ACP1718 Series 2 Assignment –
Application (group, <300 words):
This text should be written together with your presentation group. Briefly describe what your approach was (e.g. the use of daily exercise in improving memory performance in middle school children) and why. Briefly describe what evidence should be required from the literature to support your approach for memory enhancement (e.g. finding a link between exercise and hormones supporting memory formation, or link between obesity and memory decline etc.). Keep in mind that the approach should always be a type of intervention / training.
Evidence (group, <300 words):
Explain, based on the conclusions of your selected 3-4 papers, whether the literature currently supports your proposed approach for memory enhancement and why / why not. For this part you do not yet have to take into account potential problems with the studies.
Literature list (group, 3-4 papers):
Find empirical research articles, specifically intervention/training studies (not reviews or meta- analyses) that help to provide evidence (for or against) the above suggested application. The articles should not be a part of the required reading material for this course. List the articles here in APA reference list format. Realize that often there will be no one paper that exactly matches your intended approach/application (let alone four), therefore also look for papers that provide circumstantial or convergent evidence. For example, if a working memory training in children is not present in the literature, perhaps it is present for adults, of perhaps a training focused on different cognitive skills is present for children. While these do not provide the exact evidence you are looking for, they can be very relevant nonetheless. For each of the papers, as group fill in a reading form (see following pages).
Reading forms
Fill in the reading forms below for the 3-4 papers that you have selected (note that the first one is filled in as an example.
Instruction for Presentation (you do not need to write anything here)
During the group presentation you will 1) Briefly explain your intended approach and application2)
Explain three potential problems with the literature that you have found (and why they are problematic). Keep in mind that the conclusion of a paper (i.e. supporting or undermining your approach) is not the focus here. Rather, what in the design, execution or interpretation of the studies might be problematic for accepting the findings? Explain why this is the case. Small sample sizes (while possibly problematic) are not interesting from a methodological or theoretical viewpoint and should not be used as one of the discussed problems.
