the effects of ADHD and academic performance

Assignment 1:  APA Style Research Paper Guidelines
Assignment 1 consists of writing the Introduction Section of an APA-style research paper.  A true research paper is not a report on some topic of interest, for example a report on Autism or ADHD.  A true research paper consists of conducting a study in order to add to the body of scientific knowledge concerning the relationship between two or more variables, for example, the relationship between ADHD and academic performance.  You are only writing the Introduction Section of an APA-style research paper because you will NOT conduct an actual study.  You will introduce a problem (e.g. a relationship between two or more variables), develop the background of previous research on the problem, and state your research hypothesis for a study that you propose (but will not carry out) in order to add to the body of scientific knowledge concerning the problem.
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You should all pick a topic that interests you, possibly a topic that is personally relevant (e.g. relating to your work, hobbies, interests, etc.)  The topic must be one within the scientific field of psychology relevant to the particular course (Child Development, Adult Development, Lifespan Development, or Introductory Psychology).  Refrain from any non-scientific topic such as astrology, parapsychology, or phrenology.  For example, a research paper topic might be ‘The relationship between home environment during childhood and intelligence’, ‘The relationship between parental involvement and academic performance’, or ‘The effects of motivation on workplace performance’.  The following steps will help you to complete the assignment in a timely manner, thus producing a better paper:
(1) Turn in your topic (3rd Week).  I will go over the topics, determine the appropriateness of each topic, and make suggestions concerning the refinement of each topic.
(2) Conduct a literature search (4th  Week).  Your topic may need to be further refined based upon the results of the literature search, for example, you may find that the topic is too broad or too narrow.  You must find six articles published in peer-reviewed journals that you will cite in your introduction section.  During the third week of the semester, we will spend an entire class session in the library, during which time you will be taught how to search the academic databases available to PCC students and staff for articles published in peer-reviewed journals.
(3) Complete an outline of your research paper (By 5th Week).
(4) Complete a “final” draft of the research paper (By 9th Week).
(5) Have a tutor in the Social Science go over your research paper and make suggestions concerning its refinement (before 9th Week).
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(6) Refine and turn in the final draft of your research paper (12th Week).
A full APA style research paper consists of the following parts:  Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Method (Participants, Procedure, Materials, etc), Results, Discussion, References, Tables, and Figures.  Your paper will consist of the following parts:  Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, References.  A description of these parts and an example are presented below.  Additionally, there is an example paper available to you, written by a former student who received the maximum points possible.
General Formatting Rules
For your paper, Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, and References, should be on their own pages.
For a full APA-style paper, the Title Page, Abstract, References, Table(s), and Figure(s) should be on their own pages.
- In a full APA-style paper, you do not put page breaks in between the Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion sections.
Adhere to the following rules in typing the entire paper:
(1) Write in the past tense.  In a full APA-style research paper, past tense must be used in the abstract, introduction, and method, present tense can be used in the results and discussion sections.
(2) Use 12-point font.
(3) Double-spaced
(4) Use one-inch margins all the way around (left, right, top, and bottom).
(5) Indent the first line five characters for all paragraphs in your paper except the abstract and references.
(6) Single space after sentence terminators (e.g. ‘.’, ‘?’, ‘!’).
(7) Capitalize the first letter following a colon if the clause following the colon is a complete sentence.
(8) Use left paragraph alignment, not justified paragraph alignment.
(9) Do not hyphenate (split) words at the end of a line.
Writing in General
(1) Use complete sentences.
(2) The first sentence of a paragraph must be independent - able to stand on its own. For example consider the sentence; While these studies are important, more recent research suggests……….  This sentence would be correct in the middle of a paragraph, but as the first sentence, it should more appropriately read, While studies of the effects of ………. on ………. are important, more recent research suggests……….
(3) Do not use slang, write in a formal, professional manner.
