experiment

Psychology 465  Experimental Psychology  
Seventh Assignment:  Possible Project Idea 
Note that this is just the beginning of the process of coming up with your Independent Research Project.  I will look over your ideas, let you know if I think it will work, make suggestions, etc.  
Find one article that suggests a study that you can actually carry out.  The term suggest may mean anything from (1) replicate the study with some small modifications to (2) give you an idea for a study through some mysterious process of random association.  If you already have the idea for a study, then simply find one relevant article.  The best source for the article is PsycINFO
Make sure your proposed study meets the following criteria:
a.  It should be of some inherent interest to you.
b.  It should have some reasonable probability of being of interest to somebody other than yourself.
c.  It should be fairly simple to carry out.  (i.e. no unusual patient populations, no fancy equipment, no ten-year longitudinal designs, etc.).  If it involves a slight modification of a program that already exists, then talk to me about it—I might be able to make the necessary modifications to the program.
Provide a link to the article that you are using as the basis for your proposed study.
Be prepared to discuss the article and your proposed study in class.
Answer the following questions:
1.  Supply the APA-style reference of your article
2.  What is your research question or topic?  Make sure to phrase it in the form of a question.
3.  What is/are the independent variable(s)?
4.  What is/are the dependent variable(s)?
5.  Why is this topic interesting?
6.  What is the relationship of the proposed study to the research article?
7.  Provide a brief description of methods for your proposed study.
8.  Does the proposed study involve any equipment that may be problematic? If so, elaborate.
9.  Does the proposed study involve any custom computer programming? If so, elaborate.
10.  In terms of Participants, indicate whether you will be (a) using the class via online posting, (b) the class via in-class data collection, and/or (c) outside volunteers.  Bear in mind that you should be using the class unless there is some special reason why that is not practical.
11.  Does the proposed study involve any special participant requirements that may be problematic?  If so, elaborate.
12.  What do you expect to learn from the proposed study?