Betty Edwards

[Steven Specht]

Greetings TIPSters,
In Betty Edwards best-selling book entitled "Drawing on the Right Side
of Your Brain", she provides a nice example of drawings produced when
students are given an inverted image as a model. Do any of you know
whether there is research which empirically supports this phenomenon?
Thanks!



e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
Utica College of Syracuse University
1600 Burrstone Rd.
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"To teach is to learn twice".  - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)



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Re: Betty Edwards

[Steven Specht]

Indeed, I agree. In fact, I would suggest that the phenomenon is NOT based upon 
differences in right brain vs. left brain at all. Rather, it is probably a 
differentiation of sensation vs. perception (or at least some subtraction of 
memorial/cognitive schema). Artists would say that that occurs because the drawer is 
seeing the stimuli rather than perceiving stimuli as it "should"
be. The point is, however, students' drawings based on inverted images do generally 
appear to be of better quality. My inquiry was whether anyone knows of research which 
has empirically shown the effect.

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> The right brain/left brain dichotomy is a popular myth - no one is right brained or 
> left brained unless they have had a hemisperectomy. I would need to know more about 
> the context of the example to offer an opinion as to whether it is meaningful. But 
> students need to understand that no person favors his or her right or left brain 
> (this is different than the issue of handedness.)
>
> I would use caution in suggesting this book to students.
>
> Nancy Melucci
> Long Beach City College
> Long Beach CA
>
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
Utica College of Syracuse University
1600 Burrstone Rd.
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"To teach is to learn twice".  - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)



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Re: school psych programs in ny

[Steven Specht]

S.U.N.Y., College at Oswego has a good program (and it's a nice place to

spend a few years... i.e., on the shores of Lake Ontario... GREAT

sunsets!... but LOTS of snow)



[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:



>  I have been working with a former student on doctoral applications

> for next year. Does anyone have information on school psych programs

> in New York State. Laura TalamoGreat Neck North High School---

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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Psychology

Department of Psychology

Utica College

Utica, NY 13502

(315) 792-3171



"To teach is to learn twice".  - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)





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Re: Stat programs

[Steven Specht]

I would suggest that the student use the following free website for all
her statistical needs (if they truly are basic):
http://faculty.vassar.edu/lowry/VassarStats.html
Cheri Budzynski wrote:

I have a student that was looking
to purchase a statistical software package for her computer. She was looking
for something inexpensive that would give her the ability to compute basic
stats. I had originally recommended statview, but we found out that it
is no longer being produced. Does anyone have any suggestions? Cheri
Cheri A. Budzynski, Ph.D.
Department Chair
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Heidelberg College
310 E. Market Street
phone: (419) 893 - 1986 ext. 4005
Tiffin, OH 44883-2462---
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171
"To teach is to learn twice".  - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)
 

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Re: xtra points for losing weight

[Steven Specht]

Dear Michael,
Aren't you being unfair to the students who are already heathily thin? Why
would you think academic credit should be given for such an
"accomplishment"? If your idea is to reinforce healthy behaviors, maybe you
should give extra credit for eating more vegetables and fruits, and for
getting enough sleep too.
The idea seems quite silly, at best, and potentially unethical at worst.

Sincerely,
-S

sylvestm wrote:

>  I am toying with the idea of giving extra points to students for losing
> weight.For each pound  a student loses,the student gets 1 point.
> Lose 20 pounds and the student gets 20 extra points.
> My fear is that I may influence anorexia in some students.
>
> Michael Sylvester,PhD
> Daytona Beach,Florida
>
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unaswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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histamine example

[Steven Specht]

Ah, but don't forget about diseases like PKU which is defined by a decreased
ability to take up tyrosine from the blood (a precursor of dopamine). PKU
certainly can result in abnormalities in brain function if proper dietary
restrictions are not followed (i.e., a tryptophan restricted diet).

A nice example/elaboration about how the same chemical can serve two quite
distinct functions is the role of histamine in the body. Histamine acts on
H1 receptors to elicit the common "symptoms" of an allergic response (thus
antihistamines, like chlorpheniramine, will "block" this response). On the
other hand, the same histamine molecule acts at the H2 receptor in the
gastric mucosa to elicit gastric acid secretion (thus H2 antagonism using
drugs like Tagamet and Pepcid are indicated for ulcers and gastric acid
over-secretion problems). I further explain that taking Tagamet for
allergies is non-effective. Likewise, taking chlorpheniramine for ulcer is
ineffectual. Students seem to "like" these examples because they're somewhat
familiar with the responses and the common drugs used.
Like serotonin, histamine seems to be very useful physiologically, so "the
body uses the molecule" in more than one place. BTW, histamine and serotonin
are also chemically quite similar molecularly, both belonging to the
indolamine family. And in addition to all this cool stuff, histamine is a
putative neurotransmitter in the brain (at a receptor sometimes referred to
as the H3 receptor).

More than you ever wanted to know about histamine, I'm sure.

David Epstein wrote:

> On Wed, 3 Sep 2003, Nathalie Cote went:
>
> > One of my Intro Psych students told me that he found a Web site that
> > says that the gastrointestinal tract is a bigger producer of serotonin
> > than the brain is
>
> That's what I've been taught--that 90% of the body's serotonin is in
> the gut, where it serves functions related to intestinal motility.
>
> > The student is concerned because he has had his colon removed for
> > medical reasons, so he wants to know if that affects serotonin
> > levels in his brain.
>
> No, there's nothing to worry about there.  Serotonin doesn't penetrate
> the blood-brain barrier, so the student's digestive tract can make as
> much (or as little) serotonin as it likes, and his brain won't know
> the difference, so to speak.
>
> Serotonin in the brain is made in specific clusters of neuron in the
> brainstem, whose axons form specific pathways with specific (perhaps
> even opposing) functions in various other brain regions.  It's not
> something that the brain needs to be globally bathed in, like
> cerebrospinal fluid, and more isn't necessarily better.
>
> > 1) What do you know about serotonin in the gut? Other than being the
> > same chemical, is it related to serotonin in the brain? How?
>
> I think that when nature finds a useful signaling molecule, it uses
> that molecule wherever it can.  So the same molecules tend to turn up
> in a lot of different places; that doesn't have to mean they're
> serving the same functions.
>
> > 2) The Web site above also makes the claim that "inadequate levels of
> > serotonin and norepinephrine precursors in the diet
>
> ...probably constitute a condition that almost never occurs.
>
> > is it the case that extended use of SSRIs depletes
> > neurotransmitters?
>
> No--at least, it's never been demonstrated.  There are studies showing
> that huge overdoses of SSRIs can damage serotonergic axons in rats.
> Those studies have no implications for chronic use of therapeutic
> doses.
>
> > And is it the case that diet has a measurable effect on
> > neurotransmitter levels in the brain?
>
> Generally not, unless you go to unusual lengths, such as fasting, then
> drinking specially made cocktails of amino acids from which tryptophan
> is deliberately excluded.
>
> --David Epstein
>   [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Serotonin production in the colon

[Steven Specht]

You might also check Cooper, Bloom and Roth's "The biochemical basis of
neuropharmacology". Don't let the title frighten you... it's a great
reference book. And I would be surprised if it's not in your school's
library.

David Epstein wrote:

> On Wed, 3 Sep 2003, Annette Taylor, Ph. D. went:
>
> > Now, if you could give just a few references to support
> > your major points. :-)
>
> This is where we run into the difference between spending ten minutes
> on a reply and spending an hour on a reply. :) But most biopsych
> textbooks (e.g. Kalat or Carlson) should cover this material.
>
> --David
>
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: war and religion and IQ (was RE: IQ)

[Steven Specht]

>
>
> Did I miss the link between IQ and death? What was it?
>
> 
> John W. Kulig
> Professor of Psychology
> Plymouth State College
> Plymouth NH 03264
> 

It was the first question in a new IQ test. ;-)
--


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Freud-Plato Question

[Steven Specht]

When I was an undergraduate, oh so many years ago, I wrote what, at the
time, I considered to be my most original paper for a class (i.e., I had not
read anything like it before). In the paper, I compared Freud's three
components of the psyche with Plato's three components of the "Republic"
(i.e., the artisans, warriors and Philosopher-King... as I recall). The
similarities were quite compelling. But I'm not sure if there is any direct
link or if the similarities were a coincidence with most general structures
of triads. I would suspect that it was an illusory relationship.

Lenore Frigo wrote:

> This is from one of my online students...
>
> "Is Freud's id, ego and superego based on Plato's three part soul which
> consists of reason, emotion and appetite?"
>
> Thanks for any help,
>
> Lenore Frigo
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: psych grads

[Steven Specht]

Wow, no wonder your students are disillusioned.
My belief is that ANY major can be a dead-end major. You don't get a job (and
keep it or move forward) with a degree... you get a job (and a career) with
SKILLS.
One of our alum in the business/marketing world loves to hire BA/BS psych
majors (more than business majors) because they have the quantitative and
research design SKILLS to be successful and command salaries that are higher
than mine with a Ph.D.
There are losers in every major (but there are winners too).

Kelly Amberville wrote:

> You make some good points about psychology appealing to those who otherwise
> lack a vocation. But as for the withdrawals, I can only relate what I
> observe and what large numbers of psych majors have told me before changing
> majors. They were somewhat disgruntled about not having been informed that
> this was a dead-end major. They still wanted to believe there was something
> psychologistic in the world to do with a BA in psych, and ending up as a
> data entry drone in some real estate tax service, is not their idea. In my
> job, I know I often have to add the number of MBs across files to determine
> whether they will comprise a file of manageable size, but no self-respecting
> math professor would tell me I am making use of my BA in Mathematics. I
> think those who I have sampled on this issue would tell you that it is easy
> for you to make those statements, but that they are completely agnostic of
> their needs and goals.
>
> But you have given me an excellent marketing strategy for Psychology as a
> major: "Psychology...YOU HAVE TO MAJOR IN SOMETHING."
>
> As for interesting, I think this may be the career disillusionment talking
> (I cannot say whether they always felt this way), but in retrospect they
> find Psychology curriculum arid and redundant. Now that they realize those
> credits did not amount to a career, they can see all the pork in the psych
> curriculum and all the credits they could have spent elsewhere.
>
> K.
>
> >From: Vincent Prohaska <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Reply-To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences"
> ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Subject: Re: psych grads
> >Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 15:25:43 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
> >
> >
> >
> >I disagree with Kelly about the number of psych majors dropping because
> >students cannot go on for advanced degrees in psych. I do not think the
> >majority of psych majors (and psych tends to be the largest liberal arts
> >major at many, if not most, campuses) stay psych majors because they want
> >to go to graduate school and have a career in psych. I think they stay
> >because they find the subject interesting, perhaps because they see
> >possibile applications in whatever field they eventiually chose, and
> >because they have to major in something. Psych has never been a "career"
> >degree such as nursing or accounting. I often pitch psych as a great major
> >for students unsure about their career goals, or heading into any career
> >that involves interactios with people. Although there isn't a "Psychology
> >Employment Universe available to the BA," the entire Liberal Arts
> >Employment Universe is wide open for them (Drew Appleby, among others have
> >written about this).
> >
> >Vinny
> >
> >
> >
> >Vincent Prohaska, Ph.D.
> >
> >Associate Professor
> >
> >Eastern Regional Vice-President
> >Psi Chi, The National Honor Society in Psychology
> >
> >Department of Psychology
> >Lehman College, City University of New York
> >Bronx,  NY  10468-1589
> >[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >718-960-8776
> >718-960-8092 fax
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >---
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>
> _
> Use custom emotions -- try MSN Messenger 6.0!
> http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/tracking/reach_emoticon
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: psych grads

[Steven Specht]

I consider your e-mails to be depressing over-generalizations about problems with
which we are all familiar. I'd rather like to hear about the strategies you are
employing to combat the problem than hear more about the well-acknowledged problems
existing in ours and others' fields.

I hope I am a "useful" role model for my students. I was trained in research-driven
psychobiology as a graduate student (after my interests as an undergraduate were
primarily in something similar to human behavioral medicine). Since I became
prohibitively allegric to the litter critters which had been my subjects, I shifted
my research into another area in which I had already had interests-- sensation and
perception (taste in particular). I now am teaching and doing some research in
Psychology of the Visual Arts and hope to soon pursue an MFA after being 14 years out
of graduate school in psychobiology. I continue to teach and do fairly extensive
consultation in statistics. I rarely discuss "degrees" with my students. I lead lots
of discussions about skills and interests explicitly. And perhaps that's why I find
your submissions a bit frustrating.

What are your strategies for combatting the problems you perceive?

Kelly Amberville wrote:

> Yes, but the charge brought by Ehrenfels is that psychology fails to both
> train and educate. And there is more than a kernel of truth in his argument.
> No one is reading because everyone has to be publishing. And when we do
> read, it's some textbook or trade paper, both of which have little if any
> intellectual or phenomenological substance. Psychology students end up
> leaving the major feeling like their faculty treated the human condition
> like the 800 lb gorilla in the psych department. For example, how often have
> I run into a student who wants to know about Freud or Jung. Not that this is
> all there is. These two figures are merely topographical features on a broad
> psychodynamic and phenomenological landscape. The vast, vast majority of us
> have never read Freud or Jung, not in the original, nor as a secondary
> source, nor are we familiar with any other part of that psychodynamic or
> object-relations terrain. We are trained to give the 5 minute id, ego, and
> supergo lecture (usually with that iceberg diagram which is like the chalk
> outline demarcating the corpse of true scholarship in this field) and then
> to teach our students that Freud was just a culture-bound charlatan
> chauvinist. In cognitive psychology courses, how many of us teach our
> students connectionism? Virtually none. Instead we present those 1950s
> models of memory with the lines connecting boxes that are supposed to
> represent long-term and short-term memory and attention and yawn!  I do know
> some students for whom the illusion-transparencies and the mnemonics are an
> impressive fireworks display, but these are not the students I want to teach
> to. I want to teach to those students who are hungry and curious and who are
> not easily fooled when we attempt to pass ourselves off as knowledgeable.
>
> Career preparation. A psychologistic education. We can and should do much
> better.
>
> K.
>
> >From: "Dennis Goff" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Reply-To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences"
> ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Subject: RE: psych grads
> >Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:49:45 -0400
> >
> >Doug,
> >Great comment!
> >
> >I was meeting with a new advisee for the first time last week. She is an
> >older (>24) student. When I asked about her choice of Psychology as a major
> >she simply said that it seemed to be the most interesting choice available
> >to her. She brought no sense of "credentialling" to her decision, only a
> >desire to become educated. My hope is that she will enjoy the courses as
> >much as she anticipates.
> >
> >Dennis
> >
> >   -Original Message-
> >   From: Peterson, Douglas [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >   Sent: Mon 9/15/2003 5:06 PM
> >   To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> >   Cc:
> >   Subject: RE: psych grads
> >
> >
> >
> >   I am a strong advocate of a college education and I stress the term
> >college,
> >   because at least at my institution, the major coursework constitutes less
> >   than 25% of the total degree.
> >
> >   I fear that if I present Psychology as a dead-end majors some of my
> >advisees
> >   might actually believe that and make it come true (in fact I think most of
> >   our graduates could even describe that phenomenon because they learn about
> >   it in psychology classes - yes more than one).  I hope that all of us will
> >   do more to help psychology students expand their outlook on career options
> >   and NOT limit it to a select area.
> >
> >   Fewer than half of our majors continue in psychology and many of those
> >   non-PhD programs (Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, MBA, MPA,
> >   C

little critters and drugs

[Steven Specht]

At the risk of being pulled into a "schmier-esque" discussion any
further, I would like to clarify just one thing right up front with
regard to the general field and importance basic research in
psychobiology specifically and the biomedical field in general. I
previously referred to the "little critters" I worked with in graduate
school because "rats" were not really the focus of the topic. I also
happen to LOVE animals and really did/do consider them "little critters"
in a fond way. The importance of basic psychobiological research to
applied biomedical fields such as psychopharmacology, neurology and
physiology can not be over-stated... I repeat, can not be over-stated.
Unfortunately, the popular press and terrorist groups such as PETA and
ALF have demonized research in these areas by preying on the general
pubic's ignorance of the relationship between research and "product"
(e.g., new treatments and better pharmaceuticals). In fact, the "little
critters" to which I referred were "rats". And we may have "euthanized"
them or "sacrificed" them... but I think we plain ole "killed" them.
Chopped off there little heads and took out their brains... so that we
could eventually figure-out, for example, that drugs like Prozac
actually work at the serotonergic synapse. Lots of folks that make-up
the "general public" certainly are taking advantage of our collective
"dirty work" in basic research it appears.
Anyway, this is certainly getting into another topic that has been
hashed out before on this list. I simply get a little annoyed when I am
accused of "bureacratizing" or sanitizing my language. If the public
were a little more educated in areas such as experimental design,
statistics and the logic of biomedical research, we would all be better
off, imho. The neuroscience folks really over-estimated the public's
awareness when they underestimated the impact that groups like PETA and
ALF would have. And, btw, as an linguistic analogy, many of us say that
we are bringing our cars in for "tune-ups" rather than get into the
nitty-gritty details of exact procedures. I don't know if that would be
considered sanitizing or bureacratizing our language.
Can you tell that this is a bit of a sensitive topic for me?

