1 Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, Study Period 3, 2012 Assignment 1 ______________________________________________________________________ Length: 800 words (+/- 10%) Date Due: End of Week 4 – Sunday September 23rd by 11.55pm Method of Submission: Electronically through Blackboard Assessment Value: 15% of your PSS110 mark ______________________________________________________________________ As part of your assessment in PSS110 you are expected to complete two written assignments. Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 combined will make a complete research report (also called a laboratory report or lab report). Research reports provide a standardised writing format which all psychologists utilise to explain their research findings. This standardised format allows psychologists to communicate their findings to other psychologists in a concise and efficient way. To help you with the write up of your assignments, time has been set aside in each of your online tutorials, and discussion forums are available on the Blackboard website. Aims of the two assignments: 1. To teach you design, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of experiments in Psychology. 2. To teach you how to present research in a standardised format. 3. To raise your awareness of stress and coping. What are the assignments investigating? The full research report (a combination of Assignments 1 and 2) will consist of a report on the differences that exist between two personality domains (Neuroticism and Openness) in how they relate to two approaches to learning (Deep and Surface). It has been shown that deep approaches to learning result in better learning outcomes (Biggs & Tang, 2007) and that personality is one factor that can affect whether a student adopts a deep learning approach (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2009). The current research project investigates relationships between personality and learning approaches in a sample of undergraduate students studying psychology online. Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale! ! PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, SP3, 2012. 2 Information on Neuroticism, Openness, and the different approaches to learning can be found in your text book, or in the articles that you have been referred to (details under References below), and perhaps in the other article that you are required to find using Swinburne’s library resources such as the electronic databases. Data for your assignment is being collected via the survey that you are asked to complete in Week 1 of the study period in PSS110 Introduction to Psychology 1. The survey can be found under the SURVEY button on the Blackboard menu. Participation in the survey is voluntary. You are free to omit any questions you do not wish to answer and you can withdraw at any time during the survey. Your decision to participate (or not) will not affect your .

1. 1
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, Study Period 3, 2012
Assignment 1
_____________________________________________________
_________________
Length: 800 words (+/- 10%)
Date Due: End of Week 4 – Sunday September 23rd by
11.55pm
Method of Submission: Electronically through Blackboard
Assessment Value: 15% of your PSS110 mark
_____________________________________________________
_________________
As part of your assessment in PSS110 you are expected to
complete two written
assignments. Assignment 1 and Assignment 2 combined will
make a complete research
report (also called a laboratory report or lab report). Research
reports provide a
standardised writing format which all psychologists utilise to
explain their research
findings. This standardised format allows psychologists to
communicate their findings

2. to other psychologists in a concise and efficient way. To help
you with the write up of
your assignments, time has been set aside in each of your online
tutorials, and
discussion forums are available on the Blackboard website.
Aims of the two assignments:
1. To teach you design, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of
experiments in
Psychology.
2. To teach you how to present research in a standardised
format.
3. To raise your awareness of stress and coping.
What are the assignments investigating?
The full research report (a combination of Assignments 1 and 2)
will consist of a report
on the differences that exist between two personality domains
(Neuroticism and
Openness) in how they relate to two approaches to learning
(Deep and Surface). It has
been shown that deep approaches to learning result in better
learning outcomes (Biggs
& Tang, 2007) and that personality is one factor that can affect
whether a student adopts
a deep learning approach (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham,
2009). The current research
project investigates relationships between personality and
learning approaches in a
sample of undergraduate students studying psychology online.
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale! !

3. PSS110 Introduction to
Psychology I, SP3, 2012.
2
Information on Neuroticism, Openness, and the different
approaches to learning can be
found in your text book, or in the articles that you have been
referred to (details under
References below), and perhaps in the other article that you are
required to find using
Swinburne’s library resources such as the electronic databases.
Data for your assignment is being collected via the survey that
you are asked to
complete in Week 1 of the study period in PSS110 Introduction
to Psychology 1. The
survey can be found under the SURVEY button on the
Blackboard menu. Participation
in the survey is voluntary. You are free to omit any questions
you do not wish to answer
and you can withdraw at any time during the survey. Your
decision to participate (or
not) will not affect your ability to complete the assignment.
Completion of this online
survey will be taken as your consent to participate. All data will
be anonymous.
Assignment 1 timetable:
Week 1: Complete self-report survey. Discussion of the
assignment in your online
tutorial class or on the discussion board forum.

