PSYCHOLOGY WITH STYLE

A Hypertext Writing Guide

1/17/2000 - Version 3.1 (Revision History)

M. Plonsky, Ph.D.

University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

This page is best viewed with Netscape (v4) or Internet Explorer (v4).
Comments or suggestions are welcome at mplonsky@[Link].

CONTENTS
 Introduction

I. General Topics
A. Typing
B. Writing in General
C. Style Details in General
D. Abbreviations
E. Numbers
F. Citations in the Text
G. Quotations
II. Research Reports
A. Title Page
B. Abstract
C. Introduction
D. Methods

Subjects/Participants
Apparatus
Design
Procedure

E. Results
F. Discussion
G. References
H. Other Sections

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 Tables
Figure Captions
Figures

III. Research Reviews

A. Introduction
B. Body
C. Conclusions

Appendix 1 - Example Title Page

Appendix 2 - Example Ways to Present Results
Appendix 3 - Example Reference Section
Appendix 4 - Example Table
Appendix 5 - Example Figure Captions Page

Scientific research is a public venture. Therefore, one of the essential skills of the
scientist is to be able to communicate ideas and research results effectively. This
hypertext guide is an attempt to make the style of writing used in the field of psychology
clear to you. It summarizes a lot of the material available in the Publication Manual of
the American Psychological Association (4-th edition) (1995) and is oriented toward
undergraduate students. For example, it includes numerous hints to avoid common
mistakes students make. Note the examples appear in a teletype font to distinguish
them from the normal text. Finally, the document is organized in an outline format for at
least two reasons. First, it should make it easier for students to quickly locate the
information they seek. Second, it should make it easier for an instructor to grade students
papers. In most cases, the student can simply be referred to the outline item that addresses
the problem rather than writing the comment repeatedly on multiple papers.
I. General Topics
A. Typing
1. Your papers must be typed.
2. Set the typewriter or word processor to double space and keep it
there throughout the entire manuscript.
3. Use one inch margins on the left, right, top, and bottom of the
page. These margins are wide in order to leave room for reviewer's
comments.
4. Use normal paragraphs in which the first line is indented five
characters for all paragraphs in the manuscript except the abstract,
block quotes, titles and headings, subheadings, table titles, notes,
and figure captions.
5. Use a 12 point font. In other words, there should be 10 typed
characters per inch.
6. Single space after sentence terminators (i.e., '.', '?', '!').
7. Capitalize the first letter following a colon if the clause following
the colon is a complete sentence.

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 8. If you are using a word processor, make sure the text is left aligned
and not justified. With left aligned text, the left margin forms a
straight line and the right margin is ragged. With justified text both
the left and right margins form a straight line.
9. Do not hyphenate (split) words at the end of a line.
10. Finally, just staple or clip the finished product (do not bother with
fancy folders, etc.).
B. Writing in General
1. You must use complete sentences.
2. The first sentence of a paragraph must be independent (able to
stand on its own). For example consider While these studies
are important, there is... 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
whatever on whatever else are important, there is...
3. Try not to use slang (e.g., ...put a damper on...).
4. Do not use contractions. That is, instead of it's, use it is.
5. If you are doubtful about the spelling of a word, do not guess.
Look up the correct spelling in an appropriate reference source.
6. Proofread the copy that you submit and do correct minor
typographical errors, formatting, spelling, or even the wording,
with a pencil. These corrections are inevitable and will
communicate that you are serious about your work.
C. Style Details in General
1. Study this handout. When in doubt about a detail, check with the
Publication Manual of the APA.
2. Assume you are writing the paper for submission to a scientific
journal.
3. A lot of the formatting details can be learned by carefully
modeling another APA journal article. It would be a good idea to
acquire a few fairly recent articles, because the format was revised
in 1995. Try the Psychological Record or The Bulletin of the
Psychonomic Society. Both of these journals publish relatively
short articles that are not too complicated.
4. Avoid excessive use of the terms I, me, and my, as well as the
phrase personally speaking...
5. Avoid the use of sexist language. For example, consistently
referring to a person as a him or he when it is just as likely for the
person to be a she or a her, is sexist. However, using (s)he or
him/her all of the time can also be awkward. If you phrase it right,
you can often use the word person instead.
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...

