Exploring Research Methods in Psychology Using Psychmate Textbook

For the Instructor:

What is it?

Exploring Research Methods in Psychology Using PsychMate is your one-source solution for teaching research methods. James St. James (author of the student textbooks accompanying the MEL Lab and PsychMate® software) has authored this textbook to serve as the main resource for your research methods class. Exploring Research Methods in Psychology Using PsychMate is intimately linked with PsychMate®, providing students with the tools to both examine the core concepts of research methods and apply what they have learned through active participation in experiments. Students will be motivated by St. James’ engaging writing style and will reinforce their learning through hands-on experience. The combination of the research methods textbook and computerized experiments provides a modern and powerful lineup to fulfill your teaching needs.

About the Author

James D. St. James is Chair of the Department of Behavioral Sciences at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where he has taught since 1986. He received his PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1988. He is coauthor of PsychMate® and its predecessor, MEL Lab. His current area of research involves detection of validity of effort in human motor performance testing. He teaches introductory psychology and advanced courses in statistics and research methods at Milikin University.

For the Student:

What is it?

Exploring Research Methods in Psychology Using PsychMate is a textbook to serve as the main resource for your research methods class. Exploring Research Methods in Psychology Using PsychMate is intimately linked with PsychMate®, providing students with the tools to both examine the core concepts of research methods and apply what they have learned through active participation in experiments. Students will be motivated by St. James’ engaging writing style and will reinforce their learning through hands-on experience. The combination of the research methods textbook and computerized experiments provides a modern and powerful lineup to fulfill your teaching needs.

How this book will help you in the course

• The author discusses the various stages of research, from the ways of knowing, variables, and literature search through scientific communication, presentations, and the publication process.
• The intimate linking with the PsychMate® software allows students to relate topics of study to real experiments, for a hands-on approach to learning.
• Every chapter includes suggestions and references for expanding study topics.
• A complete index, index of names, and index of PsychMate® references aid the student in their use of the book and easily locating information.
• The 2-color design makes charts and teaching elements more apparent and effective for students.
• The Psychology Experiment Authoring Kit application (PEAK), available through the PsychMate® software, allows interested students to design and experience their own research projects.
• For students interested in further study in psychology, the author provides information regarding seeking information about and applying to graduate school.
• Guidelines for writing in APA style and a sample APA-style paper are provided in Appendix B
• Resources to expand and enhance your learning
• PsychMate^® is a library of experiments designed to provide a means for exposing students to classic and current experiments in psychology, as well as to teach students about research methods and data collection. Students participate in real experiments, not simple demonstrations or simulations! PsychMate® enables students to take part in 30 classic and current psychology experiments, and see immediate plots and tables of their own real data. Student data files are submitted automatically*.

Included with PsychMate:

• Psychology Experiment Authoring Kit (PEAK) is a tool to create, run, and analyze computerized psychology experiments. The user-friendly spreadsheet interface reduces learning time for students.
• Tools for Exploring Cognitive Neuroscience Topics including Brain Tutor and BrainExaminer

* Data submission occurs automatically when connected to the Internet or students may use the Student Organizer to run offline and submit at a later time.