4. Week 2: Library tutorial on using the electronic databases to
find appropriate material
for your assignment. Complete the activity on finding your own
journal article details
(correctly APA formatted citation) to your tutor via student
email.
Week 3: Mini-lecture on writing research reports (all sections).
Develop your two
hypotheses and or research questions and send these to your
tutor for checking.
Week 4: Discussion of review questions. Assignment 1 is due at
the end of this week –
Sunday 23rd September.
Background information about Personality and Student
Approaches to Learning:
Educational researchers differentiate between two approaches to
learning that can be
adopted by students in tertiary education settings. Deep
approaches to learning involve
engaging fully and meaningfully in a task with the intention of
extracting optimal
learning from the task. Surface approaches on the other hand,
are adopted by students
who wish to ‘get by’ on the minimal amount of work possible
while still meeting the
course requirements. It is not surprising that deeper approaches
to learning result in
better learning outcomes (e.g., Marton & Saljo, 1997).
A number of factors can affect the approach to learning adopted
by students. Student
factors include beliefs, attitudes, and personal resources (Biggs

5. & Tang, 2007). A
student’s personality can also affect their approach to learning.
Chamorro-Premuzic and
Furnham (2009) showed that students with higher levels of
Openness tend to adopt a
deeper learning approach. In a large review of similar studies,
Baeten, Kyndt, Struyven,
and Dochy (2010) confirmed that higher levels of Openness
were strongly associated
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PSS110 Introduction to
Psychology I, SP3, 2012.
3
with deeper learning approaches. They also reported that higher
levels of Extraversion,
Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, and lower levels of
Neuroticism, were also
associated with a deeper learning approach, albeit to a lesser
extent than Openness.
The teaching environment can also affect approaches to learning
adopted by students.
Teaching factors that may encourage deeper learning practices
in students include a
focus on structure and depth of information rather than detail
and breadth of information
(Biggs & Tang, 2007).
The current study (which you are to report) focuses only on the
student factors that may

6. affect approaches to learning. In particular, the links between
personality and
approaches to learning in a sample of online first year
psychology students are
examined.
Design:
1. The study is a self-report survey of undergraduate students.
2. Personality is measured using the Australian Personality
Inventory (Murray et
al., 2009).
3. Learning approaches are measured using the Study Process
Questionnaire
(Biggs, Kember, & Leung).
4. Results will be reported using descriptive statistics (means,
and standard
deviations) for the personality domains of Neuroticism and
Openness.
Sections of the research report pertinent to Assignment 1 are:
• Title page
• Introduction
• References
Make sure to consult Findlay (2012) and the mini-lecture on
Writing Research Reports
(on Blackboard) on how to structure and write a research report.
Below are some
guidelines specific to this assignment.
Title page

7. Include a 10-12 word title, your name and student number, your
institution, your tutor
and the due date of the assignment (see example title page in
Findlay).
Introduction
The Introduction needs to provide a succinct but critical review
of the literature on
approaches to learning as well as definitions of the key terms –
deep vs. surface
learning, and the personality domains of Neuroticism and
Openness. The review should
address the definitions of each concept, and specific findings
from studies relevant to
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PSS110 Introduction to
Psychology I, SP3, 2012.
4
your aims/hypotheses. The most important thing to remember is
that the Introduction is
providing an argument for the hypotheses to follow. The
hypotheses should be
operationalised and flow smoothly and compellingly from the
evidence provided by the
research literature. The research literature should be evaluated
in terms of its strengths
and weaknesses (i.e., a critique). While several references have
been provided for you,

8. it is expected that you will find a minimum of one other
reference. Please note that you
should only use references that are peer-reviewed (i.e., books,
journal articles). Using
un-authored information taken from web sites (e.g., Wikipedia)
is not appropriate!
References
In text referencing follows APA format of author-date. If direct
quotes must be used, do
so sparingly and place the page number in brackets after the
quote. The reference list
consists of all the references actually cited in the study (it is not
a bibliography) and
should be formatted according to APA standards (see Findlay).
You may use your
Burton, Westen, and Kowalski (2012) text to define your
constructs as necessary.
Submission
requirements:
Assignment 1:
For the first assignment you are asked to complete the following
sections of a research
report:
• Title page
• Introduction (800 words)
• References
To help with structuring your Introduction, please attempt to
answer the following

