Chapter 34
Sample APA Research Pape
Sample Title Page
Running on Empty 1
Running on Empty:
The Effects of Food Deprivation on
Concentration and Perseverance
Thomas Delancy and Adam Solberg
Dordt College
Place
manuscript
page headers
one-half
inch from
the top. Put
five spaces
etween the
page header
and the page
number.
Full title,
authors, and
school name
are centered
on the page,
typed in
uppercase and
lowercase.
34
The abstract
summarizes
the problem,
participants,
hypotheses,
methods
used,
esults, and
conclusions.
Sample Abstract
Running on Empty 2
Abstract
This study examined the effects of short-term food deprivation on two
cognitive abilities—concentration and perseverance. Undergraduate
students (N-51) were tested on both a concentration task and a
perseverance task after one of three levels of food deprivation: none, 12
hours, or 24 hours. We predicted that food deprivation would impair both
concentration scores and perseverance time. Food deprivation had no
significant effect on concentration scores, which is consistent with recent
esearch on the effects of food deprivation (Green et al., 1995; Green
et al., XXXXXXXXXXHowever, participants in the 12-hour deprivation group
spent significantly less time on the perseverance task than those in both
the control and 24-hour deprivation groups, suggesting that short-term
deprivation may affect some aspects of cognition and not others.
An APA Research Paper Model
Thomas Delancy and Adam Solberg wrote the following research paper for
a psychology class. As you review their paper, read the side notes and examine the
following:
● The use and documentation of their numerous sources.
● The background they provide before getting into their own study results.
● The scientific language used when reporting their results.
The
introduction
states the
topic and
the main
questions to
e explored.
The
esearchers
supply
ackground
information
y discussing
past research
on the topic.
Extensive
eferencing
establishes
support
for the
discussion.
Running on Empty 3
Running on Empty: The Effects of Food Deprivation
on Concentration and Perseverance
Many things inte
upt people’s ability to focus on a task: distractions,
headaches, noisy environments, and even psychological disorders. To
some extent, people can control the environmental factors that make it
difficult to focus. However, what about internal factors, such as an empty
stomach? Can people increase their ability to focus simply by eating
egularly?
One theory that prompted research on how food intake affects the
average person was the glucostatic theory. Several researchers in the
1940s and 1950s suggested that the
ain regulates food intake in order
to maintain a blood-glucose set point. The idea was that people become
hungry when their blood-glucose levels drop significantly below their set
point and that they become satisfied after eating, when their blood-glucose
levels return to that set point. This theory seemed logical because glucose
is the
ain’s primary fuel (Pinel, XXXXXXXXXXThe earliest investigation of the
general effects of food deprivation found that long-term food deprivation
(36 hours and longer) was associated with sluggishness, depression,
i
itability, reduced heart rate, and inability to concentrate (Keys, Brozek,
Henschel, Mickelsen, & Taylor, XXXXXXXXXXAnother study found that fasting
for several days produced muscular weakness, i
itability, and apathy or
depression (Kollar, Slater, Palmer, Docter, & Mandell, XXXXXXXXXXSince that time,
esearch has focused mainly on how nutrition affects cognition. However, as
Green, Elliman, and Rogers XXXXXXXXXXpoint out, the effects of food deprivation
on cognition have received comparatively less attention in recent years.
Center the
title one inch
from the top.
Double-space
throughout.
Running on Empty 4
The relatively sparse research on food deprivation has left room for
further research. First, much of the research has focused either on chronic
starvation at one end of the continuum or on missing a single meal at the
other end (Green et al., XXXXXXXXXXSecond, some of the findings have been
contradictory. One study found that skipping
eakfast impairs certain
aspects of cognition, such as problem-solving abilities (Pollitt, Lewis,
Garza, & Shulman, XXXXXXXXXXHowever, other research by M. W. Green, N.
A. Elliman, and P. J. Rogers (1995, 1997) has found that food deprivation
anging from missing a single meal to 24 hours without eating does not
significantly impair cognition. Third, not all groups of people have been
sufficiently studied. Studies have been done on 9–11 year-olds (Pollitt et
al., 1983), obese subjects (Crumpton, Wine, & Drenick, 1966), college-age
men and women (Green et al., 1995, 1996, 1997), and middle-age males
(Kollar et al., XXXXXXXXXXFourth, not all cognitive aspects have been studied.
