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Psychology 3780G 001

Research in Social Psychology

If there is a discrepancy between the outline posted below and the outline posted on the OWL course website, the latter shall prevail.

 

WESTERN UNIVERSITY

LONDON               CANADA

Department of Psychology

2022-2023

 

Psychology  3780G    Section 001/002

RESEARCH IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

 

 

• CALENDAR DESCRIPTION

 

An introduction to the methods and techniques used in the study of human social behavior. Students will conduct studies using a variety of procedures, and will develop an independent research proposal.

 

Antirequisite: Psychology 2780E

 

Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for credit. If you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.

 

Prerequisite: Psychology 2800E, Psychology 2810, and one of Psychology 2070A/B or Psychology 2720A/B, plus registration in third or fourth year Honours Specialization in Psychology or Honours Specialization in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Psychology Majors and Psychology Special Students who earn 70% or higher in Psychology 2820E (or 60% or higher in Psychology 2800E and Psychology 2810), plus 60% or higher in one of Psychology 2070A/B or Psychology 2720A/B) also may enrol in this course.

 

2 lecture hours; 2 laboratory hours; Course Weight: 0.5

 

Unless you have either the prerequisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.

 

 

2.0  COURSE INFORMATION

 

       Instructor: Dr. John Sakaluk (Pronouns: He/Him/His)                        

       Office and Phone Number: SSC 6312           

       Office Hours: By appointment (TBD)                       

       Day-to-day emails: professor.sakaluk@gmail.com

       Emergency emails: jsakaluk@uwo.ca

• First point of contact re: lecture confusion
• First point of contact re: emergencies
• Second point of contact re: grading

 

       Teaching Assistant: TBD

       Office: TBD                                                 

       Office Hours: By appointment

       Email: TBD

• First point of contact re: lab
• First point of contact re: grading

Time and Location of Classes:  Wednesdays (9:30AM – 11:30AM), class will be delivered in-person (SSC 2020) and synchronously.

 

Time and Location of Labs:  Fridays (9:30AM – 11:30AM), lab will be delivered in-person (SH 3305) and synchronously.

 

Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and Wellness @Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.

 

Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you. You may also contact Accessible Education at aew@uwo.ca  or 519-661-2147.

 

3.0  TEXTBOOK

 

No textbook will be used. Required readings will be sourced from popular media outlets, chapters in books, and peer-reviewed articles. See 6.1 READINGS SCHEDULE

 

4.0  COURSE OBJECTIVES & LEARNING OUTCOMES

The purpose of this course is to provide students with experience of navigating the possibilities and considerations in a program of social psychological research, from theory to data analysis. Students will develop fluency with selecting important research questions, appropriate research designs, and compelling measurement strategies. Students will also develop increased transferable skills, including research presentation, research writing, and scientific literacy.

Learning Outcome	Learning Activity	Assessment
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge. Demonstrating understanding of the disciplinary context of social psychology Identifying and understanding the major methodological options available to social psychological researchers	Lecture/class discussions Readings Lab activities and discussions	Midterm exam Final exam
Application of Knowledge. Deploying the skills of research question selection, theorizing, and study design in proposing a plan for compelling research Applying knowledge of methodological considerations when evaluation published research	Lecture/class discussions Readings Lab discussions	·         Midterm exam ·         Final Exam ·         Research proposal ·         Lab activity participation
Communication Skills. Debating the merits of methodological choices Describing proposed/carried-out research in a variety of formats and for a plurality of audiences Depicting theories and hypotheses in intuitive visual formats	Lab activities and discussions Readings	Research proposal Lab activity participation
Awareness of Limits of Knowledge. Developing appreciation for limits of each methodological option (e.g., for theorizing, sampling, measurement, and design) in social psychological research Understanding the broader context of concerns regarding replicability and generalizability of social psychological research	Lecture/class discussions Readings Lab activities and discussions	Midterm exam Final exam Research proposal
Autonomy and Professional Capacity. Learning to articulate (and respond to constructive criticism about) research interests and proposed plans of research	Lecture/class discussions Lab activities and discussions	Research proposal Lab activity participation

 

 

 

5.0  EVALUATION

The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives as listed in section 4.0 and are considered necessary for meeting these learning objectives.