9. questions. Answers will be discussed in the online tutorials and
in the Discussion board
forums.
• What are the constructs referred to as Neuroticism, Openness,
deep learning, and
surface learning?
• How are the deep and surface learning constructs
operationalised in real life?
(give examples)
• What are the learning outcomes associated with the two
different types of
learning approaches?
• What are some of the theoretical reasons proposed to explain
why there may be
personality differences in relation to the different learning
approaches?
• What is the aim of the current research?
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale! !
PSS110 Introduction to
Psychology I, SP3, 2012.
5
• Construct two hypotheses based on the design of the study and
past research that
we could test for in this report. The first hypothesis should
address differences in

10. learning approaches for those high in Neuroticism and those low
in Neuroticism.
The second hypothesis should address differences in learning
approaches for
those high in Openness and those low in Openness. If the
literature is not
conclusive one way or the other, develop a research question
instead of a
hypothesis.
The research report should be typed in 12 point font (Times
New Roman) and double-
spaced. The report must be formatted according to the
specifications outlined in Findlay
(2012) and the Publication Manual (6th edition) of the
American Psychological
Association.
The primary readings for this assignment are available via the
library.
Assignment 2:
For the second assignment, you will be asked to submit an
entire research report at the
end of Week 9. This will include your revised version of the
first assignment (Title
page, Introduction, and Reference list) and in addition the
following sections:
• Abstract
• Method
• Results
• Discussion
In Week 6 you will be given a summary of the results of the

11. survey on personality and
approaches to learning (which you completed via Blackboard).
You are not expected to
conduct any statistical analysis except comparing and reporting
the descriptive results
(i.e., means comparisons). The analysis of results, along with
the other sections of the
research report, will be discussed in the online tutorial classes
and in the discussion
forums.
References
Baeten, M., Kyndt, E., Struyven, K., & Dochy, F. (2010). Using
student-centred
learning environments to stimulate deep approaches to learning:
factors
encouraging or discouraging their effectiveness. Educational
Research Review,
5, 243-260. doi: 10.1016/j.edurev.2010.06.001
Biggs, J. & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at
university. Berkshire:
Open University Press. (This is a book – you only need to read
Chapter 2).
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale! !
PSS110 Introduction to
Psychology I, SP3, 2012.
6
Chamorro-Premuzic, T. & Furnham, A. (2009). Mainly

12. Openness: the relationship
between the Big Five personality traits and learning approaches.
Learning and
Individual Differences, 19, 524-529. doi:
10.1016/j.indif.2009.06.004
Marton, F. & Saljo, R. (1997). Approaches to learning. In F.
Marton, D. Hounsell, and
N.J. Entwistle (Eds.), The experience of learning (pp. 39-58).
Edinburgh:
Scottish Academic Press.
Plus at least one more reference that you have found.
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale! !
PSS110 Introduction to
Psychology I, SP3, 2012.
7
The following are references for the scales used in the study:
These two articles relate to the scales that you will need to
report in the Method section
in Assignment 2. In Assignment 1, you may use them to define
your constructs, but not
to describe scales.
Australian Personality Inventory
Murray, G., Judd, F., Jackson, H., Fraser, C., Komiti, A.,
Pattison, P., & Robins, G.
(2009). Personality for free: Psychometric properties of a public
domain

13. Australian measure of the five-factor model. Australian Journal
of Psychology,
61, 167-174. doi: 10.1080/00049530802326784
Study Process Questionnaire
Biggs, J., Kember, D., & Leung, D.Y.P. (2001). The revised
two-factor Study Process
Questionnaire. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71,
133-149.
The readings for this assignment are available via the library’s
electronic reserve under
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I or access through
Blackboard under Assignment
1.
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale! !
PSS110 Introduction to
Psychology I, SP3, 2012.
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology 1,
SP3, 2012
1
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale

14. PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, Study Period 3, 2012
Assignment 2: Results handout
_____________________________________________________
_____________________
These pages provide statistical summaries of the data from the
survey and information
about your Method section. Your final report should contain a
table which presents the data
on personality differences in approaches to learning (see
Findlay, 2012, for correct
presentation of a table of means – NB: the tables presented on
this handout are NOT correct
APA format).
RESULTS FROM SURVEY
Participant details:
Total Sample Size: 242 students (Female n = 192; Male n = 50)
Age range: 16-62 years
Mean age = 31.55 years, SD = 10.75

