Practical Work in Social Psychology

Code:

P310

Acronym:

TPPS

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Psychology

Instance: 2019/2020 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Psychology
Course/CS Responsible:	Integrated Master Psychology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIPSI	13	Official Curricular Structure	2	-	3	30	81

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

 . To introduce students to Experimental Social Psychology by contacting and reasoning about classic experiments regarding central psychosocial phenomena.

. To train basic methodological skills and apply them in planning and conducting experiments within Social Psychology domain.

. To acknowledge the main differences between an experimental methodology from other research methodologies.

. To contact to typical constraints that are usually present in experiments in the lab.

. To ponder, in experiments’ conduction, major attributes that should be considered in experimental methodology: causal inference, world and psychological realism, validity (construct, internal, external), operationalization, etc.

. To consider the ethical implications of Experimental Social Psychology.

. To contribute to value research within students, as a major component of their academic education.

Learning outcomes and competences

 . Basic methodological skills to apply them in planning and conducting experiments within Social Psychology domain.

. Acknowledgement of the advantages and disadvantages of using experimental methodology .

. Being sensitive to the ethics implications of Experimental Social Psychology.

. To value research as a major component of their academic education.

 

Working method

À distância

Program

 

1. Introduction to laboratorial experimental research in Social Psychology:

. Contacting with Social Psychology classical experiments;

. Planning an experimental study (in small groups).

. Conducing the planned study in the Social Psychology Lab, including all the required steps that should be included in this process (materials’ construction, testing the manipulations, training the instructions and the scenario, data collection, … debriefing).

. Presenting the theoretical concepts, research question and hypotheses evolved in the study, and describing the conducted study.

. Discussing the theoretical and methodological aspects raised by the study.

2. Transversal concepts that will be approached through the classes:

. Experimental scenario: simulating "real" situations in the lab, experimental manipulations, operational definitions, experimental realism, randomization, confederates, …

. Measurement and validity in experimental methodology.

. Ethical implications in research: acknowledgement of the limits of studies, informed consent, confidentiality, debriefing, …

Mandatory literature

Margarida Vaz Garrido e Marília Prada; Manual de competências académicas, Edições Sílabo, 2016. ISBN: 978-972-618-859-9
Jorge Vala e Maria B. Monteiro; Psicologia Social, Gulbenkian, 2013. ISBN: 978-972-31-1478-2
Judd Charles M.; Research methods in social relations. ISBN: 0-03031149-7
M. Hogg; Social psychology. ISBN: 0-13-486770-X

Teaching methods and learning activities

Students are expected to participate in the classes, either as participants of an experiment conducted by the Professor or by another group of students, either as members of a group that will plan and implement an experiment.

Each class will focus on a traditionally studied domain within Social Psychology, and will be composed by 2 components: 1) conduction of an experiment; 2) presentation of the theoretical concepts approached in the experiment, research question, hypotheses and description of the study.

The first three classes will be directed by the Professor. The following classes will be guided by one group of students (supervised by the Professor).

Evaluation of this unit will be based on three components: (1) planification and conduction of the experimental study (40%); (2) presentation of the theoretical-empirical concepts relevant regarding the conducted study (40%); (3) brief group manuscript, describing the experiment's procedure (20%).

Students have to be present in 75% of the classes (eliminatory criterion)

keywords

Social sciences > Psychological sciences > Psychology > Experimental psychology
Social sciences > Psychological sciences > Psychology > Social psychology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	40,00
Participação presencial	0,00
Trabalho escrito	20,00
Trabalho laboratorial	40,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	1,00
Estudo autónomo	40,00
Frequência das aulas	30,00
Trabalho laboratorial	10,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

Students have to be present in, at least, 75% of the classes.

Calculation formula of final grade

40% (conduction of the experiment) + 40% (oral presentation of the theoretical contents) + 20% (experiment's procedure manuscript)

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

In case of not being able to attend classes, students have to present a manuscript describing an experiment regarding one of the phenomena discussed in classes. This study has to be discussed with the teacher.

Classification improvement

Only the written manuscript (description of the experiment's procedure).