 

The following assessments will be used to determine your grade:

1. LAB ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION (10% of final grade): attendance, preparedness, and constructive contributions made to weekly lab
2. MIDTERM EXAM (25% of final grade): multiple-choice questions covering Weeks 1-6,
3. FINAL EXAM (30% of final grade): multiple-choice questions covering Weeks 8-13
4. RESEARCH PROPOSAL (35% of final grade): through five subcomponents (a., b., c., and d.), students work towards a final written proposal for a social psychological research project that they would want to conduct:
   2. Brainstorming document (1 page): a brief description of 3 different research topics of interest to the student, including any preliminary research questions, predictions, and methodological considerations, due the first lab session (2.5% of final grade)
   3. Statement of the problem and prediction (2-3 pages): a description of the topic chosen for the proposal, a succinct review of the theoretical perspective and research in the topical area, and a summary of the research question and prediction(s) (2.5% of final grade)
   4. Workshopping of complete rough draft of research proposal (8-10 pages): Students will share digital copies of their rough drafts (inclusive of an introduction, proposed methods, and limitations section) and spend the lab session of Mar. 24 giving and receiving feedback on their drafts with their classmates. (5% of final grade)
   5. One-page (single spaced) summary: students will also submit during the final lab session a one-page summary of their proposal, akin to a CGS application (5% of final grade)
   6. Final written research proposal (8-10 pages): students will submit their polished research proposal (following integration of feedback/edits from c.) and submit during the final lab session (20% of final grade)

 

 

5.1 POLICY ON MISSING COURSEWORK

 

My policies for missing each type of evaluations are below. Note that to ensure equity in grading, I cannot (and will not) selectively deviate from these policies on an individuating basis.

 

Missed Lab Days (without due dates for in-class activities): Students should be able to miss a very select few (up to 2) lab sessions without it hurting their Lab Activity Participation grade, provided they are prepared and make constructive contributions during the bulk of the remaining lab sessions. Extensive absences, however, will inevitably hurt a student’s Lab Activity Participation, regardless of how otherwise prepared and constructive their remaining contributions are.

 

Missed Lab Days (with due dates for in-class activities): Components of the Research Proposal are to be completed during lab sessions on Jan. 14 and Mar. 25. Students must be in lab on these scheduled dates unless you have a legitimate excuse recognized by the university administration. Valid reasons include medical or compassionate reasons, and must be substantiated by proper documentation (e.g., a medical certificate, which will be verified by the Office of the Dean). A student who misses one/both of these days with verified documentation justifying the absence will have the points for the missed activity rolled into the points to be awarded for the final written proposal (e.g., excused absence for the workshopping of a complete rough draft [10%] would be moved to the final proposal, which would then have a higher grade value [30%] than normal [20%]). A student who misses one/both of these days without verified documentation justifying the absence will be assigned a 0 for the component(s) they miss.

 

Make-Up Exams: The Midterm and Final Exams must be written on the scheduled dates unless you have a legitimate excuse recognized by the university administration. Valid reasons include medical or compassionate reasons, and must be substantiated by proper documentation (e.g., a medical certificate, which will be verified by the Office of the Dean). A student who misses a regularly scheduled exam for other reasons, or who cannot justify a claim, will be assigned a 0 for the exam.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay component to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must be at least 50%.

 

This course is exempt from the Senate requirement that students receive assessment of their work accounting for at least 15% of their final grade at least three full days before the date of the deadline for withdrawal from a course without academic penalty.

 

 

The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be distributed around the following averages:

 

70%      1000-level to 2099-level courses

72%      2100-2999-level courses

75%      3000-level courses

80%      4000-level courses

 

The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines, which are as follows (see: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf

 

A+        90-100              One could scarcely expect better from a student at this level

A          80-89                Superior work that is clearly above average

B          70-79                Good work, meeting all requirements, and eminently satisfactory

C          60-69                Competent work, meeting requirements

D          50-59                Fair work, minimally acceptable

F          below 50           Fail

 

Note that in the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages, instructors may be required to make adjustments to course grades. Such adjustment might include the normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course components.