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 7. Generally speaking, use past tense in the abstract, introduction, and
method. Results and discussion sections can be in the present
tense.
8. Get friends to read it. If they cannot understand it, then it needs
work. If you cannot get a friend to read it, then try to read it
yourself making believe that you are naive.
D. 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, against
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 done in articles written many years ago.
6. Note the following common abbreviations and note also that you
do not use periods with them.
cm centimeter s seconds
mg milligrams min minutes
g grams hr hours
M mean IQ intelligence
7. For example, the bar was 2.5 cm wide and 1.0 cm high.
E. 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 also that this example demonstrates one of the
exceptions to the rule noted in I.E.2.
4. 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.
5. Try to be consistent with number formats. That is, if you are
reporting a series of related numbers, they should all be presented

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 with the same number of decimal places. For an example, see I.D.5
above.
F. 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.
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.
G. Quotations
1. You must give page numbers for direct quotes. For example,
Smith (1978) noted that "the world is round" (p. 1).
2. Three or four quotes in a 10 page paper is about the upper limit.
3. Display a quotation of more than 40 words as free-standing block
of text indented 5 spaces from the left margin (doubles spaced as
usual). Omit the quotation marks and include the page number in
parentheses after the last period. Also, if the quotation is more than
one paragraph, indent the first line of the second and any additional
paragraphs 5 spaces.
II. Research Reports
The order of the sections of the manuscript are as follows:
A. Title Page
1. See an example title page.

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 2. The manuscript page header is the first thing that appears on the
title page. It consists of the first two or three words of the title and
is followed by the page number. It is used by the editors and
reviewers to identify the pages of the manuscript. It is placed in the
upper right hand corner of all pages of the manuscript (except for
any figures). Thus, the manuscript page header should appear as
the first line of the title page, right justified with the number '1'
either double spaced below it or 5 spaces to the the right of it. If
you are using a word processor, you can have it put this manuscript
page header on all pages automatically.
3. The running head comes next and is no more than 50 characters
(including punctuation and spaces). It typically consists of a couple
of key words from the title. Type this running head flush left and in
all capital letters. For example, Running head: ABORTION
ATTITUDES IN COLLEGE STUDENTS (note that the 'R' in running is
capitalized, but the 'h' in head is not).
4. Choosing a title. 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 (Dependent Variable) as a
Function of (Independent Variable) or The Effects of
(Independent Variable) on (Dependent Variable). 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.
5. When typing the title, center it on the page and capitalize only the
first letter of important words. On the next double spaced line is
the author's name and on the next double spaced line is the
institutional affiliation.
6. For the purposes of this class, I would also like you to include
something like In partial fulfillment of the
requirements for PSY389, Instructor's Name, and the
Date.
B. Abstract
1. The abstract page is Page 2.
2. Center the word Abstract on this page, then begin typing on the
very next double-spaced line (i.e., do not insert any extra blank
lines here).
3. Type this section as a single (double spaced) paragraph in block
format (i.e., do not use indentation).
4. The purpose of this section is to provide a brief (100-120 words),
comprehensive summary of the study. It is very important because
it is all that many people will read.
5. It should include a brief description of the problem being
investigated, the methods used, the results, and their implications.

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 6. It is a good idea to write this section last (after all of the other
sections are written). You might try taking the lead sentence or two
from the introduction, method, results, and discussion sections and
integrate them to form the abstract.
7. Avoid citing references in the abstract.
C. Introduction
1. The introduction begins on Page 3.
2. Start this page by retyping your 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.
3. 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.
4. It starts out broad and becomes more and more specific. For
example, you might begin by defining any relevant terms. Then go
on to review the relevant literature. Avoid an exhaustive and
historical review. Then go on to make clear the connection
between previous research and the present work.
5. You might include any hypotheses and the rationale for them.
6. The final paragraph usually contains a statement which clearly and
explicitly states why the study was performed, such as The
purpose of this study was to... or The present study
was designed to investigate the... Be especially careful
not to use a sentence of this type earlier in your introduction.
7. Thus, this section should contain an absolute minimum of four
paragraphs: the general introduction, the literature review, the
connection of the present study to the literature and the explicit
statement of purpose.
D. Methods
1. Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Simply center
the word Method and continue typing on the very next double-
spaced line (i.e., do not insert any extra blank lines here).
2. The purpose of this section is to describe in detail how you
performed the study. Someone should be able to replicate your
study based on the information you provide in this section.
3. Make it sound professional, that is, do not make it sound like a
class project. Assume you are writing for submission to a scientific
journal.
4. Avoid unnecessary details like the data were displayed on
the computer screen and recorded on the data sheet(s).
This is similar to the empty word problem described in I.C.6.
5. For an experiment, this section is typically divided into four
subsections: subjects, apparatus, design, and procedure. The order
of design followed by procedure is arbitrary. In other words, you
could have the procedure come before the design. Sometimes