(4) Do not use contractions. For example;
Instead of Use Instead of Use
Aren’t Are not I’m I am
Couldn’t Could not They’re They are
Don’t Do not You’re You are
Doesn’t Does not That’ll That will
It’s It is It’ll It will
Shouldn’t Should not Can’t Cannot
Won’t Will not Isn’t Is not
Wouldn’t Would not
(5) Be sure that each and every word is spelled correctly, this is a fairly easy task as all word processors have spell checkers.  However, a spell checker will not check for the correct usage of a word, for example;
one, won; dear, deer; might, mite; strait, straight;
two, to, too; fair, fare; pair, pear; son, sun;
four, fore; feat, feet; pail, pale; stare, stair;
eight, ate; great, grate; peel, peal; tale, tail;
air, heir; here, hear; pie, pi; tea, tee;
bare, bear; him, hymn; principal, principle; there, their, they’re;
beat, beet; lie, lye; profit, prophet; wait, weight;
blue, blew; made, maid; rain, reign; week, weak;
break, brake; male, mail; real, reel; whole, hole;
by, bye, buy, meet, meat; red, read; wholly, holy.
If you are doubtful about the correct spelling or usage of a word, do not guess; refer to a dictionary or thesaurus.
(6) Avoid using 'empty words' or words which serve no purpose. For example, In the Smith (1990) study it was found that... should read more like Smith (1990) found that...
(7) Avoid excessive use of the terms I, me, and my, as well as the phrase personally speaking...
(8) Proofread the paper and have a tutor proofread the paper and be sure to correct all typographical, formatting, spelling, and wording errors.
Abbreviations
(1) When abbreviating any terms, spell them out the first time (in both the abstract and again in the body of the manuscript, if need be). For example, The Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS) was used to...
(2) Do not use too many abbreviations. Whereas one, two, or three can be helpful, four or five can be confusing.
(3) You will often see the following Latin abbreviations used:
cf. - compare etc. – and so forth
e.g. - for example i.e. – that is
et al. - and others vs. - versus
(4) Note that (except for et al.) these abbreviations are only used in parenthetic material. In non parenthetic material, use the English translation.
(5) Do not use E and S as abbreviations for experimenter and subject. This was the convention in articles written many years ago.
(6) Note the following common abbreviations and note also that periods are not used with these abbreviations.
M - mean s - seconds
SD - standard deviation min - minutes
cm - centimeter hr - hours
mg - milligram IQ - intelligence
g - grams
For example: The bar was 2.5 cm wide and 1.0 cm high.
Participants in each condition played their respective video games for 1 hr 10 min.
Participants were administered either 1 mg Drug A or 1 mg of the placebo.
Participants were administered either 1 g Drug A or 1 mg of the placebo.
The mean of the congruent condition (M = 14.5, SD = 3.7) was significantly greater than the mean of the incongruent condition (M = 7.8, SD = 2.6), p < 0.05.
Numbers
(1) All measurement reporting is done in metric units. In other words, use centimeters and meters rather than inches and feet.
(2) The numbers zero through nine are spelled out (except when it is a table or figure number, or a metric measurement, etc.). The numbers 10 and above are written as numbers.
(3) Capitalize nouns followed by numerals or letters that denote a specific place in a numbered series. For example, As can be seen in Figure 3, during Block 4 of Session 2 such and such occurred... Note that this example demonstrates one of the exceptions to the rule noted above in (2).
(4) In the abstract, use digits for all numbers except when they begin a sentence. Note that this example demonstrates one of the exceptions to the rule noted in I.E.2.
(5) Spell out any number when it is the first thing in a sentence. For example, the sentence 34 students were used., is not appropriate and should read Thirty-four students were used.
(6) Try to be consistent with number formats. That is, if you are reporting a series of related numbers, they should all be presented with the same number of decimal places.
Citations in the Text
(1) If you use someone's words or ideas, you must give them credit with a citation. This is particularly important, since the penalties for plagiarism are severe.
- Note:  I do not want you to use any quotations, put everything in your own words, however, you must still cite the source of the idea.  In general, three or four quotes in a 10 page paper is about the upper limit, your paper is only four pages – therefore, do not quote.