15. Total Neuroticism (N) sample size: 242
Sample size for High N: n = 120
(low N: n = 122 - but you don’t need this figure. It is here so
you understand
the sample breakdown – these 2 figures add up to 242)
Total Openness (O) sample size: 242
Sample size for High O: n = 122
(low O: n = 120 – as above)
Overall Statistics for whole sample: write these statistics in
text, NOT in a table.
Score range
Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation Median score
Neuroticism 11 48 27.44 7.96 27
Openness 26 50 38.73 5.48 39
Deep Learning 15 50 34.69 6.98
Surface Learning 10 36 19.41 5.80

16. NB: To get the High N and High O groups, both Neuroticism
and Openness scores were split
at the median score to give a high and low score group in each
variable.
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology 1,
SP3, 2012
2
Statistics Broken Down by Personality: put these statistics into
a correctly formatted APA
style table (See Findlay, 2012).
Personality Mean Std.
Deviation
n
Deep learning High N 20.16 6.07 120
High O 36.53 7.03 122

17. Surface learning High N 33.83 6.66 120
High O 17.5 5.05 122
N = 242
MEASURES AND PROCEDURE
You will need to put this information in your own words. DO
NOT COPY AND
PASTE FROM THIS HANDOUT. See Findlay (2012) for help in
writing up this section.
Copies of each measure are provided for your information on
the next page.
Measures
The Australian Personality Inventory (API) (Murray et al.,
2009) measures personality
domains. The scale consists of 50 items, which are divided into
five subscales (Extraversion,
Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Openness to experience,
Agreeableness) each with 10 items.
For this study, two of the subscales were used: Neuroticism and

18. Openness to experience. Each
item as scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Very inaccurate, to
5 = Very accurate). Give an
example of a question from each subscale.
The Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ; Biggs, Kember, &
Leung, 2001) is a 20-item
measure of approaches to learning adopted by students. Two
subscales, each with 10 items,
measure ‘deep’ and ‘surface’ approaches to learning,
respectively. Participants were asked to
indicate their responses on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging
from 1 (“this item is never or
only rarely true of me”) to 5 (“this item is always or almost
always true of me”). Higher
scores on each of the subscales correspond to greater levels of
deep and surface approaches to
learning, respectively.
Procedure
The Australian Personality Inventory and the Study Process
Questionnaire were
compiled into a survey along with demographics questions (e.g.,
age and gender). The survey

19. was completed online using Opinio software. After reading the
information sheet participants
completed the anonymous survey in their own time. Filling out
the survey implied informed
consent and respondents were free to withdraw at any time.
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology 1,
SP3, 2012
3
Australian Personality Inventory
Instructions:
The following items contain phrases describing people's typical
behaviours. Please use the
rating scale below to describe how accurately each statement
describes you generally.
Describe yourself as you honestly see yourself, in relation to
other people you know of the

20. same sex as you are, and roughly your same age.
Very
inaccurate
Moderately
inaccurate
Neither
inaccurate or
accurate
Moderately
accurate
Very
accurate
1. Often feel blue. 1 2 3 4 5
2. Feel
comfortable
around people.
1 2 3 4 5
3. Do not like art. 1 2 3 4 5
4. Have a good

21. word for
everyone.
1 2 3 4 5
5. Am always
prepared.
1 2 3 4 5
6. Dislike myself. 1 2 3 4 5
7. Make friends
easily.
1 2 3 4 5
8. Have a vivid
imagination.
1 2 3 4 5
9. Believe that
others have
good
intentions.
1 2 3 4 5
10. Pay attention
to details.
1 2 3 4 5

22. 11. Am often
down in the
dumps.
1 2 3 4 5
12. Am skilled in
handling social
situations.
1 2 3 4 5
13. Have a rich
vocabulary.
1 2 3 4 5
14. Respect others. 1 2 3 4 5
15. Get chores
done right
away.
1 2 3 4 5
16. Have frequent
mood swings.
1 2 3 4 5
17. Am the life of
the party.

23. 1 2 3 4 5
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology 1,
SP3, 2012
4
18. Carry the
conversation to
a higher level.
1 2 3 4 5
19. Accept people
as they are.
1 2 3 4 5
20. Carry out my
plans.
1 2 3 4 5
21. Panic easily. 1 2 3 4 5
22. Know how to
captivate

24. people.
1 2 3 4 5
23. Enjoy hearing
new ideas.
1 2 3 4 5
24. Make people
feel at ease.
1 2 3 4 5
25. Make plans
and stick to
them.
1 2 3 4 5
26. Seldom feel
blue.
1 2 3 4 5
27. Have little to
say.
1 2 3 4 5
28. Am not
interested in
abstract ideas.

