The WebOption Lectures are Back Online!!!

As of 10:30 pm, the WebOption lectures are available again through a new interface. All the links to the WebOption lectures on the Lectures Page have been updated, so you can watch PSYB10 Lectures again. Thank you for your patience over these last few hours!

WebOption Lectures are Temporarily Offline!

Very unfortunately, the WebOption website is having technical difficulties and the lectures are not available as of about 4:45 pm! The IITS staff are working really hard right now to get them back on line. Please be patient, because the problem is being tended to. Thank you for being understanding with this problem!

Final Exam Review Materials Posted!

The Review Sheet and Practise Questions for the Final Exam have been posted on the Exams Page.

Extra Office Hours on Wednesday (12/9) and Thursday (12/10)

As announced in Lecture 23 on Wednesday, there will be extra office hours the week before the final exam:

• Wednesday (12/9): 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
• Thursday (12/10): 1:30 - 3:00 pm

No Lecture this Friday, 11/27, & No Office Hours Wednesday, 11/25

As originally listed in your syllabus, there will be no lecture this Friday, 11/27. In addition, there are no office hours this Wednesday, 11/25. I will be going out of town Wednesday afternoon through Sunday for US Thanksgiving, so I will probably not get a chance to respond promptly to emails during this time.

In sum, we have two more lectures for PSYB10:

• Wednesday (11/25): Stress & Health
• Wednesday (12/2): Grand Summary & Random, Cool Social Psych Findings

Two Alternate Answers for Version 1 Question 11 Are Correct!

A fellow student has cited multiple places in the textbook and lecture that support the idea that avoidant attachment styles have a focus on rejection that is similar to interpersonal rejection sensitivity. See this FAQ for a break-down of the successful argument by your classmate, as well as my response. These changes increased the grade of about 40% of the class by 3 points. The changes have been reflected in your marks on Blackboard!

Just to ward off anticipated concerns: If you answered "anxious-ambivalent" then you still got the question right!

Midterm 2 Marks Are Available Through BlackBoard!

Midterm 2 marks are available on Blackboard as of 9pm on Friday, November 13^th! To view your mark, login to BlackBoard through the Portal, then click on "Tools," and finally click on "My Grades." Your Midterm 2 mark will appear in your "My Grades" page.

Please note that there are two questions for which you received credit, no matter what you put for them: Questions 7 and 26 from Version 1. If you remember from Lecture 1, I promised that I would refund any test question that was answered correctly by 20% or less of the class. A percentage of correct responses this low means that students were reduced to guessing, and so even a monkey could do as well on the test (assuming it knows how to fill in scantron sheets). I would prefer that my tests differentiate between human and non-human primates. For each question, I calculated the percentage of students who got the question correct, and the standard deviation of this percentage. I created 95% confidence intervals around the percentage of correct responses, and any confidence interval whose lower bound is ≤ 20 was thrown out. Question 7 (James-Lange Theory/Bear) and Question 8 (Sammie's cannabis conundrum) both fell in the ≤ 20%-correct category, and thus everyone was marked as having gotten these two question correct.

After everyone was given credit for these questions, the class average was 67.5 with a standard deviation of 12.37. Midterm 1 marks and Midterm 2 marks were strongly correlated, r = 0.56, meaning that people who did well on Midterm 1 were also the higher scorers for Midterm 2 and vice versa. You may view your exam at any week during The TAs will also have the scantrons available during the Q&A Review (BV 363) on Wednesday, November 18^th from 1 - 2 pm. I will be also be in my office from 2:30 - 3pm this Wednesday (11/18), from 2 - 3 pm this Thursday (11/19), and from 12 - 2 pm on Friday (11/20) for test viewing. As outlined in the syllabus, you may only contest your mark up through 11:59 pm on Friday, November 20^th (one week after receiving your mark). Absolutely no changes to marks will be considered after that time, for any reason.

Midterm 2 Questions

My ultimate goal with exams is to give you a test that challenges your intellect, yet is completely fair. I do not believe in the type of multiple choice test where there are multiple right answers and you are supposed to choose the "best answer;" my goal is for all my test questions to have only one right answer. All the same, I challenge you by inserting foils that sound right if you don't fully know the concept being tested. In the interest of ensuring that Midterm 2 was a challenging yet fair test, I invite you to challenge any test question from Midterm 2 on the basis that there was more than one correct answer. You must challenge the question by 11:59 pm, November 19^th. If you successfully convince me that another answer was correct (see the conditions for your challenge below), then I will give points back to everyone in the class who chose the alternative answer.