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 researchers combine the design and procedure sections, however,
in an experimental psychology or research methods class, a
separate design section is typically required.
6. For a survey study (i.e., one in which the participants are simply
asked a set of questions), the design section is not necessary (and
the survey itself may be included as an appendix).

Subjects/Participants

7. This section is labeled as subjects or participants depending on

whether animals or humans are used in the study. If animals are
used, use the term subjects. If humans are used, use the term
participants.
8. Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Type the
appropriate title for this subsection flush with the left margin and
underline it. On the next line, begin typing normal paragraphs.
9. Indicate who participated in the study, how many, and how were
they selected.
10. Include any details which are relevant to the study (e.g., gender,
age, ethnicity, strain, weight, etc.).
11. If the subjects were human, what type of reward or motivation was
used to encourage them to participate?

Apparatus

12. Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Type the word
Apparatus flush with the left margin and underline it. On the next
line, begin typing normal paragraphs.
13. Describe what materials were used and how they functioned in the
study.
14. If you use a piece of equipment, you must give the model number,
company, and state where the company resides (as a two-letter
abbreviation).
15. You must give the dimensions (and perhaps other descriptive
details) of any important items used in the study.
16. Standard equipment such as furniture, stopwatches, pencils and
paper, can usually be mentioned without providing a lot of details.
In fact, you may often simply mention these items in passing as
part of the procedure.
17. Be careful not to describe procedures in this section. You should
make clear what purpose the apparatus served, but do not give a lot
of details on the use of the apparatus at this point. One hint in this
regard is to avoid using action verbs in this section.

Design

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 18. Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Type the word
Design flush with the left margin and underline it. On the next
line, begin typing normal paragraphs.
19. Describe the design and clearly spell out the independent and
dependent variables. Indicate what the levels of the independent
variables were, and whether the factor(s) were repeated, matched,
or independent.
20. Describe how the subjects were assigned to groups.
21. Describe any control procedures used.

Procedure

22. Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Type the word
Procedure flush with the left margin and underline it. On the next
line, begin typing normal paragraphs.
23. Carefully summarize each step in the execution of the study.
24. Indicate what a typical test, trial, or session involved.
25. Describe any phases that the study had or any instructions that the
subjects received.
26. When referring to groups, try to use descriptive labels. For
example, instead of saying Group 1 or the experimental group,
you might say the drugged group. Another technique in this
regard is to use abbreviations that emphasize meaning. For
example, There were three groups, including, the
control group which received 0 mg/kg of morphine (M0),
a low dose group receiving 1 mg/kg of morphine (M1),
and a high dose group receiving 4 mg/kg of morphine
(M4).
E. Results
1. Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Simply center
the word Results and continue typing on the very next double-
spaced line (i.e., do not insert any extra blank lines here).
2. Look carefully at the results. That is, take a good hard look at all
those numbers you collect. Think of different ways to summarize
them, as well as to make sense of them. This section will be easier
to write if you make any tables and/or figures you intend to use
first.
3. Briefly state the main findings in words. That is, first give a
general description, then go into the details.
4. When presenting the results of statistical tests, give descriptive
statistics before the corresponding inferential statistics. In other
words, give means and/or percentages (perhaps referring to a table
or figure), before talking about the results of any statistical tests
you performed.
5. When presenting means, it is reasonable to use one additional digit
of accuracy than what is contained in the raw data. In other words,