25. 1 2 3 4 5
29. Have a sharp
tongue.
1 2 3 4 5
30. Waste my
time.
1 2 3 4 5
31. Feel
comfortable
with myself.
1 2 3 4 5
32. Keep in the
background.
1 2 3 4 5
33. Enjoy wild
flights of
fancy.
1 2 3 4 5
34. Cut others to
pieces.
1 2 3 4 5

26. 35. Find it difficult
to get down to
work.
1 2 3 4 5
36. Rarely get
irritated.
1 2 3 4 5
37. Would
describe my
experiences as
somewhat dull.
1 2 3 4 5
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology 1,
SP3, 2012
5
38. Avoid
philosophical

27. discussions.
1 2 3 4 5
39. Suspect hidden
motives in
others.
1 2 3 4 5
40. Do just enough
work to get by.
1 2 3 4 5
41. Am not easily
bothered by
things.
1 2 3 4 5
42. Don't like to
draw attention
to myself.
1 2 3 4 5
43. Do not enjoy
going to art
museums.
1 2 3 4 5

28. 44. Get back at
others.
1 2 3 4 5
45. Don't see
things through.
1 2 3 4 5
46. Am very
pleased with
myself.
1 2 3 4 5
47. Don't talk a lot. 1 2 3 4 5
48. Rarely look for
a deeper
meaning in
things.
1 2 3 4 5
49. Insult people. 1 2 3 4 5
50. Shirk my
duties.
1 2 3 4 5

29. Neuroticism items: 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, 31, 36, 41, 46
Extraversion items: 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27, 32, 37, 42, 47
Openness items: 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, 38, 43, 48
Agreeableness items: 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, 29, 34, 39, 44, 49
Conscientiousness items: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology 1,
SP3, 2012
6
Study Process Questionnaire
Instructions:
This questionnaire has a number of questions about your
attitudes towards your online studies
and your usual way of studying online.
Note that there is no right way of studying online. It depends on
what suits your own style and

30. the online course you are studying. It is accordingly important
that you answer each question
as honestly as you can. If you think your answer to a question
would depend on the online
subject being studied, give the answer that would apply to the
subject(s) most important to
you.
Please choose the one most appropriate response to each
question and select the relevant
button attached to that response. There are only five possible
responses, and they are the same
for each question. The possible responses can be seen in the
first row. Do not spend too much
time on each item: your first reaction is probably the best one.
Do not worry about projecting a good image. Your answers are
CONFIDENTIAL.
Never or
only
rarely
true of
me

31. Sometimes
true of me
True of
me
about
half the
time
Frequently
true of me
Always or
almost
always true
of me
1. I find that at times
studying gives me a
feeling of deep personal
satisfaction.
1 2 3 4 5
2. I find that I have to do

32. enough work on a topic so
that I can form my own
conclusions before I am
satisfied.
1 2 3 4 5
3. My aim is to pass the
course while doing as
little work as possible.
1 2 3 4 5
4. I only study seriously
what’s provided in online
classes or in the course
outlines.
1 2 3 4 5
5. I feel that virtually any
topic can be highly
interesting once I get into
it.
1 2 3 4 5
6. I find most new topics

33. interesting and often
spend extra time trying to
obtain more information
1 2 3 4 5
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology 1,
SP3, 2012
7
about them.
7. I do not find my course
very interesting so I keep
my work to the minimum.
1 2 3 4 5
8. I learn some things by
rote, going over and over
them until I know them by
heart even if I do not
understand them.

34. 1 2 3 4 5
9. I find that studying
academic topics can at
times be as exciting as a
good novel or movie.
1 2 3 4 5
10. I test myself on important
topics until I understand
them completely.
1 2 3 4 5
11. I find I can get by in most
assessments by
memorizing key sections
rather than trying to
understand them.
1 2 3 4 5
12. I generally restrict my
study to what is
specifically set as I think
it is unnecessary to do

35. anything extra.
1 2 3 4 5
13. I work hard at my studies
because I find the material
interesting.
1 2 3 4 5
14. I spend a lot of my free
time finding out more
about interesting topics
which have been
discussed in different
classes.
1 2 3 4 5
15. I find it is not helpful to
study topics in depth. It
confuses and wastes time,
when all you need is a
passing acquaintance with
topics.

