Deconstruction and Design

Practical
Stage 1 Psychology
Deconstruction and Design Practical

◎ This assessment is split into two sections:

○ Part A: Completion Practical (1,000 words)
○ Part B: Deconstruction and Design (3 pages)

◎ We will work on these separately to make the process

easier, however they must be submitted as one
assessment.
 Part A: Completion
Practical Report Writing
Stage 1 Psychology
Emotion Report
• We have now completed the data collection for the SACE
approved research program ‘Caffeine’ linked to the Sports
Psychology/Neuropsychology topic.

• You need to choose a hypothesis as to what the results will

show.

• There are some options for this.

Independent Variables
Stage 1 Psychology
Experimental Design
◎ Comparisons between caffeine and non-caffeine groups.

◎ Only option for IV – not enough gender or age variance in

sample (observational design with pre-existing variable).
Dependent Variables
Stage 1 Psychology
Objective Quantitative
• Reaction times (average out of 5).

OR

• Stroop test reaction time.

• Not suggested to do both – not enough words in word

count.
Subjective Quantitative
• Rating scales of self reports on mood scales.
• Energy Arousal (EA) score
• Tense Arousal (TA) score
• Good Feelings (GF) score
• Anger Frustration (AF) score

• Not recommended to do all four – not enough words in

word count. Choose maximum of two.
Hypothesis/Question Choice
Research Research Design
Method
Experimental Observational

Objective Caffeine vs. no caffeine NA – not enough

variance of gender or
Quantitative age
Reaction times
Stroop Test
Subjective Caffeine vs. no caffeine NA– not enough
variance of gender or
Quantitative age
Mood scales (EA, TA,
GF, AF)
Report Writing Structure
Stage 1 Psychology
Introduction
• Background information on Emotion and Arousal. Can use
content from PPT, textbook or websites for this.
• Aim
• Hypothesis
• Independent variable
• Dependent variable
• Constant variables
• Potential extraneous variables
• Why will your hypothesis be supported?
 Results
• Presentation of mean and median scores.
• Need to have one table and one graph – so can have the means
in the table and medians in the graph or vice versa.
• Graphs:
• Should be bar or column graphs.
• IV on x axis, DV on Y axis.
• Graphs should start at zero.
• Show maximum scores (if there is one) and the unit of measure i.e. Heart
Rates (BPM)
•
• Both tables and graphs should have headings and a sentence summary
explaining what is in the relevant table/graph.
Discussion
Paragraph 1 – analysis of results.
• State the results found and describe the patterns observed
in the results:
• Are the mean scores similar to the median scores? What does this
suggest?
• Is there a significant difference (more than 5) between the means in
your favour?
• Do the median scores suggest outliers? What does this mean for the
hypothesis?
• Conclude whether your hypothesis is supported. Refer back to content
from the topic here to help with your conclusions.
Discussion
Paragraphs 2/3 – Evaluation of procedures
• Identify sources of uncertainty in the data that reduce its
quality.
• Discuss the issues with the validity and reliability of the data.
• Is the data 100% accurate? Why/why not?
• Is the data going to be consistent if the investigation was repeated? Why/why not?
• Explain the specific extraneous variables that make the data
and procedures limited. Focus on your chosen variables here!
Discussion
Paragraphs 2/3 – Evaluation of procedures (cont.)
• Was the procedure the best way to measure arousal and relaxation? Why?
Why not?
• Evaluate the sample size and representativeness
• Was the sample size big enough?
• Was the sample representative of the wider population? What factors made it
unrepresentative?
• Evaluate the design and method used
• What were the strengths and weaknesses of using the chosen design?
• What were the strengths and weaknesses of using the chosen method?
• What are some improvements to the issues above that could result in
better results?
Discussion
Paragraph 4 – Ethics
• Did the procedure adhere to all ethical guidelines in
Psychology? Were any of them breached?
• Ensure you discuss at least 3 ethical considerations in
depth.
Discussion
Paragraph 5 – Conclusion
• Summarise your aim.
• Accept or reject the hypothesis.
• Use science inquiry skills (SIS) to justify your reasons for
making this conclusion i.e. weaknesses regarding your
design choice.
• Explain why the results of this investigation may not lead to
definitive conclusions.
Bibliography

