Assignment #2: Be sure to read all instructions before beginning

Purpose is two-fold:

1.      To conduct a literature review. This assignment will help you develop some basic familiarity with conducting library research in order to identify empirical studies in psychology.

2.    To understand the concepts and principles of a motivational theory and apply them to some aspect of your personal life.

MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES

 (a) Maslow's Need Theory

(b) Drive and Incentive Theory

(c) Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

            -- Theory X and Theory Y leadership styles: http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/hrels_03_mcgregor.html

(d) Social Acceptance and the Need to Belong

·        You will conduct a short literature review one of the above motivational theories.  Find 2 journal articles that report the results of empirical studies (see Search Tips below) related to the theory of motivation you decide upon.  Read your articles.  Feel free to glaze over the statistical analyses.

            IMPORTANT:  Your articles must all be about the same motivational theory.  You have the choice of finding articles that apply the theory specifically to your topic of choice (see below).  This is not required, but it may help you with your own application, and may help focus your literature search.

Assignment 2 Tips

Step by step guide to searching for articles within the PSU on-line search system

·        For those of you who want feedback on the articles, you can staple the copies together and turn them in to Dave who will look at them and let you know if they are appropriate empirical articles.

Format of your paper (please NO binders, covers, folders, etc.):

·        Title page: APA style (sample title page)

·        2-5 page body (double-spaced, 12-point font)

o       Introduction paragraph into the basic concepts and principles of your motivational theory.

o       Summarize the main methods and findings of each article/study. Each of these summaries should be a paragraph or two.  Be sure your summary includes:

§         the research question--what was being studied

§         participants--who was being studied

§         methods--how was the study conducted

§         main findings of the study. 

Example Summary of a Research Article

o       Application of Motivational Theory

§         Pick something personal in your life (this is wide-open – you can be as creative as you would like to be – see list of examples below. If in doubt about a topic, just ask).

Topic Examples:

GOALS, INTERESTS, HOBBIES, ACTIVITIES, SPORTS, GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT, ASPIRATIONS, WORK, FAMILY, EDUCATION, CAREER, VOLUNTEER WORK, PARENTING, FRIENDSHIP, SOCIAL INTERACTIONS, RECREATION, GROWTH, LACK OF GROWTH, FEARS, LOSS AND GRIEF, DEVIANT BEHAVIOR, ADDICTION, NEEDS, CHURCH, NEIGHBORS, TRANSITIONS, ETC.

§         Describe your topic as it applies to you (provide reasonable detail)

§         Talk about the motivation or lack of motivation involved in your situation through the “eyes” of the motivational theory. Your goal is to show that you understand the concept(s) in the theory and that you can use the concept(s) to analyze a specific real-life, personal situation.

§         Suggest a specific action that could be taken to reinforce your motivation, or counter-act any motivational problems.  Be sure to clearly link the action you suggest to the theory you chose and how it impacts your motivation.  Your goal is to show that you can use motivational theories to generate a “real-world” solution to a problem.

o       Concluding statement (wide open)

·        Reference section

o       Lists the citation for each of your three articles in APA style

§         At the top and center of this page, type the word References. Remember to reference any other sources you use for this assignment (i.e., additional articles, the text).

·        Attach copies of only the front page of the three empirical articles. Should include the abstract of the article.  If it’s a full-text online source, print the front page.

Search Tips:

You may search for articles manually (i.e., by flipping through journals) or use an electronic database (such as Psychinfo) to help you locate articles (I recommend this). You may search for articles using an internet-based search engine, but the studies you include in your paper must be studies published in actual research journals, not simply web-sites related to the topic or web sites that describe someone else's research. There are some exceptions, if the website publishes full articles.