PAPER I: MINI-LIT REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS 1

PAPER I: MINI-LIT REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS 1

Running head: PAPER I: MINI-LIT REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS 1

Instructions for Paper I: Mini-Literature Review (Study One) (Worth 25 Points)

Ryan J. Winter

Florida International University

PAPER II: METHODS AND RESULTS INSTRUCTIONS 2

Purpose of Paper I (Mini-Literature Review)

1). Psychological Purpose

This paper serves several purposes, the first of which is helping you gain insight into research papers in psychology. As this may be your first time reading and writing papers in psychology, one goal of Paper I is to give you insight into what goes into such papers. This mini-lit review will help you a). better understand the psychology topic chosen for the course this semester (the hindsight bias), b). learn about the various sections of an empirical research report by reading three peer-reviewed articles (that is, articles that have a Title Page, Abstract, Literature Review, Methods Section, Results Section, and References Page), and c). use information gathered from research articles in psychology to help support your hypotheses for your first study this semester (the hindsight bias).

In this relatively short paper, you will read three research articles, summarize what the authors did and what they found, and use those summaries to support your hindsight bias hypothesis. You should start your paper broadly and then narrow your focus (think about the hourglass example provided in the lecture). My suggestion is to give a brief overview of the paper in your opening paragraph, hinting at the research variables you are looking at for study one.

Your next paragraphs will review prior research. Make sure to draw connections between studies, using smooth transitions between paragraphs. Final paragraphs should use the research you just summarized to support your research hypothesis. In other words, this mini-lit review paper will look like the literature reviews for the three research articles you are summarizing for this assignment. Use those articles as examples! Here, though, you will end the paper after providing your hypothesis. In Paper II, you will pick the topic up again, but in that future paper you will talk about your study methods and results.

2). APA Formatting Purpose

The second purpose of Paper I: Mini-Literature Review is to teach you proper American Psychological Association (APA) formatting. In the instructions below, I tell you how to format your paper using APA style. There are a lot of very specific requirements in APA papers, so pay attention to the instructions below as well as Chapter 14 in your textbook!

3). Writing Purpose

Finally, this paper is intended to help you grow as a writer. Few psychology classes give you the chance to write papers and receive feedback on your work. This class will! We will give you extensive feedback on your first few paper in terms of content, spelling, and grammar. You will even be able to revise aspects of Paper I and include them in future papers (most notably Papers III and V). My hope is that you craft a paper that could be submitted to an empirical journal. Thus readers may be familiar with APA style

PAPER I: MINI-LIT REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS 1

PAPER II: METHODS AND RESULTS INSTRUCTIONS 3

but not your specific topic. Your job is to educate them on the topic and make sure they understand how your study design advances the field of the hindsight bias research.

PAPER II: METHODS AND RESULTS INSTRUCTIONS 4

Instructions for Paper I: Mini-Literature Review (Study One) (Worth 25 Points)

Students: Below are lengthy instructions on how to write your mini-literature review. There is also a checklist at the end of this document, which I recommend you print out and “check off” before submitting your final paper (we are sticklers for APA format, so make sure it is correct!)

1. Title Page: I expect the following format. (5 Points) a. You must have a header and page numbers on each page.

i. If you don’t know how to insert headers, ask your instructor or watch this very helpful video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pbUoNa5tyY.

ii. The header goes at the top of the paper and it is left justified. 1. Use “Insert Headers” or click on the top of the page to open the

header. Make sure to select the “Different first page” option so that your title page header will differ from subsequent pages

2. The R in Running head is capitalized but the “h” is lower case, followed by a colon and a short title (in ALL CAPS). This short running head title can be the same one as the rest of your paper or it can differ – the choice is yours, but it should be no more than 50 characters including spaces and punctuation

3. Insert a page number as well. The header is flush left, but the page number is flush right.

iii. Want an example header? Look at the title page of these instructions! You can use other titles depending on your own preferences (e.g. HINDSIGHT BIAS; FORESIGHT; I THINK SO, BUT ONLY IN HINDSIGHT; etc.).

b. Your Title should be midway up the page, with your name (First Last) and the name of your institution (FIU) beneath the title. For this class, only your own name will go on this paper. Double space everything!

i. Again, see my “Title” page above as an example ii. You can also refer to Chapter 14 in your textbook

c. This Title Page section will be on page 1 2. Literature Review Section (12 points)

a. First page of your literature review (Page 2) i. Proper header with page numbers. Your running head title will appear in the header of your page WITHOUT the phrase “Running head”. To insert this header, use the headers program.

ii. The title of your paper should be on the first line of page two, centered. It is IDENTICAL to the title on your title page.

iii. The beginning text for your paper follows on the next line b. Citations for the literature review

i. Your paper must cite a minimum of three (3) empirical research articles that are based on studies conducted in psychology. That is, each of the three citations you use should have a literature review, a methods section, a results section, a conclusion/discussion, and