Psych 332 Laboratory Animal Learning
APA Paper Assignment Instructions
Introduction due Wednesday, October 22.
Paper due Wednesday, October 29.
This assignment is an APA style paper on the class experiment, and is worth 100 points. You
must use a minimum of five (5) references. You may coordinate obtaining references with your
classmates, collaborate on doing statistical analyses and discuss your results, etc. but the writing
in the paper must be yours. You must also use all of the parts of an APA paper covered in the
APA Publication Manual and in class. So, your paper should have a title page, abstract,
introduction, method, results, discussion, reference page, and table/figures as necessary to
explain your methods or results. There is no set length for this type of paper. Your writing
should be clear and concise. A paper that is short and well-written is preferable to one that is
longer, but rambles. You should use published scientific papers as a guide for how to write this
paper. The papers I gave you on our class experiment should give you a guideline since they are
similar, although not identical, to our experiment. However, keep in mind that not all
scientific journals are in APA style.
There will be lectures covering most of the content aspects of this paper. We will discuss the
introduction and rationale for the experiment, the method, how to report results in general. We
will also talk about citations and references, and what to put in an abstract.
You are responsible for using your APA Style Manual, and for knowing and understanding its
contents. Many of the things that you need to know will be covered in a lecture, but you are still
responsible for anything in the book not covered specifically in a lecture. One of the best places
to go for a model on how to prepare this paper is to the Psychology Writing Center’s website.
They have several handouts on how to write an APA lab report.
Detailed instructions found at: http://web.psych.washington.edu/writingcenter/labguides.html
I highly recommend their “APA Lab Report Template” and “Writing an APA lab report” and
“Style Points for Scientific Writing”
Psych 332 Laboratory Animal Learning
General Instructions on the Parts of an APA paper:
Title
Use an appropriate title and put your name only on the paper. Your affiliation is the “University
of Washington”
Abstract (write this after writing your paper)
Usually 2-3 sentences introduction/hypothesis, 2-5 sentences of methods, 1-2 sentences of results
and 1-2 sentences of conclusion. Maximum number of words is 120.
Introduction
Presents the specific problem under study and describes the research strategy. Before writing
your introduction, consider the following questions:
What is the point of the study?
How do the hypothesis and the experimental design relate to the problem?
What is already known (based on previous research) about this problem?
What are the theoretical implications of this study, and how does the study relate to the previous
work in the area? This is where you will want to cite the researchers who did the previous
related work.
What are your hypotheses and how will you approach the question?
Methods
Describes in DETAIL how you conducted the study. This section allows another investigator to
replicate your results (even your mistakes). Should include sections on the rats, their strain and
age and sex and housing/feeding. Should include animal care issues (i.e. how their weight was
monitored) and the animal care committee protocol number (you can find the # on the door to the
animal room). Methods should include all of the details of the procedures that you carried out,
including randomization, brand-names, counterbalancing, etc. It should also include details on
any subjects that were dropped from the study. Should include a section at the end on how the
data were analyzed and at what level you set alpha. This section is called the “Data
Analysis” section, but it is not the same as the results (below).
Results
The results section summarizes the data collected and your statistical analyses of them. This
should include statements like: “There was no significant difference between...” Or “There was
a significant difference between… (t22 = 3.90, p < 0.05). Include the actual statistical test and
values (t, df, and p) in parentheses after your statement in words. The actual df, t and p are made
up in this example. You can get these numbers from your Excel or SPSS (Statistical Package for
the Social Sciences) printouts. If you perform non-parametric tests by hand you can look up
critical values in the tables in a statistics text, or use SPSS to do the tests. There is a statistics
textbook in the lab that you can look at if needed. You should CITE all of your figures in your
results. For example, “There was a significant difference between experimental and control rats
on their rate of body weight increase (t22 = 3.90, p < 0.05; Figure 1)”. Note that figure is
capitalized. The first figure you refer to should be Figure 1, then Figure 2 for the next one, etc.