In 1995 Green, Elliman, and Rogers studied sustained attention, simple
eaction time, and immediate memory; in 1996 they studied attentional
ias; and in 1997 they studied simple reaction time, two-finger tapping,
ecognition memory, and free recall. In 1983, another study focused on
eaction time and accuracy, intelligence quotient, and problem solving
(Pollitt et al.).
According to some researchers, most of the results so far indicate that
cognitive function is not affected significantly by short-term fasting (Green
et al., 1995, p XXXXXXXXXXHowever, this conclusion seems premature due to the
elative lack of research on cognitive functions such as concentration and
perseverance. To date, no study has tested perseverance, despite its
importance in cognitive functioning. In fact, perseverance may be a better
indicator than achievement tests in assessing growth in learning and
thinking abilities, as perseverance helps in solving complex problems
(Costa, XXXXXXXXXXAnother study also recognized that perseverance, better
learning techniques, and effort are cognitions worth studying (D’Agostino,
XXXXXXXXXXTesting as many aspects of cognition as possible is key because the
nature of the task is important when interpreting the link between food
deprivation and cognitive performance (Smith & Kendrick, 1992).
Clear
transitions
guide readers
through the
esearchers’
easoning.
The
esearchers
explain how
their study
will add to
past research
on the topic.
The
esearchers
support their
decision to
focus on
concentration
and
perseverance.
Running on Empty 5
Therefore, the cu
ent study helps us understand how short-term food
deprivation affects concentration on and perseverance with a difficult task.
Specifically, participants deprived of food for 24 hours were expected to
perform worse on a concentration test and a perseverance task than those
deprived for 12 hours, who in turn were predicted to perform worse than
those who were not deprived of food.
Method
Participants
Participants included 51 undergraduate-student volunteers (32
females, 19 males), some of whom received a small amount of extra credit
in a college course. The mean college grade point average (GPA) was 3.19.
Potential participants were excluded if they were dieting, menstruating,
or taking special medication. Those who were struggling with or had
struggled with an eating disorder were excluded, as were potential
participants addicted to nicotine or caffeine.
Materials
Concentration speed and accuracy were measured using an online
numbers-matching test (www.psychtests.com/tests/iq/concentration.html)
that consisted of 26 lines of 25 numbers each. In 6 minutes, participants
were required to find pairs of numbers in each line that added up to 10.
Scores were calculated as the percentage of co
ectly identified pairs out of
a possible 120. Perseverance was measured with a puzzle that contained
five octagons—each of which included a stencil of a specific object (such
as an animal or a flower). The octagons were to be placed on top of
each other in a specific way to make the silhouette of a ra
it. However,
three of the shapes were slightly altered so that the task was impossible.
Perseverance scores were calculated as the number of minutes that a
participant spent on the puzzle task before giving up.
Procedure
At an initial meeting, participants gave informed consent. Each
consent form contained an assigned identification number and requested
the participant’s GPA. Students were then informed that they would be
notified by e-mail and telephone about their assignment to one of the
The
esearchers
state their
initial
hypotheses.
Headings and
subheadings
show the
paper’s
organization.
The
experiment’s
method is
described,
using the
terms and
acronyms of
the discipline.
Passive voice
is used to
emphasize
the
experiment,
not the
esearchers;
otherwise,
active voice
is used.
Running on Empty 6
three experimental groups. Next, students were given an instruction
sheet. These written instructions, which we also read aloud, explained
the experimental conditions, clarified guidelines for the food deprivation
period, and specified the time and location of testing.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of these conditions
using a matched-triplets design based on the GPAs collected at the
initial meeting. This design was used to control individual differences
in cognitive ability. Two days after the initial meeting, participants were
informed of their group assignment and its condition and reminded that,
if they were in a food-deprived group, they should not eat anything after
10 a.m. the next day. Participants from the control group were tested at
7:30 p.m. in a designated computer lab on the day the deprivation started.
Those in the 12-hour group were tested at 10 p.m. on that same day.
Those in the 24-hour group were tested at 10:40 a.m. on the following day.
At their assigned time, participants