INTERNAL ASSESSMENT1500 to 2000 total word count (not counting appendices or abstract)

Introduction.

Goal: to communicate your understanding of the theoretical knowledge that underlies the issues surrounding your experiment

--Broad understanding of the perspective--Main theories related to your experiment--Narrow to studies related to your --Culminate with research question

Example: Loftus replication

Cognitive PerspectiveIn general

Memory conceptsIn general

Perception etc

L/T Memory theory relevant to eye witness testimony

Loftus’ research question

The key to a strong intro is your ability to connect your research question to the underlying theories.

In the lab:

Access at least three sites to provide you with some solid theoretical background knowledge

Develop our intro paragraph accordingly. Find at least three related studies. Begin your works cited page as you find

relevant studies—Use APA citing Use OWL as your resource for how to cite

your sources

Tasks today:

#1 – Paragraph 3 of the intro—what goes in it?

#2--IA Instructions/rubricUsing the rubric, together with the info from your psych book, you will evaluate your intro paragraph, revise as needed, develop para 2 & 3.

#3--Unpacking the IAAt your table, you will assess a completed IA against the rubric.

Title Page

Experimental method & topic of study The hypothesis should determine how the title

is constructed. Candidate name & number Instructor name Psychology HL Date/month/year of submission: April 20,

senior year Final word count—HL needs to be 1500-

2000, not counting appendices

Table of Contents

All pages should be numbered—including the appendices (which don’t count for word count)

Label all sections as indicated on this PowerPoint Abstract, Intro, etc.

Abstract

Should not exceed 300 words, which do not count towards the minimum 1500.

Summary of the study: Aims Methods Results Conclusion

REMEMBER, YOU NEVER PROVE ANYTHING IN AN EXPERIMENT!!! Results suggest or indicate, they do not prove!

Introduction—about 3 pages (d.s) Intro paragraph: general intro to the psychological

subject area under investigation. Identify the perspective that is being addressed—biological, behavioral, cognitive, etc. Research question under study—this will generally be the

concluding sentence to the intro paragraph. Body: Literature review: Discussion of original study,

summary of key theories relevant to the study and subsequent research studies, cited in APA format—at least three additional studies. (Forty Studies is a resource you can use) Must include dates, describe study & explain the results.

Conclusion: Rationale and justification for your study—the Aim. The aim and both hypotheses of your study clearly stated.

(Null and research hypothesis)Stay in academic

voice!!No ‘I/we’

Broad

3 studies

Study being replicated

Your study

Aim

HypothesisNull hypothesis

Body of introduction

Body: Literature review: Discussion of original study, summary of key theories relevant to the study and subsequent research studies, cited in APA format—at least three additional studies. (Forty Studies is a resource you can use) Must include dates, describe studies &

explain the results connecting to the research question.

Paragraph 3

Includes the AIM of your investigation The hypothesis The null hypothesis

Aim

What is being investigated and what is expected. Less precise than an operationalised

research hypothesis. Example: The aim of this study is to

investigate how the use of category headings affects the number of words that bilingual students at SHS can recall.

Hypotheses-must include the Hypothesis and the Null Hypothesis Research hypothesis: clear, concise prediction of what

is expected to be demonstrated in the experiment. Must be operationalized; must be evident how the

variables will be quantified and may be one or two-tailed. Example: the mean visual search time taken to find the

letter Q in a list of random rounded letters will be longer than the mean visual search time taken to find the letter Q in a random list of straight letters.

Null hypothesis: states that no significant difference is expected to be found between the groups on the measure of the dependent variable, and that any difference found is due to random variables. Example: There will be no significant difference in the

mean search time for locating the letter Q in lists of random round letters and random straight letters.

Designing your experiment

Tasks for today—completed form must be turned into me before you can proceed. Experiments have to be run after school (i.e., under my supervision)

Turn in form + materials list, informed consent document, standardized instructions that will be read and debriefing statement.

Method—divide into 4 parts Design:

must state the method used with details of the type of design: independent samples versus repeated measures, within or between measures Identify advantages & disadvantages

Must explain and justify why this method/design was chosen

Must identify & explain any controls Identify advantages & disadvantages

Independent & dependent variables must be clearly identified as well as extraneous variables. Discussion of counterbalancing as means of

addressing outside variables Address ethical considerations.

Use Psych Through Diagrams for Strengths/Weaknesses

Ethical Considerations—a solid paragraph Responsibility to the profession of psychology. Acknowledgement of others’ work and publication Honesty in reporting results Monitoring Competence of the investigator. Personal conduct of the investigator. Informed consent—Note: if consent form is not

included, will score a zero Respect for participant integrity. Justification for using deception. Participant’s right of withdrawal. Confidentiality of findings. Debriefing. Use of non-human animals in research.

