Undergraduate psychology students struggle to think critically, are hesitant to endorse psychology as a scientific field, and believe scientifically disproven psychological myths. We asked if a semester-long laboratory component (small weekly recitation groups), embedded within a large introductory psychology course, could improve students' critical thinking, perceptions of psychology as a science, and ability to identify psychological myths. In the recitation groups (N ϭ 124), students researched a topic, designed a study, collected data, and presented findings. We compared this format to 2 control groups employing similar activities: one with a traditional recitation component of discussion of material presented within the large lecture (N ϭ 36) and one with a traditional recitation component coupled with a behavior modification project that students designed halfway through the semester (N ϭ 133). The 3 large courses were taught by separate instructors, and recitation groups were led by graduate teaching assistants; otherwise, the sections were structured to maximize equivalency. We administered a pretest at the beginning of the semester and a posttest at the end of the semester and found that our intervention was successful in increasing critical thinking ( p 2 ϭ .065); however, across all 3 conditions, at the posttest, students were less likely to view psychology as a science ( p 2 ϭ .035).