Psychology Research Project

All students enrolled in a semester social studies course are required to complete a research project. Your research project in Psychology is designed to accomplish several goals.

 To research one field in psychology  To participate in a collaborative assignment  To develop written and oral skills of communication

Step 1: To accomplish these goals you will form a research team of four or five (depending on class size) students and select an approved topic. You must submit a written proposal of your topic on or before ______.

Step 2: Your second step is to gather information from appropriate sources. We are in the IMC on ______to help in this process. An IMC 5 use pass will be issued for more IMC time that you will need outside of class.

As a team, you and your partner(s) will be responsible to conduct a literature search on your topic. You must have a minimum of 5 (five) sources on your final APA Annotated Bibliography. 1. Only two (2) may be specific Psychology academic websites. 2. At least one must be a reference book. Your textbook, general encyclopedias and Wikipedia are NOT satisfactory sources. 3. The other two remaining sources can be journal articles, newspaper articles, books, and other academic sources – specific to Psychology - not mentioned in 1 or 2

Step 3: Using the information gleaned from your literature search, you and your partner (s) will complete the following requirements: 1) A Power Point Presentation which gives a summary of the latest information on your topic and highlights the special area of interest associated with your topic. The display should be academic, attractive, and orderly. You must save your Power Point on Google Drive and share it with me @ [email protected]

A. General requirements for the Power Point presentation...  Develop a Power Point presentation that supports an 8-10 minute oral presentation.  A minimum of 20 slides... no maximum, but no more than 10 minutes

B. Creating an effective Power Point presentation  Clearly and logically organize the content. This is a visual summary & analysis of your topic. Be both creative and practical in your design. Use fonts, background formats and color schemes that enhance readability.  Pictures or graphics should be balanced with the text. Do not have paragraphs that you read to us.  DO NOT use automatic slide transition or sounds effects.

C. Power Point evaluation criteria...  Visual Layout: -Readability: Text formats are easy to read (size, color, bold, italics, background) -A creative balance of text & graphics -Spelling and Grammar (100% perfection is the minimum standard)  Power Point Content -Clear & logical organization of the content - Appropriate background information - The Power Point covered the required material - Text should be minimal – your commentary should be plentiful

2) An Annotated Bibliography- of your five (5) sources. This is due the day of presentation. EXAMPLE OF ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY:

Norman, D.A. (1997). American Psychological Association Handbook. New York: Academic Press.

The principles in this document make explicit an investigator’s ethical responsibilities toward participant as

over the course of research – from the initial decision to pursue a study to the steps necessary to protect the

confidentiality of research data. Although primarily intended for use in research, any many of the principles also

apply to demonstrations and activities employed in the teaching of psychology

For journal articles, add volume numbers and page numbers at the end. If an author’s name is not available, substitute an editor’s name or the title of the article in quotation makers.

Note: The above example is not real!

3) A Ten Minute Oral Presentation- of the important information you have discovered about your topic. You and your partners are equally responsible for this presentation. Any student who is absent on the day of the presentation will be required to meet with me. If there is a question regarding a partner who has not contributed his/her share of work, a meeting between both partners and Mrs. Kavalow-Huie will be conducted to resolve questions concerning differences in grades that might result. A rubric will be provided for grading this section.

Within the 8-10 minute time frame you and your partners must explain the topic that you have researched. As the narrators you may use organizational notes to prompt your presentation points, but you WILL NOT read from notes or the screen during your presentation. Your task in is to understand the topic well enough to provide an engaging presentation and not read from a script.

A. The oral presentation will…  Be 8-10 minutes of presentation  Verbally integrate the Power Point content. What you say must match and elaborate on the slides.  Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the topic  will consist of all members of the group equally participating in presenting and teaching your fellow classmates about your chosen Psychology topic.

