Here I present a brief overview of some general comments about each question.

1) In which stage(s) of the research process do you think computers can be most useful? Please explain your answer. Cite specific examples of actual computer applications to support your answer. (5 pts)

Most everybody got full credit here. The most common reason not to was a lack of examples to support your answers.

2) Describe some ways that the World Wide Web in particular can be useful in the research process. Use examples to support your answer. (5 pts)

The most common omission here was that an important part of the WWW is the use of e-mail to contact other researchers in your field.

3) What is the purpose of giving a conference presentation? Briefly describe the "hourglass" structure of a talk. What are three key parts of the preparation for a talk and explain why they are key? (5 pts)

Generally people did well with this one too, although occasionally somebody would ignore one of the parts of the question.

4) Internet exercises: (5 pts total)

a) Find, on the World Wide Web, a page that explains the Yerkes-Dodson Law (or Relationship). Copy and paste that explanation into your Word document. Also include the address where you found it.

b) Using PsycInfo, find three references to research examining the Yerkes-Dodson Law. Copy the abstract as well as the full reference.

We had pretty much 5's across the board here.

5) Excel exercise: (10 pts total)

a) attached at the end of the exam is a brief description of a fictional experiment, as well as a data set for that experiment. Your job is to enter the data into an excel file. As you did with the homework, include a title, and use formatting that identifies the headings and computed cells as different from the entered data.
b) sort the data by test type
c) Compute the means (average) and standard deviations (stdev) for the totals and the marginals. By totals I mean the statistics for all the test scores and all anxiety ratings. By marginals I mean the average and standard deviations of test scores and anxiety ratings for the easy test, and again for the medium test, and again for the hard test.

Several files didn't appear to use the mean and standard deviation functions in the cells where the reported these figures.
A few people forgot titles
A few people had the wrong sets of numbers included in their marginal computations

6) Word exercise: (10 pts total)

a) Using the means and deviations from 5c, make a table in Word. Be sure to use correct APA style (hint: you may look at the web links to figure out how the table should look, or use the style manual).
b) Make a reference section, using the three references from question 4. Again use APA style (the same hint from 6a applies here too).
c) Format the entire MS Word portion of the exam (including Part A as well). Include your name in a header. Insert the page number in the footer. Make sure the margin are 1 inch on all sides (including top and bottom). And use Times, 12 point font for the entire document.

By far the two most common errors were:

Incorrect APA style for tables (including extra lines, redundant headings, uninformative labels, misaligned columns, etc).
Incorrect APA style of references (mostly not indenting and including the full first names of authors>

7) Powerpoint presentation: (10 pts total) For this part you'll make a brief presentation of the fictional experiment. As part of your presentation make sure to include the following.

a) An explanation of the Yerkes-Dodson law (see 4a).
b) A brief summary of background information. That is, summarize (based on their abstracts) the key points from the three articles found in question 4b.
c) Present the table from question 6a.
d) Paste in the graphs of the data (these can be found on class web page by clicking on the Exam1 link).
e) Use transitions and animations where appropriate.

The most common error was the exlusion of the names of the authors of the background research. You've got to give credit where credit is due.
Other errors included: not fiting all the text onto the slide, using dark letters on dark backgrounds, using print that was too small, etc.