19 Jul Read: Gluck, Mercado, & Myers: Chapter 10 Read: Operant Extinction – Elimination and Generation of Behavior Links to an external site. Read: Comparative Psychology of Surprising Non

PSYC 565

Research Document: Presentation Instructions

Overview

The purpose of this Research Document: Presentation Assignment is to help you develop the skills and knowledge necessary to convey complex ideas in a professional manner using a PowerPoint presentation. Presentation software is one of the most common ways ideas are presented in the workplace, as well as academia. Although you will be presenting the same material in your Research Document: Final Assignment, the way it is presented in a PowerPoint presentation will be specific to this format. For example, in a PowerPoint presentation, you will be able to demonstrate how an operant procedure works with animated levers and food pellets, while in a Document you would simply describe it. In a presentation, you can take advantage of multimedia such as video clips of famous researchers explaining their own theories.

Instructions

Please include the following elements in your Research Document: Presentation Assignment:

· At least 25 slides

· An appropriate image included on each slide

· Include at least 1 video

· Demonstrate at least 1 experimental method using animation

· Use a slide transition

Content: The basic content and structure of the presentation should mirror that of the Research Document: Final Assignment but will not include the “Assessment of Research Document Writing Process” (See the outline below). An abstract is also not included in a formal presentation. The content must be much more concise as compared to the Research Document: Final Assignment. Summarize each of the main points of your Research Document: Final Assignment into a bullet point. Avoid making a slide look like a paragraph. Use in-text citations in the slide on which the information appears.

Title Slide: The title slide includes the name of your presentation, your name, and the institution with which you are affiliated.

Images: Every slide should include an image that is relevant to the content on that particular slide. Avoid “crowding” the image by placing text too close to it. A good image will be high resolution (not pixelated), not distorted, and professional (proper lighting, contrast, etc.). If you use poor images, they will distract from the quality of your work. In order to avoid copyright infringement, all images must be copyright-free or “free-to-use”. There are a number of databases in which you can find copyright-free images, including using an advanced google image search with the usage rights set to “free to use or share.”

Style: Select a background, font, and color combination that is easy to read and visually complementary.

Video: The video should be a link to a YouTube video. If the video is a link to a file on the author’s computer it will not play when the ppt file is transferred to another person.

Animation: Use animation to demonstrate the methods of at least 1 experiment.

Slide Transitions: Select a slide transition that makes the presentation look polished but does not distract from the flow of the presentation.

Reference Slide: Current APA-formatted references of all sources cited in the presentation.

Narration: Write a narration in the notes section under each slide of how you would explain the slides. This should be the same information you would put on note cards if you were presenting your ppt at a meeting or in class.

Outline:

I. Introduction

A. State your topic. (e.g. “This Document will examine the roles of spontaneous reinstatement of operant behavior in drug addiction.”)

1. State why this topic is important (e.g. “More than 80% of individuals who go through substance abuse treatment will relapse within 5 years.”)

2. State your initial research questions (e.g. “What are the critical variables that contribute to spontaneous recovery of operant responding for drugs of abuse?”)

B. Background information about the issue

1. Learning principle (e.g. “Spontaneous recovery was first reported by _______. Later research revealed that _____,_______, and ______ influence spontaneous recovery in animal studies.”).

2. Principle’s application to the problem or issue (e.g. “______ initially suggested that drug relapse may work through a similar mechanism. The methods used to study spontaneous recovery of drug seeking behavior are…”)

C. State your hypothesis. Your hypothesis is the main focus of the Research Document: Presentation Assignment (e.g. “While stress is a critical factor in the reinstatement of operant behavior for drugs of abuse, its effects can be mitigated by an enriched environment”). Everything discussed in the Research Document: Presentation Assignment must be related back to the hypothesis. Does a study support or contradict your hypothesis?

1. Define all terms in your hypothesis, referencing appropriate sources

2. Discuss any points of clarification

a) Point 1

b) Point 2

(1) … (as needed)

(2) …

II. Literature Review

A. Theoretical literature pertaining to the learning principle

1. Overview and summary of each theory or explanation

2. Relevance of each theory/explanation to the issue

3. Application of the theoretical findings to the issue

B. Applied literature— Repeat for each study

1. Rationale of the study

2. Overview of the study

3. Methodology (key elements)

4. Key findings related to your hypothesis

5. Critique of the study

a) Design?

b) Appropriate methods?

c) How do the findings relate to your hypothesis/thesis?