I better get back to work... I have a very traditional and exciting
class in research methods to prepare.
;-)


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interesting

[Steven Specht]

But it was kind of interesting in terms of how it all unfolded.

Paul Smith wrote:

> And in response to my most recent posting, the person using the Amberville Hotmail 
> account has now admitted to me that "Amberville" is a pseudonym, being used because 
> of "what could be lost when one takes responsibility for critical opinions in this 
> field". I'm with Annette - this isn't very interesting. We see this kind of 
> spamming/conspiracy theorizing all over the internet. No great mystery here, just 
> another overblown sense of self-importance and frustration over the lack of public 
> acclaim.
>
> Paul Smith
> Alverno College
> Milwaukee
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: K. Amberville here

[Steven Specht]

propriate (if that were my name).
But Ms. Amberville is misleading with respect to title and thus inaccurate.
So the whole discussion of formality and pretense is a red herring. Mr.
Green probably does not use the prefix Mr. often and knew what he was doing
when he prepended it to Ehrenfels.
(6) Final Six Messages at that link provided by Mr. Green
 Read them. What of them?
(7) Overblown Sense of Importance
 Ehrenfels has been threatened by litigation.
One of the institutions of which his book is a compilation forced his wife
(at that time a student) to relay threatening messages to him and then
suggested that her choice of husbands reflects poorly on her clinical judgment.
Ehrenfels withdrew from the program after seeking a post-doctoral clinical
respecialization diploma. Ehrenfels only grudgingly adopted the nom de
plum after repeated overtures from supporters, whose fears were vindicated
after this incident and a related incident in which a psychology professor
was almost struck crossing the street against the light to avoid Ehrenfels,
who was on his way to the metro I think. You'll have to consult his web
site on this.
 The source of the overblown importance remark
is likely so holed up in his Ivory Dungeon as not be able to distinguish
between what is real and what is hype. All that wistful speculation could
have been avoided by a simple question.
 My thanks to Steven Specht for exhibiting a
healthy balance of open-mindedness and skepticism.
K.
 
 

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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171
"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"
 
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Re: K. Amberville here

[Steven Specht]

I thought so!

"%721(@"  - The TIPSter formerly know as Specht

Paul Smith wrote:

> James Guinee
>
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Jim Guinee...who is really Gary Coleman, Gubernatorial Candidate for
> > California
> >
> > P.S.  I hope other tipsters who have hidden behind an academic facade
> > will now also come forth and provide your real identity.  It is most
> liberating.
>
> Surely no-one here has believed that my name is _really_ "Paul Smith",
> right? I've assumed that it was obvious that is a pseudonym.
>
> Karol Joseph Wojtyla
> Ivory Tower #7,
> Rome
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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point-biserial

[Steven Specht]

Good morning TIPSters!
My understanding of the point-biserial correlational procedures is that it is
used when one of the variables is dichotomous (e.g. female vs. male; psych
majors vs. non-psych majors). I have a colleague who had a data set in which
she has a "trichotomous" variable (i.e., "upper" "middle" "lower"). Am I
correct in assuming that you could encode that variable as "3" "2" and "1"? I
should know this information, but fortunately perhaps, I deal mostly with
ratio or interval data in my research.
Thanks in advance for your thoughtful feedback!


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Re: point-biserial

[Steven Specht]

But the scores themselves are not being ranked (that is, subjects are not
ranked), they are being categorized.

Don Allen wrote:

> Wouldn't it be more appropriate to use a Spearman Rho if you are asuming
> ordinality in your data?
>
> -Don.
>
> --
>
> ---
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--


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: power point is evil?

[Steven Specht]

I couldn't agree more with Gary. Balance is the key!
Gary Klatsky wrote:



I
have a bit of a problem with the “absolute” responses to the use of PowerPoint.PowerPoint
is a tool and like any tool it can be used effectively or to an extreme
where it is distracting.I have
a horrible handwriting so I have put all of the material I want to present
to my class in PowerPoint presentations. These include figures, videos,
cartoons and anything else
that I want to share with the class. Putting all the material in a PowerPoint
presentation, besides being legible, also makes the presentation of material
run much smoother. I don’t have to navigate between VCRs, overhead projectors
and the blackboard.




When
I returned to academia (almost 10 years now) from industry I began using
PowerPoint immediately (in a 150 student class). At the start, students
all commented on how much they liked having material presented that way. Over
the years I have (I think) achieved the right balance between what is presented
on a slide and what I elaborate on.I
don’t use any backgrounds or fancy fonts. I do make all of that material
(minus anything that is copyrighted) available to my students to download
so that they don’t have to copy what is being presented (that was a different
thread).Given the feedback (formal
and anecdotal) I have gotten from students over the years I believe I am
a very effective educator.I believe
that the way I present course material to my students contributes to that
effectiveness. 



Gary
J. Klatsky, Ph. D.

Director,
Human Computer Interaction



Department
of Psychology[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Oswego
State University (SUNY)http://www.oswego.edu/~klatsky

7060
State Hwy 104WVoice: (315) 312-3474

Oswego,
NY 13126Fax:(315)
312-6330



All
of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice 

must
be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will

exert
upon events in the political field.

Albert
Einstein



-Original
Message-
From:
John Kulig [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent:
Tuesday, October 21, 2003 1:27 PM
To:
Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
Subject:
RE: power point is evil?





I’m
not a fan of Power Point because the backgrounds are distracting and the
formatting garish. I prefer having the freedom to format as I see fit,
rather than squeeze into canned formats. I have only 2 Power Point “things”
for Intro, but they are canned memory experiments that present TBR words,
and I used it only as a slide projector only, minus all the silly formatting.
Once, when I was setting up a computer in front of a large class, a student
asked “Are we having a Power Point today?”. It’s only one anecdote, but
evidence that students clue into the formatting. The methods we use to
bring material to a class should be transparent. 


John
W. Kulig
Professor
of Psychology
Plymouth
State College
Plymouth
NH 03264

"Live
simply that others may simply live"
Contemporary
saying.

-Original
Message-

From:
Kathleen Kleissler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent:
Monday, October 20, 2003 4:05 PM
To:
Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
Subject:
power point is evil?



This
author says the use of power point for educational purposes is counter
productive -- that students concentrate on form over content when it's
used. Comments anyone?
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html
Kathleen Kleissler
Dept. of Psychology
Kutztown University
Kutztown PA 19530
610-298-3313
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171
"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"
 

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our role in educating about skills

[Steven Specht]

I believe that one solution is to educate students about the connection
between academic skills and success. And by "educate" I mean more than
simply insisting that there is a relationship. Here are just a couple of
the things I've done this semester...
- In an effort to "break" the delusion that a piece of paper (the degree)
means success, when I hand back the first exam in my classes, I show the
class the distribution of scores (in descending order) and tell them that
the top three students in the class would get interviews... the rest would
get rejection letters. For some, this simple statement changes the pervasive
attitude that "C"s and "B"s are "good enough"
- On a more "academic" level, this semester I obtained the CAIB (i.e.,
Columbia Accident Investigation Board) pdf report and showed the class
the table of NASA annual budgets over the last 20 or so years. The table
provides raw and adjusted-for-inflation values. This adjustment is a relatively
simple mathematical procedure that "blows away" many students. But I try
to demonstrate that without this adjustment, direct annual comparisons
are meaningless. The point is, simple math skills are necessary for professional
success. Some of the students start to see the light; some don't.
I guess my point is that I think we can do a better job educating students
about the importance of skills rather than just professing it (which I
have found produces a response much like how they respond to their parents'
proclamations... not to favorably). I try to explicitly demonstrate the
necessity for basic skills every week. Of course, I have the luxury of
teaching statistics and experimental design... both of which lend themselves
to this type of emphasis. It becomes a bit more difficult in my "Psychology
& the Visual Arts" course ;-)
I think this issue is somewhat related to the problem that provoked
the Kelly Ambervillesque tirade against psychology we recently experienced.
If one thinks a degree (of any kind) will ensure success rather than a
set of skills, disappointment is almost inevitable.
I guess I have to get back to grading papers :-(
 
Peace,
-S
 
 
Miguel Roig wrote:
 At 12:09 AM 10/23/2003 -0500, you wrote:
It has been a couple of years since
I've taught an undergraduate research
methods class.  I've just finished grading the first drafts of
some
proposals.  Either I was blind before, or there has been a sea
change in
undergraduate writing.

We've had threads before about 'students getting worse' and those
discussion have sometimes led me to question the accuracy of faculty impressions
of the academic readiness of students.  However, annual 'report cards'
of our nation's schools have not been favorable for years and verify our
perceptions.  In fact, a just-published report by the Manhattan Institute
(http://www.manhattan-institute.org/ewp_03.pdf)
paints a pretty grim picture of public high school education.  For
example, consider the following statistic revealed by the Manhattan report:
"Only 70% of all students in public high schools
graduate, and only 32% of all students leave high school qualified to attend
four-year colleges."  I don't know what the exact figures are, but
I imagine that the 32% probably translates to hundreds of thousands of
students.  One also wonders how much better some private high schools
really are.
I am sure the internet contributes to the situation,
but I strongly suspect that the real problem lies with a general anti-intellectual
attitude in our society: We do not genuinely value learning, but we certainly
value financial success.  The fact that so many colleges and universities
promote themselves primarily as providers of marketable skills reflects
this value system.  What I don't understand is why students don't
recognize that part of the key to financial success is the acquisition
of solid reading and writing skills.  I wonder whether one reason
for this failure is that many folks succeed in life without these basic
skills.  Can that be right?
Miguel

___
Miguel Roig, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Notre Dame Division of St. John's College
St. John's University
300 Howard Avenue
Staten Island, New York 10301
Voice: (718) 390-4513
Fax: (718) 390-4347
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~roigm
--Visit my instructional resource on plagiarism and ethical writing:
http://facpub.stjohns.edu/~roigm/plagiarism/
___
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171
"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"
 
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decisions, grades and ethics

[Steven Specht]

With admittedly less respect Louis, aren't employers likely to consider some
measure of performance when choosing applicants. It sounds like you've never
been on a search committee at your institution... but it is not only
impractical and impossible to invite all applicants for an interview (as it
appears you would propose), it would really be quite silly and potentially
unethical.
And whether you approve or not, the reality is that grades (as well as other,
related indicators) are used for decisions about graduate school. Some of my
students have aspirations for graduate work and NEED the reminder that "C"s and
"B"s are NOT good enough (for competitive programs anyway). I would consider it
UNETHICAL to profess anything else.
My students know that I don't think grades are the end-all (and I would find it
insulting if anyone would assume that to be my view or the view of anyone on
this list). But there certainly needs to be a balance between thinking grades
are everything (which btw, I do not believe) and believing that they mean
nothing. Wouldn't you agree?

We can all be fanciful and idealistic I suppose (and that certainly doesn't
need to come from "on high"), but I value success for myself and I desire
success for my students. That requires me and my students to have at least one
foot in reality. Geez.

With all that being said... I'm a bit disappointed in myself now. I've broken
the promise to myself to ignore unrealistic, impractical and useless messages
to this list... unless they are is the spirit of humor.

Sincerely,
-S



Louis_Schmier wrote:

> With all due respect, Steven, aren't you merely showing them the supposed
> importance of grades and assuming that the higher the grades the greater
> the skills.  The research does not support that assumption.
>
> Make it a good day.
>
>--Louis--
>
> Louis Schmierwww.therandomthoughts.com
> Department of Historywww.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
> Valdosta State University
> Valdosta, Georgia 31698/~\/\ /\
> (229-333-5947) /^\/   \  /  /~ \ /~\__/\
>   /   \__/ \/  / /\ /~  \
> /\/\-/ /^\___\__\___/__/___/^\
>   -_~ /  "If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\
>  _ _ /  don't practice on mole hills" -\
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: authorship question

[Steven Specht]

I would say "yes". The first author is presumably the "primary" author in a
number of ways (as far as I'm concerned). If one of the other authors has
'the say'... I suppose would reconsider order of authorship to be consistent.

Nina Tarner wrote:

> I am having a disagreement with a colleague as to whom has the say as to
> where a manuscript should be sent (which journal) for publication.  Does
> the first author have the final say or what?
>
> Thanks,
> Nina
>
> Nina L. Tarner, Ph.D.
> Department of Psychology
> Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: apparition

[Steven Specht]

Reinforcers (whether negative or positive) will increase the probability of a
behavior happening again in the future... that's why they are called
"reinforcers". Negative reinforcement describes the alleviation of an aversive
stimulus when a behavior is emitted (therefore the animal will likely do the
behavior again in the future). Positive reinforcement describes the addition of
an appetitive stimulus when a behavior is emitted (therefore the animal will
likely do the behavior again in the future).
Negative reinforcers or reinforcement IS NOT AVERSIVE and IS NOT the same as
PUNISHMENT.

Michael Caruso wrote:

> I hope I'm not opening up a can of worms here, but I don't think his
> graphics are in error.  I think he is using the terminology in a way that
> was standard in some circles at one time but is not currently in favor in
> most current intro psych texts.
>
> First off, he doesn't define negative reinforce*ment*, he defines negative
> reinforc*er* as a stimulus that decreases the strength of behavior with it's
> application.  I remember this use of the term negative reinforcer when I was
> in college.  So usually a negative reinforcer is an aversive stimulus
> whereas a positive reinforcer is generally a pleasant stimulus.
>
> In the second graphic he explains that when a negative reinforcer is present
> following the response, this is punishment and decreases the strength of the
> behavior (no error here).  The graphic also says that the removal of a
> negative reinforcer following a behavior increases its strength (no error
> here either).  He calls this escape, where most intro texts would use the
> term "negative reinforcement", but escape strikes me as an acceptable, if
> less common, term.
>
> What exactly are the errors in the graphics?
>
> Michael Caruso
> Associate Professor
> Department of Psychology
> University of Toledo
> e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> www: http://www.utoledo.edu/~mcaruso/
>
> - Original Message -
> From: "DeVolder Carol L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 11:49 AM
> Subject: RE: apparition
>
> I'd say not only does it not help students, it hurts them in the long run.
> Has anyone considered letting the website author know about his errors?
> Carol
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Stuart Mckelvie [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 8:12 AM
> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> Subject: Re: apparition
>
> Dear Ken and Other Tipsters,
>
> What a howler!
>
> This does not help students
>
> Stuart
>
> Date sent:  Mon, 03 Nov 2003 09:00:48 -0500
> From:   Ken Steele <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject:Re: apparition
> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Send reply to:  "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> > But look at the definition of negative reinforcement on that web site!
> >
> > http://intropsych.mcmaster.ca/intropsych/1a3/Learn/lec3-1.htm
> >
> > Ken
> >
> > Mike Scoles wrote:
> >
> > >http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/psychology/psych1a6/1a3/S_P/lec3-3.htm
> > >
> > >Allan & Siegel proposed that the afterimage is a compensatory response,
> > >conditioned to orientation (or other) cues as they are paired with the
> > >inducing color--much like Siegel's earlier explanation of drug tolerance
> and
> > >withdrawal (cues paired with a drug elicit compensatory responses that
> are
> > >seen as withdrawal, or that attenuate subsequent responses to the drug).
> > >
> > >*
> > >Michael T. Scoles, Ph.D.
> > >Director, Arkansas Charter School Resource Center
> > >Associate Professor of Psychology & Counseling
> > >University of Central Arkansas
> > >Conway, AR 72035
> > >voice:  (501) 450-5418
> > >fax:(501) 450-5424
> > >*
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >>-Original Message-
> > >>From: Annette Taylor, Ph. D. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >>Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 8:56 PM
> > >>To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> > >>Subject: Re: apparition
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>More on the McCullough Effect please!
> > >>
> > >>Annete
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >---
> > >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D.,Phone: (819)822-9600
> Chairperson, Extension 2402
> Department of Psychology,
> Bishop's University,  Fax: (819)822-9661
> 3 Route 108 East,
> Borough of Lennoxville,   E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sherbrooke,
> Quebec J1M 1Z7, Canada.
>
> Bishop's University Psychology Dep

Re: apparition

[Steven Specht]

I'm sure you're not the only one who has seen it used this way. Unfortunately,
that's a fairly weak defense of the use of the term in this way. Might we
consult our learning/learning theorist friends in psychology. According to them,
the terminology, when used correctly and consistently is not very confusing at
all.

