Psychology dreaming

Psyc 100 Term Assignments Rationale

Psychology relies on a variety of research methods in order to come to a better understanding of behaviour and other phenomena. Most research methods can be classified either as true experiments or as non-experimental designs and it is important for you as a student of psychology to be able to clearly differentiate which type of a design is being used in any specific study. One goal of the term assignments is for you to be able to find different studies relating to a specific topic and identify which type of research method the study uses to address the questions of interest. In addition, reading and interpreting published research are important skills that all scientists must develop. The term assignments for this course will allow you to demonstrate that you can select, read, summarize and interpret research literature related to one specific topic within the scope covered in Psychology 100.

The written assignments must be completed entirely by you alone.

Assignment #1 (3% of final grade) You will be assigned a specific topic relevant to the Psyc 100 curriculum (see your WebCT MyGrades section by the middle of the second week of classes). With your assigned topic area in mind, you should read the appropriate section of the textbook to fully understand the scope and parameters of your topic area (many of the topics will only be discussed in class later in the course). Once you feel that you understand enough about the assigned topic, you will use PsycINFO® (an abstract database that provides coverage of the psychological literature from the 1800s to the present) to find two empirical (original data collected), peer-reviewed research articles that you understand well enough that you can summarize them in your own words. One of these articles must be based on a true experiment while the other article must be based on a non-experimental study that examines the same general research hypothesis. [In addition, to ensure that not everyone uses the same articles, there will be further constraints on the articles including limiting them to a specific range of publication dates and requiring that at least one author of the article have a last name starting with a range of specific initials.] You will find your specific topic [with related restrictions] on your MyGrades page (WebCT) by the middle of the second week of classes. Step 1. Finding The Articles An efficient way of finding published research that relates to your topic is to conduct a literature search using PsycINFO®. There is a learning module on WebCT that will provide you with specific instructions on using PsycINFO® to find articles relevant to your specific topic. The articles you use must be listed in PsycINFO®– this is a way to ensure the scientific merit of the articles you select – however, you will need to judge whether or not the research reported is empirical or not, and truly experimental or not.

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Format Notes: Formatting your Assignments Nearly all manuscripts and published works in Psychology follow a standard set of conventions outlined by the American Psychological Association (APA). For authors wishing to publish research and students of psychology, these conventions provide a standard format so that ideas can be more accurately communicated. Of particular concern is the appropriate acknowledgement of original sources with citations and references. Instruction will be provided in class and you should complete the APA learning module in WebCT. Step 2. Submission of Assignment #1 Once you have found two empirical articles (one true experiment, one non-experimental) that meet the criteria you were assigned you will need to obtain paper copies (print or photocopy originals) of the abstract and method section for each article (DO NOT simply copy and paste into a word-processed document – that is considered unacceptable academic conduct). You will submit the appropriate article sections properly annotated (labels and highlighting or underlining) to indicate the evidence supporting your judgment that the article is reporting a true experiment (non-experimental) design assessing the same general research hypothesis. Your submission will include an APA-formatted title page (see WebCT for an example) listing your name, student number, and your tutor/marker’s (TM’s) name, followed by the annotated article sections, followed by an APA-formatted reference page listing your two articles. Assignment #1 is due in class at 10:30 on Tuesday February 21

st . Late assignments

will be awarded a grade of zero. Assignment #1 will be graded based on the appropriateness of the articles submitted and the conformity of your title and reference pages to APA standards (see WebCT). Articles deemed inappropriate, that is, incorrect topic, publication dates, author(s), two articles reporting the same type of research method, or both articles not related to the same general research hypothesis must be replaced with appropriate articles for Assignment #2. Assignment #2 (7% of final grade) Rationale

One important skill you need to succeed when writing papers, answering essay exam questions, or simply taking notes in lecture is the ability to summarise material accurately and concisely. Accurately means that you have selected only the key points and recorded them precisely. Concisely means that you have used the minimum number of words and figures to communicate the accurate meaning of the original source. One goal of the assignments in this course is to give you practice in summarising material in your own words.

