Psychology 102: Paper Option to Substitute for Experimental Participation
Each summary must be typed, double spaced, and must be at least one page, but no longer than two pages in length. Your instructor will evaluate the content of the paper, how well you have summarized the article you read, and will also consider grammar, spelling, and punctuation in determining whether or not each paper is acceptable. Papers that have poor spelling, grammar, or organization will NOT be considered acceptable, even if the paper’s content is adequate. If you have doubts about your ability to write well, you might consider visiting the campus student writing center to get feedback on expository matters before you turn your papers in. All summaries must be typed and double spaced, and they must be at least one page in length, but no more than two pages total in length. When assessing whether or not a paper is appropriate, your instructor will look at the content of the paper, how well you summarized the item you read, and how well you used grammar, spelling, and punctuation in the paper. Papers with poor spelling, grammar, or organization will not be considered acceptable, even if the content of the paper is excellent in all other respects. Consider visiting the university student writing center before submitting your papers to seek input on expository topics if you have any reservations about your abilities to communicate effectively in writing.
Introduction section:
What is the overall purpose of this study?
Why was the author conducting this experiment?
What theory is the author testing in this research?
What is the author’s hypothesis?
Method section:
How were subjects selected for this experiment?
What were the subjects’ ages, gender, and other characteristics?
What were the experimental conditions used in the experiment? Please describe with detail.
What were the control conditions used? Please describe in detail.
What were the independent and dependent variables?
Results section:
How did the researchers score the dependent variables?
What types of statistical analyses were used?
What did the statistical analyses indicate?
How significant were the results?
Discussion section:
Did the results of the experiment support the experimenter’s hypothesis?
How did the author summarize the outcome of their experiment?
Were there results of the experiment that were inconsistent with the researcher’s initial hypothesis or theory?
Can you relate this article to a section of the textbook, or explain why this is important to that particular area of psychology?