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 if the raw data consisted of whole numbers, then the means should
contain one decimal place.
6. When presenting nominal or ordinal data, give the percents rather
than frequencies (since percents are independent of the sample
size).
7. The general format for presenting an inferential statistic is:
Statistic(df) = value, probability = value. Note that if the statistics
are generated with a computer, you can give the exact p values.
Also, if the computer output says the probability is .0000, then
report it as .001.
8. When actually presenting the results, try to emphasize the meaning
of the statistics. That is, clearly describe what it is you are testing
and what significance means for the variables involved.
9. See some examples of the correct way to present the results of
several common statistical tests.
10. Do not discuss the implications of the results in this section.
11. Do not talk about the meaning of the alpha level or the null
hypothesis, and what chance factors have to do with it. Since you
are writing for the scientific community, you can assume the
reader will have a working knowledge of statistics.
12. If you are presenting a lot of material here, you may wish to
employ subheadings (as is done in the methods section). These
subheadings should have meaning and relevance to the data and
should help to organize your presentation of it. In other words,
they should not be organized by the type of analysis employed.
Since this is not expected by the reader, it is a good idea to precede
the subheadings with a paragraph informing the reader of the
logical organization of this section.
13. In cases where the reader would expect something to be significant
and it is not, you should address the issue.
14. Do not provide raw data unless, for some reason, you require a
single subject approach.
15. Be careful with the word "prove". Since statistical tests are based
on probability and can be in error, they do not really prove
anything.
16. You can only use wording that implies causality if you actually
manipulated the independent variable (i.e., performed an
experiment). For example, suppose you manipulated whether
subjects received a drug (while employing appropriate control
procedures, etc.) and found a significant difference in memory
performance (with the drug users performing more poorly than
nonusers). In this case, you would be able to conclude that the drug
caused the difference in memory ability; it impaired it. As another
example, suppose that you compared drug use (as determined from
the results of a survey) with memory ability and found a
correlation (greater use went along with poorer memory

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 performance). Since correlation doesn't say much about causality,
we could only conclude that there is a relationship between drug
use and memory ability.
F. Discussion
1. Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Simply center
the word Discussion and continue typing on the very next double-
spaced line (i.e., do not insert any extra blank lines here).
2. The purpose of this section is to evaluate and interpret the results,
especially with respect to the original research question.
3. Start off with a brief, non-technical summary of the results. In
other words, tell the reader about the main findings without using
statistical terminology.
4. Then go on to discuss the implications of the results. In other
words, whatever was found needs to be discussed.
5. It is also important to discuss how the results relate to the literature
you cited in the introduction. In other words, emphasize any
theoretical consequences of the results.
6. You might (or might not) also mention any limitations of the study
and any suggestions for future research in this section.
7. Finally, you need an ending paragraph in which you make a final
summary statement of the conclusions you have drawn.
8. Thus, this section should contain an absolute minimum of three
paragraphs: the non-technical summary, discussion of the results
and their implications, and the concluding paragraph.
G. References
1. Start on a new page. Center the word References at the top. As
usual, double space.
2. Any citations made in the manuscript must be presented in this
section and vice versa. That is, if something is not cited in the text,
then it should not appear in this section. In still other words, this is
not a bibliography.
3. In any of the previous sections, whenever you say something like
studies have shown you must provide a citation. This section
tells the reader where they can find these citations.
4. This section is alphabetized by last name (of the first author
involved in the study).
5. Normal paragraphs (i.e., five-space indented) are employed for
each reference.
6. For each author, give the last name followed by a comma and the
first (and middle) initials followed by periods.
7. Separate multiple authors with commas and the last author with the
ampersand ('&') rather than the word "and".
8. After the author(s) comes the year (in parentheses and followed by
a period).
9. For a journal reference, underline the title of the journal, volume
number and adjacent punctuation marks with a single unbroken