 

Policy on Grade Rounding: Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade because it is needed for a future program be considered. To maximize your grade, do your best on each and every assessment within the course.

 

6.0  ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION SCHEDULE

 

Research Proposal Part A: Due in Lab, Jan. 13

Research Proposal Part B: Due in Lab, Feb. 17

Research Proposal Part C: Due in Lab, Mar. 24

Research Proposal Part D: Due in Lab, Mar. 31

Research Proposal Part E: Due by end of day (11:59PM) Apr. 7

 

Midterm: During Lecture time, Mar. 8

Final Exam: During TBD slot of Exam Period, Apr. 13 – 30

 

Lab Activity Participation: Assessed continuously throughout semester

 

 

7.0  CLASS SCHEDULE

 

Week	Date	Topic	Assessment Due
1: Lec	Jan. 11, 2022	What do social psychologists study?
1: Lab	Jan. 13, 2022	Generating good research questions	Research Proposal Part A
2: Lec	Jan. 18, 2022	Social psychological theories	·         Last day to Add is Jan. 17
2: Lab	Jan. 20, 2022	Constructing theories
3: Lec	Jan. 25, 2022	Sampling considerations
3: Lab	Jan. 27, 2022	Determining who and how many (sampling)
4: Lec	Feb. 1, 2022	Intrapsychic constructs
4: Lab	Feb. 3, 2022	Designing surveys
5: Lec	Feb. 8, 2022	Implicit social cognition
5: Lab	Feb. 10, 2022	Collecting data from implicit measures
6: Lec	Feb. 15, 2022	Observation and behaviour
6: Lab	Feb. 17, 2022	Collecting and coding behavioural data	Research Proposal Part B
7: Lec	Feb. 22, 2022	READING WEEK
7: Lab	Feb. 24, 2022
8: Lec	Mar. 1, 2022	Internet-based data collection
8: Lab	Mar. 3, 2022	Tracking happiness, sentiment, and interest
9: Lec	Mar. 8, 2022	MIDTERM
9: Lab	Mar. 10, 2022	Presenting social psychological research
10: Lec	Mar. 15, 2022	Design I: Experiments
10: Lab	Mar. 17, 2022	Designing experimental manipulations
11: Lec	Mar. 22, 2022	Design II: Non-experimental research
11: Lab	Mar. 24, 2022	Writing about social psychological research	Research Proposal Part C
12: Lec	Mar. 29, 2022	Analysing social psychological data
12: Lab	Mar. 31, 2022	Factor analysis exposé and evaluating published results	Research Proposal Part D
13: Lec	Apr. 5, 2022	Quality-control in social psychology research
13: Lab	Apr. 7, 2022	GOOD FRIDAY	Research Proposal Part E
	Apr. 13 – 30., 2022	Final Exam

 

7.1  READINGS SCHEDULE

Please consult How to Read (and Understand) a Social Science Journal Article for practical recommendations of how to navigate readings of this kind.

 

Week 1 (Jan. 11 & 13): What do social psychologists study? | Generating good research questions

1. Berkman, E. T., & Wilson, S. M. (2021). So useful as a good theory? The practicality crisis in (social) psychological theory. Perspectives on psychological science, 16(4).
2. Greenwald, A. G. (2012). There is nothing so theoretical as a good method. Perspectives on psychological science, 7(2), 99-108.
3. Gergen, K. J. (1973). Social psychology as history. Journal of personality and social psychology, 26(2), 309-320.
4. Morton, T. A., Haslam, S. A., Postmes, T., & Ryan, M. K. (2006). We value what values us: The appeal of identity‐affirming science. Political Psychology, 27(6), 823-838.
5. Nelson, L. D., Simmons, J., & Simonsohn, U. (2018). Psychology's renaissance. Annual review of psychology, 69, 511-534.

