TenaciousBushLeaper
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Posts posted by TenaciousBushLeaper
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Hi all,
I'm currently in the second semester of my senior honors thesis. To give a very, very brief description of my work, it's on word reading. For the first part of the project, I collected, read, and sorted over 12,000 unique responses from participants in the form of definitions for words. I did most of this over the course of the last semester (Fall 2014) and am just about done, only have 900ish left. Now, I'm a bit burnt out at this point. & I have to get on with the project or else I might not be able to complete it before graduation. (Oh, and I even worked on this just about everyday over winter break). The second part of the project isn't nearly as much work in terms of data collection but I still have to write up the manuscript.
I'm wondering if this actually isn't all that much work and I'm just for the lack of a better description, complaining and being lazy? What do you think?
Any suggestions on how crank up my motivation ? Also I should mention last semester I enrolled in 20 credit hours. This semester I cut it down to 15 for the sake of my sanity.
I'd also like to hear about the type of projects other undergraduates complete. -
@spunky
Your comments on being able to read math reminded me of something I had read earlier this year In the example the author explained
"It follows easily that" = "One can now check that the next statement is true with a certain amount of essentially mechanical, though perhaps laborious, checking. I, the author, could do it, but it would use up a large amount of space and perhaps not accomplish much, since it'd be best for you to go ahead and do the computation to clarify for yourself what's going on here. I promise that no new ideas are involved, though of course you might need to think a little in order to find just the right combination of good ideas to apply."
Personally I found it much easier once I was able to get my hands on a book which is used for a math course at my university title "Foundations of modern math". It essentially helps you with all and any "math lingo" as well as teaches methods for proofs and problem solving. And if anyone is curious this book in pdf format was also quite helpful
http://www.math.vt.edu/people/day/ProofsBook/IPaMV.pdf
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Lol what I was thinking about would fall under the " if this is a stimulus/response kind of thing then it falls within DoE (Design of Experiments)/ANOVA framework"
BTW, from the post on the website which you have a link to in your "signature" (is that what it's called?), if we can assume this is what quant research is like, it seems it's just mathematicians who also just so happen to have a keen interest in psychology.
which btw I'm totally ok with, my favorite courses are my math ones (I secretly wish I could have double majored in math & psych) -
@spunky, wow! Thanks for the great answers. Although I'm graduating this May I won't be applying to grad programs until Fall 2015 for the 2016 season. I've been thinking about what areas I'd like to pursue and I have three choices, cognitive, cog-neuro, and quant. As far as mathematics background, I've taken 3 stats courses a "Basis Statistics" course at a community college, a "Statistics for Behavioral and Cognitive Science" from my current university, and "Probability & Statistics" which is also from my current university. The difference between the two courses from the same university is, one is from the psychology department while the other is from the math department. I've also taken Calc 1 & I am currently taking Discrete Structures (also known as discrete mathematics). (I've also taken college algebra & pre-calc but maybe these wouldn't count).
The lab I'm currently doing research in is a cog-neuro lab and we use R so I have some experience with it. I also have experience with unix shell scripting and python.
Oddly, one of my favorite parts of my research is running the analysis and trying to find different methods of extracting valuable information from my data. So I'm kinda leaning towards applying for a quant program although I do have some concerns about my mathematics background, I'm not sure I have enough of it.
Question: Lets say I wanted to model individuals responses in some type of word association task, could you be able to tell me which area of statistics this would fall under?
What do you think of obtaining a masters of science in applied stats as soft of preparation?
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It's actually quite interesting once you start to get it. A big part of your research, regardless of what sub specialty in psychology will be statistical analysis. You're also going to have to think about the case where you don't have a PI guiding you and you have to make sure you're applying the right analysis, let alone justify it.
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@Chubberubber what you mentioned is part of what quantitative program would have. There's also statistical modeling, mathematical modeling of decision making, neuro-image analysis, and more that I can't name because I don't recall.
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Hi all,
So I'd like to get everyone's and anyone's opinion on a psychology PhD with a concentration in quantitative psychology. Things I'd like to know:
What do you think about this type of PhD program in terms of research, & job prospects in academia?
Is anyone here currently in such a program?
Has anyone applied? If so, why?
What school(s) do you know which have this area of study to choose from? (I really only know of UNC, USC, & UCLA)
**Yes, I know all psychology PhD students take quantitative courses, but I'm talking about a specific area of study, just as there's cognitive psychology, social, development, etc. -
I'm interested in a few things, although at the moment I study the basic processes involved in word reading. I use behavioral methods as well as fMRI to try and delineate where and how people process different "types" of words and non words in the brain, primarily using a lexical decision paradigm .
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I like that user name Schizo-Neuro enthusiast
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done. good luck
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Most of the programs I've checked out state that usually admitted applicants have completed the basic natural science courses (physics, bio, calc, chem, orgo chem) . But you see I believe there are still some grey areas (my case potentially), which is why I've asked the opinions of others here.
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Thanks for input! &
The upcoming spring semester will be my last as an undergrad & my university does this thing where they only sometimes offer the first level of a course (physics in this case) in the fall and the second in the spring. So I can't take general physics because only general physics 2 is being offered and general physics 1 is the pre-req for it. I was however thinking about registering for general chem, though, I'd only have general chem 1 on my transcript because well, I'm graduating. -
Hi all,
So I've seen some similar topics posted on this & mine is a bit different but still related. Still I'd appreciated everyone's honest opinion and thoughts. So I'm a psychology major and I don't have a solid background in what you'd call the natural sciences. That is to say, I've never taken physics or chemistry. I have however taken a couple of biology classes, some math classes, and upper level neurobiology classes. Specifically these and the grades I've received for these courses are are:
Anatomy & Physiology: A,General Biology: B,
Principles of Neurobiology: A,
Cell Neurobiology: A,
Systems Neurobiology: A,
Calculus 1: A,
Calculus 2:A,
Probability & Statistics: A.
(Oh and I've taken a graduate course on the FMRI & a bunch of cognitive neuroscience course work)
I'd like to apply to neuroscience programs & really leaning more towards the neurobiology aspect of neuroscience. So, my question is, do you think the biology & math coursework listed makes up for the lack of physics & chemistry? Oh and if anyone is wondering how in the world I got into the neurobiology courses, yes they require chem and bio prerequisites however, principles of neurobiology is the prerequisite to every other neurobiology course and at the time, someone made a mistake and didn't list any prerequisites for that course so I was able to sneak in lol.
Thanks for reading ! -
Ok, so obviously not entire programs but people within these departments. I've looked and it seems to be extremely difficult to find a cognitive neuroscience lab that studies schizophrenia. They all seem to fall under psychiatry. Anyone know of any off of the top of their heads?
Does taking more undergrad classes post-master's look bad to competitive PhD programs? Would it improve your application if it improved your GPA?
in Psychology Forum
Posted
Well, if you're taking undergraduate courses to satisfy medical school prerequisites then the medical schools most probably wouldn't care as this is what's necessary. As for the PhD admissions committees, they may see this to mean you're capricious. Although, I will say most individuals who hold a PhD were once in your shoes. Hopefully we can assume intelligence brings with it a slue of other "traits" if you will, which will act as some sort of cushion. All in all this WON'T make or break you. You'll have to keep in mind the many other factors. For example, all the other applicants who's application demonstrate a more "put together" sales pitch to admissions committees. I can think of a situation where it may help you, although this would depend on your GPA for your masters degree. If you have an excellent GPA in your MA then I'd say taking more undergraduate courses may hurt.
In my opinion the most likely scenario: this appears neutral.
Second most likely: negative impact.