Michael Caruso wrote:

> I don't want to be put in a position of defending a confusing explanation of
> a concept, but there are many who use the term "reinforcer" for stimuli that
> can either increase or decrease the probabity of a response and the term
> "negative reinforcer" in the way it was used in the graphic.
>
> Just the first few returns form a google search:
>
> For example from http://www.hyperdictionary.com/:
>
> REINFORCER
> WordNet Dictionary
> Definition:   [n]  (psychology) a stimulus that strengthens or weakens the
> behavior that produced it
>
> NEGATIVE REINFORCER
> WordNet Dictionary
> Definition:   [n]  a reinforcing stimulus whose removal serves to decrease
> the likelihood of the response that produced it
> Synonyms:  negative reinforcing stimulus
>
> >From  http://www.coedu.usf.edu/abaglossary/main.asp:
>
> NEGATIVE REINFORCER
> An aversive stimulus; a stimulus that, when removed or reduced as a
> consequence of a response, results in an increase in or maintenance of that
> response. See also Aversive stimulus.
>
> From
> http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/Faculty/wasserman/Glossary/reinforcement.htm
> l:
>
> Negative Reinforcer
> A negative reinforcer is an aversive event whose removal follows an operant
> response. The negative reinforcer increases the likelihood of that behavior
> occurring again under the same circumstances
>
> etc, etc, etc.
>
> There are many who make a distinction between negative reinforc*ers* and
> negative reinforce*ment*.
>
> Again, I don't use the term negative reinforcer in my teaching because I
> think it confuses students.  Surely, I can't be the only Tipster who's seen
> the word reinforcer used in this way.
>
> Mike
>
> 
> Steven Specht wrote:
>
> Reinforcers (whether negative or positive) will increase the probability of
> a
> behavior happening again in the future... that's why they are called
> "reinforcers". Negative reinforcement describes the alleviation of an
> aversive
> stimulus when a behavior is emitted (therefore the animal will likely do the
> behavior again in the future). Positive reinforcement describes the addition
> of
> an appetitive stimulus when a behavior is emitted (therefore the animal will
> likely do the behavior again in the future).
> Negative reinforcers or reinforcement IS NOT AVERSIVE and IS NOT the same as
> PUNISHMENT.
>
> Carol DeVolder wrote:
>
> If something is presented (i.e., it has a positive relationship with the
> occurence of the behavior) then it is positive. If something is removed when
> the behavior occurs, then it has a negtive relationship with the behavior
> and thus is negative.
>
> Punishment refers ONLY to the decrease in future probability of the
> behavior's occurance; reinforcement refers ONLY to the increase in future
> probability of the behavior's occurance.
> There is no debating that a negative reinforcer is the removal of something
> that increases future occurences of the behavior. A negative reinforcer can
> NOT decrease future behavior, no matter what it is. That hasn't changed over
> the decades.
> Carol
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Michael Caruso [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 12:00 PM
> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> Subject: Re: apparition
>
> I hope I'm not opening up a can of worms here, but I don't think his
> graphics are in error.  I think he is using the terminology in a way that
> was standard in some circles at one time but is not currently in favor in
> most current intro psych texts.
>
> First off, he doesn't define negative reinforce*ment*, he defines negative
> reinforc*er* as a stimulus that decreases the strength of behavior with it's
> application.  I remember this use of the term negative reinforcer when I was
> in college.  So usually a negative reinforcer is an aversive stimulus
> whereas a positive reinforcer is generally a pleasant stimulus.
>
> In the second graphic he explains that when a negative reinforcer is present
> following the response, this is punishment and decreases the strength of the
> behavior (no error here).  The graphic also says that the removal of a
> negative reinforcer following a behavior increases its strength (no error
> here either).  He calls this escape, where mo

eyetracking

[Steven Specht]

Good morning TIPSters!
Can someone direct me to catalog or website information regarding good
sources for eyetracking equipment? Thanks.

--


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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digital aging

[Steven Specht]

I have a student who would like to conduct a study examining the role of
age on perception of teaching effectiveness. Do any of you know where he
(or I) could obtain a pciture of a person who has been digitally "aged"
and the same person not "aged", of course (We'd actually like a male and
a female as well)?

--


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Triune Brain

[Steven Specht]

Very nicely put. I concur fully.

Donald McBurney wrote:

> The triune brain seems to be popular in anthropology and among
> evolutionary psychologists.  It is a serious oversimplificaiton of what
> happened during the evolution of the brain.  The vertebrate brain
> follows a single bauplan (blueprint). Structures expand, functions are
> sometimes redistributed (e.g. much visual function from superior
> colliculus to cortex), and some new structures appear (cortex).  But the
> brain of a lizard must, by definition, do all the perception, cognition,
> etc. of which the lizard is capable.  Evolution of the human brain did
> not happen in a way analogous to how a three scoop ice cream cone is
> created.
> don
> Donald McBurney
> University of Pittsburgh
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Rob Hoff [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 11:16 AM
> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> Subject: Triune Brain
>
> How valid is the concept of the "triune brain"?  Is it more than just
> 'pop psych'? I have had several students raise the question in class
> recently.  Some of the students are anthropology majors and have heard
> reference to triune brain as a neural substrate for ritual behaviors,
> including chant. Anyone know anything about this? Thanks for any help?
>
> Rob
>
> Rob Hoff
> Professor of Psychology
> Director, Psychology Department
> Mercyhurst College
> Erie, PA  16546
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: here's a new one (for me anyway)

[Steven Specht]

What's next? I'm afraid one of these days I'll have an advisee who will say "I'm not 
really good at getting a Ph.D., but I would like to be a college professor". What 
advice would I give especially with some of the accommodations?

Marte Fallshore wrote:

> Fellow Tipsters:
>
> Earlier this quarter, I had a student come to me and tell me that he was working 
> with disabilities support services (DSS) because he has limited short-term memory. 
> My first thought was, "college is gonna be really hard for you". I also admire his 
> persistence and willingness to try. However, yesterday he came to me and asked to be 
> able to use his notes during tests, something no one else is allowed to do. This 
> request was supposedly instigated by the director of DSS. This is an intro psych 
> class, and I use multiple-choice tests as it is a large class. Has anyone else ever 
> run into this type of issue? How did you handle it? Not to sound like an 
> intellectual snob, but it seems to me college may not be the best place for a 
> student with this type of brain injury. Thanks in advance for the thoughtful 
> responses I expect to get,
>
> Marte Fallshore
>
> 
> Marte Fallshore
> Department of Psychology
> Room 462
> Central Washington University
> Ellensburg, WA 98926-7575
>
> 509/963-3670
> 509/963-2307 (fax)
>
> I teach for free; they pay me to grade. (anon)
>
> 
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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from one of my colleagues

[Steven Specht]

I had a student in a CPR class in the late 80's who told me he couldn't
do CPR because his wrists were
too weak, and was shocked (and I mean shocked) that I wouldn't pass him
despite his inability to
perform CPR. He threatened a lawsuit - and the amazing thing is that he
didn't need it (e.g., for a
lifeguarding job), he was just taking it because he thought everyone
should know it.

I gave him a certificate of attendance, which satisfied him.

--


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Perception Mapping

[Steven Specht]

Good morning TIPSters,
(and welcome to winter for those of us bordering the Great Lakes!)

Another interesting point regarding the perception mapping, is that it seems to
be another case where using "brain" references somehow legitimizies the process
somehow (or at least makes it more appealing). Why call it a "cultural CAT
scan" when it appears to be only minimally related even to the concept of a CAT
scan?
My Ph.D. training was in Psychobiology, and I don't know if I should be
flattered that folks think they need to use brain allusions or annoyed because
folks use brain allusions to the extent that they become silly.

jim clark wrote:

> Hi
>
> Once again google to the rescue.  Have a look at:
>
> http://www.perceptionmapping.com/
>
> There you will learn that:
>
> "Perception Mapping is a cultural CAT Scan and an accurate, low
> cost roadmap for successful strategic intervention."
>
> There is some other information there and at other business
> sites, but nothing too specific.  Seemed like an application of
> multi-dimensional scaling, which is consistent with following
> quote from:
>
> http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/neeraja-rohit/3y_mr/MDS.pdf
>
> "To date, most MDS studies have been of a pilot type or
> diagnostic in nature - useful for managers to get some feel for
> how the brand is positioned in the minds of consumers vis-a-vis
> competing brands. Some areas in which MDS has been successfully
> used are - perception mapping for beers, soft drinks, fast moving
> consumer goods, sales and service perceptions etc."
>
> A couple of lessons here.  Want to make your fortune, take some
> long-standing technique from experimental psychology, give it a
> fancy new name, and go into the business-consultancy
> business.  The second lesson, perhaps more relevant to teaching,
> is that students can be told about the relevance of many of the
> rather abstract things that we teach in psychology.
>
> Best wishes
> Jim
>
> 
> James M. Clark  (204) 786-9757
> Department of Psychology(204) 774-4134 Fax
> University of Winnipeg  4L05D
> Winnipeg, Manitoba  R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> CANADA  http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark
> 
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Writing Pet Peeves

[Steven Specht]

I agree with inappropriate use of "affect" and "effect" being high on the list.
Also misuse of "its" and it's". I also try to get my students NOT to say "the
results found..." or "the study concluded that..."

Also see attached list of awkward phrases (I provide this as one page in a
technical writing guide for my students. Of course providing it and having them
use it are two different "animals")

Wallace Dixon wrote:

> Dear Colleague,
> I am teaching my research methods course about what not to do when
> writing manuscripts.  If you would care to share, could you give me your top
> 5 or 10 pet peeves about student writing?  I would like to share these lists
> with my students.  I think it would also be interesting to see how much
> overlap there among/between us.
>
> My top 6
>
> 1) misuse of affect / effect
> 2) use of male-female when men and women should be used
> 3) the phrase "Smith and Jones did a study and found"
> 4) a rhetorical style which presents 1 study and its finding per paragraph,
> w. no integration
> 5) colloquialisms & dramatics
> 6) the phrase "there was no significance"
>
> wedj
> 
> Wallace E. Dixon, Jr.  |
> Chair and Associate Professor  | Rocket science is child's play
>   of Psychology| compared to understanding
> Department of Psychology   | child's play
> East Tennessee State University|   -unknown
> Johnson City, TN 36714 |
> (423) 439-6656 |
> 
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



writing
Description: Unknown Document
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paper length and student perspectives

[Steven Specht]

I share your frustration and blame some of my colleagues as much as the students. When 
I get that question from students, I ask them to consider what would be an appropriate 
length. I also remind them that if the paper is poorly written, I'd rather read a 
shorter than a longer paper. I usually say something like this, for example: "You 
probably can't do this paper topic justice in less than 3 pages... but if you spend 
more than 7 pages on it, you're not writing 'efficiently'". Of course some colleagues 
assign 20-page papers... an assignment that I think I would have difficulty doing 
outside of my field of expertise.
I also remind students for blue-book exams (and papers), that I would personally 
rather have them leave things blank. That takes me the least amount of time to grade 
and I get to golf sooner ;-) After a bit of an "aw, c'mon" response, I further explore 
the perspective of why they are doing what they're doing in college. I remind them 
that they shouldn't be trying to guess 'what I want' (like what button they need to 
push to get the "pellet"), but rather focus on 'what they want to give me' to 
"impress" me or at least to show me their competence. I believe that if we keep 
responding to the questions in ways that "reinforce" the question itself, the students 
will keep asking (who can blame them?). I see the issue as a need for us to re-educate 
them in terms of perspective. The perspective change seems subtle, but I've seemed to 
have some success with getting students thinking about their behaviors in more 
positive and proactive ways.
I'm trying to get a small paper together describing some other "re-education" 
techniques I use in the classroom with which I believe I've had some success; and 
which result in more student success.

BTW, I had a colleague at another institution who would count the number of lines 
"short" a paper happened to be (for example if it was 6 lines short of a 7-page 
requirement) and subtract that percentage from the student's grade to begin with. Talk 
about petty! And boy, did that ever reinforce some weird behaviors in my students. 
Although I'll tell you one thing... some of the students absolutely loved that kind of 
mechanical grading because of the fact that little thinking was required.

Cheers,
-S

Dennis Goff wrote:

> I share the pet peeve about the "How long should this paper be?" question. The 
> question suggests that students are not thinking about writing a paper to make an 
> argument or tell a story, but rather to complete an assignment. My "peeve" is with 
> both the student and others who have been teaching them to write. It seems that my 
> students have *always* been told that a paper of less then X pages will not receive 
> a good grade so they are accustomed to writing to fill the length requirement. When 
> this question comes up it does give me a chance to talk about how to determine an 
> appropriate length for their papers and the need for them to judge when they have 
> made the argument to their own satisfaction. That kind of discussion before they 
> start writing does help to reduce the transition problems and distracting asides 
> that have already been mentioned. It also helps them to see how to start and finish 
> the introduction to a research paper or review.
>
> Dennis
>
> Dennis M. Goff
> Professor of Psychology
> Randolph-Macon Woman's College
> 2500 Rivermont Ave
> Lynchburg VA, 24503
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Paul C. Smith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 10:59 PM
> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> Subject: Re: Writing Pet Peeves
>
> Robin Abrahams wrote:
>
> > You've hit it with the "insufficient attention to the meaning of words"
> thing, I think. It's a profound problem with a lot of them.
> >
> > This weekend I saw our school production of "Anything Goes," and noticed
> immediately that the students had the same problem as actors that they do as
> writers. > They simply weren't listening to what was coming out of their
> mouths, they weren't hearing the words they were speaking. Just as they do
> not read the words they > are writing.
>
> I think that many of the "writing errors" we see stem from
> misconceptions about the task. These misconceptions include those about the
> purposes of the elements of a research paper, those about what is signalled
> to the reader by citation/quotation practices (MANY students believe that
> merely citing a source entitles them to use the exact words of that source),
> and those about writing itself (the "insufficient attention to meaning"
> thing, for example).
>
> About every other semester I get papers from students who seem to have a
> "paint a picture with words" model of writing. The papers don't actually
> make any points, but rather talk around a topic, with lots of vague
> comments. Those are the hardest papers to write feedback for, as there's
> really nothing to organize or support. My feedback essentiall

Re: Teaser

[Steven Specht]

My guesses are these:

Einstein
Darwin
a tie between Crick & Watson and David Lester ;-)

Stephen Black wrote:

> According to a source I may reveal in the fullness of time, who are
> the three most cited intellectuals in history? For full marks, list
> them in order.
>
> Hint: two are predictable; one is sufficiently surprising that I'm
> not sure I believe it.
>
> Stephen
> ___
> Stephen L. Black, Ph.D.tel:  (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
> Department of Psychology fax:  (819) 822-9661
> Bishop's  University   e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Lennoxville, QC  J1M 1Z7
> Canada
>
> Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
> TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at
>  http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm
> ___
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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history and half- or step- "children"

[Steven Specht]

Here's an interesting question (I hope). When one traces these academic
ancestries/histories, is there a distinction between some sort of "direct"
lineage... my graduate advisor, for example... and indirect lineage... "simply"
working with someone? For example, one of the people from whom I learned a great
deal and who directed my choice of careers, was someone with whom I worked
between my undergraduate and graduate training. Would that be somthing equivalent
to an academic uncle? To make matters even more complicated, I wonder what the
"proper" family tree would look like if you include the fact that my graduate
advisor (who has a great lineage of her own) was married to another well-known
and well-"lineaged" person in the same department. We always used to consider
graduate students in the labs to be step-siblings or something. Just as another
side-note, when I was an undergraduate, I found out many years later, that my
stats professor had been one of my academic "step father's" graduate students.
That's one thing that students really seem to be "blown away" by when they do
these lineages... the degree of connectedness of science and academics.

Very interesting I think ;-)


>

--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Lake effect

[Steven Specht]

How 'bout this for a twisted perspective on lake effect we get here in
central New York?
I am a proud alum of SUNY Oswego and I try to make the 2-hour drive to visit
the shore of Lake Ontario whenever I get the chance. When we get lake effect
snow here in Utica, I walk around with a smile on my face, appreciative of
the fact that some of Lake Ontario has "decided" to visit me!
I must already be in the holiday spirit or something (even though I'm still
wading through a pile of final papers... ugh!).
Happy Holidays Gary and other "lake effect TIPSters"!