 

Week 2 (Jan. 18 & 20): Social psychological theories | Constructing theories

1. Van Lange, P. A. (2013). What we should expect from theories in social psychology: Truth, abstraction, progress, and applicability as standards (TAPAS). Personality and Social Psychology Review, 17(1), 40-55.
2. Healy, K. (2017). Fuck nuance. Sociological Theory, 35(2), 118-127.
3. Epstein, J. M. (2008). Why model?. Journal of artificial societies and social simulation, 11(4), 12.
4. Gray, K. (2017). How to map theory: Reliable methods are fruitless without rigorous theory. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 731-741.

 

Week 3 (Jan. 25 & 27): Sampling considerations | Determining who and how many (sampling)

1. Syed, M. (2021). WEIRD Times: Three Reasons to Stop Using a Silly Acronym. Retrieved from https://getsyeducated.blogspot.com/2021/06/weird-times-three-reasons-to-stop-using.html.
2. Funder, D. C., & Ozer, D. J. (2019). Evaluating effect size in psychological research: Sense and nonsense. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 2(2), 156-168.
3. Schönbrodt, F. D., & Perugini, M. (2013). At what sample size do correlations stabilize?. Journal of Research in Personality, 47(5), 609-612.
4. Simmons, J. (2014). MTurk vs. The Lab: Either Way We Need Big Samples. Retrieved from http://datacolada.org/18.
5. Magnusson, K. (2021). Interpreting Cohen's d effect size: An interactive visualization (Version 2.5.1) [Web App]. R Psychologist. https://rpsychologist.com/cohend/
6. Simonsohn, U. (2014). No-way Interactions. Retrieved from http://datacolada.org/17.

 

Week 4 (Feb. 1 & 3): Intrapsychic constructs | Designing surveys

1. Fried, E. I. (2017). What are psychological constructs? On the nature and statistical modelling of emotions, intelligence, personality traits and mental disorders. Health psychology review, 11(2), 130-134.
2. Ruscio, J., & Ruscio, A. M. (2008). Categories and dimensions: Advancing psychological science through the study of latent structure. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(3), 203-207.
3. Schwarz, N. (1999). Self-reports: How the questions shape the answers. American Psychologist, 54(2), 93–105.
4. Rosenbusch, H., Wanders, F., & Pit, I. L. (2020). The Semantic Scale Network: An online tool to detect semantic overlap of psychological scales and prevent scale redundancies. Psychological Methods, 25(3), 380–392.
5. Flake, J. K., & Fried, E. I. (2020). Measurement schmeasurement: Questionable measurement practices and how to avoid them. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 3(4), 456-465.

 

Week 5 (Feb. 8 & 10): Implicit social cognition | Collecting data from implicit measures

1. Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (2017). The implicit revolution: Reconceiving the relation between conscious and unconscious. American Psychologist, 72(9), 861–871.
2. Greenwald, A. G., Brendl, M., Cai, H., Cvencek, D., Dovidio, J. F., Friese, M., ... & Wiers, R. W. (2021). Best research practices for using the Implicit Association Test. Behavior research methods, 1-20.
3. Schimmack, U. (2021). The Implicit Association Test: A method in search of a construct. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(2), 396-414.
4. Corneille, O., & Hütter, M. (2020). Implicit? What do you mean? A comprehensive review of the delusive implicitness construct in attitude research. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24(3), 212-232.

 

Week 6 (Feb. 15 & 17): Observation and behaviour | Collecting and coding behavioural data

1. Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., & Funder, D. C. (2007). Psychology as the science of self-reports and finger movements: Whatever happened to actual behavior?. Perspectives on psychological science, 2(4), 396-403.
2. Humbad, M. N., Donnellan, M. B., Klump, K. L., & Burt, S. A. (2011). Development of the Brief Romantic Relationship Interaction Coding Scheme (BRRICS). Journal of Family Psychology, 25(5), 759–769. 
3. Mehl, M. R. (2017). The electronically activated recorder (EAR) a method for the naturalistic observation of daily social behavior. Current directions in psychological science, 26(2), 184-190.
4. Dang, J., King, K. M., & Inzlicht, M. (2020). Why are self-report and behavioral measures weakly correlated?. Trends in cognitive sciences, 24(4), 267-269.

