What effects does insomnia disorder have on cognition? Are people with insomnia disorder
cognitively impaired? evaluate the literature and, based on research evidence, present a strong argument
that justifies your conclusions.
Example starting references:
Almondes, K.M., Júnior, F.W.N.H., Leonardo, M.E.M., & Alves, N.T. (2020). Facial emotion recognition and
executive functions in insomnia disorder: An exploratory study. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 502.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00502
Zhao, J-L., Cross, N., Yao, C.W., Carrier, J., Postuma, R.B., Gosselin, N., … & Dang-Vu, T.T. (2022).
Insomnia disorder increases the risk of subjective memory decline in middle-aged and older adults: a
longitudinal analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Sleep, 45(11), zsac176.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsac176
The word limit is strict: any essays going over the prescribed 1500 word limit will be penalised. You should
aim to write clearly and simply, providing a logical and well-structured answer to the essay question. The
essay you present must be your own work – using content produced by generative AI is not permitted.
The topics ask you to evaluate the impact of insomnia disorder on cognition to determine whether people with the disorder are cognitively
impaired.
As 1500 words is not enough to offer an in-depth analysis of all cognitive functions, your essay
should focus on 2 or 3 different cognitive functions (e.g., face perception, language, attention, memory,
problem solving, social cognition, decision making) –– by focussing on 2 or 3 different cognitive functions
you can generalize to cognition more broadly and answer the question clearly and confidently.
Your answer to the question may be ‘yes’ or ‘no’, depending on the research evidence and argument you
present (i.e., there’s not one single ‘correct’ answer) – it’s possible to gain an equally high mark with either
answer, as long as the argument presented is logical and evidence-based.
Depth of understanding, clarity of argument and economy of expression will be rewarded. Remember, your
job is to provide a clear, evidence-based answer the essay question – do not just summarise the research
papers/textbook/lectures/tutorials! And of course, be very careful to avoid academic misconduct/plagiarism.
Make sure your essay is on topic, i.e., that it really speaks to the issue you have chosen as your essay
question. It is important to write a coherent argument – the opening paragraphs should tell your reader
where the essay is heading, brief pointers along the way should clearly indicate what the evidence implies
and how it relates to the essay question, and a concluding paragraph should make your answer to the
question and position on the issue clear. Only include research evidence that is relevant to the topic, and
thus builds a compelling answer to the essay question.
Evidence of having read (and understood!) at least five original experimental papers is expected for the
major essay. In addition you may choose to include information from reviews and meta-analyses to support
your interpretations of the original experimental articles, however reviews and meta-analyses are not
counted as part of the “five original experimental papers”.
Focus on providing a detailed, in-depth
explanation and analysis of a smaller number of papers rather than citing lots of papers but offering only a
superficial overview (i.e., when you’re choosing references, aim for quality over quantity!).
Each of the topics includes the details of two example starting references – bear in mind that these are only
suggestions (citing these particular papers is NOT a marking criterion!).
Make sure you base your essay on reliable academic resources (i.e., original journal articles you’ve read.
Hint : Wikipedia is NOT considered a reliable academic resource).
