For example, the purpose of this paper, is for you to investigate an area of psychology but specifically focusing on brain and behavior. Focus on what you are interested in, regarding psychology topics. Maybe depression, bipolar, addiction, schizophrenia, or maybe even a method we use to study the brain (e.g., fMRI). You are going to have your paper organized in a very specific manner that should correspond to your PowerPoint presentation (remember the PowerPoint is extra credit). I would assume the PowerPoint would just be a short version of your paper. This paper is a part of the class but the PowerPoint presentation is extra credit (optional).
The end APA paper is worth 100 points.
______
Now, let me further explain the paper. First, let’s say you pick a psychological disorder that you are interested in, pretend I know nothing on this specific topic. You are interested in teaching me about this disorder or method. Now, the disorder I wrote about a long time ago was a developmental disorder known as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
______
So, the actual paper, how am I going to write this? First off, there is a minimum of three pages (single spaced) but since it is APA it will be double spaced which is 6 pages. Please make sure they are full pages (I will grade on: Transition, Flow, Content, Intro, Body, Conclusion, APA style, Grammar, References). Times New Roman 12 font. Importantly, the topic you chose, make sure to relate to brain and behavior and what you are truly interested in.
How I would break up my paper: Intro, body, conclusion. You can create other sections – this is your paper and this is the basic format expected but you can go beyond using images, graphs, tables, just make sure you reference. I encourage you to be creative as much as you would like.
So, the intro, when I did my paper way back, I spoke about what ADHD was, a little history, definition, explanation, maybe address a controversy on the topic with current and past research in the body. Don’t begin with an argument, you are introducing the disorder to your audience (me) so give your audience an understanding of the disorder. A solid background is imperative. I remember when I was an undergraduate student and I had to do this assignment, later in my life I worked at a clinic and would talk to people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction and you would be surprised how many people I worked with didn’t believe or understand or had heard of different psychological disorders. Importantly, this is why a background is super important, you captivate your audience in a way where they want to learn more about the topic. Clear and concise.
Now the body, I would have research, current, past, how we study the disorder what we know, what we don’t know, what we are learning. Now, it says on the syllabus research, but you can get all your info online. Check PubMed and PsychInfo or google scholar. If you need help finding a paper, I will help you find them, if you’re lost, just ask me. But the body of the paper has to teach us another level of information, you can even highlight controversial topics. I highlighted when I did ADHD on the idea of prescribing medication to babies when at that time a medical doctor wasn’t supposed to prescribe younger than 7 (this may have changed it’s been a while) but this was something I highlighted. Once again, this is your paper, but pretend I know nothing on the topic and you are excited to teach me.
The conclusion is exactly what it is, make sure you start by restating what you are studying and why, do not copy and paste, restate it, really think about it. I have you organize this information a certain way just in case you need to reference it once day again. But the conclusion will connect everything together and really convince your audience that this is a true disorder or interesting topic. Also, this is why and how we study this topic and what we know about the disorder and maybe end with future directions. You can use brain imaging studies, pictures of the brain, case studies, animal and human studies. Just be as creative as you would like and a lot of students are going to write about the same disorder or method, this is fine, everyone is going to have their own individual paper.