 

Week 8 (MAR. 1 & 3): Internet-based data collection | Tracking happiness, sentiment, and interest

1. Gosling, S. D., Vazire, S., Srivastava, S., & John, O. P. (2004). Should we trust web-based studies? A comparative analysis of six preconceptions about internet questionnaires. American psychologist, 59(2), 93-104.
2. Mosleh, M., Pennycook, G., & Rand, D. G. (2021, June 21). Field experiments on social media. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dgmc2
3. Seraj, S., Blackburn, K. G., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2021). Language left behind on social media exposes the emotional and cognitive costs of a romantic breakup. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(7), 1-7.
4. Zhou, H., & Fishbach, A. (2016). The pitfall of experimenting on the web: How unattended selective attrition leads to surprising (yet false) research conclusions. Journal of personality and social psychology, 111(4), 493-504.

 

Week 9 (MAR. 10): Presenting social psychological research

1. Lin, C., & Thornton, M. A. (2021, December 17). Fooled by beautiful data: Visualization aesthetics bias trust in science, news, and social media. (pp. 1-16)
2. Wilke, C. O. (2019). Fundamentals of data visualization: A primer on making informative and compelling figures. O'Reilly Media. (Chapter 29: “Telling a Story and Making a Point)
3. Flaherty, C. (2019). #betterposter. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/06/24/theres-movement-better-scientific-posters-are-they-really-better
4. Feldman, D. B., & Silvia, P. J. (2010). Public speaking for psychologists: A lighthearted guide to research presentations, job talks, and other opportunities to embarrass yourself. American Psychological Association. (Chapter 3: “Preparing and Delivering Your Talk”)

 

Week 10 (MAR. 15 & 17): Design I: Experiments | Designing experimental manipulations

1. Mook, D. G. (1983). In defense of external invalidity. American psychologist, 38(4), 379-387.
2. Chester, D. S., & Lasko, E. N. (2021). Construct validation of experimental manipulations in social psychology: Current practices and recommendations for the future. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(2), 377-395.
3. Ejelöv, E., & Luke, T. J. (2020). “Rarely safe to assume”: Evaluating the use and interpretation of manipulation checks in experimental social psychology. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 87, 103937.
4. Westlund, E., & Stuart, E. A. (2017). The nonuse, misuse, and proper use of pilot studies in experimental evaluation research. American Journal of Evaluation, 38(2), 246-261.

 

Week 11 (MAR. 22 & 24): Design II: Non-experimental research | Writing about social psychological research

1. Campbell, D. T., & Stanley, J. C. (1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Chicago, IL: Rand McNally. (pp. 1-10 and Tables 1, 2, and 3)
2. McCoach, D. B., & Adelson, J. L. (2010). Dealing with dependence (Part I): Understanding the effects of clustered data. Gifted Child Quarterly, 54(2), 152-155.
3. McCormick, E. M., Byrne, M. L., Flournoy, J. C., Mills, K. L., & Pfeifer, J. H. (2021, December 7). The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Longitudinal Models: A Primer on Model Selection for Repeated-Measures Methods. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ga4qz
4. Gernsbacher, M. A. (2018). Writing empirical articles: Transparency, reproducibility, clarity, and memorability. Advances in methods and practices in psychological science, 1(3), 403-414.

 

Week 12 (MAR. 29 & Mar. 31): Analysing social psychological data | Factor analysis exposé

1. Del Giudice, M., & Gangestad, S. W. (2021). A traveler’s guide to the multiverse: Promises, pitfalls, and a framework for the evaluation of analytic decisions. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 4(1), 2515245920954925.
   1. Instead of the article itself, read this accompanying supplement: A Primer on Covariate Selection.
2. Schönbrodt, F. D., & Wagenmakers, E. J. (2018). Bayes factor design analysis: Planning for compelling evidence. Psychonomic bulletin & review, 25(1), 128-142.
3. Sakaluk, J. K., & Short, S. D. (2017). A methodological review of exploratory factor analysis in sexuality research: Used practices, best practices, and data analysis resources.The Journal of Sex Research, 54(1), 1-9.

