Dr. William Tooke
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Dr. William Tooke
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Psychology 206: Psychological Statistics Syllabus – Spring, 2008 Instructor:
Dr. William Tooke 212 Beaumont Hall Phone/Voicemail: 564-3380 Office Hours: M 2-3; TTH
11-12 Mail to: william.tooke@plattsburgh.edu Website: http://faculty.plattsburgh.edu/william.tooke
(please consult this site!) Required Text:
Gravetter & Wallnau (2006). Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences.
(7th Ed.)
Reading Assignments:
Reading assignments will be made on an on-going basis as we proceed through the
various topics covered in the book. Topics will be covered and readings assigned
according to the listings near the end of this syllabus. Attendance Policy:
Except to verify that you are officially enrolled in this class, attendance will
not be recorded nor directly considered when assigning grades. However,
there is a positive relationship between regularity of attendance and
your performance in the course (take my word for it)! Testing Policies:
In this course, there will be four (4) exams during the course of the semester
and a cumulative final exam during finals week. Each of the four (4) semester
exams will be equally weighted (each worth 15% of your grade). The final exam
will be worth 20% of your grade. Each of these exams will be open book and will
include a number of statistics problems. Ample review time will be provided the
class period before each exam so that any questions that you may have can be
addressed. Homework Performance:
Your homework performance will be evaluated weekly via various exercises and
assignments. Homework assignments will be given out weekly (usually on
Wednesdays) and will be due in two days (usually on the following Friday).
Homework will be turned in to your teaching assistant who will grade your work
and return it to you on the subsequent Monday. There will be no homework during
weeks when tests are given. Homework assignments will account for 20% of your
total course grade. Hand Calculator:
Because of the nature of the work that will be done in class, each of you must
have access to a simple hand calculator. It is highly recommended that you
obtain a Texas Instruments calculator (Model TI-30) as this is very easy to use
and will do everything you need it to do. They cost about $15.00. Grading Policies:
Your course grade will be computed by 1) averaging the top five grades in the
class and 2) assigning “A’s” to students whose total score is 90% of
this average or above, “B’s” for 80% or above, “C’s” for 70% or
above, “D’s” for 60% or above and “F’s” for anything lower. I will
discuss this policy further in class or whenever you have a question about it. Schedule of Topics and
Readings Topic/Reading Introduction to Statistics
and the Empirical Method/ Chapter 1 Frequency Distributions
and Graphs/ Chapter 2 Descriptive Statistics/ Chapters
3 and 4 Standard Scores and
Standardized Distributions/ Chapter 5 Probability/ Chapter 6
(Sections 6.2 & 6.3) (Review) First Examination Sampling Distributions/ Chapter
7 Introduction to Hypothesis
Testing/ Chapter 8 The t Statistic/ Chapters
9, 10, 11 (Review) Second Examination Introduction to the
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)/ Chapter 13 Repeated Measures ANOVA/ Chapter
14 Two-Factor ANOVA/ Chapter
15 (Review) Third Examination Correlation/ Chapter 16 Regression/ Chapter 17 Nonparametric Tests/ Chapters
18 (Review) Fourth Examination Final Examination Additional Information:
As necessary, we will spend more or less time on any given topic listed.
Therefore, I have not placed dates on the preceding list of topics and readings
since it is difficult to determine exact dates corresponding to classes covering
the various issues. Exam dates will be announced at least 2 full weeks
prior to the exam. You will be responsible for knowing the dates for each
exam!! As you can see, attendance will help in this regard! Also, I teach
this course from a conceptual viewpoint. I will not throw formulas at you
without first discussing and explaining what they do and why they
are used. Don’t let the symbols and “math-stuff” make you nervous.
Everything will be explained in plain English before we do any “figuring”. No make-up exams will be
available in this course unless documentation is provided to me by doctors or
other relevant authorities. No homework assignments will be accepted late
(no as in none). IMPORTANT NOTE: All exams
and quizzes must be taken by everyone at the designated time in the classroom.
If you have documentation on file through Student Support Services that makes
you exempt from this requirement or if English is your second language and you
have been approved through the Learning Center to take exams there, please let
me know. It is expected that all
students enrolled in this class support the letter and the spirit of the
Academic Honesty Policy as stated in the college catalog. Academic dishonesty
will not be tolerated and may result in 1) failing an assignment. 2) failing the
course, and/or 3) dismissal from the university. Please see the university’s
academic dishonesty policy at: http://www.plattsburgh.edu/offices/academic/provost/academichonesty.php A word about “math
phobia.” It’s been my experience that “math phobia” usually boils down
to a simple dislike of mathematics due to some people finding it difficult,
obscure, and irrelevant. This is understandable. Mathematics requires a degree
of conceptualization not found in other disciplines—and it is extremely
unforgiving of sloppy thinking. However, mathematics is clearly relevant since no
science would exist without it (including, contrary to popular opinion,
psychology). All that we know about human behavior has come from the
statistical evaluation of that behavior through experimental and clinical
research. Oprah may be a good talk show host but, since she knows zip about
psychological research and probabilistic thinking, she knows zip about the real
forces that shape human behavior. You are required to be exposed to this
material because it is absolutely central to the science of psychology. And,
hopefully, as a result, you will then be able to say smarter things about why
people do what they do than Oprah. |