APA Experimental Paper

1. APA Experimental Paper

2. Title: It should summarize the main idea of the paper. It typically includes the IV, the DV, and the relationship between them. A sample format is: The Effect of ________ (IV) __________ on ____________ (DV) ____________ Some sample titles are: 1.) The Effect of Transformed Letters on Reading Speed 2.) Similarity Effects in Word Repetition Priming Title Page:

3. Title Page Contains five elements: Page number Title - typed in upper and lowercase letters and centered horizontally on the page and positioned in top third of the page Author(s) - centered horizontally below the title Institutional Affiliation - centered horizontally below the author(s)

4. Starts on a new page with the title of the paper centered at the top of the page Do not discuss the results you found Instead discuss the problem you are investigating, why you are investigating it, what you expect to find, and why you expect to find it Introduction: Purpose: To justify the reasons for writing about your topic, introduce the topic/theory to the reader, provide an overview of previous research on the topic, and identify your own hypothesis

5. Introduction: 1.) First paragraph Introduce the Topic: Your first task is to provide a brief description of the research question. • What is the experiment or study attempting to demonstrate? • What concept/theory are you studying? • Why are you investigating this topic?

6. Introduction: 2.) Second Paragraph Summarize Previous Research: The second task of your introduction is to provide a well-rounded summary of previous research that is relevant to your topic. • Find relevant sources (peer-reviewed, primary sources if possible) and summarize the important information: their research hypothesis including their IV and DV, a brief description of the methods, and a summary of the results • Sources do not have be exactly the same as your study, they just need to be related to your topic

7. Introduction: 3.) Third Paragraph Provide Your Hypothesis: Once you have summarized the previous research, explain areas where the research is lacking or potentially flawed and introduce your hypothesis. • What is missing from previous studies on your topic? • Your own hypothesis should lead from this question. • At the end of your introduction, offer your hypothesis, state your IV and DV, describe what you expected to find in your experiment and why.

8. Introduction Example: AGING AND MEMORY 3 The Effect of Aging on Direct and Indirect Tests of Memory A common complaint among elderly adults is that they do not remember as well as they did when they were younger. This complaint has led to a great deal of research investigating age related differences in memory performance. Many of these studies have compared young and elderly adults on direct and indirect tests of memory. The findings of such studies typically demonstrate that older adults perform at a comparable level to their younger counterparts on indirect tests but perform at a lower level than younger subjects on direct tests. Most studies investigating memory in the elderly have used tests that assess episodic memory abilities...

9. Method Section

10. Starts directly below the introduction with Method centred in bold Describes in detail how the study was conducted Allows the reader to evaluate your procedures and replicate if desired It is typically divided into three subsections: Participants Materials Procedure Subsection titles are in bold Method Section

11. The number of participants (include both total number and the number assigned to each group) Demographic Info: Mean or median age, gender, education, etc. Procedures for selecting participants If some participants did not complete the experiment, state how many and why they did not continue Participants

12. Describe materials and apparatus used and their function in enough detail so others can replicate For example: in describing word lists, include the number of words, approximate length of words, were they in capital or lowercase letters, etc. A copy of the materials can be included in an appendix at the end of the paper; you would refer your reader to that appendix; (see Appendix for a complete list of the words used in this experiment). Materials

13. Summarize in detail each step of the the procedure Describe the instructions given to participants Discuss experimental manipulations and how they were done Use enough detail so others can replicate Describe how you got informed consent and outline your debriefing procedure Procedure

14. AGING AND MEMORY 5 Method Participants Sixty university students (30 males and 30 females) participated in this experiment for extra course credit in a Psychology 100 course at the University of Victoria.... Materials Three word lists were created, each of which consisted of 20 words. See Appendix for a complete list of the words used in this experiment. All words were written in lowercase letters. The length of each word ranged from 5 to 8 letters... Procedure Participants were tested individually in the presence of the experimenter... Method Example:

15. Results Section

16. Results Purpose: To summarize the data collected and the statistical analyses conducted • You can follow the sample results section provided very closely • This is a standard format so it is not plagiarism – be sure to change the numerical values, variables, whether or not the results are significant and the summary statement

17. State what statistical test was used to analyze the data State whether the findings are significant or not in terms of your hypothesis Discuss the results of the statistical analyzes and include: the value from the statistical test (e.g. t-value), degrees of freedom, and p-value obtained dft-value p-value (2-tailed) t(20) = 1.33, p = 0.09 Conclude with a summary sentence of your results in Layman's terms Results

18. AGING AND MEMORY 7 Results The level of significance set in this experiment was .05. The mean number of words recalled by the Elderly Group was 25.6 (SD = 2.6) and the mean number of words recalled in the Young Group was 36.3 (SD = 1.9). See Figure 1 for a summary of descriptive statistics. These data were analyzed using a t-test and the results were statistically significant, t(30) = 4.99, p = .002, suggesting that younger participants were able to recall more words than older participants. Result Example:

19. Discussion Section

20. Open with a clear statement of whether your results support or refute your original hypothesis Discuss your results in terms of previous research and whether or not your results are consistent with the previous research Suggest possible explanations for the results If and only if there are any, discuss the difficulties/problems with the research and how they could be improved Discuss future directions in terms of research and possible applications/implications Discussion

21. Discussion Example: AGING AND MEMORY 9 Discussion The hypothesis under investigation in the current report was that older individuals would not perform as well as younger subjects on a direct test of memory, but indirect test performance would remain invariant across the two groups. The findings supported this hypothesis. The current results are consistent with numerous other studies demonstrating that recognition and recall. These tests require a subject to consciously recollect a previous episode. Studies that have investigated episodic memory…

22. Reference Section

23. Begins on its own page with "References" centered at the top of the page References are presented in alphabetical order of the first author's last name The first line of each reference is flush with the left margin and all subsequent lines of each reference are indented five spaces Remember, all references cited in-text must be listed in the references section and vice versa All references should be in APA format Seehttp://camosun.ca.libguides.comfor reference examples References

24. References Example: AGING AND MEMORY 10 References Cohen, G., & Faulkner, D. (1986). Memory for proper names: Age differences in retrieval. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 4(2), 187-197. Retrieved from http://hal.ucr.edu/ Erber, J. T. (1974). Memory for unattended events: Remembering with and without awareness. Memory and Cognition, 12, 105-111. doi:12891028.1212.12.12.12 Gordon, S. K., & Clark, W. C. (1974). Application of signal detection theory to prose recall and recognition in elderly and young adults [Abstract]. Journal of Gerontology, 29(1), 64-72.

25. Figure Example: AGING AND MEMORY 10 Figure 1. Average number of words recalled as a function of age. Average Words Recalled

26. Link to Sample Research Paper http://camosun.ca/documents/schools/artsci/apa-sample-research.pdf This sample APA paper is more advanced than what is expected for first and second year course; however, it is a great template and you should follow it closely.