Written Assignment 2 FALL 12 1
Introduction to Experimental Psychology:
Written Assignment # 2: Writing a Methods Section
Due: Friday April 27 th , 2012by 3:00 pm
Based on the Introduction section provided, design a study that will (1) test the hypothesis stated in the introduction ( do NOT come up with some other study; do not change or add variables) and (2) maintain as much Internal Validity and Power as possible.
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Your participants were recruited from the General Psychology Participant Pool.
In your study you can use to up to 120 participants. The mean age of the participants is 19.4 years (s = 2.3 years). Sixty-four of the participants are male and the remaining 56 are female. All of the subjects reported that English is their first language.
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For your materials, you have available to you a set of 20 semantically related word lists (12 words per list). These lists are published in the paper by Deese
(1959). You may use all 20 lists or a subset of them. These lists have been found to reliably produce the memory illusion (Roediger & McDermott, 1995; Read,
1992). Do NOT make up these lists. Do tell the reader where you got them.
Having designed and run the study it is now time to write up your work in proper
APA format . Assume that you have already written the Introduction (see attached). The next step is to write the method section. A brief overview of the structure of an APA
Method section is given below. When writing this paper, please refer to Chapter 4 of
Writing with Style (Szuchman, 2002; handed out in class).) and Chapter 16 of your text book .
To begin you type the word “Method” centered at the top of the page.
DO NOT
BOLD IT . Do not underline it .
, a different font or a different color than the rest of the paper. A method section consists of three subsections; Participants, Materials, and Design and Procedure. Each of these subheadings are left justified, and bolded and on a separate line.
Method
Participants
This section includes information about the participants in your study (i.e., see first bullet above): Information you need to include in this section is:
Where the participants were recruited from?
Did they receive anything in exchange for participation in the study (e.g., course credit)?
Information about the sex and age of the participants.
State whether the subjects were tested individually or in groups
Your participant section should include the following sentence. “All participants were treated in accordance with APA ethical principles.” This covers informed consent

Written Assignment 2 FALL 12 2 and debriefing . Do not talk about the details of consent or debriefing in your method section.
Materials
Describe any materials or equipment you use in your study. This includes questionnaires, stimulus (e.g., word lists, memory tests). Describe the materials in enough detail that someone else could replicate your materials. Do not include desks, rooms, pencils etc.
Design and Procedure
Concisely describe the design of your study. How were they assigned to conditions? If counterbalancing is used be sure to say so. . Describe the procedure in enough detail that the study could be replicated by someone else. A clear statement of the design should require one to two sentences.
For the procedure include the protocol you use to describe the purpose and the experimental tasks to the participants. A protocol is a word for word script of the instructions that will be given to each subject. With the exception of changes required to manipulate the independent variable, all subjects should receive the same instructions. If you will use any deception or cover story about the purpose of the study (to reduce demand characteristics) be sure that is included in the protocol.
In the Method section do not explain your reasons for designing the study in the manner you did. For example, do not explain why you are or are not counterbalancing, do not explain why you have chosen a between-subjects or within-subjects design. Do include a separate page entitled Rationale for Design . In this Rationale explain to me why you designed the study in the manner that you did. You should explain your rationale for subject selection, subject assignment, control groups, counterbalancing of conditions and/or of stimuli and any other relevant design issues. A full discussion of your rationale includes discussion of why you may have rejected designs that have more
Power and/or internal validity.
What to hand in
1) Title Page – Use proper APA Format (running head included)
2) Method section (be sure to include the short title on these pages).
- write procedure in past tense. The study has already been conducted.
3) Rationale.
You are not required to include a reference section for this assignment.
Due: Friday April 27 th by 3:00 pm. Papers received after 3:00 pm on the 27 th but before9:00 am on April 30 th will be accepted with a 1% (final grade) penalty. Papers received after that time will not be accepted.