Assignment 2: RESEARCH REPORT component

The purpose of this assignment is to explore the construct of sustained attention and vigilance, based on three different attentional measures. You are required to complete a lab report which explores the above topics. The method and results section will be completed for you, and you are required to create an introduction, discussion, abstract and title page which relate back to these already completed sections. To complete the report, you will write between 1500 and 2000 words of your own (Introduction and Discussion), along with the title page, abstract and reference list.

SUBMISSION CHECKLIST/MARKING GUIDE FOR THE RESEARCH REPORT

• Title page [2% of marks]
• Abstract (150 words) [3% of marks]
• Introduction (approximately 750 – 1000 words) [40% of marks]
  • The primary reference for the introduction is:

Robertson, I.H., Manly, T., Andrade, J., Baddeley, B.T., & Yiend, J. (1997). ‘Oops!’: Performance correlates of attentional failures in traumatic brain injured and normal subjects. Neuropsychologia, 35(6), 747-758.

• You will begin with a general introductory paragraph on why sustained attention is interesting/relevant
• You will construct arguments about different forms of attention, different measures of attention and why the selected measures might tap different aspects of attention.
• Your introduction will build an argument to support the two hypotheses below.

H1: The score on the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) will be correlated with the Sustained Attention to Response Test (SART), but not the Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVIP) test score.

H2: Reaction times prior to SART NOGO failures will be faster than reaction times prior to SART correct NOGO response suppressions.

The Method and Results are written for you and do not need to be edited. You will not receive any extra marks for adjusting the material in these sections. Include these sections in your report for clarity, but they will not be assessed. Bear in mind that these sections will show up as unoriginal via Turnitin, but this will not indicate any issue with plagiarism.

• Discussion (approximately 750 – 1000 words) [30% of marks]
• Your discussion will begin with a summary of the findings
• You will tie your findings back to any literature presented in the introduction
• You will discuss limitations of the study, implications of the study and future directions for research
• The primary reference for your directions for future research is:

Petranker, R., & Eastwood, J.D. (2021). Sitting with it. An investigation of the relationship between trait mindfulness and sustained attention. Consciousness and Cognition, 90, 102101

• References [10% of marks]
• Your Reference list will be in APA format and will include at least 2 journal articles (the ones identified above), and 2 to 3 new references. Extra references can be journal articles or secondary sources such as textbooks or review articles. Further references can be used but may make the task of writing the report more difficult.
• Marks for referencing will be allocated on the basis of choice of appropriate references, appropriate in-text citations and appropriate APA formatting of both in-text and reference list citations. You will not gain extra marks for having a longer reference list.
• Structure, presentation, writing style [15% of marks]
• This section includes the overall structure of your research report, such as writing style, logical structure of arguments and the integration between different elements of the report (Does the title match the content? Does the abstract summarise your story? Does the discussion tie up all the issues raised in the introduction? Does your report tell a coherent story?)
• WORD COUNT: You are expected to write between 1500 and 2000 words yourself in the combined introduction and discussion. This word count does not include the title page, references, abstract, method or results.

DO NOT FORGET TO SUBMIT THE ASSIGNMENT 2 WORKSHEET AS WELL

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