Choose any topic you wish under the extremely broad heading of psychology. For topic ideas you could think about personal, leisure or career interests. Search for areas of overlap with psychology and subtopics within your subject of interest. Another way to start is to work with textbook chapter headings and subtopics within the text chapters. Find a chapter that interests you. Look for sub headings and references to previous research. The APA website as discussed in class may be a resource for topic ideas.
Additional sources for ideas will be discussed during class.
Find one peer review journal article and two additional sources relevant to the selected topic for a total of three sources. Additional sources can be any internet, magazine, or newspaper article, documentary, book, lecture, or film of a reputable nature. Identifying and finding peer review journal articles will be reviewed in class.
The writing assignment will consist of 3-4 pages summarizing and reacting to each source and a reference page. A good faith attempt to use APA formatting for in text citations and the reference page will be required. The reference page must include the peer review journal article and the two additional sources.
Any source discussed in the body of the text must be cited on the reference page and any source appearing on the reference page must appear in the body of the writing assignment.
Important: The writing assignment must conclude with an idea for additional research relevant to the topic, including a description of how your study might be conducted, or what an experiment might look like, incorporating concepts relating to research design from Chapter One. See note at the end of these instructions for where in Brightspace to find FAQ’s and tips for the conclusion.
The writing assignment must be typed-font size twelve, and double spaced. It will be graded based on content, which will include the relevance and appropriateness of sources, organization, grammar, and spelling. Grading is detailed at the end.
Suggested formats: Introduce your topic 1-2 paragraphs. Then devote 1-3 paragraphs per source summarizing the research from each source. Hold your reactions for the end. Your final page would include your reactions, ideas, thoughts, and study or experiment design as they relate to the research you found. Alternatively, react to each source as you go. Make sure to include the required idea for research at the end. You should expect to devote approximately two thirds of a page for each source.
Excluding the reference page, the writing assignment must be 3 pages, but NOT more than 4 pages.
See * suggestions for the peer review article summary on page 2.
Regardless of structure, the conclusion must include one idea for further study on this topic, and to the best of your ability, a brief description of how you might conduct a research study or experiment incorporating methods discussed in class and described in chapter 1 in the textbook.
The primary focus of the grade will be on your summaries, reactions, and idea for additional research, structure, grammar and spelling. The experiment or study design at the end only needs to reflect a basic understanding of the scientific method as applied to psychology research, and evidence of effort to apply some of the concepts discussed in class and described in chapter one.
It is recommended but not required that you submit a topic idea and information about a possible peer review article to insure you are on the right track with selections. Topics may be changed, but it is recommended that you check the new topic with your instructor. Suggested date by 3/14.
The writing assignment is due no later than 4/18.
Continued on page 2
Page 2 guidelines for the writing assignment Spring 2024
Writing assignments will be graded as follows:
content 60 points
required idea for a future study is considered part of the content, but is worth 10 additional points above the 60. Make sure you tie in your idea to sources reviewed and what you learned in class about psychological research.
sources used and effort to employ APA formatting for in text citations and the reference page 20 points. You must have one peer review -also called ‘scholarly’ – article and two additional sources.
structure 10 points
Note: these guidelines, FAQ’s, and tips for the conclusion will be posted in Brightspace. Go to content and then go to assignments.
*suggestions for summary of the peer review article
Why did you select this article?
What was the purpose of the study? What did the authors hope to learn?
What methods were used? Do the best you can with a summary. Specific details are not needed.
What were the conclusions? Note if any mention is made regarding possible variables that would need to be addressed in future studies. What did you think about the research?