There are some rules to this game, however. Your argument must include the following things:

• You must first read Exam 2 section of the FAQ page to ensure that your argument has not already been addressed.
• If you have a novel argument, then you must argue for an alternative answer by citing a specific textbook page, lecture slides, or timestamp in the WebOption lecture to back up your argument.
• I will not accept an argument based on "common sense." Social psychologists do not become famous if their experiments just confirm what society thinks it knows from the get-go.

In absence of these conditions, I will simply refer you back to this announcement.

• Click here for Version 1 of Midterm 2 (same questions, different order, from Version 2)
• Click here for the ANSWER KEY for Version 1 of Midterm 2

Last Minute Midterm 2 Questions: Read FAQ, Attend Lecture 18, or Q & A Review!

If you have conceptual questions in the last 24 hours leading up to Midterm 2, there are many ways to have them answered. Unfortunately, emailing the professor is not a sure-fire bet. Normally, I respond to all emails in a timely manner, but I received more than 40 emails in the 24 hours before Midterm 1 (!!) - all requiring long, conceptual answers - and, unfortunately, there simply wasn't enough time to answer them all before the midterm.

The vast majority of these questions, however, were ones that could be answered simply by reading the FAQ (which also means you would receive an immediate answer to your question!). To make sure I can address your questions, I am allotting about 10 minutes at the beginning of tomorrow's lecture (11/11) for last minute questions. My office hours are also tomorrow from 11 - 12:30 pm in SY 169. Even better, the TAs are leading their Q & A review session in BV 363 from 1 - 2 pm tomorrow! They will answer any questions you have and will have some example questions to go over with you! Please take advantage of these resources! We want to help you do well!

Room Assignments for Midterm 2

The room that you should go to will be determined by the first letters of your last name. Please be careful about noting which room you are assigned to for Midterm 2 (we have been given a leeway of only 1 seat!), and go to that room on November 11^th:

• "A" through "Maha": AC 223
• "Mahm" through "Ram": SW 309
• "Ras" through "Z": AA 112

In the above rubric, if you see only one letter, then that means all students with a last name beginning with that letter are assigned to that particular room. If you see three or four letters, then all students whose last names begin with those two letters should go to that assigned room. So, if your last name is Mahamed, you would go to AC 223 for Midterm 2. If your name was Mahmed, you'd go to SW 309.

Midterm 1 Marks Are Available Through BlackBoard!

Midterm 1 marks are available on Blackboard as of 5pm on Saturday, October 24^th! To view your mark, login to BlackBoard through the Portal, then click on "Tools," and finally click on "My Grades." Your Midterm 1 mark will appear in your "My Grades" page. The class average was 76.3% with a standard deviation of 15.8%. You may view your exam at any time during Prof. Page-Gould's office hours. The TAs will also have the scantrons available during the Q&A Review (BV 363) on Wednesday, October 28^th from 1 - 2 pm. However, as outlined in the syllabus, you may only contest your mark up through midnight on Saturday, October 31st (one week after receiving your mark). Absolutely no changes to marks will be considered after that time, for any reason.

PSYB10 Final Exam Is On Saturday, December 12^th from 9 - 10:30 am in the Gym!

The Final Exam schedule has been announced by the UTSC Registrar! The final for PSYB10 will be held on Saturday, December 12^th from 9 am to 10:30 am in the UTSC Gym. The gym will fit everybody, so you only need to go there.

If you have any conflict with this exam or if you have 3 consecutive final exams, then you must notify the UTSC Registrar by November 20^th through their eService website. Do not email Prof. Page-Gould about final exam conflicts, because only the registrar is authorized to handle issues relating to the final exam. Please read this important information about exam deferrals and other final exam policies from the Registrar's Office.

If this is your last exam, then your holidays can start a week early!

Addendum for Lecture 13: Readable Graphs!

During Lecture 13, there were two graphs that were very hard to see on the projector, and they did not print out well in the lecture slides, as well. As such, here are links to a 3-slide file that presents the same graphs in more readable colours (plus a title slide):

Lecture 13 Addendum in PDF format
Lecture 13 Addendum in PowerPoint format

I am sorry for not paying closer attention to this. Thank you for your patience!

Can't Watch Battle of the Blades Live for the Extra Credit Assignment? Watch it Online!

You can watch all the Battle of the Blades episodes online within 24 hours of when they are broadcast (this was a major factor in my decision to use Battle of the Blades for the Extra Credit Assignment). All episodes will be available in the Battle of the Blades subsection of the "Online Videos" section of CBC.ca: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/Battle_of_the_Blades

Watch the first episode online at: http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/Battle_of_the_Blades/ID=1284811608

Room Assignments for Midterm 1

We have been assigned an additional room for Midterm 1 by the Registrar, SW221. The room that you should go to will be determined by the first letters of your last name. Please go to the room assigned to your last name:

• "A" through "Hi": AA 112
• "Ho" through "Sh": AC 223
• "Si" through "W": SW 309
• "X" through "Z": SW 221

In the above rubric, if you see only one letter, then that means all students with a last name beginning with that letter are assigned to that particular room. If you see two letters, then all students whose last names begin with those two letters should go to that assigned room. So, if your last name is Xu, you would go to SW 221 for Midterm 1. If your name was Hu, you'd go to AC 223, but if your name was Hart, then you'd go to AA 112.