Gary Klatsky wrote:

> -Original Message-
> From:   Christopher D. Green [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent:   Monday, December 15, 2003 1:25 PM
> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> Subject:Re: History of Psychology
>
> The trick, of course, is to live just north of the "lake effect" (i.e., up
> in Toronto) so that your only actual contact with it is watching it on the
> local Buffalo news. We then often cluck our tongues sympathetically. :-)
>
> I think your colleagues in Kingston probably cluck their tongues a bit
> louder and more often in sympathy for those of us in Oswego.  In fact, my
> daughter who is now in Buffalo feels she "escaped" the lake effect.
>
> Always appreciative of the sympathy,
>
> Gary J. Klatsky, Ph. D.
> Director, Human Computer Interaction M.A. Program
>
> Department of Psychology[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Oswego State University (SUNY)   http://www.oswego.edu/~klatsky
> 7060 State Hwy 104W  Voice: (315) 312-3474
> Oswego, NY 13126   Fax:   (315) 312-6330
>
> Best,
> --
> Christopher D. Green
> Department of Psychology
> York University
> Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
> Canada
>
> office: 416-736-5115 ext. 66164
> fax: 416-736-5814
> e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> WWW: http://www.yorku.ca/christo/
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: non random thought

[Steven Specht]

Wow, is Herb a psychic?!
No, just a careful (and thoughtful) observer (if not a careful typist ;-)

Now it's my turn. I predict that Herb received a follow-up message 'off-list'
which further laments the problem or rationalizes the original random thought
or implies that Herb never really thought about the issue enough to really
"get it" (even though I'm extremely confident that he thinks about the issue
fairly regularly like we all do). Like Herb, I'm not trying to flame here...
I'm just exercising my right as a psychologist to predict behavior.

How'd I do Herb?

May y'all light candles throughout the holidays!
Cheers,
-S

Herb Coleman wrote:

> >
> >Subject: Random Thought:  The Cost of Grades Is Too High
> >From: Louis_Schmier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >
> >
> >
> Honestly, I didn't even read this rant on higher ed.  But I'm sure it
> went something like this,... EVERYONE makes grades a life or death
> situation,grades are bad, .no else but Louis even thinks about
> these things, .education is a crappy institution.  Basically Louis's
> semesterly whine about grades.
>
> Before you say I'm flaming, left me operationally define whining as
> "frequently complaining about a situation that you can change and won't
> or one that you cannot change."  I didn't need to read this post because
> I read it when it seemed fresh in back 1995.
>
> Louis, I've mentioned before that if you hate grading so much then go
> work for an institution that doesn't use grades.  Evergreen State in
> Olympia, WA is one such institution (www.evergreen.edu).  As a former
> academic advisor I've run across at least half a dozen other colleges
> that don't use grades.  I find it very disingenuous that you take a
> hefty salary for doing something you hate or don't believe in.  I'm not
> sure but I don't think that's called selling out but is usually related
> to the oldest profession in the world.
>
> At some point you have to grow up and accept the deal that you've made
> with the institutions whose checks you happily cash each month or move
> on.  I also think you do your students a disservice by perpetuating this
> attitude.  If they are going to seek a degree and they are not at one of
> those other institutions, then this is bargain they've made.  It is
> better to honest with them about that than to continue to when and
> frankly bore us with your lamentations on the tragedy of higher ed.  Why
> not trying lighting a candle for once (after all it is the holidays).
>  That would help to make it a good day.
>
> but that's just my opinion (typed while battling the flu)...or is it?
>
> --
>
> Herb Coleman
> Instructional Technology Manager
> Adjunct Psychology Professor
> Austin Community College
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 512-223-3076
> *
> * Every action has a connected and directed *
> * pre-action.   *
> *
> -Herb Coleman after seeing "Bowling for Columbine"
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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catalytic thirst

[Steven Specht]

When I was an undergraduate, I spent my first two years as a chemistry major
before switching over to psychology. My initial science requirements were quite
extensive and, after switching to psychology, I had to "make-up" a little bit
of lost time for the psych. requirements. In addition, we were all required to
take a prescribed number of liberal arts courses (general education courses). I
doubt if I would have taken the art course I took back then if it had not been
"required" (I had to take LOTS of other, major-related courses in which I was
much more interested).
Over the past two years, I have donated artwork to charity auctions which have
raised over $500 and just sold my first piece independently for which I
received the cash ;-)  I have served for years on the Board of Directors for
Sculpture Space (the only paid sculptor residency program in the country) and
recently taught a course entitled "Psychology & The Visual Arts".
The point of all this is that my being required to take liberal arts courses
(including art) did not necessarily negate the effect of whetting my thirst.
In  fact, I would strongly argue that it planted an important seed in both my
personal life and my professional development. I am very thankful to have been
required to take that course.
I used to take a strong stand that making something required makes it useless
as internal motivation... but the reality, per usual, is much more complex than
that.

Cheers,
-S

Louis_Schmier wrote:

> Herb, I fully agree.  We do have to "salt their oats."  But, motivation
> is not something you do to a person.  Like Carl Rogers said, you can no
> more motivate a person than you can teach him or her.  So, do you think
> the requirements we've been reading is a tasy seasoning to the students to
> become those enticed lovers of learning?
>
> Make it a good day.
>
>--Louis--
>
> Louis Schmierwww.therandomthoughts.com
> Department of Historywww.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
> Valdosta State University
> Valdosta, Georgia 31698/~\/\ /\
> (229-333-5947) /^\/   \  /  /~ \ /~\__/\
>   /   \__/ \/  / /\ /~  \
> /\/\-/ /^\___\__\___/__/___/^\
>   -_~ /  "If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\
>  _ _ /  don't practice on mole hills" -\
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Hot exam question

[Steven Specht]

Dear Michael,
Biological perspective with regard to what? Why use the ill-defined and
ambiguous term "hot"? If I used a question like this, I would hope that my
students would challenge me on it. One of my jobs as an educator is to hone
writing skills. To that end I try to be a role model to the best of my
ability. I wouldn't call this a "hot exam question" ;-)

Why not use something like:

Why have biological approaches to mental illness (or "psychiatric disorders")
become so compelling, useful, "popular" (or "widespread", maybe) over the
last 20 years?


Cheers,
-S

p.s. What level of response are you anticipating for this question?

sylvestm wrote:

> In an upcoming exam,I intend to word a question in this manner:
>  Why is the biological perspective hot these days?
> Any objections to this type of wording?
>
> Michael Sylvester,PhD
> Daytoina Beach,Florida
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Hot exam question

[Steven Specht]

Without a doubt, levels of "yellow bile", "black bile", "blood" and "phlegm"
were "hot" as biological explanations of behavior in ancient Greek medicine.
I'm sure the related theory was seen as quite modern and provocative at the
time. Nice point Mike!

Mike Scoles wrote:

> Does "hot" these days imply "cold" other days?  With some of the
> language upgrades that Steven mentions, tracing the ebb and flood
> might make an interesting question.
>
> *
> Michael T. Scoles, Ph.D.
> Director, Arkansas Charter School Resource Center
> Associate Professor of Psychology & Counseling
> University of Central Arkansas
> Conway, AR 72035
> voice: (501) 450-5418
> fax:   (501) 450-5424
> *
>
> > -Original Message-
> > From: sylvestm [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2004 11:42 AM
> > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> > Subject: Hot exam question
> >
> >
> > In an upcoming exam,I intend to word a question in this manner:
> >  Why is the biological perspective hot these days?
> > Any objections to this type of wording?
> >
> > Michael Sylvester,PhD
> > Daytoina Beach,Florida
> >
> > ---
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> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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learning styles and crack babies

[Steven Specht]

Chuck,
I experienced the same "disappointment" in my fairly exhaustive search for
such information. Our local campus "expert" in the field (a colleague in the
Education Dept. when I was teaching in PA) shared with me all the information
she had on the topic. There was nothing empircal or validated. It seems to be
simply assumed (very strongly) by education folks and by some groups in
psychology. I used to challenge my students to find empirical support for it
partly because they were interested in studying "it" so much and partly
because if they came-up with something, I would appreciate the citations.
Nothing compelling was ever submitted. Maybe the "crack babies" have all the
data ;-)

Chuck Huff wrote:

> Colleagues,
>
> We recently had Bob Bjork of UCLA on campus to talk about the current
> literature in cognition as applied to college learning.  If you are
> looking for a good speaker on such things, I recommend him.
>
> His visit occasioned some continuing interest in conversation on the
> topic and I volunteered to lead a session on a point he made in the
> question and answer session:
>
> There are no good empirical studies that support the widely believed
> claims about learning styles.
>
> I remember doing a search for research in this topic about 5 or 6
> years ago and being very disappointed with what I could find.  So,
> two questions for the collective wisdom of TiPS:
>
> 1) Is there still no data to support claims that matching learning
> styles can increase learning?
>
> 2) Is there a short reading about this that I could assign to local
> workshop participants?
>
> My thanks,
> -Chuck
> --
> - Chuck Huff;http://www.stolaf.edu/people/huff/
> - Department of Psychology, St. Olaf College
>
> ---
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: handling difficult students

[Steven Specht]

Dear Beth,
I have had a couple difficult students in my class. On each of those occasions,
I simply asked the student to leave the class. If there was hesitation, I
suggested that either they leave, or I would leave; and that I didn't think the
rest of the class would appreciate it. I find that pretty compelling (because
most of the time the rest of the class gets pretty fed-up with nonsense too).
When they begin to get stares from their peers, it's pretty powerful. I also
limit "in-class negotiations"... I find it simply inappropriate. I find that
some of my colleagues have trouble when they don't "take control". I'm not
referring to being nasty or unfair... just to presenting an aire of authority.
They also tend to "negotiate" power away, in a sense.
Hope this helps. Good luck. It seems to be an increasing problem. We had a
faculty forum a couple years ago dealing with the same topic.

Cheers,
-S


Beth Benoit wrote:

> I've been asked to help out with a faculty forum on handling difficult
> students.  (I seem to have the unfortunate distinction of having had more
> than my share.)
>
> I want to put together a quick guide to what to do, what to be wary of, what
> to look for, how to handle, what not to do, etc.  Sort of a "B.S. Detector"
> for Difficult Students.
>
> Anybody have any suggestions?  Catchy title also appreciated.
>
> (I know I'll get at least one suggestion along the line of "There are no
> difficult students, only difficult teachers," and I'll try to accept it
> gracefully, but please believe me when I say I'm the sweetest pussycat in
> the school.  Maybe that's why I have trouble with the tough ones...)
>
> Beth Benoit
> University System of New Hampshire
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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sexuality vs. hostility

[Steven Specht]

Amen Claudia!
That's exactly what I told my class this morning!
If a woman wants to expose her breast(s), that's one thing (and btw, I think
Americans could take a lesson from many other "Western" and "Third World"
cultures alike-- whatever that means-- who allow topless bathing for everyone,
god forbid). But if I were a woman, I would have had MUCH more of a problem with
the fact that the portrayal was that of a male ripping off the female's clothing
without her consent. In my mind, that's way more offensive than an exposed breast
or nipple.
People are so damned worried about a harmless exposed breast that they overlook
the sexual hostility or aggressiveness. Whatever happened to enjoying sexuality
and rejecting aggression and hostility!?
What kind of a society are we becoming?

Okay, I'm going to light a candle, imbibe and listen to a Grateful Dead *album*.

Peace,
-S

Claudia Stanny wrote:

> Another question that has not been raised on the list is why such a big
> deal is
> made about the flash of the female anatomy and nothing has been said about the
> expression of hostility and the violation of personal space associated with a
> man ripping clothing off a woman. I should note that this objection was raised
> by 2 of the 3 men at my lunch table today, one of whom noted that the only
> person in his class who brought up this point was a male student.
>
> Shouldn't we be discussing the way that popular culture depicts acceptable
> relationships between men and women?
>
> Claudia Stanny
>
> At 11:31 AM 2/3/2004 -0800, you wrote:
> >EXACTLY
> >
> >Marte Fallshore
> >
>  [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2/3/2004 9:07:13 AM >>>
> >The real question for psychologists is why people object to a one
> >second flash of a breast (are all conservatives bottle babies) but
> >not to the glorified institutionalized violence of the game itself.
> >--
> >* PAUL K. BRANDON   [EMAIL PROTECTED]  *
> >* Psychology Dept   Minnesota State University  *
> >* 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217  *
> >*http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html*
> >
> >---
> >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> >[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> >---
> >You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
>
> 
>
> Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D.e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Associate Professor
> Department of PsychologyPhone:  (850) 474 - 3163
> University of West Florida  FAX:(850) 857 - 6060
> Pensacola, FL  32514 - 5751
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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authorship questions

[Steven Specht]

Dear TIPSters,
One of my students is working on a project examining authorship patterns
in psychology journals over the past 10 years. I have two questions for
folks on this list. 1) Can anyone direct me to references of articles
which have been published which have investigated such a topic?
The second question I expect might elicit some interesting discussion on
the list... 2) Could we informally generate a list of the top ten
journals which best represent the "field of psychology"? This is a tough
one because I would expect the journals to be general enough to "fit the
bill" or ultimately representative of a particular sub-discipline (of a
total of 10 perhaps?) in psychology to be considered. The question is a
bit vague partly because it needs to be "operationally" defined (that's
sort of what I'm looking for). I suppose as an ancillary question, does
anyone know what the most cited psychology journals are?
Thanks for what I expect to be an interesting thread ;-)

Cheers (while presently experiencing no wardrobe malfunctions),
-S
--


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Graph Question: Error Bars

[Steven Specht]

 I think it is fairly traditional (although certainly not universal) that
standard error bars are used for samples (in accordance with central limit
theorem). Standard error = standard deviation divided by square-root of sample
size. As sample size increases, your "guess" for group means will shrink
(i.e., larger samples tend to be "more representative" of an unknwn population
than smaller samples).

Robert Herdegen wrote:

> TIPSters:
>
> I'm working with a student on preparing graphs for his senior thesis. He
> plans to include error bars with each of the points on his figures, but I'm
> not sure whether there is a convention for *what* is to be displayed in
> error bars: standard deviation? standard error? confidence intervals? The
> values are all different, of course, and each shows something a little
> different. Are there any standards for what one should show in error bars?
>
> Bob Herdegen
>
> 
> Robert T. Herdegen III
> Elliott Professor of Psychology and Chairman
> Department of Psychology
> Hampden-Sydney College
> Hampden-Sydney, VA  23943
> 434-223-6166
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: correcting for chance

[Steven Specht]

If each of the group scores were converted to z-scores, wouldn't the z-score
mean for each group (by definition) be equal to zero? So you would end-up
comparing two zero scores (with a standard deviation of 1.00 for each group).
Does your student want to know whether participants performed similarly
on each test? If that's the case, might a correlation be performed across
the two tests (then absolute scores and chance levels would not matter).
"Manza, Louis" wrote:



Patrick:




A
student has conducted 2 memory experiments and she would like to

compare
performance across the two (at least roughly).    The problem

is
that 1 of them was a 2-alternative forced choice test  and the

other
is 3-alternative forced choice test (both were judgments of

relative
recency).  Chance performance being substantially different

between
the two, a direct comparison isn't appropriate.



Does
anybody have a suggestion to correct for chance?  I thought of

simply
subtracting chance from each subject's score but I didn't know

if
that is acceptable or if there is a better idea.



How
about converting the raw scores into z-scores, and then comparing the z-scores
across the 2 studies?



Cheers,



Lou



---

Dr.
Lou Manza 

Associate
Professor of Psychology 

Lebanon
Valley College 

Annville,
PA 17003 



Phone:
(717) 867-6193

Fax:
(717) 867-6075 

E-Mail:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]



"Living
in the limelight, the universal dream, for those who

wish
to seem.  Those who wish to be must put aside the

alienation,
get on with the fascination, the real relation,

the
underlying theme."



RUSH,
"Limelight"

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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171
"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"
 

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the foot doctor

[Steven Specht]

When I was living in PA, I went to a podiatrist named Dr. Hand.