Method

ParticipantsSample of 15-20 Characteristics of general population being

samplednumber, age, gender

Selection and allocation procedures must be identified & justified. If sampling isn’t random, must be clearly justified.

Opportunity sample is what is generally used, (just explain why) but allocation to groups must be random.

Method

List of materials developed for use in the experiment. Basic materials such as tables, chairs need not

be mentioned. Refer to sample copies of materials

developed that you will include in the appendix and label each—a/b/c

Examples: Standardized instructions Informed consent Debriefing notes

Method

Procedure Careful, accurate description of how you

carried out the experiment. Bulleted list is fine Chronological order, beginning with the

development of materials Enough detail so that experiment could be

easily replicated. Must include reference to the ethical issues

you identified in the design paragraph above.

Results

Raw data Numerical and graphical reporting of the data

collected. Mean is generally used for integral data. Can be done on the computer—one chart is usually

sufficient. Make sure you have labeled the X,Y axis and have a title

for the graph. Must be in both narrative (explain verbally) as well

as graphical. Data should be reported in a way that reflects the

claims made in the aims and hypothesis. Must include inferential statistics with your

justification of the use of the inferential statistical test chosen.

Inferential statistics requirements: HL students should understand and use levels of

measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio), measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode), measures of dispersion (range, standard deviation, variance), normal distribution of data (standard scores, frequency, skewed distribution).

Should include: operational definitions Hypothesis testing (research and null hypotheses) Statistical significance (probability and levels of

confidence) Appropriate usage of statistical tests and limitations

of those tests Non-parametric tests such as Wilcoxon, chi-squared.

Descriptive statistics

Descriptive statistics organize your raw data so it makes sense to others.

Descriptive statistics only tell you a difference, not whether that difference is significant enough to accept your hypothesis.

Measure of central tendency that you will use: Mean: the average Standard Deviation: s = √ ∑d2

N-1

You will need to include your raw data in a chart form as well as the calculation of the mean

Inferential Statistics

Inferential statistics measure how large an effect (difference) is required for psychologists to conclude that a result is significant—not due to chance factors.

Goal: to test the statistical significance of your results, to determine if your research hypothesis was accepted.

Psychologists have concluded that for most purposes in psychology, the 5% level of significance (P<0.05) is appropriate—a result at this level can be said to be less than 5% likely to be due to chance factors.

For the narrative section—you will need to address why you selected the T test (related t-test.) It is used for the following situation: Experimental design: repeated measures or

matched pairs Minimum level of data: nominal (your data is

interval) The test counts the number of times one

condition is larger than the other and compares this with what would be expected by chance if there was no real difference between the conditions.

What the t-test does:

The test looks at the actual size of the differences between each participant’s scores in the two conditions. To determine the likelihood that the difference between the two conditions was due to chance, the test takes into account the mean difference for the group as a whole and the variation in the size of the differences for individual participants. It is unlikely that you would find a large mean difference between scores in the two conditions combined with little variety in the difference scores for each participant unless there was a real difference between the conditions.

Steps in the process:

1) For the pair of scores from each participant: a) Subtract the score in condition B from that in condition A, to produce

the participant’s d score (difference)b) Square each d score

2) Add up all the d scores (∑d)3) Add up all the d2 scores. (∑d2)

4) Divide ∑d by n (the number of participants) to find the mean d score (d)

5) Find t using the formula below.

t = d

√ ∑d2 - (∑d) 2 /n

n(n-1)

6) Use a t-table to find whether the result is significant. (Coolican, p. 662) To do this you will need the t score and the degrees of freedom (df). The value of df is found using the formula: df = n-1

Discussion--The most important part—worth the most points Should frame your discussion in reference to the original study you are

replicating compare your results to the original study as well as the additional ones cited

in your intro Discuss the variables

Balanced discussion of strengths & weaknesses of the methodology used—key component! The goal of this section is to demonstrate your knowledge of research design

Flaws and limitations that may have affected the outcome Possible confounding variables Do not use “should have been a larger sample!”

Relevant modifications and areas of further investigation—address further studies. Justify why you chose the particular design as the best suited.

Informed conclusion Underline your conclusion as the final paragraph in the discussion. Summarize your results. Generally you will want to state that the findings are restricted to the

population where the experiment was conducted.

References

Use APA Definitely do not use Wikipedia! For any internet source, needs to be an

EDU at the end.