Mistake in the Syllabus (Equals Error in Your Favour)

I have made a serious mistake, in that the syllabus, website, and Lecture 7 only assigned up to page 171 of Chapter 6 as fair game for Midterm 1. I meant to assign all of Chapter 6. All the same, the syllabus is a contract, and so my mistake is my mistake. Therefore, you are not responsible for material that is only in textbook pages 171 - 189. The Review Sheet has been revised at 6:10 pm on 10/04 to remove the topics that were only covered in the book for pages 171 - 189. If you downloaded the review sheet prior to 6:10 pm on 10/04, then please download it again. Only the last two pages have changed. I am very sorry for the confusion.

Midterm 1 Review Materials Have Been Posted!

The Review Sheet and Practise Questions have been posted in the "Exams" section of the course website!

Midterm 1 is on October 16 at 3pm!

The date, time, and location of Midterm 1 has been announced! Midterm 1 will be held on Friday, October 16^th from 3 - 4 pm in AC223, AA112, and SW309. Mark your calendar! The exam will be discussed in class on Friday, October 2^nd, and the review sheet and a few practise questions will be available under the "Exams" portion of this website shortly after that.

Update: SW 221 has been added to the rooms for Midterm 1!

Midterm 2 is on November 11 at 5pm!

The date, time, and location of Midterm 2 has been announced! Midterm 2 will be held on Wednesday, November 11^th from 5 - 6 pm in AA112, AC223, and SW309. Mark your calendar! The review sheet and practise questions will be posted in the "Exams" portion of this website no later than Sunday, November 1^st.

NEW ROOM FOR Q & A Review: BV 363

We have gotten a larger room for our Q&A Review Session: Bladen Wing (BV) 363! So, from now on out, the Q&A Review will be held at the same time (Wednesdays, 1 - 2) in BV 363. We will keep a sign on the door to the old room (AC 332) that directs you to BV 363. See below for a map that locates the Bladen Wing on UTSC campus by highlighting the building in navy blue:

Video of Lecture 4 Has Been Posted With Accompanying Presentation Slides

The fourth lecture on self-regulation has been posted with the accompanying powerpoint slides. As many of you know, the A/V podium in AC 223 was broken on Wednesday, 9/23 (apparently the processor running the computer that relays the audio/visual equipment was completely dead; it is being replaced). As such, you may want to rewatch the WebOption version, even if you were in class, because it has the powerpoint slides next to the video. Either the podium will be fixed by Friday or there will be an interim computer, so everything will be back to normal at that time. Thanks for your patience!

Update: First Lecture is now Available Through WebOption!

Click here to view the WebOption lecture of Lecture 1. It will not take this long to get the WebOption lectures online in the future. The problem with the first lecture was multiple issues: a) It was the first lecture of the semester; b) the WebOption just recently became under the management of the IITS office, whereas this office did not handle WebOption before this academic year; and, c) they switched to a new video format - flash video instead of real player. These things all put together meant that they have been working into the wee hours to get this lecture online. Future lectures will be posted within 48 hours of when they are given. Thank you for your patience during this time.

First Lecture Will Be Available Through WebOption Soon

Unfortunately, the video of the first lecture is not yet available. It always takes the WebOption office longer to put up the first lecture of a semester, because they have a lot of logistical issues to hammer down. Please be patient, because Lecture 1 will be available online within the next few days. Your patience is appreciated.

Final Syllabus Posted at 5pm on 2009/09/03

The PSYB10 Fall 2009 Course Syllabus has been finalised! The version of the PSYB10 syllabus that is linked off of the "Course Info" page has been completely finalised. The syllabus will not change again. If you downloaded a previous version of the syllabus (prior to 5:00 pm on 2009/09/03), then please revisit the Course Info page to review the final syllabus. There is also a PDF version of the syllabus available for your to download. Thank you for your patience while the syllabus was being finalised.

PSYB10 is a WebOption Course!

PSYB10 will be WebOptioned this Fall 2009. All lectures will be available online for the entire course of the semester, including the first lecture (9/11). Therefore, if you will be taking this course as a WebOption, do not attend the first lecture. Lectures will not be removed from the web until after the final exam in December, so you may watch the web optioned lectures at your leisure over the course of the fall term.

The WebOption lectures will be available in the "Lectures" section of the course website: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/psyb10/lectures.html