Gary Klatsky wrote:

> When I was in Buffalo there was a professor who taught a sexuality course
> named Lick. Also in Buffalo there's a funeral home called Amigone.
>
> Gary J. Klatsky, Ph. D.
> Director, Human Computer Interaction M.A. Program
>
> Department of Psychology[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Oswego State University (SUNY)   http://www.oswego.edu/~klatsky
> 7060 State Hwy 104W  Voice: (315) 312-3474
> Oswego, NY 13126   Fax:   (315) 312-6330
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Dennis Goff [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 1:27 PM
> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> Subject: RE: Surname and academic/research correlation
>
> A local dentist that I do not use: Dr. Hurt.
> Dennis
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Patricia Spiegel [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 1:20 PM
> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> Subject: Re: Surname and academic/research correlation
>
> And then there are the Dr. Doctors.  I know 2 of them.
> Tricia
> - Original Message -
> From: "Christopher D. Green" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 10:10 AM
> Subject: Re: Surname and academic/research correlation
>
> > In a similar vein, my favorite name for a cognitive psychologist was
> > always "Martin Braine."
> >
> > --
> > Christopher D. Green
> > Department of Psychology
> > York University
> > Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
> > Canada
> >
> > office: 416-736-5115 ext. 66164
> > fax: 416-736-5814
> > e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > WWW: http://www.yorku.ca/christo/
> > .
> >
> >
> >
> > Stephen Black wrote:
> >
> > >A recent post by Don McBurney to this list cited the text  "Human
> > >Sexuality: A Holistic Approach" (2002) by David Putz.
> > >
> > >I couldn't help but notice the intriguing correspondence between the
> > >author's surname and the topic of his book. One wonders if there's a
> > >causal relationship here. Note that I refer to the literal, not the
> > >metaphoric meaning of the term, as I'm sure Dr. Putz is a respected
> > >academic.
> > >
> > >Another recent example is the report by Henry Bone in the March 18,
> > >2004 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (last week), with
> > >the title "Ten years' experience with alendronate for osteoporosis in
> > >postmenopausal women".
> > >
> > >That's right. Henry Bone, M.D., is the head of the Michigan Bone and
> > >Mineral Clinic in Detroit and an expert on osteoporosis, a bone
> > >disease.
> > >
> > >Finally, I'd like to mention one of my favourites, David Bird and his
> > >1999 book "Bird's Eye View: A Practical Compendium for Bird-Lovers".
> > >Dr. Bird is the Director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre
> > >of McGill University.  I believe he's an expert on birds of prey.
> > >
> > >I can hear you asking, "What does this have to do with the teaching
> > >of psychology?"  Well, clearly there's an important developmental
> > >influence at work here which constrains individuals to their ultimate
> > >place in academia and research.  Students need to be informed. Those
> > >named Livshitz are at particular risk.
> > >
> > >Stephen
> > >___
> > >Stephen L. Black, Ph.D.tel:  (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
> > >Department of Psychology fax:  (819) 822-9661
> > >Bishop's  University  e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >Lennoxville, QC  J1M 1Z7
> > >Canada
> > >
> > >Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
> > >TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at
> > > http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm
> > >___
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >---
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> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
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> >
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Last day activity

[Steven Specht]

Hey Kim,
You might be interested in a study I conducted a couple years ago that I presented at 
the Eastern Psych. Assoc. meetings. See attached text document.

Kim Breivogel wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I do a last day activity that has been very effective for me.  At the beginning of 
> Psych 150 we discuss initial impressions/stereotypes of psychology (I usually being 
> with "If you were sitting next to me on an airplane and I told you I was a 
> psychologist, what would go through your head?").  We generate a list on the board 
> and I record this and save it.
>
> On the final day, I write those on the board once again.  We discuss the changes in 
> their knowledge and attitude towards psychology that have taken place over the 
> semester (recording these on the other side of the board).  I emphasize that they 
> are now much more knowledgeable about psychology than the average person.  They 
> will, however, periodically, encounter people who hold incorrect views of the field 
> and it is up to them to share their new knowledge.
>
> I then set up a "cocktail party" scenario (sometimes even arranging for sodas and 
> snacks) and I designate half the class to play the role of the "unenlightened".  
> They are to present the incorrect views they, themselves, held at the beginning of 
> the semester.  They pair up with a "psychology veteran" and chit-chat about the 
> student's recent Psychology class experience, with the veteran countering any 
> incorrect statements.  I wander around, helping pairs get started, if needed, and 
> just listen to the comments.  After a while, the students switch roles.
>
> Students usually enjoy this and I feel it is good practice for situations they 
> really may encounter.  They also leave the class feeling like they have progressed 
> in many ways.
>
>
>
> Kimberly Blue Breivogel
> Psychology Instructor
> Wake Tech Community College
> Office: LeMay Hall 204 B
>(919) 662-3436
>
> "When you put people in a box marked "them", you can kick them around a lot more 
> easily than when they are in a box marked "us".  So, I think it is useful to try and 
> empty the box marked "them" and fill up the box marked "us".
> - Peter Gabriel
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"

RELAX...PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE KIND AND BEAUTIFUL
 Steven M. Specht, Richard J. Tushup, Jennifer A. Willet and Jan Pedersen 

Psychology Department
Lebanon Valley College
Annville, PA 17003

Several studies have examined public attitudes towards psychologists (e.g., 
Caraveo-Ramos, Francis and Odgers, 1985; Hibbert, 1971; Webb and Speer, 1986) and 
scientists (especially with regard to women’s attitude toward science; e.g., Smith and 
Erb, 1986; Trankina, 1993).
In the present study, we were interested in assessing college students’ 
characterizations of the generic terms “psychologist” and “scientist”. In addition, we 
were interested in how students’ characterizations might change over the course of 
completing an introductory experimental psychology class.
Methods
A total of 56 students from three different experimental psychology classes, 
were asked to complete a series of semantic differential scales for the terms 
“scientist” and “psychologist” at the beginning of the semester.  The series we used 
was derived from work by Osgood and colleagues (Osgood and Suci, 1955  and Snider and 
Osgood, 1969) and consisted of semantic differential scales for 20 sets of opposing 
adjectives such as “good-bad”  and “relaxed-tense” (see Appendix A). During the last 
week of the semester, the same students were again asked to complete the semantic 
differential scales for “psychologist” and “scientist”.
Results and discussion
The three different experimental psychology classes from which students were 
used as subjects, were taught by three different professors. Since some of the 
students’ ratings might be related to the attribute characteristics of the different 
professors, we analyzed the ratings data using separate 2 (Psy/sci) X 2 (Pre/post) 
analyses of variance for each of the twenty semantic differential scales. A table of 
statistical results was then constructed to indicate statistical results of the 
analyses. In order to prevent misinterpreting idiosyncratic differences which might be 
related to a specific professor, we examined only differences which appeared 
consistent across the three classes (see Table 1). 
The data revealed that students generally rated psychologists as more 
“relaxed”, “kind”,  and “beautiful” and less “belligerent” than scientists (see Figs. 
1-4). Significant interactions for some of

Re: Mental obesity

[Steven Specht]

"Obesity" does carry a 'hefty' negative connotation.
Why not use "mental diversity and expansion" (...if you're going to use
anything at all)?

sylvestm wrote:

> I am toying with the idea of using the expression "mental obesity"
> in class.This will be an exhortation to my students
> to be broad based and expand (no pun intended) their
> cognitive capacities.
> However I am concerned that my physically obese students
> may feel uncomfortable with it.
> Comments invited.
>  MIchael Sylvester,PhD
> Daytona Beach,Florida
>
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--


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
Utica College of Syracuse University
1600 Burrstone Rd.
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"To teach is to learn twice".  - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)



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Re: FW: how to give a long test in a short period

[Steven Specht]

What about students who can not stay the extra time because they have a class or 
another exam immediately afterwards? Does this create inequity?

Nina Tarner wrote:

> I give students as much time as they need. If class time is up and some students 
>have not finished, then I just put them in another smaller room if I have another 
>class or if I do not have another class I have them sit outside my office and finish 
>their exam.  I usually only have about five or so that need more time.
>
> Nina
>
> Nina L. Tarner, Ph.D.
> Department of Psychology
> Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
> >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 09/26/02 22:28 PM >>>
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Eastman, Mark
> To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]'
> Sent: 9/26/02 7:08 PM
> Subject: how to give a long test in a short period
>
> I am in the process of giving the first multiple choice test (85
> questions) to my various sections of general psychology.  The classes
> that meet for 1 hour and 20 minutes all finish the test, though some
> students take the full time. My problem is how to fairly administer the
> same tests for my sections that have only 50-60 minutes.  Also these
> sections have a lot of ESL "international" students.  The test questions
> are randomized so that the chapter contents are distributed randomly
> among the 85 questions.
>
> I am thinking of establishing a "benchmark" based on the number of
> questions that students finished in the previous sections at the 50
> minute mark.  I have the information to calculate that.  My thought is
> that in the 50 minute classes I would shorten the test by cutting it at
> the average number of items that the students in the longer sections
> completed in 50 minutes.   Since the items are randomized I think I
> would get an accurate measure of their knowledge.  Does this seem like a
> good method.  What do other TIPSTERS do for classes of unequal length.
>
> Mark Eastman
> Diablo Valley College
> Pleasant Hill, CA
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
Utica College of Syracuse University
1600 Burrstone Rd.
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"To teach is to learn twice".  - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)



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assessing goals

[Steven Specht]

Hey Gary and other TIPSters,
I always find it a bit odd that increased enrollment often pops-up as an
explicit (or implicit) departmental goal for psychology, especially given the
fact that in the departments in which I have taught, there has been a perennial
problem with increasing class sizes and/or need for more sections of
Introductory/General Psychology (i.e., increasing enrollment). Perhaps the
focus on increasing enrollments within a particular major relates to fighting
for increased resources or for justification of additional faculty lines. The
psychology departments with which I have been involved never seemed to have
problems attracting majors. I've seemed to notice that increasing departmental
enrollments typically detracts from efforts which are better spent in other
ways (e.g., student research projects; more involved seminar-type classes; more
paper writing). I would rather have less, but better prepared or motivated or
interested students, than have more students, per se (which presumably would
include more mediocre and below-average students). Of course, I think sometimes
the "administrative/economic pressures" with which our Deans and Provosts
should be concerned primarily, have become delegated to the Department Chairs
and the faculty. I think we should be less willing to accept that
responsibility and concentrate on effective teaching and scholarly production
rather than being distracted by the job responsibilities of our administrators.

But I digress. I would suggest that increased enrollment, although practically
important, should be placed relatively low on the list of departmental goals;
and that the focus should be on more "academic" goals. I've found it
helpful/useful and academically stimulating to have a departmental retreat to
discuss various goals which the department sees/sets for itself. If you ignore
the practical and "administrative" goals, I have always found it to be a
worthwhile and interesting exercise.

Good luck Gary (and others)!

-S

Gary Klatsky wrote:

> I apologize to those of you who received two copies of this email
>
> The SUNY Oswego Psychology department has recently completed a self study
> and was reviewed by an outside consultant.  As the recently elected chair of
> our long range planning committee I want to follow up with those activities
> and develop a long range (5 year) plan for the department. Have any of you
> been involved in this type of planning?
>
> I am looking for help identifying the types of things that should go into
> such a plan.  I've been involved in similar planning in the industrial
> sector. There the activity was pretty much sales driven. Although I could
> use the sales analogy by looking at increasing enrollments as the main goal,
> I would rather focus on the academic goals of the department.
>
> I would appreciate any information about the types of information that was
> used to drive the plan, the outcomes defined in the plan, etc.
>
> Thanks for your help
>
> Gary
>
> Gary J. Klatsky, Ph. D.
>
> Department of Psychology[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Oswego State University (SUNY)  http://www.oswego.edu/~klatsky
> 7060 State Hwy 104W Voice: (315) 312-3474
> Oswego, NY 13126Fax:   (315) 312-6330
>
>   
>   Name: winmail.dat
>winmail.datType: application/ms-tnef
>   Encoding: base64
>
>   
> ---
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
Utica College of Syracuse University
1600 Burrstone Rd.
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"To teach is to learn twice".  - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)



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Re: The Mini-Mental State Examination Test

[Steven Specht]

These are some common references for the MMSE regarding test parameters:

Cockrell, J. R. and Folstein, M. F. (1988). Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
 Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 24, 689-692.

Mortimer, J. A., Ebbit, B., Jun, S-P., and Finch, M. D. (1992). Predictors of
cognitive and
 functional progression in patients with probable Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology,
42,
 1689-1696.


Donald Kober wrote:

> Dear Tipsters,
>   A fellow teacher is interested in reliability data on
> the Mini-mental State Exam given to people with increasing Cognitive
> deficiencies. he has a personal as well as an academic interest in this
> info. can anybody help? this test is also known as the MMSE. Thanks in advance!
>
> Don Kober
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
Utica College of Syracuse University
1600 Burrstone Rd.
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"To teach is to learn twice".  - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)



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Re: Rescue me

[Steven Specht]

Sounds like she didn't do so well with the work that she was suppose to do
in the first place... what makes her (or you) think that she'll do the
"extra" work any better (or is it just "any" work to get an academic grade
'up'). Maybe the lesson learned will be worth more than learning the content
material of the course. I never do this for a student because it only
reinforces the behaviors which got her into the predicament in the first
place.
If you offer extra work for an improved grade for this student, to be fair,
you also need to offer the extra work to others in the class. In that case,
her lack of foresight will result in more work for you. That just strikes me
as being ultimately unfair to you and quite manipulative on her part.


sylvestm wrote:

> I am not referring to the r&b classic by Aretha Franklin
> but to a student who came to me to try to rescue her
> from an academic problem.This student has missed lots of
> classes and his barely passing the course. Anyway,she feels
> that it is essential that she gets a C in the class to maintain
> her financial good standing. So she wants me to give her extra work.
>  Michael Sylvester,PhD
>  Daytona Beach,Florida
>
> ---
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--


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
Utica College of Syracuse University
1600 Burrstone Rd.
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"To teach is to learn twice".  - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)



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Re: Do cells learn?

[Steven Specht]

Cells unequivocally do modify their responses to paired stimulation. See the
review of LTP by Matzel & Shors (not sure of year at this moment... but
within the last 5 years). See also Matzel's work with hermissenda and paring
of light and vestibular input.

Rick Froman wrote:

> A student asked the question in the subject line of this message in a
> Theories of Learning class yesterday. What she meant was: is there any
> evidence that the actions of individual cells within a larger organism
> can be modified by experience. Obviously, since we are not talking about
> single-cell organisms here but cells that are part of a larger organism,
> their sensory equipment will be quite limited. However, if an event that
> a cell can sense becomes a reliable predictor of another event that
> causes a response in the cell, will the cell eventually make the same
> response to the reliable predictor? In other words, could there be
> classical conditioning at the cellular level? Does anyone know of a
> citation or a term to use in a search for the answer to this question?
>
> Rick
>
> Dr. Rick Froman
> Professor of Psychology
> John Brown University
> 2000 W. University
> Siloam Springs, AR  72761
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> (479) 524-7295
> http://www.jbu.edu/academics/sbs/faculty/rfroman.asp
>
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: stat question

[Steven Specht]

Hartley's F-max test will give you an indication of whether there is homogeneity
of variance (which is crudely related to what the editor might be concerned
about). Testing ranges is probably the least powerful way of looking at
homogeneity of variability.
Hope this helps.
"Martin J. Bourgeois" wrote:
 I know that this is a little
off-topic, but it could be teaching-related for stat instructors. Does
anyone know how to test whether or not the difference between two ranges
(in a between-subjects design) is statistically significant? An editor
asked me to do this test, and I have never heard of such a test, nor can
I find one. Thanks!Marty
BourgeoisUniversity of Wyomingb¨£¨¨*¨.¨†*¨¨*\¨¨*¨ª¨†&¨¬v/-¨¤¨¨*¨€)y¨¨m*i¨nN¨£¨¨*¨Š¨r*¨¨z¨«¨¨u¨¨¨‚jy¨¨¨®¨€¢*¨¢^j¨œ*¨¤¨¨=¨Ž¨¬:9¨¨,*w¨Ž¨¢¨€[**du==

--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171
"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"
 

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Re: is there a rule?

[Steven Specht]

As a group, I think the professoriate should focus on clarifying that point
more often. I respond in the way that Chris describes even when I'm noy
particularly puckish, because I think it's good for students to think about
the actual relationship even more. I also add that I really don't know what
they WILL need to know when they are out in the professional world. The exam
should NOT be seen as the "end point" of knowing the information. In my
statistics class, I barely cover the concept of "stem and leaf" distributions
because in my opinion it's better to use either a frequency histogram or
frequency distribution table. I also tell them explicitly that there will be
nothing on the exam about stem and leaf distributions. Of course, they are
"relieved" by that at some level. BUT I further go on to say that the first
professor in graduate school for whom I was a TA used stem and leaf
distributions extensively... so I "had to know" it-- not "for the test", but
for my professional life.
I have found more and more that students "think" they are taking the course
"for me" (i.e., the professor) and I think many professors, in a way,
reinforce that notion. I believe that is one of the contributing factors for
why students typically don't retain information from semester to semester.
I agree with Chris in that we can all take more of an active and informative
role in educating students about the underlying model of what academic
efforts "should" be all about... their preparation as future professionals in
their respective fields.

