Evaluate cognitive mapping using locations in the participant’s environment.For the purposes of the present assignment, the following rules should be applied to the presentation of

Evaluate cognitive mapping using locations in the participant’s environment.For the purposes of the present assignment, the following rules should be applied to the presentation of

brain-behavior literature

In order to familiarize yourself with some of the brain-behavior literature you will (a) find two relatively
recent articles (not earlier than 2000) from the serious scientific primary literature (i.e., literature that
presents new results and does not merely review already published literature) and (b) write a paper
summarizing those articles, tying them together as much as possible. In addition, a separate “References”
page and full copies of each of the articles will be handed in with the assignment; the copies of the
articles will not be returned. Please note that no credit will be given for summaries of articles that are
not examples of primary literature. Further, no credit will be given for the assignment if copies of the
articles are not submitted with the summary paper. The topic for the articles will be chosen on a
“first-come, first-served” basis and may be taken from the attached “Topics” sheet or chosen elsewhere.

In summarizing the articles you should provide the following information in your own words as much as
possible:
(a) a brief description of the purpose of the study
(b) a presentation of the basic methodology of the study in some detail, including information on the
participants/subjects (e.g., species, number, and any other important characteristics) and the essential
procedure of the study (e.g., “Patients were given the subtests of the WAIS-R during a PET scan.”)
(c) a presentation of the essential results of the study (e.g., “Administration of the Block Design subtest
was associated with significantly greater right hemisphere activity.”) You may present averages, but you do
not need to present inferential statistics (e.g., t-tests, ANOVA’s, etc.)
(d) a brief description of the conclusions of the study

In all cases, the definition of “essential” is a judgment call. When in doubt, provide more detail rather
than less detail. The entire assignment must be typed and double-spaced (including the “References” page)
and will be worth a total of 20 points. The assignment will be graded on both the content and style of the
summary and the format of the reference citations in the paper and the “References” section at the end of the
paper, which also is double-spaced. Note that the “References” section lists references alphabetically by
the first author’s last name.

In the present course, the format to be used for the treatment of references is that of the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th Edition). Citation of an article in the text is
relatively simple. Please note that citations in the text do not include the title of the article, but
rather note the author(s) and year of publication. Further, the names of the authors can become part of the
sentence, with the form as follows:

Evans and Pezdek (1980) sought to evaluate cognitive mapping using locations in the participant’s
environment.

On the other hand, the names of the authors might be included parenthetically, as follows:

A recent study (Evans & Pezdek, 1980) sought to evaluate cognitive mapping using locations in the
participant’s environment.

As you compare the above two examples note the use of the word “and” when the authors are mentioned in the
text and the ampersand (i.e., “&”) when the authors are presented parenthetically. Because numerous articles
found in the medical literature have many authors, please the following rule for citations in the text:
for two authors, cite both authors whenever you reference them
for three to five authors, cite all authors the first time and the first author et al. on subsequent
occasions (e.g., Johnson, et al., 2005)
for six or more authors cite only the first author et al. on all occasions
Please note that when you are summarizing an article, you do not need repeatedly to cite the reference for
that article as long as it is clear that you still are referring to the same article.

When assembling the “References” page, note that the articles are to be listed alphabetically by the first
author’s last name. Again, all entries are double-spaced. Following is a sample reference citation (Hint:
Please note what is capitalized and what is not. Also note what is italicized and what is not. Please note
the spacing, etc.):

Evans, G. W., & Pezdek, K. (1980). Cognitive mapping: Knowledge of real world distance and

location information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 13, 13-24.

Dealing with Numbers

For the purposes of the present assignment, the following rules should be applied to the presentation of
numbers:
if a number begins a sentence, it always should be written out (e.g., Seventy-two adults participated in the
study.)
on all other occasions, put the number in numeral form, regardless of its size (e.g., There were 2 groups on
participants in the study.) Note that this is the formatting rule for the “Abstract” section of an APA
paper.

Direct Quotes vs. Paraphrasing?

A question frequently asked is whether to use direct quotes from articles or to paraphrase (i.e., put in
your own words). Generally, the rule of thumb is that you should avoid direct quotes as much as possible and
attempt to paraphrase for your summaries. Where the material is highly technical (e.g., method and results
sections), it is more permissible to quote directly; however you still should try to put as much as you can
in your own words.

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