Empirical Research Report Assignment

Weight: 35% of Final Grade

To obtain empirical data, you are required to participate in one cognitive experiment (see Empirical Report Instructions – Overview), and use the data you collect from yourself to write the report. You can select from several experiments that are more fully described in the assignment instructions. The experiments require the use of a computer with Internet access in order to download software that will turn the computer into an electronic experimenter. If you do not have easy access to a computer, you may use the computer labs at Athabasca University’s Calgary Learning Centre or Edmonton Learning Centre. In the event that the software download is unsuccessful, an alternate means of experiment participation is provided in the Empirical Report Instructions.

Once you have completed the experiment and have collected your data, report your findings following the guidelines given in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) (6th ed.). This format, which is known as APA style, is widely used in psychology and other disciplines by researchers who want to publish their work in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. The use of a standard format in scholarly work facilitates the task of reading and reviewing journal articles by academics and students. The APA format is also a widely used formatting style for books and student papers. The general format and specific sections of an APA formatted paper are described in the APA Style Tutorial . However, if you are planning to major in psychology, you may wish to purchase the APA Publication Manual from your local bookstore as a useful reference tool. You may also borrow the APA manual from the Athabasca University Library. In any event, you are strongly encouraged to obtain a copy of the APA manual for use while completing the research paper.

Assignments are to be submitted through the assignment tools found under the Assessments tab—do not email assignment submissions. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your tutor.

General Requirements

As described in the Course Information, you are required to participate in a cognitive experiment using the PsycToolkit website and write an empirical report using data collected by past students in this course. Research papers are an important component of any educational experience, and will help you to develop and refine the following academic skills:

1. Critical reading of original research literature.
2. Summarizing and integrating research findings.
3. In-depth analysis and understanding of a topic of interest.
4. Objective writing for an academic audience.

The format of the paper must follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), or simply APA style. You are encouraged to review the APA Style Tutorial  and review the sample empirical report. You can also view a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6A4_I7ct5Q  designed by one of the course tutors (Dr. Chris Striemer) to help you with your assignment. You will need this link to view it as it is not publicly available. Completing the empirical research paper and writing the results in APA style will enable you to achieve the following specific goals:

1. Obtain an experiential component to understanding research on cognition.
2. Enhance your appreciation for the research techniques used to investigate a mental phenomenon.
3. Apply APA format in a research paper assignment.

Assignments are to be submitted using the assignment submission under the Assessments tab—do not email assignment submissions. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your tutor.

Experiential Component: You can obtain the experiential part of this assignment by going to the website PsyToolkit: https://www.psytoolkit.org   and participating in an experiment. Once you create a free account, you can choose to participate in the Stroop Task, Lexical Decision Task or the Mental Rotation Task. These tasks are similar to the tasks that will choose from when writing your paper. You can also participate in other studies on the site if you are interested. 

To get access to the experiments you need to register and create a free account by clicking on “register” on the left-hand menu. Then enroll as a student, and log on using the password they send you. Once you have logged on, click on “get from library” under the “create” menu, then scroll down and search either “stroop” or “lexical” or “mental rotation” under the keywords. In either case the search result at the top of the list that is labelled “official” is the one you want to do. Click on “view,” then click on “run experiment.” This will give you the experience of what it is like to participate in a psychology experiment. You are only required to complete one experiment but you are encouraged to participate in any of the other experiments any number of times. You might find that these experiences provide you with a better understanding of the cognitive phenomenon under investigation. Before starting any experiment, it is very important that you read the instructions thoroughly as they provide important details about the tasks required for the experiment and how to respond.

Empirical Report: You may choose write up the data from any of the five experiments described in this manual. Some of these experiments are discussed in Farmer and Matlin (2019) and are replications or variants of well-known cognitive tasks that are noted for producing robust and reliable effects. The data from each task were provided by previous students who completed the experiments using software developed by the Psychology Centre. Unfortunately, installation of the software, Experiments in Cognition, has become overly complex but fortunately, the data from the 5 experiments are still accessible and will form the basis of your empirical report.