36. 1 2 3 4 5
16. I believe that lecturers
shouldn’t expect students
to spend significant
amounts of time studying
material everyone knows
won’t be examined.
1 2 3 4 5
17. I come to most online
classes with questions in
mind I want answering.
1
2 3 4 5
18. I make a point of looking
at most of the suggested
readings that go with the
1 2 3 4 5
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology 1,
SP3, 2012

37. 8
lectures.
19. I see no point in learning
material which is not
likely to be in the
examination.
1 2 3 4 5
20. I find the best way to pass
examinations is to try to
remember answers to
likely questions.
1 2 3 4 5
Deep Approach items: 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 18
Surface Approach items: 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20

38. Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, SP2, 2012.
1
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, Study Period 3, 2012
Assignment 2
_____________________________________________________
_____________________
Length: 1500 words (+/- 10%)
Date Due: End of Week 9 – Sunday 28
th
October by 11.55pm
Method of Submission: Electronically through Blackboard
Assessment Value: 30% of your PSS110 mark
_____________________________________________________
_____________________
The second assignment builds on the introduction that you

39. submitted for Assignment 1.
In addition to this handout, there is another handout that
contains the participant and
measures details, and the statistical summary of the findings
from the survey that was
filled in during the first week of the study period.
Your task now is to write a complete research report (see the
mini-lecture on writing
research reports and Findlay’s text), including Title page,
Abstract, Introduction,
Method, Results, Discussion and References. Do not include
any appendices for this
report.
Marks for this assignment are divided up as follows and then
converted to 30%. The
criteria we use to mark Assignment 2 have been included at the
end of this document for
your information.
Section % of the mark for
this assignment
Title page 5
Abstract 10
Intro 20
Method 15
Results 10
Table 5
Discussion 25
References and citations
Presentation

40. 5
5
Texts and lecturers sometime disagree about whether you are
allowed to use new
references in the Discussion. In this unit you can put new
references in the Discussion.
This is often done to make sense of an unexpected finding.
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, SP2, 2012.
2
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT 2
Statistical analysis:
You will be given a summary of the results (download via
Blackboard). You are
not expected to conduct any statistical analysis except
comparing and reporting the
descriptive results (i.e., doing a means comparison). The
analysis of results will be
discussed in the online tutorial chat sessions and in the
discussion board forums.
Sections of the lab report:

41. Make sure to consult Findlay (2012) for how to structure and
write a laboratory
report. Below are some guidelines specific to this assignment.
Abstract:
The Abstract should be a summary of the aim, method,
hypotheses/results, and
conclusions of the report. It should be no longer than 120
words. (Not included in the
overall word count).
Introduction:
You are expected to revise or change your Introduction from
Assignment 1
incorporating the corrections suggested by your tutor in your
feedback.
Method:
In the Method section there are 3 sections you need to
describe: (1) the
participants (information is provided in the separate handout
which includes results);
(2) measures/materials (details of which are also provided in the
separate results
handout); and (3) procedures which were utilised in the study
(or the way the study was
conducted). The important point to remember when writing a
method section is that
you need to provide enough information so that the study could
be replicated (or
repeated) by another researcher. You should describe the
Neuroticism and Openness
scales from Australian Personality Inventory (API: Murray et al.
2009), and the Study
Process Questionnaire (Biggs, Kember, & Leung, 2001).
The Method section is NOT included in your word count for

42. Assignment 2, but is
included in your overall mark.
Results:
Here you need to present the results of the study – only
present and describe
them. There should be no interpretation (i.e., discussion) of the
data. The results should
be directly linked with the hypotheses. There are 3 things
expected: 1) the overall
means, standard deviations, and ranges of the data
(descriptives) should be provided for
the total sample and written into the text; 2) The means and
standard deviations for
Neuroticism and Openness for the different approaches to
learning (Deep and Surface)
placed in a correctly formatted table; then 3) give a brief
description of what you see in
the table (e.g., the results show that high N participants were
more/less likely to adopt a
Surface approach to learning than high O participants…etc.).
Don’t try and say whether
the results are significantly different because we don’t give you
that data and you aren’t
expected to know that yet.
Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, SP2, 2012.
3