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 line. Note that issue numbers are typically not included. Also,
capitalize the important words of the journal title.
10. For a book reference, just underline the title. Only capitalize the
first word of the title. Do include the city, state (as a two-letter
abbreviation without periods), and the publisher's name.
11. See the example reference section. It provides several types of
references, including: Single and multiple author, journal articles,
book, and book chapter, web page, as well as a government
document.
H. Other Sections
1. After the above sections come any tables, the page(s) with the
figure captions, and finally any figures, respectively. Each belongs
on a separate page (multiple figure captions can appear on one
page however).
2. Tables and the figure captions page have a manuscript page header
and page number just like all the other typed pages. Note that
figures are not typed, and so do not have a manuscript page header
and page number.
3. Tables and figures should be able to stand alone (i.e., you should
not have to read the manuscript to be able to understand a table or
figure). A big help in this regard is the table title or the figure
caption. Use these wisely to explain what is going on in the table
or figure. In other words, do not be afraid to be a little bit verbose
in your table titles and figure captions.
4. Tables and figures should not duplicate the same information.
Likewise, you should not repeat the data point values in a table or
figure in the text of the manuscript.
5. Tables and figures are more expensive to include in the manuscript
than text. Therefore, if you include one, it should include a
reasonable number of data points (unless it illustrates a particularly
complex result). In other words, if you only have a few data points
to present, do it in the text of the manuscript rather than in a table
or figure.
6. Tables and figures are most often used to present results, but may
also be used to present other information, such as the design or a
theoretical schema.
7. If you include a table or figure, you must introduce it in the text of
the results section (e.g., Table 1 displays the...) and describe
to the reader what should be seen in it.

Tables

8. See an example table.

9. Note that APA style tables do not contain any vertical lines, so do
not draw them in or use your word processor to generate them.

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 10. Type the table number and then (on the next double spaced line)
type the table title flush left and underlined. Note that there are no
periods used after the table number or title.
11. When using columns with decimal numbers, make the decimal
points line up.

Figure Captions

12. See an example figure captions page.

13. Start on a new page. Center the phrase Figure Captions at the
top.
14. Each figure caption is typed flush left in block format.
15. The word 'figure', the number, and the adjacent period are
underlined, for example, Figure 1. The effects of...

Figures

16. 'Figures' is the technical term for graphs, charts, drawings and
pictures.
17. Figures (other than pictures) may be drawn in black and white only
(using a ruler and preferably on graph paper) or they may be
generated with a computer graphics program (keeping it in two
dimensions).
18. Center each figure on the page vertically as well as horizontally
and arrange for the figure to use the bulk of the page.
19. If the figure is a chart or graph, verbally label the axes (do not use
"X" and "Y") and provide a key if necessary (e.g., explaining what
open vs. filled circles are).
20. On the back of each figure (with a pencil), put the manuscript page
header, the figure number, and the word TOP to indicate how the
figure should appear on the page.
21. Do not put the figure caption on the figure, since that is what the
figure captions page is for.

III. Research Reviews

There are a number of kinds of research reviews. You could describe a
phenomenon, review an existing theory or present a new one. You could critically
evaluate how one theory accounts for some data as compared to some other
theory. Whatever the kind of review, the goal is to organize, integrate, and
evaluate previous research in order to clarify a particular problem or issue. This
type of manuscript does not follow as standard a format as a research report.
Instead of the introduction, methods, results and discussion sections, there is an
introduction, body and conclusions.

I. Introduction
1. Begins on page 3 (after the title page and abstract).

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 2. Start this page by retyping your 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.
3. The introduction should clearly define the problem or issue. This
section is not unlike the introduction for a research report.
4. It starts out broad and becomes more and more specific.
5. It is often useful to use headings (and perhaps subheadings) in the
body of the research report to help communicate the outline and
organization of the paper to the reader. It is a good idea to precede
the headings with a paragraph informing the reader of the logical
organization (i.e., other headings that will be employed). This
paragraph should appear at the end of the introduction just before
the actual body of the paper and is important because it lets the
reader know the directions that the paper will take.
J. Body
1. If you use headings, the primary main heading levels should be
treated like the main heading of a research report, that is, type the
main heading using upper and lower case, and center it
horizontally on the page. Second level headings are flush left and
underlined. Third level headings (if necessary) are indented like
the normal paragraphs that they start off. Thus, the words of the
third level heading lead off the paragraph, are separated from it by
a period, and are underlined (including the period). The rest of the
paragraph follows the period.
2. This section should present the relevant literature and ideas.
3. Often the instructor will set a minimum number of references that
are required. These references will be listed in the reference
section and are cited using a particular style which you can see
most clearly in the literature you are reading for your review.
4. A common mistake that students often make is to organize the
paper around the specific references they are using (even using the
reference titles as the main headings of the manuscript). The paper
should be organized around the relevant phenomenon or theory
and not by the specific references that one uses in the paper.
5. This section can be lengthy (depending upon how much material is
presented).
6. You might try to identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and
inconsistencies in the literature.
7. You might suggest possible solutions to any problem(s) identified.
8. You might suggest future directions for research to take.
K. Conclusions
1. Finally, you need an ending section, in which, you summarize the
main points you have made.

