Psychology 442

Course Description

PSY 442 is primarily a field work course, although attendance is also required at several seminars.  Students placed in internship locations will have a designated supervisor at the placement site who will communicate with the course professor regarding the students’ performance and progress.  This course will provide the Applied Psychology student with the opportunity to apply psychology knowledge and methods in an actual work environment.  A variety of options will be available for completion of this course: internship, research assistantship or independent project. In an internship, the student will work in a local organization.  As a research assistant, the student will work with a faculty member as an assistant in the faculty member’s ongoing research and/or consultation with organizations.  Alternatively, the student may develop an independent project of their own under the supervision of a faculty member.  The selection of the best option will be made by the student and his/her advisor based on which option best meets the student’s educational and career goals.  Regardless of the option selected, each student will attend seminars and complete a research or application project.

Behavioral Objectives

1. The student will acquire an understanding of the application of the current theories of psychology by the direct application of theory in a realistic project or organizational setting.
2. The student will develop an in-depth understanding of one or more specific areas of psychology practice through application of knowledge to practical issues.
3. The student will develop the ability to work with others and to communicate (oral and written) relevant aspects of the work to supervisors and colleagues.
4. The student will learn how to document the results of applied research or other psychology-related professional activity, in a professional manner.

Course Outline

The following is an overview of the topics to be covered in this course.  Each unit will include relevant theory, current research, and its application.

Independent Project or Research Assistantship

Students electing to perform an independent project will work with a faculty member to select a suitable research project.  Once selected, the student will be responsible for developing a

schedule with milestones that are appropriate to the research or project being undertaken.  The schedule and milestones will be discussed with the faculty member and will form the basis of submitting materials for comment and grading.  Some examples of milestones for research and application projects are listed below.

Internship

Students electing to perform an internship will work with a faculty member to select a suitable position in a human resource department, consulting firm, research facility or other approved internship site.  Once selected, the student will be responsible for developing a schedule with milestones that are appropriate to the internship.  The schedule and milestones will be developed jointly with the faculty member and the internship supervisor.  This schedule and milestone plan will form the basis of submitting materials for comment and grading. Some examples of internship milestones for research and application projects are listed below.

Sample Milestones for Internship and Independent Research/Research Assistant Internship Project (I/O example)

1. Topic selection and description of the problem
2. Analysis of the problem in terms of relevant I/O theory
3. Design of a theory based intervention
4. Plan for evaluating the intervention effectiveness
5. Draft report for comment
6. Final report

Independent Research/Research Assitantship Project

1. Topic selection and hypothesis formulation
2. Research proposal - description of the proposed study and methodology     Pilot test results
3. Completed statistical analysis
4. Draft report for comment
5. Final report