This document provides the syllabus for a course titled "Psych 311 Advanced Experimental Psychology (Learning)". The course will be taught by Professor Erich Grommet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:25AM to 2:15PM in room E324 of the New Science Building. The syllabus outlines the required textbooks, assignments including exams, laboratory reports, and quizzes, grading breakdown, class schedule, policies on cheating and religious holidays, and contact information for the professor and teaching assistant.

1. Course Syllabus
Psych 311 Advanced Experimental Psychology (Learning)
Course Instructor:
Name: Erich Grommet
Email: Erich.Grommet@qc.cuny.edu
Alt. Email (for when QC email is down): egrommet@gc.cuny.edu
Alt. Alt. Email (for when QC & GC email are both down): erichgrommet@yahoo.com
Phone/Text: (516) 647-1517 Email is preferred method of communication!
Class Meeting Times: Tuesdays &Thursdasy 11:25AM – 2:15PM
Classroom: New Science Building Room E324
Office: Razran-238
Office Hours: by appointment (Please send me an email to set up an appointment)
Other Personnel Associated with this Course:
Senior College Laboratory Technician: Marie Birne
Email: Marie.Birne@qc.cuny.edu
Info: Marie will help acclimate the class to the rats that we will be using for the experiment that will lead
to the last laboratory report of the semester. She will also go over important care instructions that must be
followed when working with the rats. Feel free to schedule individual time with her if you think that you
need additional help with getting used to being around and working with rats.
Textbooks:
Required:
Domjan, M. The principles of learning and behavior (5th
or 6th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage
American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association. (6th
Ed.). Washington, DC: Author. (Don't buy a 1st
printing! – It has a lot of errors.)
Assignments:
Exams: There will be two scheduled exams during the semester, each worth 20% of your final grade. The
exams will cover the material in the text plus any additional information that is presented during class
meetings. These tests will be in multiple choice and short answer format. Students will not be
permitted to take an exam once a student that has completed that exam has left the room (be on
time).
Missed exams cannot be made up without a valid doctor’s note explaining why you were not available on
the date and time of the exam. Makeup exams will be scheduled by the instructor and may not
necessarily be the same format as regular exams (e.g., essay).
Laboratory Reports: During the course, you are required to write two papers, based on in-class
laboratory assignments. Each report is worth 15% of your final grade.
The reports will consist of a title page, abstract, method, results, discussion, figure, figure caption, and
references.
All papers must conform to the stylistic conventions of the American Psychological Association (6th
ed.).
Quizzes: Throughout the semester, 9 quizzes will be given on Blackboard. Quizzes will count for 10% of
your final grade. Quizzes must be completed 15 min before the start of class on the day that they are
scheduled. Quizzes cannot be made up. If you do not take the quiz, you will receive a zero on it.
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2. Summary & Reaction Papers: Throughout the semester, you will be asked to write 6 short papers (2 full
pages min) about journal articles that you will be assigned to read. Divide these papers into 2 sections:
summary (What was the presentation about?) and reaction (What did you think about it?). These papers
should be written double spaced in 12 pt Times New Roman font with a 1” border. Summary and reaction
papers will count for 10% of your final grade. Summary & Reaction Papers must be submitted 15 min
before the start of class on the day that they are scheduled. The articles required for the summary &
reaction papers are available on Blackboard. Late summary & reaction papers will not be accepted. A late
summary & reaction paper will result in a zero.
Lab participation: It is very important that you are in class on all days, but it is especially important on
the days that we are conducting experiments (days where the class topic/activity is Experiment 1,
Experiment 2, or a Rat Day). It will be much easier for you to write a good lab report if you were there
when the experiment was run. Your participation in experiments will count for 10% of your final grade.
Please note: Attendance will not affect participation points on Rat Days that are marked with an (FP).
Extra Credit: You will receive 1 extra credit point for attending an on campus research presentation (I will
provide you with a list of all of the acceptable options) and writing a 2 full-page (minimum) summary and
reaction paper (What was the presentation about and what did you think about it?). Extra credit will also
be given for writing a summary and reaction paper of a journal article from the Journal of Experimental
Analysis of Behavior or Behavioural Processes. Please get the journal article approved by me prior to
writing the summary and reaction paper.
Grading: The final grade is comprised of:
20% Midterm exam
20% Final exam
15% Laboratory Report 1 (Exp. 2)
15% Laboratory Report 2 (Exp. 3)
10% Blackboard Quizzes (1.2% each)
10% Summary & Reaction Papers (1.67% each)
10% Laboratory Participation (.5% each)
5% Extra Credit
Grade Breakdown:
A+ 97-100 B+ 87-89 C+ 77-79 D+ 67-69
A 93-96 B 83-86 C 73-76 D 60-66
A- 90-92 B- 80-82 C- 70-72 F 0-59
Cheating:
Cheating and aiding and abetting cheating is not allowed and will not be tolerated. Instances of
cheating will be reported to the Psychology Department Chair.
