PSYC 300 University of Maryland Global Campus Psychology Learning Tools Thesis Paper

Instructions

For this assignment, you will participate in an online experiment on reaction time located within the “psychology learning tools”. Once you have completed the experiment you will need to analyze data (I will give you data) and write a lab report (7- 10 pages – this page count does not include the title page or references) in APA style consisting of the following sections:

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Method
• Results
• Discussion
• References

You will participate in the online experiment so you know what the experiment is like. You will be given the data to analyze.

Here is the data file: DATA

Remember that you were given additional details in the Hypothesis discussion.

Hypothesis – It is hypothesized that when people first wake up their reaction will be slow, in the middle of the day their speed will be at its peak, and at the end of the day their reaction time will decrease again.

Top Reaction: Afternoon

Middle Reaction: Evening

Slowest Reaction: Morning

Data Plan – My plan is to test individuals split into two groups three times a day (Right when they wake up, in the afternoon, and right before they go to bed). One group will consist of men and the other group of women. Participants will range by age in each group. I will calculate the reaction times for each participant and find the average reaction time.

You will write the report as if you were the researcher conducting the experiment. You have some options in your research question for this project. The data you are given includes the gender and age of the participants as well as three columns of results data (from 3 tasks). If you have a particular interest and want to modify the data, you have that choice. We will talk about this in week 4. You should try to use as much of your data as possible. Do not discard data unless there is a really good reason to do so.

Careful attention must be paid toAPA Style as it represents a significant portion of your grade for the paper and is an intended learning outcome for the course. At the end of the term you will submit your completed paper to your assignment folder.

• at least 8 appropriate references are used to describe the relevant background information
• clearly stated hypothesis
• generally well written with appropriate grammar, tense, and sentence structure
• information presented clearly and concisely
• completely describes all elements (participants, materials, and design/procedure including how data was analyzed)
• appropriate grammar, tense, and sentence structure used
• descriptions are clear and include all appropriate details
• clearly describes data and main findings in sufficient detail
• uses tables and figures effectively to represent exact values, main effects, or interactions
• states results of descriptive and inferential statistics (including significance levels)
• provides overview of results
• interprets results in light of literature discussed in the introduction
• restates hypothesis and includes conclusions supported by the results
• discusses limitations to this study and specific ideas for future research
• provides overview of results
• interprets results in light of literature discussed in the introduction
• restates hypothesis and includes conclusions supported by the results
• discusses limitations to this study and specific ideas for future research