PSY 200 Cognitive Psychology, Fall 2017

Purdue University

Instructor: Dr. Greg Francis

Writing assignment #3

Lab report

This assignment is similar to Writing assignment #2, but you must choose a differentCogLab experiment.

Complete one of the memory-relatedexperiments on the CogLab site. Your writing assignment is to prepare a lab report of the experiment and your results. The report should have the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion/Conclusions. You should write the report from the perspective of the experimenter (rather than from the perspective of the participant, although you are both).

  1. Introduction: This section should describe the purpose of the study. What is being investigated and how does it fit into a larger story about human cognition? Much of this information is in the description on the CogLab site, but do not quote them directly. Use your own words.
  2. Methods: Describe the stimuli that were presented. Describe the task you had to do. Describe the different conditions of the experiment (if they exist). If the order of trials mattered, then mention it. Provide details about the number of trials and the timing of stimuli, if it matters. It is often good to describe a single trial of the experiment in detail.
  3. Results: Include a graph or table showing your results. The graph can be taken directly from the CogLab summary, or you can create your own. In the text, explain what the reported numbers are and how they were calculated (not in mathematical detail, but if there are different conditions, explain how they contribute to the numbers). Describe the pattern of results that were expected(you can provide a graph if you wish) and discuss whether your results generally agree with that pattern. If you wish, you can also describe the CogLabglobal results for the experiment.
  4. Discussion/Conclusions: Summarize your findings. Include a clear statement of how the data relate to the purpose of the study. Describe the theoretical consequences of the study findings.

Format: Your report should be 3-5 pages long, single-spaced typed, one-inch margins, with 11 or 12-point font in Times New Roman, Arial, or a similar font. Your name should be on the front page. You should clearly indicate which CogLab you are using. Appropriate document formats include MS Word (or something similar) and PDF.You will lose points if you try to “trick” the grader by, for example, using a larger font for periods or spaces that modify the line spacing.

Submission: Upload your document to Blackboard by 7:30 am on October 23. A late submission (even by one second) receives a score of 0.

Grading: Your report will be graded on a scale of 0-10. A score of 10 requires that the report be free of error (typos, grammar problems, satisfies the format) and that it provides the information in I-IV, above.

Advice: Be sure to fully discuss all aspects of the assignment and you should be struggling to keep the document below the maximum allowed length.