Assignment: The Lab Report

You are to report on your N = 1 self-administered study, where you developed and trialled your behaviour modification intervention on yourself. The length of this report is 2,000 words or less.

• Your lab report is to be written formally, in accordance with APA formatting specifications. This assignment handout is intended to guide you through key points necessary for the assignment, however note that familiarity with the APA lab report format is assumed from your previous courses.
• Although you have already received training in writing lab reports, the tutorial classes also devote time to expanding your knowledge of scientific writing and the lab report format. Additionally, if you are planning to continue in psychology, you may find it useful to purchase the Publication Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, 6th Edition (APA, 2012), although this is by no means a requirement in order to do well at this assignment.

Key Points to Remember by Section

1. General Presentation

Your report should be presented in Times New Roman font, Size 12, with either double or 1.5 line- spacing, and page numbers beginning with 2 on the second page of the introduction. Your lab report should include a title page, abstract, and reference list (none of which will be included in the assignment word count).

There is no set number of references required, however every statement provided as fact should be referenced, and lab reports without facts are likely to struggle.

2. Introduction

You should describe your topic area, justify its importance as a target for intervention, and introduce relevant background material informing your approach to the behaviour and the design of your intervention.

Your introduction should present a series of paragraphs leading towards your aim and hypothesis, with each paragraph unpacking one core idea. You may have two hypotheses if you feel this serves the purposes of your study.

3. Method

Your method will consist of three subheadings, focusing on (i) the participant; (ii) materials used; and (iii) the procedure. These second-level headings are presented in boldface text and are left- aligned, with the main text continuing one line underneath the heading.

In the participant section, you will need to describe any relevant characteristics of yourself. Try to avoid the temptation of spending 1,000 words talking about how cool you are. Your report will be stronger for it.

In the material section, you will need to describe any resources that you are using. This will include recording sheets at a minimum, but might include a physiological measurement device or even an adapted self-report scale.

In the procedure, you should outline all relevant properties of the intervention that you have designed (as opposed to the general theory informing its design, which should have been covered in the introduction). It is important that your goals and reinforcement schedule are clearly detailed here. You should also note that your data collection is being conducted across a three-week period, with the first week serving as a baseline for comparison with two weeks where the intervention is being carried out.

4. Results

We will not be conducting tests of statistical significance in this lab report, as these are of limited applicability to a single participant design. Instead, in your results section, you will be required to present numeric data for your recording by day and by week. Your data must be summarised in the form of a figure (i.e., a graph of the data) that meets APA formatting requirements. Developing the skills to generate a graph is part of the aim of this assignment, and your results mark will be heavily penalised if a graph is not present. You will need to balance what is clearest for the reader against efficiency of space when designing your graphs. If you are recording multiple variables, you may require multiple graphs.

You will find it useful to conclude your results section with a summary of any qualitative observations that you made regarding antecedents, consequences, facilitating stimuli, obstructions, general motivation, or any other phenomena useful for informing your discussion section.

5. Discussion

Your discussion section should (i) explore whether your aim was successfully addressed and the hypothesis supported; (ii) situate your findings within the wider literature and theory; (iii) suggest any limitations that may have affected your study; (iv) generate solutions to these limitations that can be implemented in future research; (v) outline the implications that your findings hold; and (vi) present a decisive conclusion regarding the effectiveness of your intervention that emphasises any key messages the reader should draw from your report.