Universität Wien

200188 SE Theory and Empirical Research (Mind and Brain) 1 (2023S)

8.00 ECTS (4.00 SWS), SPL 20 - Psychologie
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 20 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

The first meeting will be on 09.03.2023

  • Thursday 02.03. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 09.03. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 16.03. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 23.03. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 30.03. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 20.04. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 27.04. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 04.05. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 11.05. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 25.05. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 01.06. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 15.06. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 22.06. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610
  • Thursday 29.06. 13:15 - 16:30 Hörsaal B Psychologie, NIG 6.Stock A0610

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

AIMS
After following this course:
a) You are able to set up and carry out an empirical study to generate new knowledge of a psychological theme, using customary psychological methods and with minimal supervision
b) You are able to report the planned study methods and analyses in a pre-registration protocol
c) You are able to appropriately interpret the results of the empirical study
d) You are able to communicate about this work in written form

CONTENTS AND METHODS
During this 1-semester TEWA, you will further expand and deepen your research skills by setting up and carrying out a research project on the highly relevant topic of meat consumption. Furthermore, you will deepen you communication skills by reporting on this project in written form.

Most humans agree that harming animals is wrong, yet a lot of people still regularly consume meat. While this behaviour is not only in conflict with peoples’ attitudes and moral compass, a meat-heavy diet is also associated with negative health outcomes and leads to an increased emission of greenhouse gases. It follows that reducing the amount of meat consumption benefits individuals as well as the climate. However, humans still enjoy eating meat and often justify their meat consumption arguing it is natural, normal, necessary, and nice. A potentially promising method to decrease individual meat consumption is increasing empathy with and moral concern for farm animals through human-like depictions of these animals.

In this research project, you will investigate ways to reduce meat consumption through mentalizing. You will be part of an ongoing research line of the Environmental Psychology Group. At the start of the course, you will become familiar with the theoretical background of the research line as well as the main variables of interest. Four different research groups will be formed that each will focus on a farmed animal species (pigs, cows, chickens, fish). Each group will program the study using Qualtrics, collect data, and process the data afterwards. Before data collection starts, each group has to submit a pre-registration protocol in which they document the study design and the methodology. Lastly, once data collection is finished and the data has been pre-processed, the course lecturers will provide you with a summary of the study results. Based on this, you have to submit an individual research report in which you interpret the study results. Altogether, this TEWA prepares you to conduct an empirical study in the domain of Environmental Psychology.

Assessment and permitted materials

The grade of this course consists of 4 elements:
- Element 1: Pre-registration protocol (25%)
- Element 2: Group presentation (25%)
- Element 3: Research report (40%)
- Element 4: Class participation (10%)

The total sum of above assessments will constitute the final grade. Passing grade (4) = 60%.

100 - 90%: Grade 1
89,9 - 80%: Grade 2
79,9 - 70%: Grade 3
69,9 - 60%: Grade 4
59,9 - 0%: Grade 5

By registering for this course, you agree that the written papers you submit can be examined with the plagiarism examination software "Turnitin".

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Importantly, you can only pass the course if you
1) get a 4 (aka: 60%) or higher for all grading elements
2) regularly attend class with a maximum of 2 absences (without prior arrangement)
3) give a group presentation in week 5

If you do not attend the first class (without contacting me before class start), I reserve the right to give your spot to another student on the waiting list.

Examination topics

Literature relevant to the seminar

Reading list

A list of reading material will be provided at the start of the course. For the first session, students are expected to read the following two research papers:

Loughnan, S., Bastian, B., & Haslam, N. (2014). The Psychology of Eating Animals. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 23(2), 104–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414525781

Bastian, B., Loughnan, S., Haslam, N., & Radke, H. R. (2012). Don’t mind meat? The denial of mind to animals used for human consumption. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(2), 247-256.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 22.05.2023 15:27