 

Week 13 (Apr. 5 & Apr. 7): Quality-control in social psychology research | Evaluating published research

1. Nelson, L. D., Simmons, J., & Simonsohn, U. (2018). Psychology's renaissance. Annual review of psychology, 69, 511-534.
2. Hussey, I., & Hughes, S. (2020). Hidden invalidity among 15 commonly used measures in social and personality psychology. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 3(2), 166-184.
3. Joel, S., Eastwick, P. W., & Finkel, E. J. (2018). Open sharing of data on close relationships and other sensitive social psychological topics: Challenges, tools, and future directions. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1(1), 86-94.
4. Cheung, I., Campbell, L., LeBel, E. P., Ackerman, R. A., Aykutoğlu, B., Bahník, Š., ... & Yong, J. C. (2016). Registered replication report: Study 1 from finkel, rusbult, kumashiro, & hannon (2002). Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(5), 750-764.

 

 

 

8.0  Land Acknowledgement

 

We acknowledge that Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron peoples, on lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum.

 

With this, we respect the longstanding relationships that Indigenous Nations have to this land, as they are the original caretakers. We acknowledge historical and ongoing injustices that Indigenous Peoples (e.g. First Nations, Métis and Inuit) endure in Canada, and we accept responsibility as a public institution to contribute toward revealing and correcting miseducation, as well as renewing respectful relationships with Indigenous communities through our teaching, research and community service.

 

 

9.0  STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC OFFENCES

 

Students are responsible for understanding the nature and avoiding the occurrence of plagiarism and other scholastic offences. Plagiarism and cheating are considered very serious offences because they undermine the integrity of research and education. Actions constituting a scholastic offence are described at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf

 

As of Sept. 1, 2009, the Department of Psychology will take the following steps to detect scholastic offences. All multiple-choice tests and exams will be checked for similarities in the pattern of responses using reliable software, and records will be made of student seating locations in all tests and exams. All written assignments will be submitted to TurnItIn, a service designed to detect and deter plagiarism by comparing written material to over 5 billion pages of content located on the Internet or in TurnItIn’s databases. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between Western and Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com).

 

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.

 

In classes that involve the use of a personal response system (PRS), data collected using the PRS will only be used in a manner consistent to that described in this outline. It is the instructor’s responsibility to make every effort to ensure that data remain confidential. However, students should be aware that as with all forms of electronic communication, privacy is not guaranteed. Your PRS login credentials are for your sole use only. Students attempting to use another student’s credentials to submit data through the PRS may be subject to academic misconduct proceedings.

 

Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.

 

10.0      POLICY ON THE USE OF EXAM PROCTORING SOFTWARE

 

If a remote proctoring service is used, the service will require you to provide personal information (including some biometric data). The session will be recorded. In the event that in-person exams are unexpectedly canceled, you may only be given notice of the use of a proctoring service a short time in advance. More information about remote proctoring is available in the Online Proctoring Guidelines. Please ensure you are familiar with any proctoring service’s technical requirements before the exam. Additional guidance is available at the following link: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/onlineproctorguidelines.pdf

 

* Please note that Zoom servers are located outside Canada. If you would prefer to use only your first name or a nickname to login to Zoom, please provide this information to the instructor in advance of the test or examination. See this link for technical requirements: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us  

 

11.0 POLICY ON ACCOMMODATION FOR ILLNESS OR OTHER ABSENCES

 

Western’s policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness can be found at:
https://www.westerncalendar.uwo.ca/PolicyPages.cfm?PolicyCategoryID=1&Command=showCategory&SelectedCalendar=Live&ArchiveID=#Page_12

 

If you experience an extenuating circumstance (e.g., illness, injury) sufficiently significant to temporarily make you unable to meet academic requirements, you may request accommodation through the following routes:

1. For medical absences, submitting a Student Medical Certificate (SMC) signed by a licensed medical or mental health practitioner in order to be eligible for Academic Consideration;
2. For non-medical absences, submitting appropriate documentation (e.g., obituary, police report, accident report, court order, etc.) to Academic Counselling in their Faculty of registration in order to be eligible for academic consideration. Students are encouraged to contact their Academic Counselling unit to clarify what documentation is appropriate.

