Submit your Final Paper for grading.

Due: Sunday of Week 7, 11:59 PM ET

Your task is to review and summarize TWO, RELATED journal research articles on any topic relevant to Cognitive psychology. The articles must focus on the same topic.Articles shall be from the years 2011 – 2018.Do not use (1) book chapters (2) articles that review other research, or (3) theoretical articles.Do not use an article assigned from class.Do not use social work or education journalsTwo types of articles should not be used: (1) articles that simply survey the frequency of certain events without conducting an analysis of the data, and (2) psychometric articles that evaluate the validity, reliability, or factor structure of psychological tests or rating scales. These psychometric studies are very complex.Length: 1,500 – 3,000 words in length (excludes reference and title page)Basic APA Format Requirements.•    Typed with all black ink.•    One-inch margins on the top, bottom, left, and right.•    Use font size 12 point.•    No italics, all regular block letters (except in the reference list).•    In addition to the text of the paper, a separate APA format title page with the title, your full name, the course name, course number, and Charter Oak State College is required.•    Double-space everything…everything…including the reference page.•    Papers should be saved using the naming convention of lastname_firstname_psy320_semester+year. This assures that I will know who the paper came from, which course it belongs to, the semester and year, and that it is not a virus.•    Avoid using bold or other embedded objects

Basic Content Requirements

Your paper should be appropriate in terms of depth and breadth, and flow logically.The paper should have the following information.Introduction: The first few (1-3) sentences serve as an introduction that clearly tells the reader the purpose of your paper. First, include some very general, very brief, information about the topic area. You could refer to other sources if you like (e.g., book chapters, other review articles)Then, in the same paragraph, state that you are going to summarize two experiments on a certain topic. Inform the reader that the paper will describe the purpose of the research, and review previous results and the limitations of that research. Then, the paper will summarize two experiments, describe the methodological problems in that research, and explore future research. Let the reader know what is coming. Cite the two references in the text here. Do not review specific characteristics of the articles here.Purpose, Previous results and limitations can be presented in one paragraph.Purpose: In one or two sentences, state the related purpose or theme of these two experiments. Do not discuss the specific purpose of each individual article. If your experiments are similar, then their purposes should be similar.Previous Results Describe results from previous research in this area. Focus on research that is specific to the kind of research that these papers conducted.Limitations – Describe limitations of previous research in this area. This may include poor methodology, unsatisfactory results, or a lack research in the area.Experiment Summary: Present a summary of how each experiment was conducted and what each the experiment proved or demonstrated. Often it works best to go in chronological order.Hint: do one experiment at a time here. An outline of this section might look like:The purpose of the research by Danforth (2005) was …    Method    ResultsA follow-up study evaluated the long-term effects of timeout (Evans, Fugere, & Leszczynski, 2006).    Method    Results

In one or two sentences, describe the purpose of the experiment or the question that the experimenters were seeking to answer with this specific experiment. You could present the experimental hypothesis if it is clearly described. Most experiments evaluate the effects of Variable A on Variable B (the effects of the IV on the DV), or they investigate the relationship (correlation) between variables. (3)

Present a brief summary of how the Method of the experiment was conducted. Provide only the ESSENTIAL details from the Method so that the reader understands what happened. (e.g., identify the subjects and their pertinent characteristics). If you can, name the experimental design (e.g., group comparison, ABAB, or experimental case study). If relevant, identify the independent and dependent variable. If it is a study of a correlation, probably no IV and DV will be identified. In that case, identify the variables being correlated. Or, try to identify the conditions in the experiment (e.g., if groups are used, describe the essential characteristics that distinguish one group from another, if it was an ABAB design what was condition A and what was condition B?). (4)

State the most important Results from the experiments. Try to identify the fundamental results that help the reader understand the essence of this experiment. (4)Essential: In order to identify the article about which you are writing, use the appropriate APA format for references in the text with author last name and date. 

Methodological Problems with These Two Experiments

Discuss two weaknesses or limitations of the experimental methods. It is preferable here to merge the two experiments if you can. If the studies share weaknesses, indicate this. Do not just list problems. Sometimes that works, but often you will need to explain why it is a problem.Do not write, “A weakness of the Jones (2000) research was that they did not conduct a follow-up”, and then later write, “A weakness of the Smith (2003) study was that they also did not conduct a 6-month follow-up”.Write instead: “Both experiments failed to conduct a follow-up”. Do not discuss Results here unless you clearly relate them to weaknesses in the Method. If the experimental Method was well conducted, but you do not like the Results, this is not a weakness of the Method; it is simply information you do not like.

Future Research

What future research in this topic area is likely to encompass. Do not just say, “Research needs to be done”. Indicate (a) what kinds of questions need to be asked or (b) how the Methods may need to be altered. Important: Again, synthesize the information from the two studies into one section.Too much detail obscures the essential point of the experiment. So, identify the essential aspects.

Basic Format Requirements.

Introduction

The purpose of the experiment

What previous research in this area foundLimitations of previous research

Experiment Summary

Methodological Problems with these two experiments

Future research