Appendix 1 - Example Title Page (below)

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 Attitudes Towards Abortion

Running head: ABORTION ATTITUDES IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Attitudes Towards Abortion

in Midwestern College Students

Mark Plonsky

University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for PSY389

Instructor's Name

Date

Appendix 2 - Example Ways to Present Results (below)

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An examination of the number of hours of television

viewing and the frequency of aggressive acts for each of

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the 60 children revealed a positive or direct correlation

between television viewing and instances of aggressive

behavior. An analysis using Pearson's correlation coefficient

supported this observation, r(58) = .63, p < 0.05.

The control group (M = 14.1) remembered more words

on the memory test than the drugged group (M = 12.3).

This difference was tested using an independent

groups t test, and was shown to be nonsignificant,

t(18) = 1.23, p > 0.10. Thus, the data fail to support

the notion of a drug effect on memory.

The mean scores for the short, medium, and long

retention intervals were 5.9, 10.3, and 14.2, respectively.

A one way analysis of variance revealed a significant

effect of retention interval, F(2, 34) = 123.07, p < .001.

While 60% of the males agreed that their map

reading skills were strong, only 35% of the females did.

A 2 x 2 Chi Square analysis revealed that this was a

significant difference, x2 (1, N = 119) = 10.51, p < .025,

suggesting that there was a relationship between gender

and confidence in map reading skills.

Appendix 3 - Example Reference Section (below)

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References

Anisman, H., Remington, G., & Sklar, L. S. (1979).

Effects of inescapable shock on subsequent escape

performance: Catecholaminergic and cholinergic mediation

of response initiation and maintenance.

Psychopharmacology, 61(1), 107-124.

Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Clinical,

experimental and theoretical aspects. New York: Hoeber.

Cicero, T. J. (1979). A critique of animal analogues

of alcoholism. In E. Majchrowicz & E. P. Noble (Eds.),

Biochemistry and pharmacology of ethanol (Volume

2, pp. 31-59). New York: Plenum Press.

Dorworth, T. R., & Overmier, J. B. (1977). On "learned

helplessness": The therapeutic effects of electroconvulsive

shocks. Physiological Psychology, 5, 355-358.

Plonsky, M. (1998). Psychology with style: A hypertext

writing guide (Version 3). Retrieved from the Web 9/1/98.

[Link]

U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

(1971). Alcohol and Health. Washington, DC: U.S.

Government Printing Office.

Appendix 4 - Example Table (below)

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Table 1

Average Ages Sexual Information was Acquired

Compared with the Youngest and Oldest Ages Subjects

Believed the Information Should be Acquired

------------------------------------------------------
Age Youngest Oldest
Acquired Age Age
------------------------------
Information Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
------------------------------------------------------
How babies are made 10.1 2.9 8.5 2.8 11.9 2.7
How babies are born 10.0 3.1 8.4 3.1 11.6 2.8
Sexual intercourse 11.6 2.6 10.4 2.6 13.1 2.6
Menstruation 11.6 2.2 9.9 2.1 12.6 2.1
Nocturnal emissions 12.5 2.6 10.8 2.6 13.4 2.7
Masturbation 13.0 2.6 11.4 2.8 14.0 2.6
Birth control 13.9 2.4 12.0 2.2 14.3 2.4
Homosexuality 13.4 2.8 11.3 2.8 14.1 2.5
Genital terminology 12.4 2.9 10.4 3.3 13.1 3.3
Orgasm 14.0 2.3 12.5 2.7 15.0 2.6
STD's 14.1 2.3 12.0 2.4 14.7 2.4
------------------------------------------------------
STD's = Sexually transmitted diseases

Appendix 5 - Example Figure Captions Page (below)

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Figure Captions

Figure 1. Mean activity counts as a function of maternal

diet and age of the rat at the time of testing.

Figure 2. Number of people arrested for drunken driving

as related to the day of the week.

Version 1 of this document went online 8/96.

Copyright © 1996-2000 by M. Plonsky
[Link]
since 9/1/98.
Comments? mplonsky@[Link].

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