FOR INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC, PLEASE REFER TO THE Queens College, CUNY,
Undergraduate Standard Scholastic Committee (USSC) Handbook at www.qc.edu/USSC.
*If you require scheduling accommodations due to a religious holiday, you must let me know by the
second week of the semester so that appropriate accommodations can be made.
**If you require accommodations due to a disability please contact the students with disabilities office so
that arrangements can be made.
***If you require clarification on any of the above policies please ask in advance.
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3. Class Schedule
Date Reading Class Topic/Activities Assignment
8/28 Tues N/A Course Introduction
8/30 Thurs Ch 1: Introduction
Introduction to Learning
Rat Day #1
Blackboard Quiz #1
9/4 Tues
Blodgett (1929) Introduction to Learning
Rat Day #2
Summary & Reaction
Paper on Blodgett
(1929)
9/6 Thurs Ch 2: Habituation
Non-Associative Learning
Rat Day #3
Blackboard Quiz #2
9/11 Tues
Swithers-Mulvey et al. (1991) Non-Associative Learning
Rat Day #4
Summary & Reaction
Paper on Swither-
Mulvey et al. (1991)
9/13 Thurs Epstein et al. (2003) Experiment 1
Summary & Reaction
Paper on Epstein et al.
(2003)
9/20 Thurs
Ch 3: Classical Conditioning -
Foundations
Classical Conditioning
Rat Day #5
Blackboard Quiz #3
9/27 Thurs
Twitmyer (1974) Experiment 2
Rat Day #6
Summary & Reaction
Paper on Twitmyer
(1974)
10/2 Tues
Razran (1939) Classical Conditioning
Rat Day #7 (FP)
Blackboard Quiz #4
10/4 Thurs
N/A Classical Conditioning
Rat Day #8 (FP)
Draft of Introduction &
Method for Experiment
#2 due
10/9 Tues N/A
Exam Review
Rat Day #9 (FP)
N/A
10/11 Thurs
N/A
Midterm Exam: Ch 1-3
Draft of Introduction &
Method for Experiment
#2 back to you
10/16 Tues
N/A Individual Writing Feedback N/A
10/18 Thurs
N/A Individual Writing Feedback N/A
10/23 Tues
Ch 5: Instrumental Conditioning –
Foundations
Operant Reinforcement
Rat Day #10
Blackboard Quiz #5
10/25 Thurs
Carton (1996)
Operant Reinforcement
Rat Day #11 & #12 (FP)
Blackboard Quiz #6
Draft of Results &
Discussion for
Experiment
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4. #2 due
10/30 Tues
No Class – Hurricane Sandy N/A N/A
11/1 Thurs
No Class – Hurricane Sandy N/A
Draft of Results &
Discussion for
Experiment
#2 back to
you
11/6 Tues
Ch 6: Schedules of Reinforcement
and Choice Behavior
Operant Reinforcement
Rat Day #13
Blackboard Quiz #7
11/8 Thurs Reynolds (1961)
Operant Reinforcement
Rat Day #14
Summary & Reaction
Paper on Reynolds
(1961)
11/13 Tues Ch 8: Stimulus Control of Behavior
Stimulus Control
Rat Day #15 (FP)
Blackboard Quiz #8
11/15 Thurs N/A
Stimulus Control
Rat Day #16 (FP)
Final Version of
Experiment #2 Due (All
Sections)
11/20 Tues Hanson (1959)
Peak Shift
Stimulus Control
Rat Day #17
Summary & Reaction
Paper on Hanson
(1959)
11/27 Tues
Ch 9: Extinction Extinction
Rat Day #18
Blackboard Quiz #9
11/29 Thurs N/A Extinction
Draft of Experiment #3
Due (All Sections)
12/4 Tues
N/A Individual Writing Feedback on
Experiment #3
N/A
12/6 Thurs
N/A Individual Writing Feedback on
Experiment #3
N/A
12/11 Tues
N/A
Individual Writing Feedback on
Experiment #3
N/A
12/13 * Thurs N/A Exam Review N/A
12/18 Tues N/A
Final Exam: Ch 5, 6, 8, & 9
Exam Time: 11AM-1PM
N/A
12/21 Fri N/A N/A
Final Version of
Experiment #3 Due (All
Sections)
* 12/13 is the makeup day for 11/1
** Sign up for a time slot to receive individual feedback on the Results and Discussion sections
of your classical conditioning paper at: http://doodle.com/z6nuysacaqg4xscs. This is the makeup
for 10/30.
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