What theories/research should I include in the introduction?

  1. As mentioned earlier this is down to personal preference but all theories/research that are relevant for providing a background/rationale for the study and hypotheses should be discussed. Below is an example of key information to include in the introduction but you may have found other relevant theories/research that you wish to include. The order in which you present these is also down to personal preference.
  • Theories that explain the role of the frontal brain in emotional/motivational/cognitive processing (e.g. Valence, Motivational andCognitive Theories of frontal brain asymmetry.
  • Theories that explain Attentional bias to threat in all humans.
  • Research that has explored attentional bias in relation to frontal brain asymmetry (e.g. d’Alfonso et al.) and emotion (e.g. individual differences in anger and anxiety).
  • Previous research that has informed the current methodology (e.g. research on the EST and UHCs).