INTRODUCTION INSTRUCTIONS
The Introduction of any scholarly research report contains a
straightforward theoretical justification for the study. It usually
starts broadly with an overview of a topic, including a description of
previous research. It then highlights possible gaps in our knowledge or
understanding of the topic, which the research tries to address. It
should lead to a clear research question, finishing with a hypothesis (a
prediction of the outcomes). Examples of Introductions can be found in every empirical research article—including those that you’ll be reading.
For the Introduction part of your first assignment, you need to find four (4) peer-reviewed articles that describe empirical findings on the influence that social media may have on attention.
Social media can be broadly defined, such as any apps/websites that
might be relevant, smartphone use in general etc. Try to find the best
evidence you can, to guide an initial hypothesis about “Tiktok brain.”
What you will need to do:
Learn the basic APA 7th guidelines for referencing. (A large proportion of your mark for this assignment will be awarded to referencing.)
Conduct a search for research articles that fit the objectives of this assignment.
Use the research literature to provide evidence for your introduction – do not speculate or provide anecdotal evidence.
Base your Introduction on four (4) empirical journal research reports and refer to them in your assignment using APA 7th referencing conventions.
When referring to articles, briefly describe what the studies looked at. For example:
What is the focus of the empirical study (look in their Introduction section)?
How did the researcher(s) gather their data (look in their Method section)?
What did you learn about the people that the researchers recruited
and used in their study (participants details—located in either the Method or Results sections)?
What were the main findings (look in their Results section)?
What were the conclusions made by the researcher(s) (look in their Discussion section)?
Look at the marking schedule (end of document) for further guidance.
And don’t forget that the assignment will need a Reference list attached to the end.
For this assignment, you are expected to review only four (4) ‘scholarly’ sources—from peer-reviewed journals. (If more than four, only the first four will be marked, and points will be lost for not following instructions.)
METHOD INSTRUCTIONS
The Method section of any research report (which follows the Introduction),
contains a specified set of details, which allow the reader to make
sense of the design, and to potentially replicate the study. This
typically includes participant details, any materials or instruments
used to gather data, and a clear description of the procedures followed.
Your Method will describe the research project designed with
your group in your labs. Therefore, you should divide your assignment
into three sub-sections as described below, with the following headers: Participants; Materials and Instruments; and Procedures.
You should write your method in the past tense as if it has already
taken place. And your sub-sections should be written out – not put in
bullet points as shown here (done to make it easier to describe the
elements of each sub-section). (You’ll be going over this information
during the Week 4, and 5 Labs.) Look at the marking schedule (end of
document) for further clarification.
Participants
This subsection details the human participants who took part in the
study. Since you are experimenting on each other, your participant group
will be University Students. Below is an example of how this section
should be presented (using a different but similar set of participants):
“We recruited 27 post-graduate psychology students to complete
the experiment, as part of a dissertation project. The group ranged in
age from 27 – 42 years old, with a mean age of 31.8 years. Ten were
female; 4 male; and 1 non-binary.”
Materials and Instruments
In this subsection, you want to include information about any
equipment and materials used, including the stimuli you will show to
participants to measure their attention. If you have done this section
well, someone who has never seen the task should be able to recreate all
of the images and displays used in your task, based entirely on your
description (and figures/images). Below are some of the details you need
to incorporate into your assignment:
Where and what was used so your participants could complete the
experiments (e.g. computers, headphones, etc.) (NOTE: this is not the
procedural information, which is described below. Here you’re including
information about the Instruments and/or equipment)
Next, you need to describe in detail exactly what was shown to each
participant. In this section we are only focusing on the details of what
was shown (the procedure for how the different displays were timed and
arranged are described later):
What did each type of display consist of (the fixation display,
stimulus display, response display etc.). What were the colours of the
objects and of the background, how large were they on your screen etc.
Examples of the stimulus displays that make up the independent variable (IV) (which should also be operationally defined here). You can create these using Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Paint etc.
How many trials/blocks, how many trials of each condition and how many in total.
How long was each display presented (in seconds)
You also need to provide information about how participants’ attention was tested. This relates to your dependent variable (DV) and the kind of data you are collecting, and when it is collected in the task.
Procedure
This final subsection describes what would actually be given to
participants (what, where, for how long; plus instructions given to
participants) in enough detail to allow replication by others.
NOTE: As discussed in the labs, it is at this point in a research
report when the features of the study’s Ethics would be described. It
would include a description of providing every participant with the
necessary information about the experiment, and having given them the
opportunity to consent to the experiment. This section would conclude
with a statement about how, having received written consent, the
experiment would begin. For the purposes of your assignment, you do not have to include this section in your methods.
How the participants were tested, including:
Who started and controlled the experiment (i.e., did the experimenter or participant push the buttons?)
What happened between each block? (i.e., did participants have a
specific time to take a break, or an unlimited amount of time etc.)
Was there a time limit on their responses?
How were answers were recorded for each participant?
Any other procedural details required in order for someone to be able to replicate the study from just your Method.
FORMATTING SPECIFICATIONS
Assignments need to be neatly typed and spell-checked.
Please use a 12-point font, 5cm margins on all sides and 1.5 or double line spacing format. PLEASE DO NOT SINGLE-SPACE THE ASSIGNMENT. Using Times New Roman or Calibri (recommended).
The recommended word limit is 1000 words (+/- 100 words). This will be approximately 2-3 pages; not including Reference list and Reflection.
In the header space, please insert the course code, assignment
title, and your name/ID#. And please give the document a sensible title
(e.g., Surname_PSYC580_A1.docx). Don’t just call it docx.
LEARNING OUTCOMES BEING ASSESSED
There are five (5) Learning Outcomes (LO) for this course, the first four (4) of which are assessed here.
A knowledge of the major theoretical perspectives in psychology, and their history
An understanding of the methods of research used in psychology as a scientific discipline
A knowledge of the main components of the accepted format for reporting scientific psychology experiments
A basic knowledge of important theory and research on: biology of
mind, sensation, perception, memory, cognition, stress and health,
consciousness, and social psychology
An appreciation of cross-cultural differences in behaviour
PERSONAL REFLECTION
For each assignment, 10% will be allocated to a personal reflection
of your experience of completing the assignment. This requires a little
bit of self-evaluation and the reflective account should address:
What you think you did well—and not so well—in the assignment
If you found the assignment difficult or easy—and why
How your assignment could be improved upon (no assignment is perfect!)
and finally, the mark (out of 100) that you think you deserve (not the mark you hope for).
You should place the Personal Reflections at the end of the assignment, before the Reference list.