If you do not provide a figure for a result, you should provide the means. For example, “There
Psych 332 Laboratory Animal Learning
was a significant difference in the rate of body weight increase for experimental (X= 10.21, s.e. =
0.93) and control rats (X= 2.81, s.e. = 0.65; t22 = 3.90, p < 0.05). ONLY provide means if you
have not included a figure representing them!
Important note on p-values: If a p-value is less than 0.05, it is reported as p < 0.05. If a p-value
is greater than 0.05, the actual value is reported; example: p = 0.98.
Discussion
Tell the reader what you found (summarize) and how your findings relate to the literature. You
should summarize all of your analyses. Were your hypotheses confirmed? You should cite the
relevant literature here. Be sure to include the “big picture” in your discussion - why should we
care about these results? How do they apply to a population larger than just our few rats? Can
we generalize these findings? Why or why not? This is also a place to discuss confounds in
your design or procedures and the direction for future studies.
References
Alphabetical list of the sources you CITE in your manuscript. Use APA format. Minimum of
five required for this paper. You can use your textbook as one of the five references. Be sure
that all citations are referenced, and all references have been cited in the paper.
Tables
Use as necessary to explain your methods or results. Use tables only when your results are too
complicated to explain in a sentence or two.
Figures
These are graphs of your data and are required for at least the test of the hypothesis. Use error
bars when reporting graphs of means. You can make your figures with any software you like,
but make sure you include error bars based on the standard error around your sample means. If
you do NOT make figures of your analyses, then you should include the means and standard
errors in your RESULTS section.
Where to go for help:
- USE YOUR APA manual.
- Go to the Psychology Writing Center, located at 3937 15th Ave NE (across the street). Make an
appointment at http://web.psych.washington.edu/writingcenter/appointments.html.
- Trade papers with your group members and ask for feedback. You are all aware of the study
and assignment, and can offer invaluable feedback. Editing other’s work will make you a better
writer, and gaining feedback from a peer-editor will help you polish your own paper.
Psych 332 Laboratory Animal Learning
APA paper grading criteria
Title Page (5 points total)
Appropriate title, name, affiliation, running head, short title and page numbers
Abstract (10 points total)
Inclusion of all information in proper order, hypothesis explicitly stated, text clear and concise
(max 120 words)
Introduction (15 points total)
Rationale for study/background information, inclusion of relevant research, hypothesis clearly
stated
Methods (15 points total)
Subjects (strain, sex, housing conditions), ACC protocol number 2861-01
Research design/procedure described, materials
Description should be easy to follow/reproduce
Data analysis (parametric or non-parametric?, alpha level, one-or two-tailed?)
Dropped data points?
Results (12 points total)
Statistical test for main hypothesis (compare intake of novel diet consumed by observers who
interacted with an experimental demonstrator versus control demonstrator)
Two additional statistical tests comparing variables of your choice are required
**Any additional analyses (more than 3) earn 2 extra points each (up to +4 total)
No data interpretation! (-3 points)
Proper statistical citation (test, df, value of test, exact p-value unless p < 0.001)
Proper referral to tables/figures
If table/figure not provided with each result, then means w/ std. error reported
Discussion (18 points total)
Results discussed in relation to each hypothesis/statistical test
Possible explanations/alternate explanations
Results discussed in relation to previous research
Relevance of results, how these findings expand what we know
Possible confounds (without dwelling on them!)
Direction for future studies (NOT repeating this study without confounds)
References (10 points total)
Proper format in text; Proper format in References section
Minimum 5 references (4+ from scientific journal articles; one can be textbook)
*Additional references will earn +1 point each (up to +4 points total)
Tables/Figures (5 points)
Figure or Table caption(s) page(s) must be separate
Clear/readable; All axes clearly labeled (incl. increments and S.E. written on y-axis)
Required: figures (graphs) of the three required statistical tests
Writing (10 points)
Text clear and concise, past tense used (except parts of discussion, e.g. future directions)
Proper English; complete sentences
Spelling, grammar