T602--Psychophysiological Responses to Media
Dr. Potter--First Semester, 2010-2011
Course Requirements
Data Collection Module and Results Presentation
30% of Final Grade
This course is designed to have a substantial application portion to it. We will be working directly with four physiological measures: heart rate, skin conductance, facial EMG, and EMG startle response. Working in pairs, each of you will be responsible for designing and preparing an original experiment with media messages as stimuli. This will include writing data collection programs for both Media Lab (the stimulus presentation program) and VPM (the physiological data collection program).
Then, during "your day" in the lab, you will be responsible for collecting data from your classmates. After which you will have a week to clean/process the data, analyze it, and develop a 20-30 minute presentation for the next class session. This should be treated as a conference presentation, complete with a brief literature review, conceptual and operational definitions of all variables, hypotheses, procedures, results and conclusions.
You are expected to consult closely with me on each stage of this process.
"Reading Group" Discussion Leading & Summary Papers
15% of Final Grade
So, what are you going to do when it's not "your day" in the lab? Well, of course you're going to be learning the details about collecting the measure. You will also be serving as a subject. But, that won't take up the entire time. So, for the three weeks that you aren't the PI you will be expected to read a published research article that employs the "Measure of the Week" to address questions about media processing.
Then, during lab time you will lead a critical summary presentation of the article for the group of us not involved in the data collection. Questions and requests for clarification from your classmates will help you to refine your summary, which you will then finalize in a written document due the following week.
More details on how to critically evaluate published literature will be forthcoming.
Final Paper
30% of Final Grade:
We all have different specific research interests. This is a methods course, meaning the tools we discuss should be applicable to investigations on a wide variety of theoretical questions. The final paper is a chance for you to do just that--apply psychophysiological methods to your area of interest.
You will submit a complete research proposal, including literature review, hypotheses, etc. The proposal must include at least one of the measures we cover in class. Plus, it should also include at least one which we did not. That means, you will have to read about other psychophysiological methods from the textbooks. Possibilities here include: EEG, Eye Tracking & Pupillography, Respiration, Hormone Response, Sexual Response, etc. etc. You are not expected to become an expert on these measures, but stretch yourself...I'll be looking for indication that you have read beyond the assigned chapters. This paper will be due by 5pm on the Friday of finals week.
SPR Paper
15 % of Final Grade
The Society for Psychophysiological Research is one of the major societies in the field. And, they are celebrating their 50th Anniversary this year. I will be attending the conference in Portland, OR, as will some of the students in the course. For that reason there will not be a class meeting on September 29th. Instead, you will use the time to peruse the official conference program and write a paper about a topic therein which catches your eye . More details on this to come. The paper will not be a long one...figure 5-7 pages without references.
Book Manuscript Review/Editing
10% of Final Grade
For a long time now, a colleague and I have been working on a book entitled Psychophysiological Measures and Meaning (PMM). To use a term I picked up from Stephen King's On Writing, PMM is a book for which you are the IR....the Ideal Reader. So, I'm going to make a deal with you. In exchange for 10% on your final grade, and a free copy of the pretty-close-to-final draft of the manuscript, I'm going to ask that you read it and make comments on it. And I mean, whatever comments you think need to be made. Is a section poorly written or confusing? I need to know it. How about being overwritten and wordy? Yup. If there's good stuff you can tell me that too...but you'll receive a copy of the manuscript in Word and be expected to use "Track Changes" and "Comments" to give me feedback. This is a pretty easy "A" for you to pick up.
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