(2) There are numerous ways to formally cite a reference in the text. Examples include Some fact (last name, year)., Last name (year) noted that..., or In <year>, <last name> reported that... For more ideas, pay close attention to the articles you read.
(3) The first time the reference is cited in the text, spell out all of the authors last names. For example, Miller, Rosellini, and Seligman (1975) suggested that... With articles that have three or more authors use the Latin abbreviation for "and others" when the reference is cited a second (or third) time. For example, Miller et al. (1975) suggested that... or ... some fact (Miller et al., 1975).
(4) If the citation is in parentheses and you need to use the word "and", use the ampersand ('&') instead. For example, Some (e.g., Estes & Skinner, 1940) have suggested that..., as compared to Estes and Skinner (1940) have suggested... Note also that the opposite applies as well, that is, if the citation is not in parentheses, you must use the word "and".
(5) Multiple citations in parentheses are placed alphabetically and are separated by a semicolon and a space. For example, Some fact (Carlson, 1972; Moon, 1968; Partin, 1980).
(6) If you cite something second hand, you must make it clear (e.g., Some fact (Smith, as cited in Jones, Year)). Note that in this example, only the Jones reference would be placed in the reference section.
Title page
• Header:  You must define a header for your paper.  A header is defined in MSWord by clicking on ‘Insert’ and then ‘Header’.  In the header you will type the ‘Running head’ flush left and the page number flush right (Note: Use the toolbox to insert a page number, so it will automatically number each page).  The running head is a short title that appears at the top of pages of published articles. It should not exceed 50 characters, including punctuation and spacing.  The Running head typically consists of a couple of key words from the title. Type the running head in all capital letters. For example, Running head: SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND MEMORY (note that the 'R' in running is capitalized, but the 'h' in head is not).  Note:  On all pages after the Title Page omit the words ‘Running head’.  For the previous example, on all pages after the Title Page, only SLEEP DEPRIVATION AND MEMORY would appear flush left in the header along with the page number flush right.
• Title, Your Name, and Pasadena City College are all double-spaced (no extra spaces).  When typing the title, center the title on the page and capitalize only the first letter of important words. On the next double spaced line type the author's (your) name and on the next double spaced line type the institutional affiliation (Pasadena City College).
• The title should summarize the main idea of the paper in 10-12 words. A good recipe to work with when reporting the results of an experiment is The (Dependent Variable) as a Function of (Independent Variable) or The Effects of the (Independent Variable) on the (Dependent Variable). Another option is to use the main finding as the title, for example, Prenatal Alcohol Impairs Passive Avoidance Learning in Rats. With other types of research you should try to include the variables of interest in the title (and be careful not to imply causality). Also, it is a good idea to include the species if you're working with animals or some details about the type of population if you're working with humans.
Abstract (150 to 250 words)
The abstract begins on Page 2 of the research paper and consists of a brief, comprehensive summary of the entire research paper which allows the reader to survey the contents of the research paper very quickly.  Type the word ‘Abstract’, centered at the top of the page.
The abstract will be:
• Accurate:  Correctly reflect the purpose and content of the manuscript
• Self-contained:  Stand on its own to reflect the contents of the paper.
Define all abbreviations, acronyms, and unique terms; spell out names of tests and drugs.
• Concise and Specific:  Make sentences as informative and as brief as possible.
• Non-evaluative: Report information objectively not subjectively (true for the entire research paper).
General Overview of Abstract:
First, write your paper.  The abstract is at the beginning of the paper, however, it should be the last section written. Use the completed research paper as a guide for writing the abstract.
Begin your abstract on a new page and place your running head (without the words ‘Running head’) flush left and Page 2 flush right.
Center the word Abstract at the top of the page.  Begin typing on the very next double-spaced line (i.e., do not insert any extra blank lines here).
Type this section as a single (double spaced) paragraph in block format (i.e., do not use indentation).
