Social interaction shapes babbling: Testing parallels between birdsong and speech
Introduction to Developmental Science—PSY:2401: Research Essay Due week of 4/6: Submit electronic copy via CANVAS (under assignments) before discussion section; turn in a hardcopy to your TA in discussion section Research Essay: Worth 100 points. Note: your paper will not be graded (1) if you do not attend discussion section or (2) if an electronic copy is not uploaded on ICON before your discussion section. Carefully read Goldstein et al.’s (2003) paper “Social interaction shapes babbling: Testing parallels between birdsong and speech” (available on ICON). You will then write a 2-page (double-spaced) typewritten essay summarizing the research study. Keep in mind QALMRI as you organize your thoughts (but focus on the Q, M, R and I). provide a brief overview of the purpose of the study (why was it done? Identify both the broad and specific questions) methods (be specific about what was done in the study-you don’t need to include how they recruited participants)-this should be enough detail that another lab could replicate the study and what they did results-what are the main differences between the two different groups? I know there are a lot of details, but focus on the main findings that set the two apart in terms of vocal quantity and quality inferences-what can we from the results/significance of the findings for not just the specific question, but also the broad question. Summarize the main conclusions after presenting the results, then consider what the findings suggest about 1) mechanisms of speech development and/or 2) what this implies about theories of development in general, and/or language development specifically. Some topics/issues to consider: [unique_solution]What types of learning are indicated by the findings in this study? What does it imply that similar learning mechanisms may influence development in songbirds and human infants? Which theories of development are consistent with these findings? Although your ideas may be speculative, be careful to support your opinion with relevant research and theory (i.e., arguments and findings from the paper by Goldstein et al. (2003), your textbook, or what you have learned thus far in this class…you DO NOT need to look up additional research papers). Guidelines: DO NOT GO OVER 2 pages or you will lose points Papers must be typed and double-spaced with a reasonable font size (12 point is best) and margins (1 inch). Include a reference page using APA format. This page does not count in the total paper length. See Bibme.org for creating a reference page…and Purdue OWL (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/) for information on APA. A helpful resource! You must have in-text citations. The first time you cite the research article, you must include all authors (Goldstein, King, & West, 2003). After that, you can just cite (Goldstein et al., 2003) Citing the textbook: Siegler, R., DeLoache, J., Eisenberg, N., Saffran, J., Gershoff, E., & Leaper, C. (2017). How Children Develop. 5th Edition, Worth Publishers. (FOR THIS ESSAY, IF YOU USE LECTURE NOTES, YOU CAN CITE THE TEXTBOOK-IT IS MORE COMPLICATED TO CITE LECTURE NOTES) IMPORTANT: This is supposed to be a critical essay written from a scientific viewpoint—DO NOT just give your opinion. Instead, back up your ideas with support from what we have discussed in class, your text, the Goldstein paper. Critical does not necessarily mean negative – you can be for OR against the general conclusions and suggested significance and implications of the findings for speech and language development. Just be sure to support your argument with more than your own personal opinion! You must discuss concrete results from the Goldstein paper and suggested implications related to what we have discussed in class/what is in your textbook about infant learning. When presenting findings and evidence, be careful to put it in your own words – no direct quotes! The issues above are provided to get you going. Do not just write answers to the individual questions (nor do you need to limit yourself to just these issues). It is ok to concentrate on one or two questions when discussing further inferences. This should be an essay. The assignment is graded for both form and content. Some Writing Tips Paragraph organization: A paragraph is a logical element—it should explain a collection of related ideas. Paragraphs always begin with a topic sentence. The topic sentence, like the introduction to a paper, sets up what will follow. It must also be a transition from the paragraph before. Sentence structure: Readers read and remember papers that they can understand. Thus, simple, clear writing is much better than complicated writing. Use simple, direct sentences. Try to get rid of jargon in your papers. If you need to use special terms, define them. Students often think that long words and complicated sentences are somehow more scholarly or scientific. Trust me, it is much harder to write complicated ideas simply than simple ideas in a complicated fashion. A good rule of thumb: read the sentence to yourself (reading outloud is helpful). If it doesn’t sound straightforward, revise it. If you can’t understand it, why should I be able to understand it…try again!! Word choice: Good writers use strong, active verbs and eliminate unnecessary qualifiers. Although you may have been taught that scientific writing is supposed to be passive to reflect “objectivity,” ignore that advice. Times are changing! Example…Active voice and word choice original phrase: “children were observed in a habituation paradigm to determine…” a better phase: “Samuelson and Smith measured children’s looking time in a habituation task to determine…” improvements: used active voice “measured” vs. “were observed” changed the verb phrase to be more desсrіptive: “measured children’s looking time” tells you more than the vague “observed” referred to the experimenters vs. the vague “children were observed”…tell who observed them! More Tips Don’t use very general sentences. Example: “This study was very important.” Be more specific. Don’t use the word “prove” or “proved”. Example: “These results proved the experimenters theory.” Scientists don’t prove things. Instead use “These results demonstrate” or “These results show”. “Data” is plural…so it is “these data” and not “this data”. Don’t use the word “the” too often…Example: Instead of “The infants in this study looked longer at the novel display…”, just write “Infants in this study looked longer at the novel display…” Double-check your verb tenses—make sure they stay consistent. Don’t start off using the past tense and then switch mid-paragraph. Next, try to avoid switching from plural forms to singular forms (“infants” vs. “an infant”) mid-stream. Finally, double check subject-verb agreement. Example: “The experimenters observed infants’ behavior twice a week. Each week, infants come into the lab and are allowed to play with novel toys. After familiarization, the infant is placed in an infant seat and allowed to watch a short video. While watching the video, the observers coded the infants behavior.” Better: “The experimenters observed infants’ behavior twice a week. Each week, infants came into the lab and were allowed to play with novel toys. After familiarization, infants were placed in an infant seat to watch a short video. Observers coded how long each infant looked at the video monitor.”