Cheers,
-S

"Christopher D. Green" wrote:

> michael sylvester wrote:
>
> > is there a rule somewhere that states that a prof
> >must cover all the parts of a chapter before giving
> >a test on that chapter?
> >My philosophy is that once a chapter is assigned
> >students are responsible for knowing it,even though
> >I would not be able to cover it all in class.
> >
> Indeed, when asked this question by students ("Do we have to know the
> parts you didn't cover in lecture?") my standard response has become
> "You are responsible for the material of the course. If I assigned it,
> you might be examined on it (unless I specifically excluded certain
> sections)." I have to say it so often that I should probably simply put
> a statement to this effect on my outline.
>
> When I'm feeling particularly puckish, though, I sometimes say, "You
> don't have to know anything. You paid me thousands of dollars to teach
> it to you. If you don't want to learn it, that's your business."
> Occasionally that clarifies the relationship that actually exists
> between us. :-)
>
> Regards,
> --
> Christopher D. Green
> Department of Psychology
> York University
> Toronto, Ontario, Canada
> M3J 1P3
>
> e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> phone: 416-736-5115 ext. 66164
> fax: 416-736-5814
> http://www.yorku.ca/christo/
> 
> .
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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APA format question

[Steven Specht]

Greetings TIPSters,
Would someone provide me with the correct APA citation and reference
format for
artwork (i.e., a painting)?
Thanks in advance,
-S

--


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Erratum

[Steven Specht]

And if we only knew the criteria, we could all aspire to TIPster of the Year
for 2006. Please advise, I would like to include it in my promotion file ;-)

Gary Klatsky wrote:

> There is as much validity in your picking the 2004 Tipster of the year as
> there is in picking the 2005 winner
>
> Gary J. Klatsky, Ph. D.
> Director, Human Computer Interaction M.A. Program
>
> Department of Psychology[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Oswego State University (SUNY)   http://www.oswego.edu/~klatsky
> 7060 State Hwy 104W  Voice: (315) 312-3474
> Oswego, NY 13126   Fax:   (315) 312-6330
>
> All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must
> be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert
> upon events in the political field.
>  Albert
> Einstein
>
> -Original Message-
> From: michael sylvester [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Friday, October 22, 2004 4:56 AM
> To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
> Subject: Erratum
>
>  It is the 2004 Tipster of the year award and not the 2005
>
> Michael Sylvester,PhD
> Daytona Beach,Florida
>
> ---
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>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Criteria:Tipster of the year

[Steven Specht]

Wait a minute... I thought y'all said I could be TIPSter of the Year. I think
there's been a judging error and I refuse to give it up (I'll sue the
committee). And anyway, it's too late... my promotion file has already been
sent in to the Dean's office. ;-)

michael sylvester wrote:

> -must have a PhD
> -no adjuncts
> -teaches at only one institution
> - no shortened names like Rick,Mike,Joe,Ed
> - no ad hominem attacks in posts
> - is sensitive to the diversity opinions
> - posts appeal to both Eurocentric and non-Eurocentrics
> -generates thinking and responses from a variety of tipsters
> -gives supporting empirical as well as non-empirical evidences
>   (in humor form)
> -knowledge of websites where information can be researcded
> - generates interesting posts of Social,Psychological and
>pop culture significance
> Michael SYlvester,PhD
> Daytona Beach,Florida
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Hey Tipsters:

[Steven Specht]

The type of process does not negate the resultant product.

michael sylvester wrote:

>  What occasionally shows up in my posts are not
> grammatical errors but simply the failure to proofread
> before hitting the send the button.
> Thanks.
>
> Michael Sylvester,PhD
> Daytona Beach,Florida
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: 2004 Tipster of the year

[Steven Specht]

Have all the provisional votes been counted?

michael sylvester wrote:

>  Stephen Black
>
> Michael Sylvester,PhD
> Daytona Beach,Florida
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: making a deal with students

[Steven Specht]

How late were you?
I would probably have re-scheduled the exam or simply shortened the test post
hoc (e.g., drop one of the essays or a few multiple choice questions).
I wouldn't have said "if I ever do it again". The fact is, you were late (and
that needs to be rectified in some way with the students).
-S

michael sylvester wrote:

>  I was late today for class and I had an exam scheduled.
> I consequently made a deal with my class that if I am ever late
> for class again,I will  give them 3 bonus points.
> Is such a deal necessary?
> Have any of you employed some similar self-regulatory
> contingency to manage professional expectatory behavior?
>
> Michael Sylvester,PhD
> Daytone Beach,Florida
>"We don't need no education.We don't
> need no self-control."
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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Re: Odours 'help spot dementia'

[Steven Specht]

No it wouldn't, as described.

michael sylvester wrote:

> I once read a study about an Alzheimers' institution
> that plants different trees with different flower odours
> throughout the institutional grounds.Clients are trained
> to associate certain odours with distance from the main house.
> For example'the smell of strawberry could be an indication
> that the client has wandered too far from the main house and the client
>  should stop and return to the main house.
> And while on this subject,would that be classified as state or
> cue dependent learning?
>
> Michael Sylvester,PhD
> Daytona Beach,Florida
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



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[Fwd: psy/psy-child life position]

[Steven Specht]

--


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"

--- Begin Message ---



Here is a copy of the ad to be distributed through 
your professional networks.  Thanks for your help.
Jo Ellen


Assistant Professor2005advertisement.doc
Description: MS-Word document
--- End Message ---
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Re: Literature review student handout

[Steven Specht]

Hey Marie,
Attached is the hand-out I give students as a guide for writing their
introduction section. I think it may help with the general idea of what to
include and how to develop a literature review. Hope it's helpful.
Cheers!
-S

Marie Helweg-Larsen wrote:

> I'm requiring the students in my advanced research lab to write a
> literature review before the write their research study proposal. I'm
> hoping that the literature review will enhance the quality of their
> research proposal (and actual study). I'm looking for a handout that
> some of you might have already prepared outlining the essential
> qualities of a good literature review. Perhaps a list of "dos" and
> "don'ts" or a description of how a literature review differs from an
> introduction (to a research study).
> I have Galvan's "writing literature reviews" book which has a check list
> but that is not quite what I'm looking for.
> Thanks
> Marie
>
> --
> *
> Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor of Psychology
> Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773
> Carlisle, PA 17013
> Office: (717) 245-1562, Fax: (717) 245-1971
> Webpage: www.dickinson.edu/~helwegm
> *
>
> ---
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--

Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"unanswered questions are less dangerous than unquestioned answers"



Introduction section
Description: Unknown Document
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test (no need to open)

[Steven Specht]

I  have a new computer and am 'hooked-up' to a new network. I'm sorry 
for sending to the entire list, but I need to know if I'm still 
"attached" to TIPS (especially since I have gotten nothing new today.
Thanks for your patience.
-S

On Dec 16, 2004, at 12:26 PM, Annette Taylor, Ph. D. wrote:
Wait a minute, what's the illusion? I did see a giraffe, and he winked 
at me!

annette
Quoting "Christopher D. Green" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:



Keep staring at the picture and you will eventually see a giraffe.
.







--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M3J 1P3
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
phone: 416-736-5115 ext. 66164
fax: 416-736-5814
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/

.

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Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D.
Department of Psychology
University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Re: Gender and Statistical texts

[Steven Specht]

I served as a TA for two different women who taught stats at Binghamton 
University (back in the mid 80s). Two of the four folks who teach stats 
here at Utica College are women.

On Jan 21, 2005, at 7:48 AM, michael sylvester wrote:
Now that the President of Harvard has concluded that there is
a genetic component to the underachievement of women in mathematics,
engineering and the other sciences,I am curious as to the achievement
of women in the subject of Psychological statistics.
I cannot think of  Psychology Stat textbooks written by women.
Did any of you had a woman Stat teacher in school?
I had one teacher at Mizzou by the name of Marjorie Marlin,but that was
about it.
Send me something.
Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171
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position announcement

[Steven Specht]

Assistant Professor, Tenure Track, Joint Appointment in Psychology-Child Life and Psychology.  Candidates should have a degree in applied child development, or related field.  A  doctorate is required; ABD will be considered.  Expertise in child life/psychosocial care of ill/hospitalized children & adolescents a plus.  Courses to be taught include:  Early Intervention. Developmental Research Methods,  Infancy & Childhood,  Childhood Disorders, Introduction to Psychology, Lifespan Development, Counseling & Interviewing, Psychological Assessment and Testing and its lab.  Letter of application, curriculum vita and 3 letters of reference should be addressed to K. Della Ferguson, Ph.D., Dean of Health & Human Studies at Utica College, 1600 Burrstone Road, Utica, NY, 13502-4892, Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.  UC is an EEO.






Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171 

Re: The History of Psychology in US High Schools?

[Steven Specht]

I took it at Notre Dame High School in Utica, NY in 1976.

On Aug 25, 2005, at 4:55 PM, Linda Walsh wrote:

Do any of you have any idea when Psychology began to be offered as an 
elective in some high schools? ( I only know it wasn't offered in 
Chicago high schools in the late sixities).


Linda Walsh
University of Northern Iowa
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171


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Re: Healing Touch for Everyone...

[Steven Specht]

Dear colleagues,
It's discouraging to think that I can have an impact on students'  
critical thinking, when "educated" administrators make decisions to  
"buy into" such precariously supported "therapy".


Feeling like I'm swimming upstream against a torrent sometimes,
-S

On Aug 30, 2005, at 12:20 PM, Jean-Marc Perreault wrote:


Hi Everyone,
I'm trying to make up my mind on a small situation at the College  
where I teach. This upcoming term, the Counselling Centre (which is  
under "Student Services") is offering free Healing Touch (HT) sessions  
for everyone. Volunteers from the community, who practice Healing  
touch, will be coming in once a week to do the sessions.


During Orientation week, there will be HT reps to give out info.  
Here's what has been distributed to staff in terms of information so  
far (it's a bit long, sorry...). I imagine similar info will be handed  
out to students during orientation week:


*What is Healing Touch?*

*Adapted from Donald Stouffer, Phd, CHTP, Professor of Aerospace  
Engineering, U of Cincinnati, and*


*Barbara Brennan, PhD, D.Th, M. Sc, Atmospheric Physics*

* *

Your body has the ability to heal itself. Illness and disease are  
often caused by restrictions of energy flow in the body./ /When you  
are ill, fatigued or under stress, your body produces symptoms, which  
is how we know that it has recognized a problem and is actively  
working to heal itself. This natural regulator works to keep your body  
in balance. Healing Touch is a therapeutic method that works with the  
energy of the client to promote the body’s natural healing process.


*How does it work?*

A model for a scientific basis of the physiological changes developed  
by a Healing Touch treatment can be extracted from acupuncture  
research. In acupuncture, healing is stimulated by the insertion of  
fine needles at special points on meridians that are usually activated  
with a tiny current. This current stimulates the flow of Qi or pulses  
of electrical energy that travel along the meridians and neurological  
pathways to the cells. Pomeranz (1) showed that this current  
stimulates the release of endorphins, and the secretion of hormones,  
serotonin and other chemicals at the cellular level. This chemical  
change produces effects like relaxation and reduction of pain. It is  
reasonable to expect the same results from Healing Touch (2).


Modern science tells us that humans are not just a physical structure  
made of molecules, but that, like everything else, we are also  
composed of energy fields. Scientists are learning to measure these  
energy fields related to our bodies and to measure their frequencies.  
They measure electrical currents from the heart with the  
electrocardiogram (ECG). They measure electrical currents from the  
brain with the electroencephalogram (EEG). The lie detector measures  
the electropotential of the skin. They can now even measure  
electromagnetic fields around the body with a sensitive device called  
the SQUID (the superconducting quantum interference device). This  
device does not even touch the body when measuring the magnetic fields  
around it (3). A magnetic field detector would show that your energy  
field is pulsating at 7.8 to 8 Hz. This is a natural energy state for  
everyone (4). As medicine relies more and more upon these  
sophisticated instruments that measure impulses from the body, health  
and disease are slowly being redefined in terms of energy impulses and  
patterns.


Maxwell’s Law (5), a well documented effect in physics, states that  
the flow of electrical charges creates both an electrical field and a  
magnetic field, and Maxwell’s equations show how these effects are  
related. Thus the human energy system is a bioelectromagnetic field  
(6). The flow felt between a person’s two hands is a biomagnetic field  
flow. The aura is a subtle biomagnetic field.


During a Healing Touch treatment the practitioner’s biomagnetic field  
interacts with the client’s biomagnetic field and changes occur in the  
client’s electrical field. This produces a change in the client’s  
chemical balance at the cellular level, chemicals are released and  
physiological changes result. The cell’s structure and function are  
changed. This process can be summarized in the following diagram:


Practitioners Client’s Electrical Chemical Cell Structure
Magnetic Field <=> Magnetic Field <=> Field <=> Balance <=> & Function

Healing Touch is not magic. It is based on biology, chemistry, and  
physics. The effect of the modality is similar to acupuncture. It can  
be thought of as a bioelectromagnetic massage to stimulate  
bioelectromagnetic and physiological changes in the client at the  
cellular level to promote healing.


* *

(1) Pomeranz, B. (1986). Scientific Basis of Acupuncture. Stux &  
Pomeranz eds., _Acupuncture: Textbook and Atlas_, Springer Verlag,  
Berlin.


(2)/ /Donald Stouffer, /Why does Healing Touch Work?/ Colorado Center

Re: Cross-dressing day in class

[Steven Specht]

Michael,
I think it's a bad idea for a number of reasons. First of all, I 
question whether this strategy would increase gender sensitivity (i.e., 
what rationale would you pose that would suggest that such a strategy 
would be effective?). Secondly, if you're proposing that there are 
gender norms for what clothes females and males wear to classes, I 
would suggest that you are perpetuating a gender stereotype which would 
be antithetical to gender sensitivity. Thirdly, I would question the 
use of this technique in terms of violating other sensitivities.

-S

On Aug 31, 2005, at 10:39 AM, michael sylvester wrote:

 In order to increase gender sensitivity,I am toying with the idea of 
a cross-dressing day in class.Students will be asked to come to class 
dressed in the apparel of the opposite sex,but they will not be 
allowed to use the restrooms on campus.Is this a good idea or bad 
idea?


Send me something.
 Michael Sylvester,PhD
 Daytona Beach,Florida





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Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171


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Re: healing touch

[Steven Specht]

The "harm" may come from the fact that students (or whoever) will see 
this "therapy" as a replacement for something more 
scientifically/empirically-based. That's also true for placebo effects 
and for faith as well (ask a Christian Scientist).


On Aug 31, 2005, at 1:14 PM, Jean-Marc Perreault wrote:


Hi Marie,
I've really enjoyed the discussion so far. And I would 
like to ask you further: What are the possible negative conseqences to 
actually engaging in a few sessions of HT? Granted that the HT 
practionners do not attempt to "fix" anything major, which is what 
they said they would do (or not do, depending how you read it...) I 
brought the topic up with the counsellor who is setting the whole 
thing up, and in the end, she said: "well, what harm can this possibly 
do? In the end, students will end up more relaxed in times of stress 
(semester), which can only prove useful. The placebo effect can be 
just as good as anything else.  And as there is no cost attached, 
neither to the students nor the College, then hey!" (I'm restating 
what I can recall from our discussion).


Her reply sort of left me wondering, "Hey... maybe she's right. 
Placebo effect does work, and if students end up relaxing, then so 
much the better"! The place where I still have a hard time is the 
distribution of information that makes it look like HT has scientific 
backing. The handout sure looks good. Short of going on a crusade to 
distribute contradictory information, I'm left wondering what to do 
about it. I will certainly bring the topic up n class, but I only 
reach so many students.


Another interesting issue (which some of you who work in small places 
might relate to) is the fact that the College where I work is very 
small, in a small city (22,000 people). Basically, I happen to know 
the person in charge of the HT who will be coming up, and she happens 
to be a good friend of the counsellor who is setting the whole thing 
up. So, how far does one go to rebute indivuduals who are very close 
to one's social circle? They are not personal friends, but the typical 
6 degrees of separation found in most cities is cut down by a factor 
of about 6 around here... Everyone knows everyone through less than 1 
person around here. So... short of getting into a situation that will 
end up in a feud, what does one do? Logic cannot be used. It's like 
faith. How does one argue against it? I know there are review papers 
that state that HT is not supported by science, but there are papers 
that state it is (I know, you'll say they are not as good as those 
stating there is no backing). Nevertheless, it becomes tenuous to make 
them apart, especially if one does not have the science background to 
tear them apart.


Anyhow, looking forward to the discussion still... This is proving to 
be a very interesting situation for me...


Jean-Marc




Marie Helweg-Larsen wrote:

When I teach pseudoscience such as healing touch to my students in 
research methods and a first year seminar called "why do people 
believe weird things" they are convinced (once they see the evidence) 
that it does not work. However, there is always a sizable minority of 
students who think that it should still be offered by hospitals (or 
other settings such as colleges) because "it probably does no harm" 
or "it offers hope". So even when people know that treatments are 
bogus they see relatively few costs of promoting bogus treatments. So 
you both have to convince people that it doesn't work and that it is 
costly to promote such treatments.


Last year I had my first year students write a persuasive essay (one 
page, in class) in which they either argued for or against having 
astrological charts in the campus paper. Students knew (we discussed 
it at length) that astrology is made up (in fact, the roommate of one 
of the students was the one who made it up and freely admitted making 
it up), The vast majority of students argued that astrology was 
harmless fun that carried no consequences. A few students argued that 
a college paper should not promote false beliefs (even if it was in 
the entertainment section of the paper).


