The first requirement of this course is for all students to get 100% on an online quiz that assesses your knowledge about PSYC105 requirements and university-wide policies. All students will have until the end of Week 3 (16/08/2015 at 11pm) to get 100% on the Unit Guide Quiz. Students who do not get 100% on the Unit Guide Quiz by the end of Week 3 will not pass PSYC105. Thus, all students who have not taken the quiz, or who have not achieved 100% by the end of Week 3, are strongly encouraged to withdraw from PSYC105 before the Census date (31/08/2015). This will allow those students to put their money to better use. If you are simply taking this unit for your own personal enjoyment and are not concerned about grades, then please feel welcome in continuing your enrolment in PSYC105 if you do not complete the Unit Quiz. Only the unit and tutorial guides will be available via iLearn until you complete the quiz with a score of 100%. After you pass the quiz with a 100% (i.e., get all 15 questions right) other information will become available (e.g., lecture notes, assessment guides). 

Research participation is educationally beneficial. First, students can learn a good deal about a particular topic by participating in research. Students can learn how psychological theories lead to psychological studies and how different methodological approaches are applied to test research hypotheses. Second, research participation assists students in understanding the importance of ethical conduct in psychological research. All of the psychology research conducted in the Department of Psychology has been reviewed by the Human Research Ethics Committee at Macquarie University, and deemed in accordance with guidelines from the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2007; the Code) and the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007). Information about a study typically is provided to participants both before (via a personal information statement) and after (via a debriefing form) a study. Third, students can learn how to conduct research themselves by participating in research. Lastly, participation in research gives students an opportunity to develop respect and appreciation for the amount of effort that researchers devote to conducting high-quality research. The research participation component of PSYC105 involves 4 hours of participation (8 credits) in research conducted within the Department of Psychology. Time spent is credited on a pro rata basis. 15 min = 0.5 credits, 30 min = 1 credit, 45 min = 1.5 credit, 1 hr = 2 credits, etc.

This semester, the PSYC105 research project involves examining what undergraduates believe will happen when they drink alcohol on its own and what they believe will happen when they drink alcohol mixed with energy drinks. During Week 3 tutorials, all students in PSYC105 will participate in data collection by completing an online, anonymous survey. The results from this survey will form the basis of your research reports. Writing empirical papers is one way that psychologists disseminate research findings. This research report must follow the APA Style rules, detailed in the "Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association." This is a psychology report, not a biology, chemistry, or law report, so do not use another referencing style. Marks are awarded for correctly following APA Style rules, and you will lose marks if you do not apply the rules correctly. The research report must be 1000 (+/- 25) words in length. The title page and references are not included in this word limit. Your report must include a title page and introduction (background) section, plus reference list. More details on the report will be provided in tutorial classes. You can find out more about APA Style rules by attending tutorials and of course by reading the sixth edition of the "Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association." Ten articles related to the research project have been sourced for you. You are required to cite each of these articles in your report. You also are required to use at least two more empirical articles that you source on your own. Your additional articles must be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. If you want to use more than two additional articles in order to convey a logical message, then you may. In other words, you must have at least 12 citations, but more is fine, as long as all the articles you cite assist in telling a logical story. In using published research to support and evaluate the research project in your report, you are expected to reflect carefully on the instructions and feedback given during the tutorials. 

Presentations at scientific conferences are another method that psychologists use for disseminating and learning about research findings. Accordingly, during Week 13, you will present the findings of the PSYC105 research project in a group format. Group presentations are expected to last 10 (+/- 1) minutes. The presentation must be done using PowerPoint or another computer-based presentation software. Presentations are to cover the entire research process (e.g., background, methods, results, discussion). Group members are encouraged to cover different aspects of their presentation (e.g., one person may cover the background information, one person may cover the methodology, one person may cover the results, and another person may cover the discussion). While different people will present different segments, presentations should flow as if one person has written the talk. This means that a great presentation requires great teamwork. Finally, academic integrity applies to research presentations, so do not forget to cite and reference appropriately. Your team should arrive to the Week 13 tutorial with a copy of your presentation saved to a USB device and with a hard-copy of your presentation and notes for your tutor to keep. Failure to present your tutor with a hard-copy of your presentation and notes at the beginning of the tutorial will result in a 5% penalty. 

Tutorial attendance is compulsory in order to achieve a Pass grade or higher in PSYC105. If students miss three or more tutorials, it is the University Policy that students MUST make a Request for Special Consideration through https://ask.mq.edu.au/, with appropriate documentation (e.g., medical certificates). 

The final exam is held during the university final examination period (9/11/2015 – 27/11/2015) and consists of 120 multiple-choice questions. Students are allowed 2.5 hours plus 10 minutes reading time to complete the exam. Questions are derived from the lectures (including statistics lectures), tutorials, and the required readings. There will be five response options for each question. Unless specified on a question, there is only one correct answer to each question. Wrong answers are not penalised (that is, the total score is simply the sum of correct answers). Past exam papers are not available; however, a very small sample of practice questions will be posted on iLearn a few weeks before the final exam.