False Memories
Cognitive Psychology
The purpose of the second assignment is to give you experience researching a topic and identifying areas of current research in need of development. As such, you will be required identify a topic in cognitive psychology of interest to you, research primary literature on the topic, and write an original proposal describing the historic and recent background on the topic, identify important unanswered questions, and propose an experiment(s) to address these questions. It is preferred that the topic should be chosen based on what we have discussed in the lab, however, your topic can also be drawn from other sources (e.g., lecture, textbook) as long as is still cognitive psychology.
Sources
As with the first assignment you should find and incorporate in a meaningful way at least ten academic articles (i.e., published in a peer-reviewed journal) which provide theoretical or methodological support for the experiment. Based on these sources you should discuss why the topic is important, what has been done previously, what questions remain unanswered, what implications answering these question will have on our understanding of the topic, and any real- world implications that may come from a better understanding of the topic. It strongly recommended that you start with more recent empirical articles or literature reviews and work backwards. More recent articles will have a better handle on what has already been done and are more likely to provide you additional resources.
Style
As with the previous assignment, the paper should be written in APA style as outlined in the APA Publication Manual. The paper should be written in complete grammatical sentences that are free of spelling errors. The paper should have 1” margins, be double spaced, and use a 12 point Times New Roman font. The body of the paper should be a minimum of five pages. Once the title page, references and table/figures are included the paper will be closer to 9-10 pages. The paper should include:
• Title Page
• Abstract
• Introduction & Lit Review
• Hypotheses/Research Question
• Research Plan
• Intellectual Merit & Broader impact • References
• Figure and/or Table
Sections
Title Page. Just as in Assignment 1, you will have an APA format title page, with your title, name, and affiliation (Syracuse University).
Abstract. Same as assignment 1, provide an overview for your proposal within 120-150 words.
Introduction/Lit Review. The introduction should focus on developing the ideas surrounding the research question you intend to address. As such, you should spend the majority of the introduction describing and interpreting the relevant literature, and highlighting the remaining unanswered questions. For the latter point, you should take special care to build a case for why your research question is important. What new understanding will we gain about your topic if the proposed research is conducted? Lastly, you should describe a specific hypotheses and predictions that you are making in your research. Make sure to explain why you think your hypothesis may be correct.
Hypotheses/Research Question. This can be its own section, or placed at the end of the introduction (as in a standard APA paper).
Research plan. This is essentially a methods section and should provide an overview of the proposed experiment. To be considered an experiment you should propose at least one independent variable and one dependent variable. You should thoughtfully describe how the independent variable is being manipulated and how the dependent variable is being measured. In describing your design you should provide enough detail for someone to pick up your paper and actually implement the experiment. You should also take care to explain why you have designed the experiment the way that you have. This should be based, in no small part, on the literature that you have reviewed in the introduction and should cite relevant studies appropriately. If it helps, you may want to include a diagram, drawing or table to help explain the design of the experiment. In addition to describing the design of the experiment, you should also describe the sample you would use, any material or apparatuses you would need for the experiment, an overview of the possible procedure of the experiment, and the statistical design of the experiment (i.e., how you would subsequently analyze the data). These should be listed in their constituent sections as was the case in the previous assignment.
Intellectual merit & Broader impact. Restate the significance of the problem. Describe the potential outcomes of the research, and who will benefit and how. Explain how you will communicate your findings.
References. As with assignment 1, these should be APA format. You need 10 references for this assignment.
Figure and/or Table. One or the other is acceptable to meet the minimum requirement for this assignment. This can show expected data patterns, an example of the experimental procedure, or anything that is appropriate for your proposal.