 

Students must see the Academic Counsellor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation.

 

https://www.registrar.uwo.ca/faculty_academic_counselling.html

 

Students seeking academic consideration:

• are advised to consider carefully the implications of postponing tests or midterm exams or delaying handing in work;  
• must communicate with their instructors no later than 24 hoursafter the end of the period covered SMC, or immediately upon their return following a documented absence

 

Students seeking accommodation for religious purposes are advised to contact Academic Counselling at least three weeks prior to the religious event and as soon as possible after the start of the term.

 

12.0      Contingency Plan for Return to Lockdown: IN-Person & Blended classes

 

In the event of a COVID-19 resurgence or any other event that necessitates the course delivery moving away from face-to-face interaction, all remaining course content will be delivered entirely online, either synchronously (i.e., at the times indicated in the timetable) or asynchronously (e.g., posted on OWL for students to view at their convenience). The grading scheme will not change. Any remaining assessments will also be conducted online, as determined by the course instructor.

 

13.0      STATEMENTS CONCERNING ONLINE ETIQUETTE

 

In courses involving online interactions, the Psychology Department expects students to honour the following rules of etiquette:

• please “arrive” to class on time
• please use your computer and/or laptop if possible (as opposed to a cell phone or tablet)
• please ensure that you are in a private location to protect the confidentiality of discussions in the event that a class discussion deals with sensitive or personal material
• to minimize background noise, kindly mute your microphone for the entire class until you are invited to speak, unless directed otherwise
• In classes larger than 30 participants please turn off your video camera for the entire class unless you are invited to speak
• In classes of 30 students or fewer, where video chat procedures are being used, please be prepared to turn your video camera off at the instructor’s request if the internet connection becomes unstable
• Unless invited by your instructor, do not share your screen in the meeting

 

The course instructor will act as moderator for the class and will deal with any questions from participants. To participate please consider the following:

• If you wish to speak, use the “raise hand” function and wait for the instructor to acknowledge you before beginning your comment or question.
• Please remember to unmute your microphone and turn on your video camera before speaking.
• Self-identify when speaking.
• Please remember to mute your mic and turn off your video camera after speaking (unless directed otherwise).

 

General considerations of “netiquette”:

• Keep in mind the different cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the students in the course.
• Be courteous toward the instructor, your colleagues, and authors whose work you are discussing.
• Be respectful of the diversity of viewpoints that you will encounter in the class and in your readings. The exchange of diverse ideas and opinions is part of the scholarly environment. “Flaming” is never appropriate.
• Be professional and scholarly in all online postings. Use proper grammar and spelling. Cite the ideas of others appropriately.

 

Note that disruptive behaviour of any type during online classes, including inappropriate use of the chat function, is unacceptable. Students found guilty of Zoom-bombing a class or of other serious online offenses may be subject to disciplinary measures under the Code of Student Conduct.

 

14.0 OTHER INFORMATION

 

Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca 

 

Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca

 

Psychology Undergraduate Program: https://www.psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/index.html

 

If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at: https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf

Please first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).

 

Copyright Statement: Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial purposes without the instructor’s written consent.

 

Policy on the Recording of Synchronous Sessions: Some or all of the remote learning sessions for this course (if scheduled) may be recorded. The data captured during these recordings may include your image, voice recordings, chat logs and personal identifiers (name displayed on the screen). The recordings will be used for educational purposes related to this course, including evaluations. The recordings may be disclosed to other individuals participating in the course for their private or group study purposes. Please contact the instructor if you have any concerns related to session recordings. Participants in this course are not permitted to privately record the sessions, except where recording is an approved accommodation, or the student has the prior written permission of the instructor.