Peer-Reviewed Literature Assignment 30 points each
PSY 383
In order to familiarize yourself with current research in the field of Physiological Psychology, this assignment
requires you to do a literature search on topics related to our course content.
Each assignment starts at the library website: http://www.york.edu/levitt/resources.asp
Choose a database. You can choose from Academic Search Premier, PSYC Articles, or PubMed Central.
In Academic Search Premier or PSYCArticles: Type in your keywords. Under limit your results, select
scholarly (peer reviewed) articles and full text. After you search, you will see a number of articles. Read
over the titles and select one that seems like it would be interesting and that is related to our course
material. Click and save the PDF file to your computer. You will turn this file in with your assignment.
In PubMed Central: Make sure PMC is selected in the drop-down menu, and type in your keywords. As
you scroll down, read over the titles and select one that is interesting to you. You have the choice of full
text or PDF. Save the PDF version. You will turn this file in with your assignment.
You will complete a total of 6 article reviews for the semester. These will be worth 30 points each. The
due dates are as follows:
2.19.14 Topic choices: Drugs, Addiction, Reward; Motivation and Regulation of Internal States
3.5.14 Topic choices: Biology of Sex and Gender; Emotion and Health
4.2.14 Topic choices: Hearing and Language; Vision and Visual Perception; Body Senses and Movement
4.14.14 Topic choices: Learning and Memory; Intelligence and Cognitive Function
4.30.14 Topic choices: Psychological Disorders; Sleep and Consciousness
5.7.14 Topic: Your choice
For full credit, each assignment should be a minimum of 500 words in length and contain the following:
1. APA style citation of the article (5 points). Here is an example of how APA style looks. It has a very specific
set of instructions:
Last, F.M., Last, F.M., & Last, F.M. (year). Title goes here. Journal title, issue: pages.
2. Give a summary, using your own words (20 points). This summary should be about 250-350 words in length
and include the following:
A brief statement on the keywords you used in your search, why you chose this article from the selections
available, and what chapter/material it is related to from our course.
What was the hypothesis of the experiment? (What were the researchers expecting to find?)
What species were involved?
What are the independent (manipulated) and dependent (measured) variables of the experiment?
What parts of the brain were being studied?
What (if any) behavioral outcomes were being observed? (This may or may not be the same as the DV)
If the study was not done in an experimental format, what correlations were drawn from the data?
Was the hypothesis confirmed or disconfirmed?
What do the researchers state as directions for future study based on their results?
3. What ethical considerations may have taken place in the development of this experiment? Did the
researchers have to get any approval to use human or animal subjects? If animal subjects were used, did the
researchers attempt to relate the results of the experiment back to a human condition?
4. What concepts, items or aspects of the content of this article were familiar to you, either from this class or
another class you have taken? Which items were the least familiar? Did you have to do extra digging or
searching to figure out what was going on in the study?
5. What did you take away from reading this article? Are you more or less interested in this topic than you
were when you first began? What was the most interesting, notable, or surprising thing that you discovered
as a result of this assignment?
6. When you have completed the assignment, please read it over. It cant hurt to have a friend proofread it.
The content should make sense for a college-level reader. If necessary, you can seek proofreading help from
the Success Center tutors (Spelling and Grammar: 5 points). When you are ready, upload the following TWO
documents to the appropriate link in Moodle. The first of these is the completed assignment. The second is
the PDF of the article you reviewed. You will upload them both at the same time before selecting Submit.
Failure to submit the PDF of the article will result in a 5 point deduction.