Each experiment began with an electronic Informed Consent form which included a summary of the task requirements. Participants clicked on a button to indicate consent to participate. Informed consent is a necessary ethical requirement when conducting any type of research with human participants. Participants had the option to indicate full participation in order to complete the paper requirements, limited participation in order to learn more about the experiment, or exit. Those who indicated full participation, had their data uploaded to a secured server. A description of each experiment is provided below along with the detailed participant instructions.

In terms of data access, once you have completed the experiential component, please let your tutor know which task you chose and they will send you the appropriate group data that you can use to write your results section. Use the information in the Participant Instructions to prepare your Methods & Results section. For the discussion section, you can draw upon your own experience as a participant in a similar study to comment on elements of the task, procedure or findings.

Marking Outline

Your empirical research report in APA style will comprise the following sections.

1. Title Page (2 points): The title page should contain the following elements in the APA prescribed positions: Page Number, Title, Author, and Affiliation. You do not need to include Author Notes.
2. Abstract (6 points): The abstract is a 120-word summary of the entire paper, and is typically written last. The abstract succinctly summarizes the crucial elements of the four major sections of the empirical report (Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion).
3. Introduction (35 points): The introduction provides a brief but thorough review of the relevant literature that leads to the hypothesis and the predicted results. The description of each experiment in the assignment manual is also accompanied by two references: the original study upon which the experiment is based, and a review of the literature relevant to the experiment. You are required to seek out three additional references using the online databases that are available from the Athabasca University Library (PsycInfo, ProQuest, etc.). Use the review article to identify topics or issues that you feel are relevant when selecting the additional references. In total, your paper should be based on at least 5 sources.

The experiment descriptions also include a statement about dependent and independent variables. You will recall that experiments are defined by the presence of independent variables (variables manipulated by the experimenter) and the dependent variable (the variable measured by the experimenter). The general hypothesis of any proper experiment is that manipulations of the independent variable will cause changes in the dependent variable. Unlike other research methods, the experiment is capable of testing causal relations between variables. As you conclude the introduction, your review should naturally lead to a statement of the hypothesis and your predicted results. The predictions should be supported by the review.

4. Method (15 points): The method section is the objective summary and administration of the task, such that the experiment could be repeated by another researcher interested in replicating your findings. Be sure that your Method section contains the following subsections, as described in the APA Style Manual: Participants, Materials, and Procedure. Use the information in the participant instructions for each experiment to complete this section. Those unfamiliar with APA format are strongly advised to consult the Style Manual before completing this section.
5. Results (7 points): The results section of an experiment usually involves the presentation of descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics are summary statistics. Inferential statistics are tools used to determine whether the obtained findings are statistically significant. In this paper, you are only required to complete a descriptive analysis of your findings in the form of a table or figure (but not both). Once you obtain the data from your tutor, this information should be used to construct an APA-style table or figure to include in your research paper. The table or figure will constitute the major portion of the results section.
6. Discussion (10 points): The discussion section provides an interpretation of the findings with respect to the predictions made in the Introduction. You can also include your own observations and impressions based on your experiential component as well as any limitations or shortcomings, and/or any future directions.
7. References (5 points): The reference section contains a list of works actually read and cited in the body of the paper. All references must adhere to APA style.

Your research paper should be 10 to 12 double-spaced pages. In addition to the preceding components, your writing style (grammar and spelling) will be marked out of 10 points, and adherence to general APA format will be marked out of 10 points.

In summary, the research paper will be marked according to the following criteria:

Research Paper Marking Criteria
Section	Points
Title Page	2 points
Abstract	6 points
Introduction	35 points
Method	15 points
Results (and Table/Figure)	7 points
Discussion	10 points
References	5 points
Writing Style	10 points
APA Style	10 points
Total	100 points

Note: Your tutor may alter the criteria slightly, depending on his or her judgment.