This purpose of this research project is to introduce and give you hands on experience with cognitive research. For this project, you are to select a topic (or think of a question you have) in Cognition then develop a hypothesis and a research method in which to prove/disprove the hypothesis. If you are having difficulty thinking of a research question the textbook will be a great source of inspiration. Research methods should be experimental (no surveys or correlations). Videotape portions of your project as you are conducting it to show during presentation. Your subject pool must include at least 10 people.
Paper Format:
5-6 pages, Double-Spaced, Times New Roman, Size 12, APA style (for help using APA see website: http://www.apastyle.org/ or http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ ). Only papers which follow this format will be accepted all other papers will be recorded as a zero.
Plagiarism: All work when handed in will be automatically submitted through Turn-It-In (an anti-plagiarism program). Plagiarism includes copying or paraphrasing material without crediting the source with a proper in-text citation. While you will use and cite sources, the majority (at least 70%) should be original as determined by Turn-It-In. Plagiarized work will be recorded as an F and will be reported to the Dean.
Please LABEL each section of your paper with the headings below:
Remember: Research papers have a formal tone; do not use the pronoun “I” or any slang in the paper.
I. Introduction
In this section, you review previous research that relates to your research question. Essentially, you are discussing what has already been found and what is missing which then motivates your study. In order to do this you must have some general knowledge of what has been done in this area. Here you would use your book, the Internet (must be credible source- not Wikipedia!!) and at least one scholarly article (newspaper, University website or a psychology database like Science Daily.com). Previous research can ALWAYS be found- if you are having trouble locating some sources please come talk/email me and I can help you find some. You should summarize the references and then explain how your study is related. All references should be cited in-text according to APA’s author year format; that is after paraphrasing a source you immediately acknowledge at the end of the sentence where you paraphrased from. Not giving credit to your sources is considered plagiarism. You should end this section with a hypothesis explaining the results you expect. This section should be 1 page.
II. Methods
Describe in detail your procedure (what you did step by step), your participants (average age, number of males, number of females but no names!) and any equipment you used (i.e. computers). Be sure to include the type of research method you used, when, where and how you made your observations and any operational definitions used. After reading this section someone should be able to replicate exactly what you did by the details you provide. This section should be 1 page.
III. Results
Describe and display your results using graphs. Please title and label your graph. All graphs should contain aggregated (i.e. averages & percentages) results, not raw data. The written section should describe the results the graph shows but not explain findings (the explanation falls under discussion). The general rule is that one could read either the written results or just look at the graph and understand what you found. This section should be 1 page.
IV. Discussion
Discuss and interpret your results here. What do you think they mean? How do they answer the question that you set out to answer? How do they fail to do so? What improvements might be made to the study? What ideas or problems did you have while conducting it? You should also make an effort to compare your observations with those in the literature, pointing out where your observations confirm, dispute or add to existing reports. This section should be 1 page.
V. References
List here the sources that you cited in your paper. References should be in APA style (click link to example below) and include only what you cited in the body of your paper. This paper should include at least three references including your textbook, the internet (not Wikipedia!) and a scholarly article. You may want to use more but this is the minimum requirement. This section counts as 1 page (even though it will not take up the entire page).
Example of APA style paper: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20090212013008_560.pdf
Rubric_Paper Unsatisfactory
0-3 points Satisfactory
4-7 points Excellent
8-10 points
Introduction
Does not relate previous evidence to current research; Includes less than 3 in-text citations. Does not Include a hypothesis.
Less than 1 page Relates some of the previous evidence to current research question; Includes at least 2 in-text citations which are relevant to issue;
Thesis is unclear or unsupported;
Relates previous evidence to current research making clear connections between the two; Includes at least 3 in-text citations which are relevant to issue including the textbook, the internet and a scholarly article;
Includes a clear thesis in the form of a hypothesis predicting the expected results; 1 page in length
Methods
Does not describe participants;
Inadequately describes procedure and/or it is unclear what was done;
Does not state the type of research design used and/or does not define operational definitions
Less than 1 page Describes participants but leaves out a few relevant factors; Describes procedure clearly but omits some details necessary for replication;
States the type of research design used but unclear on operational definitions Clearly describes participants including relevant factors such as overall number, number of males and females, average age, and additional information to particular research;
Clearly describes procedure so that it could be easily replicated with minimal confusion;
Explicitly states the type of research design used and concretely defines operational definitions; 1 page in length
Results
Does not include graph or discuss graph correctly in written description
Less than 1 page Includes graph but it is not labeled, incorrectly summarizes data or is not clear. Graph includes individual data rather than an average or percent. Written description of results does not follow from graph Includes graph with clearly and accurately labeled axes and title;
Graph correctly summarizes data (averages or percents);
Section includes a written description of results ; 1 page in length
Discussion
Does not include analysis that relates results to hypothesis.
Does not Include description of potential limitations or suggestions for further research; Less than 1 page Analysis relates results to hypothesis but does not clearly describe what results mean. Includes only a generic description of potential limitations and suggestions for further research but lacks insight. Analysis relates results to hypothesis and explains what results mean. Includes description of potential limitations and suggestions for further research ; 1 page in length
References
Less than two references are listed in correct APA style; Cites or uses Wikipedia; Does not include APA style cover page and page numbers At least two references are listed in correct APA style;
Includes appendix which clearly displays original data;
Includes APA style cover page and page numbers At least three references are listed in correct APA style including the textbook, the internet and a scholarly article;
Includes APA style cover page and page numbers.
Mechanics
No labeled section headings. More than four grammatical and spelling errors; Language used is not appropriate for expectations of writing genre Few (3-4) grammatical and spelling errors; Language used is appropriate for expectations of writing genre Very (1-2) few grammatical and spelling errors; Language used is appropriate for expectations of writing genre. Each section is labeled.
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