Here are three required readings for the class paper. By this, I mean that your review of the literature in your introduction section must contain brief reviews of these articles. Additionally you must find and include one other relevant research (empirical) paper.
• Donaldson, W. (1980). The category size effect in serial memorization. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 34, 175-178.
• Cohen, B. H. (1963). Recall of categorized word lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 66, 227-234.
• Kirsner, K. (1974). Modality differences in recognition memory for words and their attributes. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 102, 579-584.
• The research paper that you find.
Research Paper
• Purpose: This assignment introduces you to writing journal reports in psychology and is especially important for psychology majors who will be required to write reports in future courses.
CLASS EXPERIMENT
Our experiment examines the effects of ordering and mode of presentation on memory for lists of words. This document contains the instructions and materials required to carry out the experiment.
Instructions for running the experiment
Creating the stimuli
Print with 16 pt Times New Roman Font each of the following words and glue them onto the middle of 3×5 index cards, one per card. You are required to turn these in with your signed consent form as well as the paper in which your participants write down the words
The word list:
For conditions A&B
BOOK, CAR, DESK, DRESSER, FLOWER, MAGAZINE, MINIVAN, NEWSPAPER, RADIO, SHRUB, STEREO, TABLE, TREE, TRUCK, VIDEO
For conditions C&D
BOOK, MAGAZINE, NEWSPAPER, TREE, FLOWER, SHRUB, CAR, TRUCK, MINIVAN, RADIO, STEREO, VIDEO, DESK, TABLE, DRESSER
Testing the participants (remember use different people for each condition)
1) have your participant read and sign the consent form (your participant MUST be at least 18 years old and not older than 55)
2) provide each participant with a pen/pencil and a blank sheet of paper
3) present the stimuli to the participant according to what condition they are in (USE THESE ORDERS):
• 4 conditions (as a result of the crossing of our 2 independent variables):
o condition A: alphabetically ordered list, read TO the participants
o condition B: alphabetically ordered list, read BY the participants
o condition C: categorically ordered list, read TO the participants
o condition D: categorically ordered list, read BY the participants
• try to present the words at a constant rate for each of the 4 conditions
4) Following presentation, ask your participant to try to recall as many of the words from the list as they can. Give them up to 90 seconds.
5) Thank the participant for their participation. Read the debriefing statement to each participant. Ask them if they have any questions
6) Compiling the data
On a separate sheet of paper (see the provided “Data summary sheet”), report the number of correctly recalled words in each of the four conditions. Turn in the sheet along with the signed consent forms.
Debriefing Statement
Read the following paragraph to your participant:
Thank you for participation in our research project. The primary purpose of this experiment is to provide some hands-on research experience for me in conjunction with my Research Methods in Psychology course. We are investigating some of the factors that may influence people’s memory for lists of words. One factor that we are investigating is the impact of different kinds of ordering (alphabetical versus categorical) on recall. The other factor that we are examining is whether your memory improves if you read the words yourself (as opposed to having them read to you).
DISCUSSION
Were the hypotheses supported or rejected?
What are the implications of the results?
Discussion of possible alternative explanations
Future directions
REFERENCES
Are all the appropriate references cited?
Are all the references cited in the text?
Are the citations in the appropriate APA format?
Tables and Figures
Figure captions page
Each figure on a separate page
Figures are clear/neat
Tables follow APA style guidelines
Tables and figures cited in text
Writing
Overall clarity
Grammar
Spelling
APA format
• The paper must be typed (neatness, spelling, and grammar are important), must follow APA format, and must be brief and concise (10-15 double-spaced pages, inclusive of header page and figures). Placement of headings, titles, paragraph indentations, content of sections, etc. must follow APA style.
The sections of your paper
• ABSTRACT: Concise summary of you paper. We have already discussed exactly what is included.
• INTRODUCTION : It is necessary that you do some library research to write the Introduction. Any secondary source like an introductory psychology text will provide a minimal background. You must also cite at least four primary sources (the three assigned and a relevant one that you find on your own). The Psychological Abstracts are a good way to find recent primary sources. Be sure you state clear reasons for doing the experiment (i.e., hypothesis; see below) in your Introduction. Be sure that the references you cite fit with your hypotheses.
• METHODS: Your Method section is intended to communicate with people who know very little about what was done. Be certain, however, that you include enough information so the study could be replicated. Note also that you should use the second person, passive voice as well as past tense throughout your paper.
• RESULTS: Report F ratios and probability levels in the text of your paper using the following format, F(df) = #.##, p < .##,. For each of the main effects and interactions, report the data in the text of your paper, describe the effect, and give associated inferential statistics.
• DISCUSSION: In your Discussion section, discuss your results, do not simply repeat the results (avoid redundancy throughout the paper. There is no space for it!). Discuss your data in light of the hypotheses. Why might your results have been different from expectation or previous research? What is the significance for your hypotheses of the interactions? How might you explain the any unexpected effects? In the context provided by your Introduction, what do your results mean (what are the implications of these results)?
• REFERENCE: Your References section must include at least the three primary references you have cited in the text of your paper and no references can be listed here which are not cited in your paper. Consult the APA Manual or published reports for examples how to report citations.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
INTRODUCTION
Problem of interest
Link between problem and past research
Summarize the past research
Describe the basic purpose of the current experiment
Describe hypotheses (conceptual level IV and DV)
METHOD
Thoroughness of the description
Participant description
Design -IVs and DVs, operational definitions
Materials – description of the stimuli
Procedure – how the experiment was performed
RESULTS
Descriptive Statistics
What inferential statistics were used, what alpha level
Results of the statistical analyses
ALL SOURCES INCLUDED
DRAFT INCLUDED
SAMPLE APA PAPER
IMPLEMENT CLASS EXPERIMENT WITH ALL SOURCES
