Postgraduate Course: Specialist Techniques in Psychological Research (PSYL11070)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course will cover a variety of specialist techniques for data collection and/or quantitative data analysis that are used in different areas of contemporary psychological research. It will cover the advantages and disadvantages of these, considering the sorts of research questions to which each might be applied, and provide basic instruction in using them. Topics include family and twin studies, eye-tracking, EEG, fMRI, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Students will have a choice of core topics. There will also be the opportunity to attend other lectures and workshops.
At a minimum, for each technique covered, you should get a good overview of the sorts of research question that a given technique is suited to addressing, the sorts of data that it yields, and how those data are dealt with, and the main advantages and limitations of the technique. |
| Course description |
Core topics will comprise the student's choice of 5 lectures, or 4 lectures plus a lab class. Signup for the lab classes is on Learn (these are always subject to availability).
Options include additional lectures (no permission needed), and additional lab classes (subject to availability).
Topics for 2015-16
Alexa Morcom: Introduction to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
LECTURE I. The basics of how it works, and the principles of how to use it in cognitive neuroimaging studies.
LECTURE II. Introduction to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) II. An interactive workshop in which we will design fMRI experiments.
fMRI lab class. Workshop introducing students to concepts and application of Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM) methods and software, using SPM8. Comprises 1) a short lecture on the principles of data analysis and inference for a factorial event-related fMRI study; 2) a hands-on practical demonstrating the SPM8 software, how to test hypotheses, and initial exploration of results. No familiarity with SPM or MATLAB is assumed. Maximum 20 students.
Mante Nieuwland: Introduction to Event-Related Potentials (ERPs).
LECTURE. The fundamentals of EEG and ERPs, and an introduction to their use in cognitive neuroimaging studies.
EEG/ERP lab. Workshop introducing students to basic aspects of EEG/ERP data collection and signal processing. After a brief introduction, students will use the BrainVision Analyzer software to explore the impact of various EEG/ERP preprocessing steps.
Maximum 12 students. (Please note that this is the first of two workshops; these are identical, so students should only sign up for one).
Antje Nuthmann: Eye movements: A window on mind and brain.
LECTURE. Saccades (eye movements) are the most frequent movements we make in our daily lives. The lecture will provide a cursory introduction to eye movements and what they can tell us about visual attention and cognition.
Eyetracking lab. Using examples from reading and/or real-world scene perception, students will be provided with a brief introduction, including practical demonstrations, on how to (a) record eye-tracking data, (b) parse the gaze raw data into saccades and fixations, and (c) further analyse the data to make inferences about the perceptual, oculomotor, and cognitive processes that play a role in reading or scene viewing. Maximum 12 students.
NOTE: If you want to follow the analyses and manipulate the data yourself, please bring your laptop with R installed.
ADDITIONAL SESSIONS: We will offer optional practical sessions preceding the workshop in which interested students are shown how to set up an eye tracker and how to collect data.
Thomas Bak: Crisis in Psychology? Replication and publication bias
LECTURE I. These two lectures will discuss the highly topical issue of the replication crisis and possible biases in psychological research. The current debate around bilingualism will provide a starting point.
LECTURE II. In this lecture, students are encouraged to find more examples of replication failure and bias and discuss them in class.
David Carmel: An introduction to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).
LECTURE. How it works (as far as we know), and how it can be used to tell us something valid (we hope) about the mind.
Michelle Luciano: Behavioural Genetics
LECTURE I. This lecture will introduce genetic concepts and describe the research methodologies used to study genetic influences on behaviour.
LECTURE II. This lecture will build on Part 1, focussing on why genetics research is important within Psychology and the directions in which this field is moving.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 2 (Sem 1) |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
98 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessment on this course is by a 3000 word methodological report based on two or more of the techniques covered. Details of this assessment will be distributed closer to the time.
Assignment Deadline: Monday 11th January 2016
Maximum Word Length: 3000 words
Assignment Return Date: Tuesday 2nd February 2016 |
| Feedback |
Teaching team will advertise office hours for Q&A. Learn discussion board will be set up. Comments provided on submitted assessments |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- ¿ Understand how the research question affects the choice of technique
- ¿ Be familiar with the scenarios in which the range of design types discussed are applicable
- ¿ Be adept at describing the major data collection and processing procedures in a variety of the areas covered
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
New research design and statistical skills. Appreciation of the diversity of research approaches. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Core topics will comprise the student's choice of 6 lectures, or 5 lectures plus a lab class. Options include additional lab classes (as well as the core topics, subject to availability). Workshops are always taken as options (subject to availability). |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alexandra Morcom
Tel: (0131 6)51 1907
Email: alexa.morcom@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Toni Noble
Tel: (0131 6)51 3188
Email: Toni.noble@ed.ac.uk |
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© Copyright 2015 The University of Edinburgh - 18 January 2016 4:46 am
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