 Please prepare some type of activity for the students to show they have understood your material (a review crossword puzzle, worksheet, or summary activity). B. Oral presentation evaluation criteria...  Voice: Volume, pacing and the effective use of pauses during the presentation  Verbal grammar – Grammatically correct, smooth and natural sentence structure  Eye contact: Maintain eye contact (Do not read from your slides or notes)  Relaxed and confident posture  Narrate the slides effectively – Clear explanation and elaboration without reading  Overall: Verbally express your understanding of the topic and relate the significance of your topic.

GRADING 1. Topic must be submitted for approval in writing. 2. Power Point presentations are due ______. All students should be prepared to present. Groups will be picked randomly. 3. Students who are not prepared on the due date will suffer a ten percent deduction in grade. Absence is not an excuse. Completed presentations must be posted to Google Drive on the due date at the latest. 4. Calculation of group grades: Due Dates  Topic Proposal ______ PowerPoint 50pts. ______

 Oral presentation 25 pts. ______ Annotated bibliography 25 pts. ______ Summary Activity in Presentation 10 pts. ______5 Individual grade  Research Outline 25 pts. ______

POSSIBLE PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH TOPICS– the following list is not meant to be inclusive. Hopefully it will help you generate an idea which you and your partners will find interesting. Remember, if you find your topic unworkable, you must get approval from Mrs. Kavalow-Huie before switching to another topic. You must submit a second topic proposal form.  Why do we dream?  What effect does divorce have on children?  What causes shyness?  What is autism?  Can watching TV violence cause children to become aggressive?  What are learning disabilities?  Does ESP exist?  How do stereotypes cause prejudice?  How do advertisements influence behavior?  How can you improve your memory?  How valid are IQ tests?  What are the various types of territorialism?  Lefthandedness- does it matter?  How similar are identical twins?  What are the effects of stress?  Why do adults abuse their children?  Does subliminal persuasion have an effect on behavior?  What is body language?  Can a polygraph determine if someone is lying?  How are gender differences created?  When is an insanity plea used?  What are some examples of optical illusions and why do they work?  What are the causes/treatments for (select one): schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, multiple persona lity. etc. ?  Are personality traits inherited?  Is ethnic prejudice too ingrained ever to be eliminated?  Does daycare harm the emotional development of infants?  Are IQ tests unfairly biased against certain groups?  Can traumatic memories be repressed, then recovered?  Does acupuncture relieve pain?  Are there drugs that can make you smarter?  Does cynical hostility increase the risk of heart disease?  Can medication help relieve stress?  Can chimps or other animals learn language?  Is punishment ever effective?  Why do we sleep?  Can hypnosis improve eyewitness memory?  What do twin studies reveal?  When will people help?(altruism)  Why do people conform?  When will people obey an order to harm another?

Power Point Evaluation Rubric PowerPoint Evaluation  Readability: (Text size, bold, italics & backgrounds)…. 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 0  Relevant pictures & visually integrated ………………. 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 0  Creativity………………………………………………….. 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 0  Spelling & Grammar (100%)……………………………. 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 -0  Evidence of research …………………………………… 6 – 5 -4 - 3 -2 - 1 -0  Depth of Content …………………………………………-9- 8-7-6- 5- 4- 3- 2- 1-0  Accuracy and Clarity of Information …………………… -9- 8-7- 6- 5- 4- 3- 2- 1-0  Use of examples, NOT just definitions ……………………………… 4 - 3- 2- 1- 0-  Completeness …………………………………………………………. 4 – 3- -2 -1 -0 ____ 50

Oral Presentation Evaluation Content  Introduction: (State topic & provide background)……....…… 3 - 2 - 1 - 0  Main Body: (Key points & verbally integrated P-Point)……… 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 0  Conclusion: (Provide summary & significance)……………… 3 - 2 - 1 - 0  Communicated understanding of topic ………………...... 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 0 Presentation Skills  Verbal grammar; verbal transitions……………………… …… 3 - 2 - 1 - 0  Body Language (Eye Contact, Facing class; Posture)………. 4- 3 - 2 - 1 - 0  Volume ( + - ) Pace ( + - ) ………………………. 4- 3 - 2 - 1 - 0  8-10 minute presentation…………………… (Deduction only) - ______25 Comments: ______