PSCH 352, Summer 2005
Participate in Cognitive Psychology Research Assignment
Due Tuesday, 7/19/05, worth 10 points

You have spent much of this semester learning about the importance of psychological research
 and its role in the development and testing of theories.  You have learned about various cognitive
psychology concepts and about studies that have supported these concepts, or called them into
question.  You have also read a selection of original research papers in cognitive psychology.  

The purpose of this assignment is to have a full-circle experience in cognitive psychology research. 
You will participate in an experiment, and have a chance to talk to the experimenter about the goals,
methodology, and expected results or contributions of his/her study.  You will then write a brief
report concerning the goals of the experiment, what you did in the experiment, what you think the
outcomes of the experiment will be, and, most importantly, how this particular experiment is
connected to what you’ve learned in class.  You can also offer criticisms of the experiment, or
suggest alternative ways that the goals of the experiment could be carried out.  You can think
of the assignment as an extended reading worksheet.

So what do I have to do?

1. Choose your experiment.  There are 3 options listed below.  You will participate in ONE experiment.

a) Experiment A: This experiment investigates how people comprehend texts.  It takes 1 hour and
30 minutes to complete.  Contact Frances Daniel at fdanie2@uic.edu to set up an appointment.

b) Experiment B: This experiment investigates individual differences in how people learn from texts. 
It takes 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete.  Contact Chris Sanchez at csanch4@uic.edu to set up
an appointment.

c) Experiment C: This experiment investigates how people make judgments in legal cases.  It takes
1 hour and 15 minutes to complete.  Contact Barbara Oudekerk at boudek1@uic.edu to set up an
appointment.  The last day to participate in Experiment C is Friday, July 15.

2. Write your report.  It should be no longer than 3 pages, double-spaced.  Answer the following
questions in essay form (you will lose points if you do not follow essay form).

a) What was the goal of the experiment?
b) What did you do in the experiment?  How does this relate to any alternative conditions?
c) What do you expect the results of the experiment to be?
d) What can we conclude from these results?  (Make sure you relate this back to the goals)
e) Do you have any criticisms of the experiment?  Are there alternative ways of addressing the
    same goals?
f) What is the connection between this experiment and what you’ve learned in class?  (Note:
    This is the most important question and should make up a large portion of your report).