PSYC 200 Week #5 APA Language Guidelines (review and new)

Agenda  Assignment Updates and Changes  APA Language Guidelines (cont’d)  APA Editorial Style (punctuation only)  APA Practice Test #1 (discuss in-class)  APA Scavenger Hunt

Assignment Update and Changes  Single Article Review Still being graded, should be done by next week  Two-Article Review No longer a graded assignment!!!! Students who wish to submit the assignment for extra-credit (max 3% points on final grade), must do so by next class (deadline doesn’t change).  For example, if you get a 5 out of 10 (50%), you will obtain 50% of the max points—50% of 3 points is 1.5 points of extra credit.

APA LANGUAGE STYLE GUIDELINES (CONT’D) 1. Headings 2. Language Guide

Quick Review  How many different levels of heading can there be? 5  Which heading level(s) are bold? All except for #5.  When should one use the word whom? When the person receives the action.  When should one use the word since? Only when referring to time passing

Dirty Grammar  Plural possessives Individual, individuals, individual’s, and individuals’  Pronoun shifting Someone cannot be a they  INCORRECT: A teacher is a very important person; they form students’ minds.  CORRECT: Teachers are very important people; they form students’ minds. Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar

Dirty Grammar  Make ‘em parallel My experience with psychology is mostly from attending classes, working with children, and to read books. If you can’t pull it apart, then it ain’t parallel ..from attending classes ..from working with children ..from read books Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar

Some vocab to get your claws on  Clause A set of words that form a complete idea  Independent Clause A set of words that form a complete sentence  Complete Sentence Contains a subject Contains a verb  A great idea. (not complete)  Reading is a great idea. (complete)  Dependent Clause A set of words that DO NOT form a complete sentence, but rely on an independent clause for completion.

Dirty Grammar – Comma use  I expect to gain much experience in this class, and hope to find out a direction for my career. I expect to gain much experience in this class hope to find out a direction for my career  I expect to gain much experience in this class, and I hope to find out a direction for my career. I expect to gain much experience in this class I hope to find out a direction for my career  Mostly, whenever possible, use, or otherwise utilize, a comma on introductory phrases At that time, I wanted to be a counselor Quick APA Language Guide - Grammar

APA EDITORIAL STYLE

What is editorial style?  The collection of rules and methods for presenting written information that go beyond the typical rules of written English. Punctuation (today) Spelling Capitalization Italics Abbreviations Numbers Metrication Statistical & Math

Punctuation  Space  Period  Comma  Semicolon  Colon  Dash  Quotation Marks  Parentheses  Brackets  Slash

Punctuation - Space  2 spaces after end-of-sentence punctuation  1 space after initials  1 space after colon, semi-colon, etc.

Punctuation - Period Do use with… Initials of names Latin abbreviations Do NOT use with State name abbreviations Capital letter abbreviations/acronyms To end sentence with web address Units of measurement abbreviations (except inches)

Punctuation - Comma Do use with… List/series with 3 or more items Nonrestrictive or nonessential clause Numbers of 1,000 or more Do NOT use with When conjunction joins 2 phrases (not complete sentences) Separating parts of measurement (e.g., 8 years 2 months)

Punctuation - Semicolon Do use… To join 2 independent clauses (subject and verb) without a conjunction (no and, or, but) To separate items in a list that already contain commas To separate multiple works inside a single parenthetical citation

Punctuation - Colon Do use… To separate a complete introductory clause from a final clause that extends or illustrates the preceding thought There are two important examples: here and there. On reference page between city and publisher Do NOT use… To separate an incomplete introductory clause from the final clause The places to be are here and there.

Punctuation - Dash Do use… Only to indicate a sudden interruption in the continuity of a sentence. There is nothing—apart from the joy of cooking—that compares with conducting research. Do NOT use… Too often. Overuse of the dash makes article hard to read.

Punctuation – Double Quotation Marks Do use… To indicate a direct quote (unless 40 or more words) Ironic comments, slang, or coined expressions To indicate a title of an article or book chapter when used in text To reproduce test item text Do NOT use… To introduce a technical or key term (use italics instead) To set off linguistic examples (e.g., the letter a) To hedge DON’T DO: The class topics were “essential” to success.

Punctuation – Quotation Marks  Except for direct quotes, place periods or commas within closing quotation marks. Mitchell (2008) found that “students who did not read their texts obtained a course grade that was, on average, 10 points lower than student who did read” (p. 32). The participants found the confederate’s behavior to be “normal.”  Use single quotes within double quotation marks only.

Punctuation – Parentheses Do use… For parenthetical citations. To set off independent elements (like this one) To introduce an abbreviation To set off letters that identify items in a series Do NOT use… To enclose text inside other parenthesis (Do this [and do this]) Back-to-back (like this) (and this)

Punctuation – Brackets Do use… To enclose confidence intervals To set off words not part of a direct quote “[College] students need to read their texts.” To set off parenthetical material inside parentheses (this was already discussed [see previous slide]) Do NOT use… If commas will work just as well as parentheses.

Punctuation – Slash Do use… To indicate a “per” measurement when numbers are used The object traveled at 40 cm/s. To cite a republished work in-text Do NOT use… When a phrase would be clearer (e.g., use he or she and NOT he/she) For simple comparisons (e.g., the pre-post data…)

Review and Next Class  Will be completing the APA Practice Test #2 In-Class next week  The extra credit Two-Article Summary is due next week (if desired)  We will discuss the Gramlich rewriting assignments in-class next week.