Posted: June 8th, 2015

Biopsych related/Writers Choice

Biopsych related/Writers Choice

Compare two primary literature articles for biopsych paper. More details below.

In order to familiarize yourself with some of the brain-behavior literature you will (a) find two relatively recent articles (not earlier than 2000) from the serious scientific primary literature (i.e., literature that presents new results and does not merely review already published literature) and (b) write a paper summarizing those articles, tying them together as much as possible.  In addition, a separate “References” page and full copies of each of the articles will be handed in with the assignment; the copies of the articles will not be returned.  Please note that no credit will be given for summaries of articles that are not examples of primary literature.  Further, no credit will be given for the assignment if copies of the articles are not submitted with the summary paper.  The topic for the articles will be chosen on a “first-come, first-served” basis and may be taken from the attached “Topics” sheet or chosen elsewhere.

Good sources for recent articles are several online literature databases (e.g., PSYCInfo or MedLine).

In summarizing the articles you should provide the following information in your own words as much as possible:
(a) a brief description of the purpose of the study
(b) a presentation of the basic methodology of the study in some detail, including information on the participants/subjects (e.g., species, number, and any other important characteristics) and the essential procedure of the study (e.g., “Patients were given the subtests of the WAIS-R during a PET scan.”)
(c) a presentation of the essential results of the study (e.g., “Administration of the Block Design subtest was associated with significantly greater right hemisphere activity.”) You may present averages, but you do not need to present inferential statistics (e.g., t-tests, ANOVA’s, etc.)
(d) a brief description of the conclusions of the study

In all cases, the definition of “essential” is a judgment call.  When in doubt, provide more detail rather than less detail.  The entire assignment must be typed and double-spaced (including the “References” page) and will be worth a total of 20 points.  The assignment will be graded on both the content and style of the summary and the format of the reference citations in the paper and the “References” section at the end of the paper, which also is double-spaced.  Note that the “References” section lists references alphabetically by the first author’s last name.

In the present course, the format to be used for the treatment of references is that of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th Edition). Citation of an article in the text is relatively simple.  Please note that citations in the text do not include the title of the article, but rather note the author(s) and year of publication.  Further, the names of the authors can become part of the sentence, with the form as follows:

Evans and Pezdek (1980) sought to evaluate cognitive mapping using locations in the participant’s environment.

On the other hand, the names of the authors might be included parenthetically, as follows:

A recent study (Evans & Pezdek, 1980) sought to evaluate cognitive mapping using locations in the participant’s environment.

As you compare the above two examples note the use of the word “and” when the authors are mentioned in the text and the ampersand (i.e., “&”) when the authors are presented parenthetically.  Because numerous articles found in the medical literature have many authors, please the following rule for citations in the text:
for two authors, cite both authors whenever you reference them
for three to five authors, cite all authors the first time and the first author et al. on subsequent occasions (e.g., Johnson, et al., 2005)
for six or more authors cite only the first author et al. on all occasions
Please note that when you are summarizing an article, you do not need repeatedly to cite the reference for that article as long as it is clear that you still are referring to the same article.

When assembling the “References” page, note that the articles are to be listed alphabetically by the first author’s last name.  Again, all entries are double-spaced.  Following is a sample reference citation (Hint: Please note what is capitalized and what is not.  Also note what is italicized and what is not. Please note the spacing, etc.):

Evans, G. W., & Pezdek, K. (1980). Cognitive mapping: Knowledge of real world distance and

location information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 13, 13-24.

Dealing with Numbers

For the purposes of the present assignment, the following rules should be applied to the presentation of numbers:
if a number begins a sentence, it always should be written out (e.g., Seventy-two adults participated in the study.)
on all other occasions, put the number in numeral form, regardless of its size (e.g., There were 2 groups on participants in the study.)  Note that this is the formatting rule for the “Abstract” section of an APA paper.

Direct Quotes vs. Paraphrasing?

A question frequently asked is whether to use direct quotes from articles or to paraphrase (i.e., put in your own words).  Generally, the rule of thumb is that you should avoid direct quotes as much as possible and attempt to paraphrase for your summaries.  Where the material is highly technical (e.g., method and results sections), it is more permissible to quote directly; however you still should try to put as much as you can in your own words.

Finally, please be reminded that, even when you cite a reference, you are engaging in plagiarism if you use the same (or substantially the same) wording as either the authors of the article or someone else.  The penalty for plagiarism is at least a grade of zero for the assignment.  Other disciplinary action may also be taken.

A number of APA Style Tips can be accessed at the following web address:

http://apastyle.apa.org/previoustips.html
SOME POTENTIAL TOPICS

Please Note: The following is a list of some possible topics for your small literature summary paper.  As a guide, “neuropsychological characteristics” refer to the cognitive or behavioral changes that may be associated with a disorder (e.g., memory, problem solving, personality characteristics, etc.).  “Neuropathology” refers to the physical changes (e.g., physical damage, changes in chemical levels, etc.) that may be associated with the disorder.

Degenerative disorders:

(1) Alzheimer’s Disease                (2) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s D.)
Neuropsychological characteristics        Neuropsychological characteristics
Neuropathology                    Neuropathology

(3) Huntington’s Disease            (4) Multiple sclerosis
Neuropsychological characteristics        Neuropsychological characteristics
Neuropathology                    Neuropathology

(5) Parkinson’s Disease                (6) Pick’s Disease/Frontotemporal dementia
Neuropsychological characteristics        Neuropsychological characteristics
Neuropathology                    Neuropathology

(7) Korsakov (Korsakof/Korsakoff/Wernicke-Korsakov) Syndrome
Neuropsychological characteristics
Neuropathology

(8) Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease (“mad cow”)
Neuropsychological characteristics
Neuropathology

Developmental disorders:

(1) Attention Deficit Disorder    /ADHD        (2) Autism
Neuropathology                    Neuropathology

(3) Cerebral palsy                (4) Learning disabilities/Dyslexia
Neuropathology                    Neuropathology

(5) Rett (or Rett’s) syndrome
Neuropathology

Language disorders:
(1) Broca’s aphasia                    (2) Wernicke’s aphasia
Neuropsychological characteristics            Neuropsychological characteristics
Neuropathology                        Neuropathology

(3) Alexia                        (4) Anomia
Neuropsychological characteristics            Neuropsychological characteristics
Neuropathology                        Neuropathology

(5) Aprosodia
Neuropsychological characteristics and/or Neuropathology

(6) Conduction aphasia
Neuropsychological characteristics and/or Neuropathology

(7) Agraphia
Neuropsychological characteristics and/or Neuropathology

Localizing damage:

(1) Frontal lobes                    (2) Parietal lobes
Neuropsychological characteristics            Neuropsychological characteristics

(3) Temporal lobe epilepsy (Psychomotor epilepsy/Partial Complex seizures)                Neuropsychological characteristics

(4) Temporal lobes (non-epilepsy)            (5) Split-brain (commissurotomy)
Neuropsychological characteristics            Neuropsychological characteristics

General

(1) Agnosia (but not prosopagnosia)            (2) Prosopagnosia
Neuropsychological characteristics            Neuropsychological characteristics
Neuropathology                        Neuropathology

(3) Apraxia                        (4) Head trauma
Neuropsychological characteristics            Neuropsychological characteristics
Neuropathology                        Neuropathology

(5) Depression
Neuropathology

(6) Schizophrenia
Neuropsychological (not psychiatric) characteristics
Neuropathology

(7) Tourette’s Syndrome                (8) Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Neuropsychological characteristics            Neuropathology
Neuropathology

Other ideas?