43. Discussion:
The findings of the study should be discussed in relation to
the aims and
hypotheses presented in the introduction. First, there need to be
clear statements as to
whether the hypotheses were supported. Second, based on the
findings, the differences
between high N and high O in terms of approaches to learning
should be discussed in
the context of previous research where available, in particular
the literature that was
cited in your Introduction. If they were not supported then you
will need to discuss
potential reasons for the discrepancy, and this is where you can
bring in new references
to try and explain the findings. Third, the Discussion section
should recognise the
limitations of the study, suggest possible directions for future
research, and say what the
implications might be for real life situations. Finally, there
should be a final paragraph
with appropriate concluding statements relating to findings of
your research. This is a
more global statement than just summarising the results.
Submission requirements:
For the second assignment, you are asked to submit an entire
research report.
This will include a revised version of the first assignment (Title
page, Introduction, and
References) and in addition the following sections:
• Abstract

44. • Method
• Results
• Discussion
The word limit for Assignment 2 is 1500 words, not counting
the Title page,
Abstract, Method section, tables/figures, and Reference list
(although you will still
receive marks for these sections). NB: In-text references are
counted.
The report should be typed in 12 point font (Times New Roman)
and double-spaced.
The report must be formatted according to the specifications
outlined in Findlay (2012)
and/or the Publication Manual (6th edition) of the American
Psychological Association.
This second assignment is due at the end of Week 9 and is
worth 30% of your final
grade.
The readings for this assignment are available via the library’s
electronic reserve under
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I or access through
Blackboard under Assignment
1.

45. Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, SP2, 2012.
4
References
Baeten, M., Kyndt, E., Struyven, K., & Dochy, F. (2010). Using
student-centred
learning environments to stimulate deep approaches to learning:
factors
encouraging or discouraging their effectiveness. Educational
Research Review,
5, 243-260. doi: 10.1016/j.edurev.2010.06.001
Biggs, J. & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at
university. Berkshire:
Open University Press. (This is a book – you only need to read
Chapter 2).
Chamorro-Premuzic, T. & Furnham, A. (2009). Mainly
Openness: the relationship
between the Big Five personality traits and learning approaches.
Learning and
Individual Differences, 19, 524-529. doi:
10.1016/j.indif.2009.06.004
Marton, F. & Saljo, R. (1997). Approaches to learning. In F.
Marton, D. Hounsell, and

46. N.J. Entwistle (Eds.), The experience of learning (pp. 39-58).
Edinburgh:
Scottish Academic Press.
Plus at least one more reference that you have found.
The following are references for the scales used in the study:
These two articles relate to the scales that you will need to
report in the Method section
in Assignment 2. In Assignment 1, you may use them to define
your constructs, but not
to describe scales.
Australian Personality Inventory
Murray, G., Judd, F., Jackson, H., Fraser, C., Komiti, A.,
Pattison, P., & Robins, G.
(2009). Personality for free: Psychometric properties of a public
domain
Australian measure of the five-factor model. Australian Journal
of Psychology,
61, 167-174. doi: 10.1080/00049530802326784
Study Process Questionnaire
Biggs, J., Kember, D., & Leung, D.Y.P. (2001). The revised
two-factor Study Process
Questionnaire. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71,
133-149.

47. Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology I, SP2, 2012.
5
PSS110 Introduction to Psychology
Assignment 2 Marking Criteria
Title page (5 marks)
Abstract (10 marks)
Concise and correct summary of:
Aims
Hypotheses
Method
Results
Conclusion
Introduction (20 marks)
General statement of area of research
Definitions of personality and approaches to learning
Critical review of relevant literature
Aims
Hypotheses
Method (15 marks)
Clear and correct description of:
Participants
Materials
Procedure
Results (10 marks)
Clear and correct presentation of all results

48. Overall statistics
Description of results in relation to hypotheses
Table (5 marks)
Format
Correct data
Discussion (25 marks)
Clear and correct interpretation of results in relation to
hypotheses
Clear and correct evaluation of results in relation to other
studies/literature
Clear implications of results in relation to psychological
processes, theory, and
everyday life
Clear discussion of limitations of study and suggestions for
future research
Coherent conclusion?
References (5 marks)
In-text
Reference list
Presentation (5 marks)
Typed, double-spaced, indenting, correct font, etc.
Errors: spelling, typographical, grammar, punctuation.
Writing style: sentence structure, organisation of paragraphs,
transitional
sentences, paragraphing.
Overall organisation of information
Word limit