Welcome to Honors Psych!

12-6-2022   Exam 3 will be given online on Tuesday, December 13 (8am-9:30am).   Start on time!  The exam has 20 key terms (give an example of each) and an essay.

12-1-2022   Hi, I got my  lab plan wrong!  Looking at the syllabus we ARE doing the Meditation Lab today on Zoom!

11-22-2022  Here is an extra credit opportunity for those looking for some additional Exam points!

Happy Thanksgiving Break!

11-17-2022  Reminder:  Class on Tuesday 11-22-22 will be on Zoom!  We will be doing the Personality Lab that day.

11-17-2022  While grading your fear lab ,one student used this reference for background knowledge. It is SPOT on and brings in the relevant brain areas involved  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-happens-brain-feel-fear-180966992/

11-01-2022  I can't believe it's November!  Don't forget to study your chapter key terms.  Exam 2 is two weeks away

10-13-2022  During the pre-registration advising period, I am having office hours by appointment only.  Please email me if you would like to create an appointment. (Also I sent you an invitation through Navigate with a scheduling link)

10-12-2022  

Class Feedback on the Perception Lab 

Last week we focused on Sensation and Perception.  We learned that a person’s ability to see an accurate image of world (bottom up sensation) can be distorted/altered by Gestalt principles and other previous knowledge stored in the brain (top down perception).  Optical illusions show how universal top down processes (specific to humans) can play tricks on basic objection perception. 

The lab tests whether your performance with optical illusions is related to your special reasoning ability.  First, looking at the group results we see that class had a low Optical Illusion Score: 66% correct.  Even knowing that test items were illusions, you still were fooled some of the time!!   Second, the class did not do better on that hard special Reasoning test: 57.5% correct.  

 A correlation was calculated to see if there was a relationship these two cognitive tests and the result was  r = .31  (a weak correlation that was no statistically significant).   

Implications:  This class study suggests distinct, unrelated brain functions are involved in processes underlying optical illusions versus special reasoning.  Below is a summary of some relevant brain areas that helps explains the results.  

Limitations:  Students in the class discussed some important flaws such as students 1) trying to “guess the right answer” rather than reporting what their brain was seeing and 2) differences in how long students took to solve the spatial problems  3) and guessing, not trying. These testing variations add error to the test scores and the resulting correlation coefficient. 

9-27-2022  Today's Results - Brain Asymmetry: Class Results - Brain Asymmetry-1.pdf Download Class Results - Brain Asymmetry-1.pdf 

9-22-2022  This is the results of today's naturalistic observation: Class Data - Naturalistic Lab.xlsx Links to an external site.

9-15-2022  Here is the data sheet for today's Interest in Psych Lab: Fall 2022 Interest in Psychology.xlsx Links to an external site.

Dear Students, for this course we will be using free digital content posted on OpenStax rather than using a traditional textbook.  Each week  you will read a  chapter,  take a quiz, and explore video clips and articles. We will use our class-time to have discussions about course material and  plan weekly mini-labs. Classwork as well as lab assignments, will help you dig deeper into psychological theory, concepts, research and applications.

So we can get to know each other please post on this discussion thread by  September 7th. 

I look forward to meeting you in person soon!  

Joanna

Access digital book: https://openstax.org/details/books/psychology-2e Links to an external site.

Course Syllabus: PSY 170H.01, Honors Foundations Psychology, Fall 2022, Joanna Gonsalves-2.doc Download PSY 170H.01, Honors Foundations Psychology, Fall 2022, Joanna Gonsalves-2.doc 

Class meetings: Tuesdays, 8:00-9:15am, Meier Hall 240 and Thursdays , 8:00-9:15am on Zoom 

Zoom Office Hours:  Office Hours:  On Zoom Tuesdays 9:20-10:50 and 9:20-10:50 and by appointment    https://salemstate.zoom.us/j/93764462781?pwd=VG5FVjBVUnRZTGFkT2t0WE1BdkF4Zz09   Links to an external site. Meeting ID: 937 6446 2781   Passcode: 5y3SCV