Keep the abstract concise - according to the APA style manual, an abstract should be between 150 to 250 words. Exact word counts can vary from journal to journal. As part of the theme of being concise, use digits for all numbers except when they begin a sentence.  In order to succinctly describe your entire paper, you will need to determine which elements are most important.  The purpose of this section is to provide a brief and comprehensive summary of the study. It is very important because it is all that many people will read. It should include a brief description of the problem being investigated.  And, in a full APA-style paper the methods used, the results, and their implications.  The abstract should be accurate – do not include information in the abstract that is not in the body of the manuscript.  The abstract should be self-contained – spell out all abbreviations.  Avoid citing references in the abstract and paraphrase rather than quoting.
Structure the abstract in the same order as your paper. Begin with a brief summary of the introduction.  Summarize the literature (your six articles), state a limitation in the literature (something that has not yet been investigated), state how your study will address this limitation, and finish the abstract with your research hypothesis.  In a full APA-style research paper, you would then continue on with a summary of the Method, Results and Discussion sections of your paper.  However, as this is not a full research paper, you will not have a Method, Results, or Discussion section in your paper.
Look at abstracts in professional journals for examples of how to summarize your paper. Notice the main points that the authors chose to mention in the abstract. Use these examples as a guide when choosing the main ideas in your own paper.
Write a rough draft of your abstract. While you should aim for brevity, be careful not to make your summary too short. Try to write one to two sentences summarizing each section of your paper. Once you have a rough draft, you can edit for length and clarity.  Be sure to include a brief, overall, summary of the literature – the six studies you describe in your research paper.


Introduction
Introduction section begins on Page 3.  Start this page by retyping your full title (centered), then begin typing the section (on the next double spaced line) using normal (5 space indented) paragraphs. Do not type the word Introduction. The introduction of an APA-style paper is the most difficult to write. A good introduction will summarize, integrate, and critically evaluate the empirical knowledge in the relevant area(s) in a way that sets the stage for your study and why you conducted it. The introduction starts out broad (but not too broad!) and gets more focused toward the end.
The main purpose of this section is to tell the reader why you performed the study. In other words, you have to inform the reader of the research question and indicate why it is important, and how it is unique when compared to previous studies.
Introduce the problem, present the specific problem under study and describe the research strategy.
Develop background by discussing previous research completed on the subject; however, in most cases you will not give a complete presentation of previous research.  Assume that the audience already has some general knowledge of the field of study and general knowledge of statistics and research methods.
State the research hypothesis and explain the purpose and rationale behind the hypothesis.
Do not put your readers to sleep.  Try to draw your reader in by saying something interesting or thought-provoking right in the first few sentences.  Examine the articles you find in your literature search. Which articles captured your attention right away and why? Use the articles you find as a model.
Your introduction should be a logical flow of ideas that leads up to your hypothesis. Try to organize the introduction in terms of the ideas rather than who did what when. The introduction shouldn’t read like a story of ―Jones did such-and-such in 2002. Then Smith did something-or-other in 2005.  Then....(etc.).  First, decide upon all of the ideas you think are necessary to include in your paper. Second, decide which ideas make sense to present first, second, third, and so forth, and think about how you want to transition between ideas. In concluding the introduction section, you will present a limitation in the present research – something that has not yet been addressed, a brief overview of your study and how it will address this limitation, and your specific research hypothesis for your study. Your study and research hypothesis should flow logically out of everything that’s been presented.  The reader should have the sense of, “Of course, this study and research hypothesis makes complete sense, given all the other research that was presented.”
When incorporating references into your intro, you do not necessarily need to describe every single study in complete detail, particularly if different studies use similar methodologies. You want to briefly summarize key articles, and point out differences in methods or findings of relevant studies when necessary. Do not overtly state why you’re including a particular article (e.g., ―This article is relevant to my study because), it should be obvious to the reader why you’re including a reference.  Do not quote from the articles, paraphrase by putting the information in your own words.
