that chapter.  The film will take all of class time, so we will discuss it on Tuesday in our discussion sessions.  Please try not to miss either the film or the discussion.  

2/6/08

    I will need to cancel class on Tuesday (Discussion Sections), 2/12.  Please use the free time to begin writing up your Summaries for Sub 2.  While you will not have a grade on Sub 1 yet, you should assume your article is fine if you have not heard from me otherwise. 

    Because of this , we will be slightly behind the syllabus.  Please read Essay #2 for Wednesday, tho we will still be wrapping up chapter 6 that day.  Chapter 7 will be due Friday, 2/15 and we will omit pages 287-291.  Recall, however, that we will be covering some pages skipped in chapter 3 during chapter 7 (p. 102-107 on IQ).

If anyone is interested in being a Campus Ambassador, let me know and I'll consider recommending you. You need to let me know by 2/15.  INFO from Admissions:

"What is a Campus Ambassador?  He or she is someone who holds Hanover College and what it means to be a part of our wonderful community close to their heart.  He or she is enthusiastic about Hanover’s traditions, academics, and athletics.  As a Campus Ambassador, the following traits are evident in you; Integrity, Professionalism, Positive Outlook, Service Oriented, Kind Hearted, and Leadership.  A Campus Ambassador embodies the Principles of Hanover College.  He or she must be self motivated, outgoing, and willing to make a commitment to the Ambassador Program.  Ambassadors are an essential part of the admission office.  They work closely with the staff to make visits by perspective students and their families an informative and encouraging event."

2/5/08

    Now that Exam I is complete, we will review the packets on Friday at the end of class. The mean is 80.2%, range: 52% - 100%. If your grade is in the lower range, I suggest you make an appointment with me to discuss how you can do better during the rest of this term. 

    Following up on our discussion of modifying children's behaviors, here is a summary of the debate on corporal punishment from the America Psychological Association:

http://www.apa.org/releases/spanking.html

      In addition to last week's information from David Reetz, I wanted to let you know that there is also a hotline with info about what to do in case of a sexual assualt against a friend or yourself, that number is x6742.   It has recorded information, some contact numbers and options for handling such a crisis.

     Please note: Office hours are CANCELLED, Mon 2/11.  If you need to see me, write or call for another time, or come by Weds at noon.

2/4/08

      As promised, the Types of Reinforcement transparency is HERE.

2/2/08

      It has come to my attention that due to an inputting error on my part, many of the scores posted for Exam I last night were wrong.   If you checked Friday, please check again and realize that the grade you saw before may not have been yours.  The exams themselves were graded correctly, the error occurred while I was matching exams to codenames.  I have fixed the gradebook and you can now see your correct score.  However, you should also triple-check after we go over the exam that the raw score on your scantron matches what you see in the MC column.  Please note, I use the mathematical % to figure your final score, whereas you'll see the scantron rounds up and down to full integers. 

      I have also gone over all scantron forms for errors the machine might have made and caught a few times where incomplete erasures led to points off.  I have already fixed these, so the scores you see include those corrections.

      Lastly, you may have experienced some problems posting to MyHanover's forum.  I believe I have fixed all problems with posting and you should be able to see folders giving directions for how to post.  However, I am not able to check from my end whether you can see each others posts from the Discussion Section you are not in.  If you cannot, don't worry, I won't penalize for duplications if that is the case.

      Thanks to those in the class who brought these problems to my attention.  Please do let me know if you see any other technical problems or errors.

1/30/08

      Just as a reminder, please DO NOT DISCUSS the exam with each other or anyone else.  There is a student who will need to take a make-up, possibly as late as next week, so I will not be able to return exams until then. I will however post your grades on Friday afternoon as planned.  For now I can tell you the mean is an 80% - nice job everyone!

1/29/08

     Exam I will actually contain 48 questions, not 55 as I was estimating in class today.  So each question will be worth slightly over 2 points.  Please remember to bring pencils.

1/25/08

     The transparency we discussed today has been copied and is outside my door in the pink envelope for anyone who wants to pick it up.  I will bring the rest to class on Monday. 

     PLEASE NOTE!:  Your MyHanover submissions must be posted to your DISCUSSION SESSION coursepage, not the general one.  Please review both discussion's forum pages so you can check if anyone has selected your article or not.  This is not common but could happen and if it does you'll need to find another article, so check soon.  Lastly, if you need to edit or delete your posting, be sure to only change YOUR thread (addition) - don't delete the whole folder!

1/23/08

      Ok, the MyHanover Forum is now fixed and ready to receive your Submissions.  Please add a thread to my Sub 1 folder, so everyone's is visible in the same place.

  Also, I believe I mis-spoke in class: the BBC lectures by Ramachandran which are linked to our course page (scroll down, below textbook info) is audio-only, not a video.  You will need some sort of media software to hear it.  You may also be able to read a text copy, tho that may be a bit harder than hearing the lecture.

In addition, if you want to see another version of the Phineas Gage case, you can view this Scientific American video on him.  It is called "how Phineas lost it" and has lots of good imagery to help visualize this case and brain areas further:

http://www.pbs.org/saf/1302/video/watchonline.htm

    I think it is about 15 min long and it requires a video streaming pgm such as Windows Media Player.

1/22/08

     Someone has volunteered to be our note-taker, so no need for additional volunteers - thanks to all who considered doing this. 

1/16/08

     I have a request for a note-taker in this class.  Is there anyone who takes good (clear, coprehensive) notes, and would be willing to share them with a fellow student?  It would be a big help.  I believe the registrar has special paper with carbon which copies as you write, so there would not be any photocopying to do.  If you feel you can commit to this 'good deed' please contact me by email or phone ASAP.

    Sorry I forgot to announce it in class - you may omit pages 95-110 in chapter 3.  I recommend you read that section, but you will not be tested on it during the first exam.  However, we WILL be reading p. 102-107 during chapter 7, so be prepared to come back to it later.  For those of you who find the other material interesting, I'm happy to discuss it during office hours, and you will certainly encounter it in other psych. classes.

    Also, I meant to draw your attention to the link on our page called "APA Journals List."   If you are still confused about whether the article you found is published by the Am Psychological Assn, you can check that list.  If the journal name is not on that list, it is not an APA journal.

1/15/08

    For this Friday's class with Margaret Krantz, she asks that you bring a highlighter and your Hanover College COURSE CATALOGUE - this will facilitate discussing majors.  If you cannot find your course catalogue, please borrow one to bring to class for Friday.  For those of you who have already chosen a major, please consider sharing how you went through the process, so that others can learn from your experience.

1/9/08

    The Final Project has been uploaded to our coursepage.  We will discuss it on Friday.