Marie

Gerald Peterson wrote:

Frank LoSchiavo and K. L. Roberts (2005) have utilized 
pseudoscientific claims to teach research methods (See Teaching of 
Psych 32(3), 177-179 and it sound like you could integrate this 
campus event in your class(es.  See if you could develop  some 
criterion, see also what your bio and physics family have to say 
(they will often be sadly ignorant about how to test for psych 
confounds, but may nevertheless be useful).All in all, an 
opportunity to educate the campus community and show the way to 
implement more careful thinking/reasoning.  Just a thought...GAry




Gerald L. (Gary) Peterson, Ph.D.
Professor, Psychology
Saginaw Valley State University
University Center, MI 48710
989-964-4491
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


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Re: healing touch

[Steven Specht]

Indeed.
 I am assuming that folks have seen Trudeau's latest effort in writing 
a book about natural cures for virtually everything... that "they" 
don't want you to know about. I saw somewhere that it was the #2 book 
on some best seller list. I believe that this is a result of the social 
consequences of many of us (i.e., society) saying "eh, what's the 
harm?"


On Aug 31, 2005, at 1:50 PM, Marie Helweg-Larsen wrote:

I agree with all the earlier costs mentioned. A broader societal cost 
is that we spend vast amount of resources on ineffective methods. 
There is always some idea that remedy X might work for ailment Y and 
always an advocate who claims that it worked for them. The amount of 
BS is staggering. It seems that a college campus might be one place 
where more BS was not advocated.
Also although HT might not carry direct physical harm many alternative 
therapies do (just look at the very real and dangerous effects of many 
herbal remedies).

Marie

DeVolder Carol L wrote:

It becomes even more costly when people begin to treat it as a bona 
fide

treatment and replace other potentially successful interventions with
ones that have no scientific merit. Inviting practioners of HT to a
campus appears to give it credibility. Is it right to offer false hope
(the placebo effect notwithstanding)? Carol



Carol DeVolder, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Chair, Department of Psychology
St. Ambrose University
Davenport, Iowa  52803

phone: 563-333-6482
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]




-Original Message-
From: Jean-Marc Perreault [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 
Wednesday, August 31, 2005 12:15 PM

To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
Subject: Re: healing touch

Hi Marie,
I've really enjoyed the discussion so far. And I would 
like

to ask you further: What are the possible negative conseqences to
actually engaging in a few sessions of HT? Granted that the HT
practionners do not attempt to "fix" anything major, which is what 
they

said they would do (or not do, depending how you read it...) I brought
the topic up with the counsellor who is setting the whole thing up, 
and
in the end, she said: "well, what harm can this possibly do? In the 
end,

students will end up more relaxed in times of stress (semester), which
can only prove useful. The placebo effect can be just as good as
anything else.  And as there is no cost attached, neither to the
students nor the College, then hey!" (I'm restating what I can recall
from our discussion).

Her reply sort of left me wondering, "Hey... maybe she's right. 
Placebo

effect does work, and if students end up relaxing, then so much the
better"! The place where I still have a hard time is the distribution 
of

information that makes it look like HT has scientific backing. The
handout sure looks good. Short of going on a crusade to distribute
contradictory information, I'm left wondering what to do about it. I
will certainly bring the topic up n class, but I only reach so many
students.

Another interesting issue (which some of you who work in small places
might relate to) is the fact that the College where I work is very
small, in a small city (22,000 people). Basically, I happen to know 
the
person in charge of the HT who will be coming up, and she happens to 
be

a good friend of the counsellor who is setting the whole thing up. So,
how far does one go to rebute indivuduals who are very close to one's
social circle? They are not personal friends, but the typical 6 
degrees

of separation found in most cities is cut down by a factor of about 6
around here... Everyone knows everyone through less than 1 person 
around

here. So... short of getting into a situation that will end up in a
feud, what does one do? Logic cannot be used. It's like faith. How 
does
one argue against it? I know there are review papers that state that 
HT

is not supported by science, but there are papers that state it is (I
know, you'll say they are not as good as those stating there is no
backing). Nevertheless, it becomes tenuous to make them apart,
especially if one does not have the science background to tear them
apart.

Anyhow, looking forward to the discussion still... This is proving to 
be

a very interesting situation for me...

Jean-Marc



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--
*
Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773
Carlisle, PA 17013
Office: (717) 245-1562, Fax: (717) 245-1971
Webpage: www.dickinson.edu/~helwegm
*


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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171


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Re: All flunked except one

[Steven Specht]

The CFO of Haliburton?

On Sep 23, 2005, at 1:35 PM, michael sylvester wrote:


 In keeping up with Constitution day last week,I asked a
question on a test for 1 extra point.
Out of a class of 35,only one student knew the answer.
The question was who becomes President if the President
and Vice-_President die in office.The student was from the
Pacific rim.
Do you know,huh?

Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida





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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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Re: Correlation and causation

[Steven Specht]

I appreciate the humor, of course, but I think students need to be made 
aware (and many of mine wouldn't normally be, I don't think) that 
piracy is a serious problem across the globe still... even without the 
swords and eye-patches. Now they use automatic weapons and night-vision 
googles.

A,
-S

On Sep 26, 2005, at 9:59 PM, Christopher D. Green wrote:


Bill Scott wrote:

Perhaps I have missed it, but I would like to know the source for the 
data that tell us how many pirates there have been per year. My 
intuitive sense tells me that the number of pirates has been 
increasing over the last 3 decades. How have pirates been defined? 
How has their number been assessed?


Again, I refer you to http://www.venganza.org/faq.htm#f7. The crucial 
sentence is, "But *real* pirates use swords."

--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada

416-736-5115 ex. 66164
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo


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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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Re: Correlation and causation

[Steven Specht]

Hmmm, sounds like a noodly monster rationale to me.

I wouldn't use the graph in class until it is more straight-forward 
(i.e., presented as negative slope) in fear that it would further 
confuse students who are just learning these concepts... although I 
think it's a cute example.


-S


On Sep 26, 2005, at 10:36 PM, Annette Taylor, Ph. D. wrote:

Exactly, I think they purposefully used such a perversion of the 
normal way to
identify changes in variables to go along with the parody-theme of 
poor use of

science-related functions masquerading as "science".

Annette (who should be over quota for today)

Quoting "Christopher D. Green" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:


Annette Taylor, Ph. D. wrote:

Note that the correlation is negative but they have purposefully, I 
believe,

drawn it as a positive linear relationship.


It is a positive relationship -- between avg global temperature and 
the *decline* in the pirate population. :-)

--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M3J 1P3

e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
phone: 416-736-5115 ext. 66164
fax: 416-736-5814
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/

.



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Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D.
Department of Psychology
University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110
[EMAIL PROTECTED]



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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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Re: Correlation and causation

[Steven Specht]

Chris,
I was hoping the "Arrr" would indicate to folks that I was trying not 
to be too serious about it. However, I do take seriously my role in the 
classroom as teaching awareness of the world to my students, including 
outside of psychology.

Argh,
-S

On Sep 27, 2005, at 10:19 AM, Christopher Green wrote:


Steven Specht wrote:

I appreciate the humor, of course, but I think students need to be 
made aware (and many of mine wouldn't normally be, I don't think) 
that piracy is a serious problem across the globe still... even 
without the swords and eye-patches. Now they use automatic weapons 
and night-vision googles.

A,
-S


Isn't there someone on this list who has in their sig file a quote 
from Dave Barry:

"No matter what happens, someone will take it too seriously."
Chris Green



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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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help with refs

[Steven Specht]

Dear Colleagues,
I have a student interested in studying how food intake might influence 
enjoyment of watching television (for example) or other activities. We 
have been searching for hours to locate some references which might 
address this issue. Most of the research we are getting has to do with 
the effects of television stimuli on eating. Can any of you provide me 
with a couple leads or references related to the effects of eating/food 
intake on perception of visual stimuli or the "enjoyment" ratings of 
any task(s).

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
Cheers,
-S


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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pilot study

[Steven Specht]

Dear Colleagues,
I am writing a research report and would like to include information 
(i.e., procedures, results) from a pilot study. How do I go about doing 
that in APA style? Do I simply report it as the first "experiment" 
(btw, the pilot study was not truly experimental in nature as the 
second phase of the study was)? or is there a more appropriate way. 
Thanks so much for your input.

-S



Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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Re: When an experiment is not an experiment

[Steven Specht]

We are in the process right now of converting the name of our methods 
course from "Introduction to Experimental Psychology" to "Introduction 
to Research Methods in Psychology" for the same reasons to which 
Annette alludes.


On Nov 1, 2005, at 9:45 PM, Annette Taylor, Ph. D. wrote:


Quoting Stuart McKelvie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:


What should we call courses that mix the two kinds of research? 
"Scientific" psychology or "Research" psychology seem strained, given 
that all psychology is scientific and research-based!




Well, this may seem a bit simple-minded, but I just call the course 
"Research

Methods in Psychology" ;)

And we also talk about the fact that there is psychology (or what the 
lay public
calls psychology) and then there is 'psychology' of the scientific 
variety, and
it behooves the students to understand the differences. It just seems 
that a
discipline like ours is particularly prone to problems with the 
distinction.


So, is the concensus that we are now a bit pickier about correctly 
naming our
study based on its nature--if an experiment, call it that; if not, 
call it what
it actually is. I guess behaviorists didn't do much else other than 
experiments.


I wonder now how many studies should really appear in the Journal(s) of
Experimental Psychology?

Annette


Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D.
Department of Psychology
University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110
[EMAIL PROTECTED]



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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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Re: When an experiment is not an experiment

[Steven Specht]

On Nov 1, 2005, at 8:52 PM, Stuart McKelvie wrote:


Dear Karl,

I, too, am fussy about "independent variable" if it is not 
experimentally manipulated. I jokingly suggest to students that in 
non-experimental research, we should perhaps call it the variable on 
the left hand side. I ask them what they think it should be called. 
Officially, it should often be a subject variable, but to capture the 
idea that it is on the left hand side, we sometimes refer to it as a 
predictor variable.


I think that "predictor variable" is a very appropriate option. One can 
certainly predict without assuming a causal relationship (as seen with 
many correlations).


I agree with your comment about "experimental" being a vestige from 
past practice. What should we call courses that mix the two kinds of 
research? "Scientific" psychology or "Research" psychology seem 
strained, given that all psychology is scientific and research-based!


Sincerely,

Stuart


___

Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D.,   Phone: (819)822-9600, Extension 
2402

Department of Psychology,  Fax: (819)822-9660
Bishop's University,
Route 108 East,
Borough of Lennoxville,
Sherbrooke,
Québec J1M 1Z7,
Canada.

E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Bishop's University Psychology Department Web Page:
http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
___



From: Karl L. Wuensch [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tue 11/1/2005 8:48 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences
Subject: Re: When an experiment is not an experiment



Good query, Annette.  I think "Experiment One" is just a vestigial 
phrase,
left over from the days when most publishing psychologists really did 
do
experimental research.  A related pet peeve of mine is the use of the 
term

"independent variable" to describe any categorical variable, whether
manipulated or not.

I wonder how many of us here are teaching courses named "Experimental
Psychology" but which spend at least as much time on nonexperimental
research methodologies as on experimental methodologies.

Cheers,

Karl W.
- Original Message -
From: "Annette Taylor, Ph. D." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences" 
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 3:22 PM
Subject: When an experiment is not an experiment


So related to the just prior posting:

I had a good number of students who really floundered with the 
independent

variable question because they had acquired articles that were clearly
labelled
"experiment 1", "experiment 2", etc. but they were NOT experiments! 
Some of

these were in top tier journals.

What's that all about? I work *SO* hard to teach students that 
experiment is
only one type of research method and is not to be equated with 
research, in
some willy-nilly way; it has its own special constraints and 
strengths. And
then they read these articles and are confused and lost because they 
expect

professionals to correctly identify their studies.

Just venting.

ARRGGHH!

Annette

Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D.
Department of Psychology
University of San Diego
5998 Alcala Park
San Diego, CA 92110
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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Re: When an experiment is not an experiment

[Steven Specht]

Dear Colleagues,
Last year, we had our final two candidates for a position visit and 
give a presentation. When one of them referred to causal 
interpretations for her correlational research, I provided STRONG input 
that she should not be hired. I am pleased to say that the next 
candidate, who was talking about similar research, quite clearly 
informed the audience that causal inferences could not be made. We 
hired her and she's working out swimmingly.

-S

On Nov 2, 2005, at 9:11 AM, Jim Clark wrote:


Hi

James M. Clark
Professor of Psychology
204-786-9757
204-774-4134 Fax
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


[EMAIL PROTECTED] 02-Nov-05 6:37:37 AM >>>

It is my experience that we are fighting other fields as well when we
insist
that the independent variable be experimentally manipulated.
Sociologists
and economists, and perhaps others, use the phrase independent variable
to
mean the presumed (in best cases, by the theory being tested) causal
variable.  That is why they see it as appropriate to use it for
nonexperimental research reports.
*--

We are also fighting against software like SPSS that asks users to
select the Independent Variable(s) for regression analyses, and uses 
the

term Dependent variable for the criterion variable.  I suspect it is
impossible to purify the environment of such influences.

The more serious problem, as someone else pointed out, is that
researchers themselves often talk as though they  have identified
cause-effect relationships, when such is not the case.  Where the
terminological confusion adds to this is impossible to determine, but I
would suspect the problem lies at a deeper level.

Take care
Jim




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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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Re: What Does College Teach?

[Steven Specht]

Has anyone else received a cover letter and resume from a gentleman 
named Ken Schnitker requesting consideration for on-line adjunct 
teaching work?



Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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Re: student's question

[Steven Specht]

Your question is certainly not very clearly posed (i.e., I'm not sure what "... an intelligent design to psychological principles" means. Likewise, what do you mean by  "the evolutionary-environmental paradigm"?)
Perhaps this statement will address your query.
Psychological principles are generated, for the most part, from scientific methodologies which require multiple levels of convergent empirical evidence and which are antithetical to "faith" (i.e., a belief system not requiring empirical evidence).

Cheers,
-S


On Nov 11, 2005, at 9:57 AM, michael sylvester wrote:

Is there an intelligent design to psychological principles
or is it more along the evolutionary-environmental paradigm?

Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona beach,Florida 





Sent via FalconMail e-mail system at falconmail.dbcc.edu





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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)

Re: student's question

[Steven Specht]

I'm not sure  if it's technically illegal money>, but you might want to check the case law especially ,send me 
money> with regard to the music industry related to backward masking 




On Nov 14, 2005, at 12:47 PM, James K. Denson wrote:


Quick Question,
Are subliminal Message illegal?  If so who enforces the law?  The FCC?

Thanks in advance
JK Denson
Kempsville High School
Social Studies Department Chair
Psychology/AP Psychology Teacher
Boys Varsity Soccer Coach

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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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Re: student's question

[Steven Specht]

That's exactly what I tell my students to demonstrate that subliminal 
message effectiveness is silly. If I "up the signal" by actually 
verbalizing or writing the message and it doesn't work, what would 
possibly be the theoretical justification for why a more obscure 
message would work. It's usually pretty effective in getting the point 
across.


Now, that being said... would people consider sending me money if I 
wrote it like this 


Damn, you folks are just being uncooperative ;-)

Cheers,
-S

On Nov 14, 2005, at 3:28 PM, Joan Warmbold wrote:

But Steve, we can consciously perceive your written messages about 
sending
you --but we still won't.  Whatever, I thought it had been fairly 
well

established that subliminal messages are not effective means of
persuasion. Am I wrong here?

Joan
[EMAIL PROTECTED]


I'm not sure  if it's technically illegal , but you might want to check the case law especially ,send me
money> with regard to the music industry related to backward masking



On Nov 14, 2005, at 12:47 PM, James K. Denson wrote:


Quick Question,
Are subliminal Message illegal?  If so who enforces the law?  The 
FCC?


Thanks in advance
JK Denson
Kempsville High School
Social Studies Department Chair
Psychology/AP Psychology Teacher
Boys Varsity Soccer Coach

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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran 
up

the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)


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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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Re: sports psychology

[Steven Specht]

Kinesthesiology; Anatomy & Physiology; Physical Education courses; Therapeutic Recreation; Physical Therapy; Occupational Therapy; Leadership.

On Nov 15, 2005, at 10:03 AM, Horton, Joseph J. wrote:

Hello: What types of electives (out side of psychology) would you recommend for a student who is interested in sports psychology?

 

Thanks!

Joe

 

Joseph J. Horton Ph. D.

Box 3077

Grove City College

Grove City, PA 16127

 

724-458-2004

 

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

 

In God we trust. All others must bring data.

 
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)

crack babies

[Steven Specht]

Greetings TIPSters,
Someone about a year ago sent a nice article entitled "The crack baby 
myth" or something like that. Does anyone have a copy of that article 
that they can send along to me at [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Thanks.



Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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another request

[Steven Specht]

Dear TIPSters,
I'm really not as "lazy" as it might appear with two requests in one 
day. My computer system was recently up-graded and I lost my bookmarks. 
Can someone provide the website (it was based in the UK) that has the 
numerous facial stimuli (i.e., photographs of different expressions)?

Thanks in advance.
-S




Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] RE: don't you hate this?

[Steven Specht]

Or worse... instead of "what did I miss" (which implies that there was  
something to be missed)... "Did we do anything in class on Friday"?



On Mar 5, 2007, at 11:36 AM, Wright, Melissa wrote:


My favorite is, day before a paper is due,

"I haven't come up with any good topics - can you give me one?"

My other favorite is,

"I was out all last week.  What did I miss?"

M. Liz Wright
Assistant Professor of Psychology
The Victoria College
Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Office 105C
Victoria, TX 77901
361-573-3291 x3338
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 8:16 AM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: [tips] don't you hate this?

 One hour before a test a student asks "what chapters do we have to
study for the test?"

Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida


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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up  
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] RE: Random Thought: A Quickie on Caring

[Steven Specht]

Nice post Paul. I gave up on this discussion years ago because of these  
very issues. You've listed some of the potential problems quite well.  
Thanks.

-S

On Mar 21, 2007, at 7:03 AM, Paul Okami wrote:

I can't answer for Michael.  However, a reasonable length of adult  
life should engender an understanding that certain questions are  
innocent and others less so.  Some are designed to demonstrate the  
superiority of the questioner over the questioned or disingenuously  
make a "statement" with no genuine interest in the nature of the  
questioned's response.,  Some are smug, full of self-importance, some  
immediately establish a hierarchal relationship between the questioner  
and the questioned, some are intrusive and are asked without  
invitation by the questioned ("Have you beaten your wife today?"),  
some are overtly hostile, and so forth.


I haven't been part of this ongoing discussion, but I honestly don't  
see why a person has to answer another person's question unless some  
sort of contract, stated or unstated, has been entered into.  To claim  
"not to understand" why a person has not answered an unsolicited  
question that may be perceived by that person as intrusive, smug,  
self-righteous, etc, seems on the face of it, disingenuous at the very  
least.  I'm trying to be polite.


Paul Okami
.- Original Message - From: "Louis Schmier"  
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)"  


Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 6:37 AM
Subject: [tips] RE: Random Thought: A Quickie on Caring


Michael, I apologize for my density.  But, I still just don't  
understand why aren't you

willing to answer my question.

Make it a good day.

 --Louis--


Louis Schmierwww.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History
www.newforums.com/L_Schmier.htm

Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698/\   /\   /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/   \/\  
/\/\/\  \/\
/ \  
\__ \/ /   \   /\/

\  \ /\
  //\/\/ /\   
\_ / /___\/\ \ \

\/ \
   /\"If you want to  
climb mountains \ /\
   _/\don't practice  
on mole hills" -/

\



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__ NOD32 2125 (20070318) Information __

This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system.
http://www.eset.com




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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up  
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] RE: Random Thought: A Quickie on Caring

[Steven Specht]

See Paul, you fall short again in your care and concern about your  
profession ;-)


From my understanding of psychology (and the ethical principles of APA)  
and from my own years in counseling (as the client), there is something  
to be said for understanding and respecting boundaries in both  
professional and personal relationships.


Go ahead if you must, tell me (and our professional ethics committee)  
why this attitude is inferior to yours Louis.


Having a great day,
-S

On Mar 21, 2007, at 1:33 PM, Louis Schmier wrote:

So, Paul, you just accept the very issues I have been talking about  
for years?  To
paraphrase Edmund Burke, it declines because good people remain  
silent.  I guess that’s
the difference between us.  I don’t accept it and won’t remain silent.  
 Maybe that’s why
some are irritated with me.  Don’t know.  What I do know is that I’m a  
“There is the
teaching” guy and I don’t accept as I once did “then there is  
teaching.”  If in your
opinion that be self-delusional, “egregiously inappropriate,” so be  
it.  I for one just

won’t go quietly into the educational good night.


Make it a good day.
  --Louis--
 
 
Louis Schmier    www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History   www.newforums.com/L_Schmier.htm
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698    /\   /\    
/\   /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/   \/    \    
/\/\/\  \/\
 / \  
\__ \/ /   \   /\/  

\  \ /\
   //\/\/ /\   
\_ / /___\/\ \

\  \/ \
    /\"If you want to  
climb mountains \ /\
    _/    \    don't practice  
on mole hills" -/   

\

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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up  
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] good intentions

[Steven Specht]

I had a colleague who, with all good intention, would include many  
students on conference presentation abstracts, not all of whom even  
knew what the research (which they supposedly co-authored) was about.  
The good intention was to increase the chances of getting students  
considered by graduate programs. However, I agree, that this  
potentially places the student in a position to fail or at least to be  
embarrassed. I can easily imagine a situation in which one of these  
students might be interviewed for a graduate program and asked, with  
good intentions, by the interviewer to elaborate upon the research they  
co-authored. If the student did not really know about what they were  
involved, the subsequent response would presumably actually ending-up  
jeopardizing the student's chances of acceptance.
Of course, such practices also potentially erode the reputation of the  
department and school from which these papers originate.



On Mar 26, 2007, at 10:31 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
 In addition, as the Fine and Kurkic (1993) article states, giving  
authorship to students who do not merit it can set them up to fail. I  
just think that some of us need to be a little more judicious in how  
we select students to work with us in our research. Also, I certainly  
don't want students working with me to treat these opportunities as  
just another academic assignment (to get that other 'piece of  
paper'). 


 
Please feel free to share the slides with your students.
 
 
Fine, M. A. and Kurdek, L. A. (1993).  Reflections on determining  
authorship credit and authorship order on faculty-student  
collaborations. American Psychologist, 48, 1141-1147.

 
 
 
 
-- Original message --
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

 > Thanks Miguel:
 >
> (1) I had a colleague in my department read and comment on a paper  
for me a
> couple of years ago and she pointed out that using the word 'effect'  
in a title
 > suggests a causal relationship, which honestly, I had not thought  
about prior to

> her commentary; after that I switched to 'efficacy'.
 >
> (2) You really picked on a laterality study! Is this from a  
particularly poor
 > paper that was published, or a student paper? I'd like to see the  
paper if it's

> public domain.
 >
> (3) In terms of authorship: I have frequently shared authorship with  
students
 > who did a combination of all of the things that you mention in your  
section,
 > including, "Activities, such as entering information in a database,  
collecting
 > actual data, getting articles from the library, xeroxing, etc. are  
not

 > sufficient to merit authorship."
 >
> I add them on as authors if they do all of these things because that  
is the
 > primarily skill level at which they are performing, plus working  
with me to put
 > together a conference presentation, for example. In this way they  
are involved
 > in all of the background readings and all of the tasks of carrying  
out the
 > study, but, agreed, not in the actual "intellectual" work. Do you  
think that is
> wrong-minded of me? Without their work, there would have been no  
finished

 > product!
 >
> (4) Salami slicing: now that's a sticky topic because sometimes we  
start out
 > collecting lots of data for the purpose of being able to eventually  
test
 > multiple, perhaps interr-related hypotheses. I've also not thought  
of that as
> somehow inappropriate, but rather a more efficient way to collect  
data.

 >
> (5) Finally, may I share your presentation with my students, just as  
it is, with

 > the credits to you and St. John's?
 >
> Annette
 >
>
>
>
> Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D.
 > Professor of Psychology
 > University of San Diego
 > 5998 Alcala Park
 > San Diego, CA 92110
 > 619-260-4006
 > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
 >
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up  
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] Re: Value of ignorance

[Steven Specht]

Wow... that's surreal.

On Mar 28, 2007, at 11:53 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:




 Original Message 
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: tips@acsun.frostburg.edu
Subject: [tips] Re: Value of ignorance
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:33:10 -0400


[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


I am toying with the idea that there may be some positive value to
ignorance.



I don't know what you mean. :-)


I am mindful of the expression that what you don't know can't hurt
you.



Like, say, E. coli in one's water. :-(

Chris

--  

  More like the single and double-blind
paradigm.

MJS



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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up  
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] on-line "education"/degrees

[Steven Specht]

Greetings colleagues,
Do any of you have any references that might indicate that employers 
(or graduate schools) look unfavorably upon degrees obtained on-line?

Thanks in advance for your help.
-S


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] Re: info: R D Laing

[Steven Specht]

On Apr 23, 2007, at 10:48 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:


 did R D Laing state that there are no crazy individuals only crazy
environments?
also did he advocate the idea that if a schizophrenic scattered feces
on the wall it should be perceived as art?


No, that's only if an artist does it;-)



Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida


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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up  
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] Re: The things students will say...

[Steven Specht]

Sometimes I think the collective "we" bring some of the problems on 
ourselves. In my opinion, I have WAY too many of my colleagues giving 
students "chances" for "extra credit" (whatever that means). The entire 
"student culture" seems to revolve around "extra credit". Many of my 
poorer students will actually work harder on extra credit assignments 
than on the "real" work in the course.


A couple year's ago, I conducted a very involved 7-day diary-type 
ingestive behaviors survey of adults. I offered for students' names to 
be placed in a drawing for a $250 bookstore credit if they agreed to 
deliver a packet to their parents (with subsequent return of the 
completed survey). I limited the survey number to 300. I was amazed 
that barely any students took me up on this offer for a chance at $250. 
One of my colleagues asked if it would be okay for her to offer "extra 
credit" in her course for return of the survey. BTW, the points she was 
offering were almost inconsequential to the students' grades. MANY 
students took advantage of that offer... but not the chance to win the 
bookstore credit.




Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] grading and standards and multiple institutions

[Steven Specht]

Stuart,
Are you implying that a grade of 50% is passing at your institution?  
I'm not interested in getting into any argument about appropriateness  
of grading standards anywhere (since I have no idea about the details  
of the testing and grading procedures at your institution). That is, I  
realize that 50% can be quite impressive depending upon difficulty of  
material. But it raises an interesting question in that it conveys to  
students that knowing "half" the material is sufficient for a passing  
grade. Do others have a similar policy?
Perhaps on a related note... I teach statistics at Cornell University  
during the summer session. I typically give exams which are a  bit more  
challenging than the ones I have given at other institutions (because  
the Cornell students perform very well indeed). I'm always a bit  
tempted to "raise the bar" a bit given that the mean on the exams is  
typically in the mid-high 80% range (or higher). On the other hand,  
perhaps a statistics course should cover certain material and should  
remain relatively the same no matter where one teaches it. I have been  
teaching with the Gravetter & Wallnau text for almost 20 years now and  
find that every semester I get through less because of the ever-eroding  
competencies of my students. Would love to hear from others who teach  
at multiple institutions of differing quality.

-S

On May 8, 2007, at 5:14 PM, Stuart McKelvie wrote:


Dear Tipsters,

I would not argue that the student should be given an A- in the  
circumstances presented, particularly when 90% is the cutoff.


However, the case raises interesting questions about the precision of  
our grading. If I had a final grade of 88.61% I would automatically  
round it to 89%, just as a grade of 88.31% would become 88. Because we  
actually give percentage grades at our institution, I am not faced  
with the issue of granting an A- or a B. However, when someone obtains  
49.61, I am faced with the question of whether to pass the student.


In these circumstances, and indeed whenever the final percentage is  
above 48, I do review the components of the mark, particularly because  
the maximum percentage based on multiple choice in my courses is 18%.  
At the end of the course, the part of the student's work that I  
usually have to hand is the final examination. I look over that to see  
how I allocated points.


The general question is this:

When we calculate a final percentage grade, how reliable is it?  
Another way of putting this is: What is the standard error of  
measurement?


Sincerely,

Stuart



__
Stuart J. McKelvie, Ph.D.,
Department of Psychology,
Bishop's University,
2600 College Street,
 Sherbrooke,
Québec J1M 0C8,
Canada.

E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
  or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone: (819)822-9600, Extension 2402
Fax: (819)822-9661

Bishop's Psychology Department Web Page:
http/:www.ubishops.ca/ccc/dev/soc/psy
__


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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up  
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] Re: availability

[Steven Specht]

Yes, I get the same feelings. What is more annoying to me than the  
students' expectations are the administration's explicit concurrence  
that we as faculty should act as "customer service representatives".  
Here at Utica College, it's palpable!


On Jun 14, 2007, at 9:58 AM, Bourgeois, Dr. Martin wrote:

Well, it's the end of another summer term, which has gotten me  
thinking about course evaluations. In looking at my own and those of  
others, both the official ones and those on ratemyprofessor.com, I've  
come to believe that one of the most important dimensions for  
students, maybe THE most important, is one's availability to students.  
I believe that I get more comments, positive and negative, related to  
this than I do those related to my lecture style, expertise, and  
fairness put together. And in thinking back, I believe it's a fairly  
recent phenomenon. As an undergrad, I couldn't imagine assuming that  
one of my profs would respond in a timely manner to unsolicted, vague  
requests such as 'I missed class today, did I miss anything  
important?'- in fact, I couldn't imagine ever asking such a thing. Yet  
my inbox is constantly full of such requests, and if I don't respond  
within 24 hours (which I often don't), I believe that my course evals  
suffer for it. And it's making me wonder if I should put responding to  
these requests ahead of other endeavors, such as research and service.  
I'm feeling less like a professor and more like a customer service  
representative these days (and one who's not doing his job  
adequately). I'd be curious to hear if others are experiencing similar  
feelings.

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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up  
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)



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[tips] ADHD

[Steven Specht]

Here's a quickie:
I probably should know this, but I'm not a clinical or developmental 
psychologist and don't recall it written in "full" form...
When "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder" is written, does/should 
it have a hyphen or slash between the AD and HD?
Thanks for your help.


Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is 
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up 
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)

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Re: [tips] ADHD

[Steven Specht]

Thanks to those who have responded. I really appreciate it.
Never heard of those sub-types. Very interesting.


On Aug 20, 2007, at 2:36 PM, Robert Wildblood wrote:

> Having filled out many insurance papers I've seen it most often as  
> Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (but the DSM states it with  
> the hyphen between deficit and hyperactivity) with the sub type listed  
> after that.  The subtypes are 
> Predominately Hyperactive-Impulsive Type
> Predominately Inattentive Type
> Combined Type.
>
> Bob W.
> On 20 Aug 2007, at 13:00, David Wasieleski wrote:
>
>  According to DSM-IV-TR, it's attention-deficit/hyperactivity  
> disorder. But I've seen it without the slash or hyphen as well.
>  David W.
>
>  At 11:12 AM 8/20/2007, you wrote:
>
> Here's a quickie:
>  I probably should know this, but I'm not a clinical or developmental  
> psychologist and don't recall it written in "full" form...
>  When "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder" is written,  
> does/should it have a hyphen or slash between the AD and HD?
>  Thanks for your help.
>
>  
>  Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
>  Associate Professor of Psychology
>  Utica College
>  Utica, NY 13502
>  (315) 792-3171
>
>  "Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
> quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran  
> up the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)
>
>  
>
>  David T. Wasieleski, Ph.D.
>  Professor
>  Department of Psychology and Counseling
>  Valdosta State University
>  Valdosta, GA 31698
>  229-333-5620
>  http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dtwasieleski
>
> "The only thing that ever made sense in my life
> is the sound of my little girl laughing through the window on a summer  
> night...
>  Just the sound of my little girl laughing
>  makes me happy just to be alive..."
>     --Everclear
>     "Song from an American Movie"
>
> ---
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>
>
> Dr. Bob Wildblood
> 711 Rivereview Dr.
> Kokomo, IN 46901-7025
> 765-776-1727
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired,  
> signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not  
> fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
>   - Dwight D. Eisenhower
>
>
> "The time is always right to do what is right."
> Martin Luther King, Jr.
>
> "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little  
> temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
> Benjamin Franklin, 1775
>
> "We are what we pretend to be, so we better be careful what we pretend  
> to be."
> Kurt Vonnegut
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>



Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up  
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)

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Re: [tips] Don't tase me,bro..

[Steven Specht]

Perhaps law enforcement officers who are suppose to be physically fit  
could get training similar to psychologists who work in "dangerous"  
environments in terms of four point restraint. Seems like there are  
better ways of dealing with behavioral problems than tasers. Before you  
know it, we'll have another Kent State.

On Sep 19, 2007, at 6:08 AM, Michael Sylvester wrote:

> The University of Florida student who got tased probably got what he  
> deserved.Students should show some degree of civility in a public  
> discussion forum.
>  
> Michael Sylvester,PhD
> Daytona Beach,Florida
>
>
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>



Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Utica College
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171

"Mice may be called large or small, and so may elephants, and it is  
quite understandable when someone says it was a large mouse that ran up  
the trunk of a small elephant" (S. S. Stevens, 1958)

---