A total of 513 of the 612 posters scheduled for presentation at the 1999 meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association were reviewed for compliance with the recommended guidelines for presentation as described in the Proceedings and Abstracts. Findings revealed overall conformity with the guidelines although a few exceptions were noted. Analyses by specific guidelines and discipline are presented to increase the awareness of future presenters.

The annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association (EPA) is intended to be a forum for both faculty and students to present scientific research. Because of its student-oriented focus (EPA, 1999a), the conference offers an opportunity to model accepted methods of presenting research findings. Similar to other scientific organizations, EPA sets forth guidelines for presenters and requirements for poster construction (EPA, 1999b). The present study sought to determine how closely participants adhere to these requirements. It is the authors’ hope that by increasing presenters’ awareness, the quality of an already excellent program will be enhanced.

A "Poster Rating Sheet" was developed for the purposes of this study. Items were written to match the requirements set forth by EPA in the Proceedings and Abstracts (EPA, 1999b). More specifically, the criteria related to readability; large type; inclusion of title, author, and affiliation; presence of introduction, method, results, and discussion sections; use of illustrations; availability of a reprint; and, whether text and illustrations were mounted on colored paper.

Seven raters were trained on the assessment procedure. An attempt was made to assess each poster across all sessions, with each poster visited and rated according to compliance/non-compliance with each guideline.

Of the 612 posters scheduled for presentation at EPA, 31 were either removed prior to the end of the session or missing entirely. Of the remaining 581 posters, a total of 513 were reviewed. This represents a sampling rate of 88.30%.

For each of the guidelines, the percent of posters in compliance were as follows: readable from two feet, 87.7%; boldface, 85.8%; title, 99.4%; author, 99.0%; affiliation, 96.9%; introduction, 93.9%; methods, 96.1%; results/discussion; 94.7%; illustrations, 80.1%; abstract, 65.2%; and colored paper, 86.1%.

An Overall Compliance Score was tabulated for each poster by assigning a point value of one for each item in compliance or a zero if the item did not meet the criterion. A one-way ANOVA was conducted comparing category of presentation on the Overall Compliance Score. This yielded a significant difference among groups, F (8, 496) = 7.06, p < .05. Post hoc tests were performed to compare Overall Compliance Score means between groups to further investigate the significant findings between groups. These analyses revealed a trend, where posters presented in two of the sessions ("Teaching of Psychology and Learning"; "Gender and Multicultural") scored significantly lower than all or most of the other presentation groups. Tables comparing all groups will be presented at the conference.

By far, the variable yielding the lowest compliance was the guideline of having an abstract or reprint available on site (62.2%). The most obvious explanation for this involves economics, in that presenters may wish to limit costs and prevent waste. Other guidelines that did not reach what could be considered the critical threshold of 90% compliance included readability, printed in boldface, illustrations, and mounting on colored paper. Such variables can be viewed as areas of potential growth.

One possible reason for the low compliance yielded by the "Teaching of Psychology and Learning" and "Gender and Multicultural Studies" sessions is that the content may not lend itself to presentation in a traditional format. Perhaps alternate guidelines could be generated to better suit these disciplines.

It is the hope of the authors that these findings will stimulate discussion among faculty and students, leading to the enhancement of future conferences.

Eastern Psychological Association (1999a). Eastern Psychological Association.

< http://www.easternpsychological.org/current_meetings.html> (1999, October 7).

Eastern Psychological Association (1999b). Proceedings and Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Volume 70.

Table 1.

Percentage in Compliance with Guidelines by Discipline

Discipline	Readable	Bold	Title	Author	Affil	Intro	Method	Results	Illust	Abstract	Paper
Teaching of Psych. & Learning	75.0	80.0	98.6	98.6	94.4	88.9	86.1	77.8	75.0	56.9	83.3
Gender & Multicultural Studies	83.6	83.6	100	100	94.5	76.4	94.5	92.7	52.7	67.3	79.6
Health, Forensic, & Family Psych.	85.7	83.9	100	100	98.4	100	96.8	98.4	65.1	60.3	85.7
Attitude & Social Cognition	83.3	87.5	100	100	100	95.7	95.7	95.7	82.6	60.9	87.5
Developmental & Community Psych.	91.2	91.2	100	100	97.1	94.1	98.5	97.1	85.3	58.8	83.8
Animal Learning & Behavior	92.9	81.0	100	100	100	97.6	100	97.6	92.9	61.9	85.7
Clinical & NeuroPsych	93.8	87.5	98.4	95.3	92.2	93.8	96.9	98.4	90.6	82.8	87.5
Personality , Relationships & Attachment	90.2	86.7	98.4	98.4	98.4	100	98.4	98.4	79.0	75.8	91.9
Cognitive Psychology	93.7	90.5	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	60.3	90.5

Table 2.

Means and Standard Deviations of Composite Scores by Discipline

Discipline	Mean (SD)
Teaching of Psychology and Learning	9.16 (1.78)
Gender and Multicultural Studies	9.24 (1.52)
Health, Forensic, and Family Psychology	9.74 (1.08)
Attitude and Social Cognition	9.87 (1.42)
Lifespan Developmental Psychology and Community Psychology	9.97 (1.11)
Animal Learning and Behavior	10.10 (0.88)
Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology	10.17 (1.23)
Personality, Relationships and Attachment	10.18 (1.03)
Cognitive Psychology	10.35 (0.77)