Be careful about citing your sources (see APA manual). Make sure there is a one-to-one correspondence between the articles you’ve cited in your introduction and the articles listed in your reference section.
Remember that your audience is the broader scientific community, not the other students in your class or your professor.  As stated earlier, assume the audience has a basic understanding of psychology, the topic, statistics, and research methods, however, you need to provide the audience with the complete information necessary in order to understand the research you are presenting.
General Overview of Introduction Section:
Introduce the Topic: First, provide a brief description of the research question. What is the experiment or study attempting to demonstrate? What phenomena are you studying?
Summarize Previous Research: Second, provide a well-rounded summary of previous research that is relevant to your topic. Before you begin to write this summary of the previous research, it is important to thoroughly research your topic.  Finding appropriate sources can be a daunting task, however, we will spend a class session in the library in order to further explain how to find appropriate steps.  Additionally, there are a number of steps you can take to simplify your research.
Researching Your Topic: Search a journal database, such as PsychArticles, Pubmed, or ProQuest. to find articles on your subject. For each article located in your search, read the abstract of articles that sound appropriate.  The abstract will inform you as to whether the article is possibly relevant or not relevant.  If you decide that the article is not relevant after reading the abstract, go on to the next article.  If you decide that the article is possibly relevant after reading the abstract, read the introduction section.  Once you have located an article, look at the reference section to locate other studies cited in the article. As you take notes from these articles, be sure to write down where you found the information. A simple note detailing the author's name, journal and date of publication can help you keep track of sources and avoid plagiarism.
Provide Your Hypothesis: Once you have summarized the previous research, explain areas where the research is lacking or potentially flawed. What is missing from previous studies on your topic? What research questions have yet to be answered? Your own hypothesis should lead from these questions. At the end of your introduction, offer your hypothesis and describe what you expected to find in your experiment or study.
References
Type ‘References’, centered, at the top of the page.
List each Article, alphabetized by the first letter of the last name of the first author of each article.
Present the authors names in the same order as is presented in the paper.  This order is not arbitrary, it is determined by the contribution of each author.  For each author, type the last name first, followed by the first initial of the first name and then the first initial of the middle name (e.g. Smith, J.T for John Thomas Smith_.
Type each reference in the following order:  Author’s names, Year of Publication, Name of Article, Journal Name, Volume, Issue, Page Numbers, doi or ‘Retrieved from (Name of Database) on (Date you located).  Examples include:
Sample References  (DOI included)
Journal Article:  One Author
Carlston, DL. (2011). Benefits of student-generated note packets:  A preliminary investigation of SQ3R Implementation. Teaching of Psychology, 38(3), 142-146. doi: 10.1177/0098628311411786.
Journal Article:  Two Authors
Shrager, L. & Mayer, R.E. (1989). Note-taking fosters generative learning strategies in novices. Journal of Educational Psychology, 20, 580-588. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.81.2.263
Journal Article:  Three Authors
Einstein, G.O., Morris, J., & Smith, S. (1985). Note-Taking, individual difference, and memory for lecture information. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(5), 522-532. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.77.5.522
Journal Article:  Four Authors
Peverly, S.T., Brobst, K.E., Graham, M. & Shaw, R. (2003). College adults are not good at self-regulation:  A study on the relationship of self-regulation, note taking and test taking. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(2), 335-346. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.95.2.335
Sample References  (DOI not included)
Journal Article:  One Author
Kiewra, K.A. (1988). Cognitive aspects of autonomous note taking:  Control processes, learning strategies and prior knowledge. Educational Psychologist, 23(1), 39-56. Retrieved from Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection on May 18, 2013.
