The purpose of the proposed project is to enhance undergraduate instruction in research methods in psychology. The project will facilitate the demonstration of a wide range of psychological phenomena, as well as the design, execution, and analysis of original research by undergraduates. Its impact will be on five upper-division advanced laboratory courses (Learning, Cognitive Psychology, Sensation and Perception, Physiological Psychology, and Animal Behavior), an introductory lab course, and a course in research methods.The core of the project is a bank of 13 microcomputers to serve as student stations for data collection and analysis. One of the computers is to be used for program development, to assist students in designing original research. The software selected will allow students to gain first-hand experience with general principles of research design, and also with the specific techniques associated with particular areas within experimental psychology. This will greatly increase the breadth of research experiences to which students can be exposed, and increase the variety and sophistication of student-initiated research projects (required of all majors) by facilitating instruction in all aspects of the research enterprise.