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Step 1. Summarizing The Articles

Article summaries must be written in your own words. If you merely copy the words of the author(s) you are committing plagiarism. [You should work through the Plagiarism module in WebCT in order to learn how to avoid plagiarism.]

Each summary should be between 300 – 400 words and should address the following issues in the following order. Please label each section. Please include an in-text citation in each section. Failure to clearly label each section or missing in-text citations will result in a lower grade.

Introduction (Experimental) (or Non-Experimental)

In their introduction, the author(s) will describe previous research. In your summary indicate the main findings of that previous research. Additionally, in the introduction the author(s) will describe the purpose of the study they conducted and how it relates to the previous research. In your summary you should identify the question that the author(s) were trying to answer and the hypotheses they were evaluating. Be sure to specify the general hypothesis concisely – it will be compared with the general hypothesis of your second article summary.

Method

The author(s) will describe the methods they used in their study. In your summary you should provide a conceptual description of the methods used in the study and identify the study as using either a true experimental or a non-experimental design.

For the experimental study identify the independent and dependent variables and provide the operational definitions of these variables. Briefly describe the experimental method used.

For the non-experimental study identify the variables being measured and how they are operationally defined. Briefly describe the method used to study the relationship between the variables.

Results

Summarize the major findings that the article author(s) report in the results section. This is a conceptual summary only – do not include specifics unless critical to communicating the main findings.

Discussion

In the article’s Discussion section the author(s) will tell you the implications of what they found in their study. Your summary should include a brief overview of the implications of the study.

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Part of your goal is to communicate your understanding of the research, so the accuracy of the summaries will be important. Assignment #2 will be graded based on the appropriateness of the article summaries and how your paper conforms to APA standards (see WebCT for the grading guide used by the TMs).

Article summaries must be written in your own words (you need to paraphrase the ideas expressed in the articles). Using quotations is strongly discouraged as it demonstrates a lack of understanding of the material. In the rare cases when a quotation is absolutely necessary, you must include the proper quotation marks and the appropriate citation.

Format Notes: Formatting your Assignments Nearly all manuscripts and published works in Psychology follow a standard set of conventions outlined by the American Psychological Association (APA). Of particular concern is the appropriate acknowledgement of original sources with citations and references. Instruction will be provided in class and you should complete the APA learning module in WebCT. APA specifies 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins on all sides, double-spacing of all lines (title page and reference page included), 12-point Times (Times New Roman) font, and single-sided printed pages for manuscripts. Please do not use any document covers. Step 2. Submitting Assignment #2 Your assignment submission should include the following in this order:

 an APA-formatted title page listing your name, student number, and TM’s name (see WebCT for an example)

 the two article summaries (in APA format – see WebCT for details)

 an APA-formatted reference page listing the two articles you summarized

 annotated paper copies of the two complete articles (print your name on each) o remember, do NOT just cut and paste these into a word-processed document o on the copies of the articles, identify and label by circling/highlighting the

specific elements of the study that make one a true experimental design, and for the other, a non-experiment design

 for the experimental study you will need to identify and label the hypothesis, the independent and dependent variables, and the experimental method

 for the non-experimental study you will need to identify and label the research question, the variables under investigation, and the method used

 a copy of the successful online submission screen from WebCT o Windows users see:

http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Microsoft-Windows#In_Windows_7 o Mac users see:

http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Mac-OS-X o Linux users: -- if you’re using Linux you surely know

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You must submit two copies of this assignment. One copy, the paper hardcopy will include the annotated copies of the articles. Be sure that you’ve stapled the various components of the assignment, in the requisite order, in advance of bringing to class for submission. The second copy of the assignment (only the material you have written) must be submitted electronically in WebCT (in either .doc, docx, or .rtf format). The paper copy and the article photocopies will be returned to you with comments; we will archive the electronic copy of your assignment as an antidote to plagiarism. The paper copy is to be submitted at the beginning of class (9:30am) on Thursday, March 22

nd – the electronic copy must be submitted by 9:00 am on the same day to

avoid late or incomplete penalties. Late or incomplete assignment submissions will not be graded (e.g., a paper copy of the article summaries without attached articles or a missing electronic copy) until complete and are subject to significant penalties (25% per day late or incomplete).