• Include full citations of sources using the Harvard

referencing system.
• Can also do in text referencing or footnotes.
• No set number of sources but at least two is a good start.
• Can also cite the sources you use/d to help write the
deconstruction and design sections.
Appendix
• Include raw data spreadsheet.
• Can also refer to this in your report i.e. ‘the mean was
skewed by several outliers (see appendix 1).
General Information – Part A
Word count: 1,000 words or 6 minutes multimodal
• This includes the introduction, discussion and conclusion.
• This does not include the title page, results, bibliography,
referencing or appendix.
• Write in third person throughout – no personal pronouns
i.e. I, we, our, your etc.
• Write in past tense.
• Use scientific psychological terminology (sophisticated
with correct terms).
Part B: 3 Page Deconstruct
and Design
Stage 1 Psychology
Design and Deconstruct
◎ There are several issues with how the arousal and
relaxation practical was completed. You have/will identified
these issues in your completion practical.

◎ You now need to complete a deconstruction of a research

question related to the topic, followed by a design of how
you could measure it better.
Deconstruction
Stage 1 Psychology
What is a deconstruction?
◎ You are provided an open ended question and you will
need to design a practical with an outcome to answer the
question.

◎ You will need to breakdown the question into components,

observations, concepts or variables which need to be
carefully considered.

◎ The aim is to choose a component and design a method to

test.
Why do a deconstruction?
 Encourages critical and creative thinking
 Analysis
 Consider multiple variables and factors – and their impact
 Break down observations, concepts, components into smaller
concepts
 Deeper understanding
 -not just changing an independent variable (bc the teacher told you to and not
questioning why?)
 -think about and analyze the scenario
 Rationalize and justify the method you have designed
 Students are not expected to find out something new
 Deconstruction Process
 Consider the problem
 Brainstorm
-Specify and simplify the problem
-Breakdown into smaller components
 Refine Ideas. Consider which components will have an impact on the solution?
-Investigate the smaller parts and consider their impact and importance to the problem
 Which component will influence the outcome the most?
-Prioritize the components- how is each related to the problem?
-Which component(s) are likely to enable a solution(s) to be found?
 Determine if the problem is solved: what would be observed and what would
be measured?
-Suggest how to test ONE prioritized component and consider the potential solutions that may
be found by this investigation (DESIGN)
-How will other factors be controlled or are there factors that cannot be effectively controlled?
How do I present my deconstruction?
You will need to provide evidence of your deconstruction
process in planning your experiment
 Limited to 1 A4 page (no word limit).
 Use the template Mrs. C has made for you in Weebly.
 Can also do your own template/layout if you want, but make
sure it is based on the provided template to ensure you
include all the correct information.
 Other templates also available in Weebly.
‘In what ways can caffeine
consumption affect
performance?’
Deconstruction Question
 Design
Stage 1 Psychology
 Design
• Once you have deconstructed your question, you need to design a new
experiment on how you could answer it as accurately and appropriately as
possible.

• You need to choose one factor that affects emotion/s from your deconstruct page.

• Remember, this is your dream experiment! Imagine you have all the resources,
funding etc. available to you.

• You do not complete/carry out your designed practical, but simply write how it
would be done in the best possible way, based on your knowledge of SIS.
How do I present my design?
• Aim – what you want to find out.
• Hypothesis or question – prediction or question regarding emotions and
factors that can affect one or more components.
• Independent and dependent variables
• Controlled variables – what would you need to keep constant?
• Potential extraneous variables – what are some variables that may affect
the DV and you have no control over?
• Materials – list with amounts and units
• Method – numbered step by step process of how you would conduct
your experiment
• Data setup – blank table and/or graphs of presentation of results
How do I present my design?
• Limited to 2 single sided A4 pages (no word limit)
• This will be submitted with your deconstruction.
• Use the template Mrs C has provided for you.
• Can take it out of template, however ensure all the relevant
information is still in your version.

• Your deconstruction and design will be submitted with

your final report as one big assignment.