Using PsyScope for demonstrations and student-designed experiments in cognitive psychology courses

We describe a plan for integrating an experimental control language, PsyScope, into under-graduate laboratory exercises of perceptual and cognitive experiments on Macintosh computers. PsyScope is a powerful and versatile system with which students can modify standard research paradigms and execute experiments of their own design, thus facilitating student-initiated independent research. Data are summarized with a general-purpose program, PsySquash, for import into Statview or SuperAnova for further analysis. This system provides an effective means of implementing student projects.     

Issues in the effective use of computers in introductory and advanced courses in psychology

The recent proliferation of time-shared terminals, computers, and instructional software is producing a dramatic change in undergraduate education in psychology. Although computers have been used for many years in research in psychology, their use as instructional alternatives only recently has been thrust upon the academic community, a development for which many faculty-even experienced computer users—are ill prepared. The use of computers and microcomputers in instruction can provide the instructor, and more importantly, the student, with an effective pedagogical tool. However, computers cannot be introduced into the curriculum in a piecemeal or haphazard fashion. In this paper, issues involved in the effective introduction and use of computers in teaching are outlined.     

Software timing of events in cognitive psychology experiments

Real-time systems for controlling cognitive psychology experiments typically use hardware clocks. However, systems using software clocks have comparable reliability, accuracy, and resolution, and the advantages of lower cost and hardware simplicity. Four types of software clocks are described and evaluated. Problems in implementing software clock systems are described, along with their solutions. Software clock routines for Apple II series microcomputers are presented.     

A microcomputer interface for control of real-time experiments in cognitive psychology

A microcomputer system for real-time control of experiments in cognitive psychology is described. The microcomputer serves as an interface that allows a remote timesharing computer to control the timed display of textual material on CRTs and collect response times accurate to 1 msec. It can control two CRT subject stations presenting the same or different experiments and control other devices such as slide projectors and tape recorders. It is argued that such special-purpose microcomputer interfaces provide a real-time laboratory with significantly less effort than does the more traditional laboratory minicomputer.     

Demonstration experiments in perception and cognitive psychology for the Macintosh computer

A package of programs demonstrating psychology experiments widely cited in perception and cognitive psychology textbooks is described. The programs are suitable for laboratory research projects and in-class demonstrations. An attractive feature of the programs is that they have provisions for changing experimental parameters to allow students to design different experiments from the original programs. Iconic memory, memory scanning (using the additive factors approach), lexical decision, target detection, speeded classification, picture recognition/picture memory, and the Phi phenomenon can be demonstrated.     

Using computers in introductory psychology

This paper describes our experience during the past 2 years in establishing a computer-based laboratory for introductory psychology. Discussion includes selection of hardware; physical design of the laboratory; locating, reviewing, and selecting courseware; development of supplementary materials; operation and management of the laboratory; and integration of the laboratory into the curriculum. These factors are examined from the point of view of the decisions made, the difficulties encountered, and the lessons learned.     

Behaviorism, latent learning, and cognitive maps: needed revisions in introductory psychology textbooks

This paper critically assesses the scholarship in introductory psychology textbooks in relation to the topic of latent learning. A review of the treatment of latent learning in 48 introductory psychology textbooks published between 1948 and 2004, with 21 of these texts published since 1999, reveals that the scholarship on the topic of latent learning demonstrated in introductory textbooks warrants improvement. Errors that persist in textbooks include the assertion that the latent learning experiments demonstrate unequivocally that reinforcement was not necessary for learning to occur, that behavioral theories could not account for the results of the latent learning experiments, that B. F. Skinner was an S-R association behaviorist who argued that reinforcement is necessary for learning to occur, and that because behavioral theories (including that of B. F. Skinner) were unable explain the results of the latent learning experiments the cognitive map invoked by Edward Tolman is the only explanation for latent learning. Finally, the validity of the cognitive map is typically accepted without question. Implications of the presence of these errors for students and the discipline are considered. Lastly, remedies are offered to improve the scholarship found in introductory psychology textbooks.     

Evaluation of a Web-based introductory psychology course: I. Learning and satisfaction in on-line versus lecture courses

We offered introductory psychology on the World-Wide Web (WWW) and evaluated the on-line format relative to the traditional lecture-test format, using a pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design. Multiple sections of the introductory course were offered each semester; on-line and lecture sections were taught by the same instructor, the same textbook was used, and the same in-class examinations were taken. For on-line sections, mastery quizzes, interactive individual exercises, and weekly laboratory meetings replaced lectures. Increased content knowledge was greater for the students in the Web sections, as was in-class examination performance. Use of the WWW and computers for academic purposes increased more in the on-line sections, and the on-line students showed a greater decrease in computer anxiety. The students in the on-line sections expressed appreciation for course components and the convenience of the course, but the lecture sections received higher ratings on course evaluations than did the on-line sections. Learning and course satisfaction were dissociated in the two course formats.     

Simulation systems for cognitive psychology

Three views of the function of computer simulation in cognitive psychology are analyzed. The strong view that computer simulations will produce more rigorously specified theories is seen to be overstating the case. Two more pragmatic views are supported. One looks at computer method as a means of exploring or validating psychological theories. The other looks to computer simulation as a source of useful concepts. Several recent simulation efforts are presented as illustrations of these latter views. After establishing some perspective on the uses of simulation, the discussion turns to psychological simulation languages and to aspects of programming environments that facilitate simulation work. A new simulation language, PRISM, is described. PRISM’s design is intended as a response to some of the issues raised in this paper.     

Microcomputers in psychology laboratory courses

The implementation of a microcomputer-based laboratory curriculum is described and analyzed in terms of general guidelines for introducing computer-based instruction. Procedures are suggested for analyzing need, choosing a system, and implementing the project. Pedagogical considerations arising from the use of computer technology are also discussed.     

Teaching the introductory course in psychology circa 1900

Teachers of introductory courses in psychology and those who wrote the textbooks for the courses at the start of the 20th century represented the new psychology that replaced the old psychology of mental philosophy. Teachers and texts presented psychology as a natural science of the mind and mental processes, described its methods, and suggested its potential applications to practical concerns. Textbooks and teachers varied in their approaches to psychology, their priorities among its methods, and their emphases on applying psychology. The introductory course in psychology accurately reflected the state of the discipline at the turn of the century.     

An introductory psychology laboratory system featuring inexpensive time-shared record-keeping

At California State University, Fresno, the introductory psychology lecture sections operate independently of the laboratory system. Each week, the faculty supervisor prepares the teaching assistants to instruct the following week’s laboratory presentation. The department’s subject pool is also administered through the laboratory system. At the end of the semester, the lecture instructors are supplied with laboratory grades for incorporation into the overall course grades. Record-keeping, especially for the subject pool, was a major problem until we computerized its various components. We use one of the university’s time-sharing systems for this purpose, which has proven cost effective, secure, and quite efficient.     

Some ideas for beginners on using a microcomputer in an introductory psychology class

This tutorial workshop presented several microcomputer applications for a large introductory psychology class with limited equipment. Applications demonstrated were word processing, gradebook management, and demonstrations.     

A high-level language for control of psychology experiments

A language for controlling learning, memory, and perception experiments is described. The language features the capability of manipulating large amounts of alphanumeric information with ease. A small, but powerful, command set uses the psychologists’, rather than the programmers’, logic and jargon.     

Design and evaluation of a programmed course in introductory psychology

The design of a programmed course in introductory psychology, utilizing an interview procedure, is described. The performance of students in this course was compared with that of students covering the same subject matter but taught in a more conventional manner. Students in the experimental course scored significantly higher on objective and essay final examinations and rated the course more positively.