III. Discussion

A. Summary

1. Summary of all relative findings

B. Recommendations

1. What can be learned from this research?

2. What are the implications?

3. To whom are these recommendations relevant and why? (e.g. parents, government agencies, organizations, educational institutions, mental health professionals)

C. Future Research

D. Conclusions

1. Recap the importance of your topic (no new information)

2. Revisit your thesis statement (did you find support or no support?)

3. Conclusion based on information derived from the literature

IV. References

A. Reference 1

B. Reference 2

C. Reference 3

D. Reference 4

E. Reference 5

F. Continue as needed

Please see the Research Document: Presentation Resources section under the Research Document: Presentation page.

Make sure to check the Research Document: Presentation Grading Rubric before you start your Research Document: Presentation Assignment.

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PSYC 565

Research Document: Final Assignment Instructions

Overview

The Research Document: Final Assignment is designed to provide you with an opportunity to fully appreciate how learning principles can be applied to an issue or psychological disorder that is of interest to you in terms of your vocation or thesis research. Together with the Article Review Assignments, this Research Document: Final Assignment will also guide you through the process of interpreting and evaluating primary sources. You will have an opportunity to go beyond summarizing what you have learned to formulating your own ideas about future research.

Instructions

The Research Document: Final Assignment will discuss an area of applied research that relies heavily on learning principles.

Introduction:

The introduction portion of the Research Document: Final Assignment will include a general discussion of the area of applied research and why it is important. This section will also discuss the learning principles and methods used in this area of research. Be sure to cite the Documents that originally proposed a theory or model and Documents that originally applied a learning principle to an applied area of research. For example, if the topic of the Research Document: Final Assignment is “relapse among drug addicted individuals,” then the introduction would include a discussion of spontaneous recovery of operant behavior and how this learning principle has been applied to drug addiction research. Be sure to also make a strong case for why the issue, to which the learning principle is being applied, is important (e.g. how many people does it affect, how much money does it cost society). Most importantly, the introduction should also clearly state the hypothesis of the Research Document: Final Assignment. The hypothesis will become a touchstone that you continually draw the reader’s attention back to throughout the Research Document: Final Assignment (e.g. “These findings support the hypothesis that…” or “These findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis that…”).

Literature Review:

The next section of the Research Document: Final Assignment will start with a short review of the theoretical literature pertaining to the learning principle in question. This should be followed by a much more detailed discussion of the current literature in your chosen area of applied research. Try to select articles that are along similar lines of inquiry in order to tell a coherent story about the research. For example, if your topic is the role of second order conditioning in anxiety, then you could discuss a series of experiments that were designed to determine the critical variables that determine when and how a second order conditioned stimuli comes to elicit a stress response (i.e. anxiety). The Research Document: Final Assignment could also be organized to present two different theories about your topic. In this case you would discuss the differences in their hypotheses, methods, results, and interpretations. Avoid discussing a Document from a single lab, as this will not give an accurate picture of the literature as a whole. This section of the Research Document: Final Assignment should discuss at least six different peer-reviewed journal articles. Discuss the rationale, methods, results, interpretation, and your critique of each article. The critique of the article can include a discussion of the lack of an important control group or alternatively, the strength of the findings, owing to the fact that the investigators controlled for alternative explanations for the findings. There should also be a clear, logical flow from one study to the next. Avoid the impression that the Research Document: Final Assignment is just a list of Documents. There should be logical progression from study to study.

Discussion:

The discussion section should start with a summary of all of the relevant findings. There should not be any new information in the summary statements. The next section should focus on recommendations and implications of your findings. Reflect on why these findings are important and who would benefit from them. Based on the current state of the literature in this field, what should be the focus of future research? This may be obvious, but more likely it will require a great deal of thought and reflection. It may be helpful to keep this question in mind as you are reading through each article. The final section of the Research Document: Final Assignment will recap the importance of the topic. Put your findings in the context of your thesis statement. Did your findings support your thesis or were they inconsistent with your thesis/hypothesis.

Assessment:

This section of the Research Document: Final Assignment is intended to give you an opportunity to reflect on your writing process. What works for you and what does not? Which parts of the Research Document: Final Assignment were helpful and why? Did you find the article reviews helpful? More generally, what have you personally taken away from this Research Document: Final Assignment? Finally, how is this Research Document: Final Assignment going to impact your career goals?

