Home

For this assignment, you will complete a research paper on The Stroop Effect and selective attention. The Stroop Effect is a phenomenon that occurs with the Stroop Task, a test that looks at what happens when we are asked to perform an ordinary task (such as reading or identifying a list of colors) when there is some sort of visual interference.
You are acting like you are the researcher who conducted this study! However, you do not have to actually collect the data – I already have that for you. In order to understand how the study works and how data was collected, you will need to participate in an online experiment on the Stroop Effect located within the “psychology learning tools”.
Once you have completed the experiment you will need to analyze data (remember that 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
(More information on each section is located below)
Just like the mini lab report, you will participate in the online experiment so you know what the experiment is like. You will be given the data to analyze.
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 two columns of results data (reading the words and saying the colors). If you have a particular interest and want to modify the data, you have that choice. We will talk about this as you work on your hypothesis. 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 to APA 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.
Main components on your research paper
Title page – Make sure that the main points of a title page are included.
Abstract – This is a well written summary of your paper. A reader should be able to get a clear picture of your paper based on the abstract. Include everything from a quick introduction of the topic to a sentence that implies that you will discuss results and implications.
Introduction – This is so much more than a summary of your paper and should not be treated that way. For this paper, your introduction should be 2-3 pages of double spaced writing. Start by introducing your topic in general. Then you should discuss research from relevant published studies. Most, if not all, of your 8 references from peer reviewed sources will be cited in this section. Discussing these studies are important as they help provide a rationale for your study. Give that rationale next. Finish by clearly stating your hypothesis.
Here is an article to get you started. Remember that this website isn’t the source for this article. You need to locate and cite the original source!
Methods – Split this section into participants, materials and procedures subsections. You know the gender and age of all of your participants. You are welcome to include other demographic or recruiting information as it helps you with your study. Try the study here so you can adequately write about the procedures. Click on Run Experiment to get started.
Results – Use the data I provided to calculate your results. Remember that your hypothesis drives your statistics. Think about what statistics you need to include to test your hypothesis. Write out all of your numbers even if you are including them in a table. Don’t forget to include a chart or table!
Discussion – This is the best section because it is finally time to talk about what YOU think. After restating your results, talk about what they mean. What are the implications of your findings? Why are they important? For instance, why should we care that one gender is better at this than the other or that there aren’t gender differences for this study? After that, talk about the limitations to your study and give specific ideas for future research.
References – Don’t forget that your references (and all of your paper) need to be in APA format. You need at least 8 references from peer reviewed sources (e.g., journals).
**My hypothesis is this: It is hypothesized that females with have a significantly faster response time than males who complete the Stroop test. To determine this the data will be analyzed using the unpaired t-test.

Title Page: research question, header, page number, title (your research question), your name, professor’s name, class and date of submission
Annotated bibliography. Four peer-reviewed, empirical articles required. Read & analyze the articles using the annotated bibliography rubric at Blackboard. The analysis will be several short sentences below the reference (see example attached). You must attach the first page of each article that includes the abstract.
Summary. A stand alone paper, 2-3 pages typed, double-spaced in APA format (verify length requirement w/instructor) that answers your research question using
the results from your articles. What can be concluded from the research? What problems did you see with the studies you read? is there future research you could do to further answer the research question (bonus for some professors)? Do not plagiarize! You must use your own words (reword article findings) when summarizing your answer. Do not use your opinion. Cite the articles correctly (see example).
**WARNING!!!! Do NOT quote! Reword and CITE authors appropriately! 
For each article, answer the following questions:
1 2
3. Who participated? Describe the number of participants, their demographics (e.g., race, gender, mean age, and anything else relevant to the research question) .
4 5.
6
WARNING! ! !
• in NO case should you cut & paste ANYthing from the article. This should ALL be in your OWN words. No quotations allowed.
• Do NOT plagiarize here. Put it in your OWN words. Paraphrase EVERYFHING.
The reference in APA* form (the library database page will format this for you) The main purpose of this article is . State as accurately as possible the
author’s purpose for conducting the research (this may be the authors’ hypothesis) .
List and define the key variables (how were they measured or manipulated) ?
How did the researcher collect the information (methodology; i.e„ what specifically
was done)?
The main conclusions in this article are . Identify the key conclusions the author presents in this article.
a. Potential Bonus (askyour instructor): Figure out the limitations or problems with this study (you may want to mention this briefly in your summary). The author will state the limitations in the discussion section if there are any