Journal Article:  Two Authors
Davis, M. & Hult, R.E. (1997). Effects o writing summaries as a generative learning activity during note taking.  Teaching of Psychology, 24(1), 47-49. Retrieved from Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection on May 18, 2013
Journal Article:  Three Authors
Einstein, G.O., Morris, J., & Smith, S. (1985). Note-Taking, individual difference, and memory for lecture information. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(5), 522-532. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.77.5.522
Journal Article:  Four Authors
Peverly, S.T., Brobst, K.E., Graham, M. & Shaw, R. (2003). College adults are not good at self-regulation:  A study on the relationship of self-regulation, note taking and test taking. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(2), 335-346. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.95.2.335

You can find examples of APA style references on following websites:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ (includes general research writing guidelines)
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html (includes general research writing guidelines)
http://library.osu.edu/sites/guides/apagd.php
http://www.library.cornell.edu/newhelp/res_strategy/citing/apa.html

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Effects of Positive Reinforcement on Reducing Self-Stimulation
Behaviors in Children with Autism
Robert L. Randall
Pasadena City College
Abstract
The current study investigated the effects of positive reinforcement on reducing self-stimulation behaviors in children who have been diagnosed with autism. Positive reinforcement of alternative, appropriate behaviors is one technique that has been found to be very effective in reducing self-stimulation behaviors in children diagnosed with autism. Some studies have found positive reinforcement of alternative appropriate behaviors to be enough to reduce self-stimulation behaviors in children diagnosed with autism. However, other studies have found that the positive reinforcement of appropriate alternative behaviors must be paired with punishment of the self-stimulation behaviors. [Note:  Must insert a few major findings from your articles]  A limitation in the current research is that no study has investigated the effects of [insert your own idea of a limitation here].  The current study addresses this limitation by [insert how your study will address this limitation here].  The research hypothesis for this study is that [insert your research hypothesis here – you can have more than one research hypothesis if it is relevant to your study].


Note:  Abstract should be between 150 and 250 words.  The above sample abstract is 168 words.
Effects of Positive Reinforcement on Reducing Self-Stimulation Behaviors in Children with Autism
Children who have been diagnosed with autism often engage in self-stimulatory behaviors (Name, year).  [Note:  You must cite a study for every claim that you make.  The previous sentence involves a claim, therefore, a citation is required.  You always cite the last name of the author(s) and the year the study was published]  Self-stimulatory behaviors include behaviors such as hand flapping, flapping hands directly in front of face, rocking back and forth in their chair, pinching oneself, hitting oneself, and biting oneself.  Self-stimulation behaviors can obviously be very disruptive to the child and prevent the child from engaging in more appropriate behaviors such as homework.  Much research has investigated the effects of positive reinforcement of alternative, appropriate behaviors and ignoring inappropriate self-stimulation behaviors on reducing self-stimulation behaviors in children with autism (Name, year – insert citations of all of your studies which have investigated this).  For example, Lovaas (1987) …. (insert description of the Lovaas (1987) study here.  Follow this description with the descriptions of the other five studies.  Be sure to logically group the studies together.  For example, group the studies together that all found similar results, used similar methodologies, used similar samples, or used similar dependent variables.  After you have described / summarized each of the six articles, present a paragraph or so that summarizes the overall results.  Next, state your limitation, state how your study will address this limitation, and state your research hypotheses.
Your entire paper should be double spaced and typed using Times New Roman, 12-point font.  Use the same font size and font throughout the entire paper.  Additionally, do not bold, italicize, or underline any words.  Your Title Page is Page 1, Abstract is Page 2, Introduction Section (Body of your paper) is Pages 3, 4, 5, and 6, and your Reference Page is Page 7.
References
Alport, N.M. (2003).  The use of positive reinforcement and extinction to reduce or eliminate inappropriate behaviors in children with ADHD.  Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 39(3), 547 – 555.  Retrieved from PubMed on October 4, 20111
Carter, J.N. (2009).  The use punishment to reduce or eliminate inappropriate behaviors in children with ADHD.  Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 45(1), 1 – 33.  Retrieved from PubMed on October 7, 20111.  doi XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Type all six references, double spaced, and hanging indent just like the two shown above.  Be sure to alphabetize by the first letter of the last name of the first author as shown above.
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