Steps to complete your Research Document: Final Assignment:

1. Pick an area of research that uses learning principles.

2. Find a recent review article and other basic information to use for background. These may also lead you to important journal articles that you will want to discuss in your Research Document: Final Assignment.

3. Find peer-reviewed empirical journal articles (Documents that include methods and results sections).

a. PsycNet will only allow you to view peer-reviewed articles.

4. Write an outline of your Research Document: Final Assignment.

5. Expand the outline into a PowerPoint presentation.

6. Write the Research Document: Final Assignment.

Requirements:

1. Current APA style title page.

2. Current APA style abstract.

3. Current APA style reference page.

4. The Research Document: Final Assignment must be at least 10 pages (not including a cover page, abstract, or references).

5. All current APA formatting guidelines must be adhered to.

a. Any fact that is not common knowledge must have a reference.

b. Any idea or conclusion which is not your own must be accompanied by a citation—give credit to the person who had the idea.

c. APA formatted section headers are required in your Research Document: Final Assignment. They should clearly describe the contents of each section.

6. A minimum of 10 peer-reviewed journal articles must be cited. Some of the articles can be used for background information, but at least six studies must be discussed and critiqued in detail. Do not use textbooks, websites, or blogs.

7. Attach the first page (including the abstract) of each of the 6 articles you discuss to the end of your Research Document: Final Assignment for the instructor’s reference.

Outline:

I. Introduction

A. State your topic. (e.g. “This Document will examine the roles of spontaneous reinstatement of operant behavior in drug addiction.”)

1. State why this topic is important (e.g. “More than 80% of individuals who go through substance abuse treatment will relapse within 5 years.”)

2. State your initial research questions (e.g. “What are the critical variables that contribute to spontaneous recovery of operant responding for drugs of abuse?”)

B. Background information about the issue

1. Learning principle (e.g. “Spontaneous recovery was first reported by _______. Later research revealed that _____,_______, and ______ influence spontaneous recovery in animal studies”.)

2. Principle’s application to the problem or issue (e.g. “______ initially suggested that drug relapse may work through a similar mechanism. The methods used to study spontaneous recovery of drug seeking behavior are…”)

C. State your hypothesis. Your hypothesis is the main focus of the Research Document: Final Assignment (e.g. “While stress is a critical factor in the reinstatement of operant behavior for drugs of abuse, its effects can be mitigated by an enriched environment”). Everything discussed in the Research Document: Final Assignment should be related back to the hypothesis. Does a study support or contradict your hypothesis.

1. Define all terms in your hypothesis, referencing appropriate sources

2. Discuss any points of clarification

a) Point 1

b) Point 2

(1) … (as needed)

(2) …

II. Literature Review

A. Theoretical literature pertaining to the learning principle

1. Overview and summary of each theory or explanation

2. Relevance of each theory/explanation to the issue

3. Application of the theoretical findings to the issue

B. Applied literature— Repeat for each study

1. Rationale of the study

2. Overview of the study

3. Methodology (key elements)

4. Key findings related to your hypothesis

5. Critique of the study

a) Design?

b) Appropriate methods?

c) How do the findings relate to your hypothesis/thesis?

III. Discussion

A. Summary

1. Summary of all of relative findings

B. Recommendations

1. What can be learned from this research?

2. What are the implications?

3. To whom are these recommendations relevant and why? (e.g. parents, government agencies, organizations, educational institutions, mental health professionals)

C. Future Research

D. Conclusions

1. Recap the importance of your topic (no new information)

2. Revisit your thesis statement (did you find support or no support?)

3. Conclusion based on information derived from the literature

IV. Assessment of Research Document Assignment Writing Process (this section is based on your process)

A. How your process worked (evaluate your own writing process)

1. Outline

2. PowerPoint presentation

3. Article review assignment

B. What have you learned

C. How is this Research Document Assignment going to impact your career goals

V. References

A. Reference 1

B. Reference 2

C. Reference 3

D. Reference 4

E. Reference 5

F. Continue as needed

VI. Article abstracts

A. Abstract 1

B. Abstract 2

C. Abstract 3

D. Abstract 4

E. Abstract 5

F. Abstract 6

Make sure to check the Research Document: Final Grading Rubric before you start the Research Document: Final Assignment.

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