Write a professional development briefing paper focused on how theories, principles, and evidence-based best practices related to problem-solving and creativity, decision-making and reasoning, and human and artificial intelligence can be applied in the context of a selected professional specialization.
As a professional psychologist, you will need to review theory and research and use it as the basis to develop best practices. For this assessment, you will focus on the following topics:
- Problem-solving and creativity.
- Decision-making and reasoning.
- Human and artificial intelligence.
Note: This assessment will be a briefing paper, not a presentation.
Imagine you are now a professional psychologist working in the specialization that you aspire to. You are charged with creating professional development for an interdisciplinary team of professionals in your workplace on how theories, principles, and evidence-based best practices of cognitive and affective psychology can be used to help people in your work context.
The third assessment focuses on problem-solving and creativity; decision-making and reasoning; and human and artificial intelligence. For context on these topics, read:
- Introduction to Problem Solving and Creativity [PDF].
- Introduction to Decision Making and Reasoning [PDF].
- Introduction to Human and Artificial Intelligence [PDF].
As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional community. Note that these questions are for your own development and exploration and do not need to be completed or submitted as part of your assessment.
- What are obstacles and aids to problem-solving?
- What strategies guide human decision-making and reasoning?
- What is deductive reasoning? What facilitates and impedes its use?
- What is inductive reasoning? What facilitates and impedes its use?
- What other forms of reasoning are there?
- How does expertise develop?
- To what degree is human intelligence influenced by inherited or environmental factors?
- What is groupthink? How does it affect decision-making, reasoning, and creativity?
- How and to what extent does brain physiology and neuroscience help explain normality and abnormality in relation to decision-making and reasoning? Does this science point toward interventions that improve performance in decision-making and reasoning? What is creativity and how can it be enhanced?
- How do emotions impact with problem-solving, creativity, or intelligence?
- What ethical issues might arise for a psychologist in connection with problem-solving, creativity, or intelligence?
For this assessment, you will write a briefing paper focused on the following topics:
- Problem-solving and creativity.
- Decision-making and reasoning.
- Human and artificial intelligence.
The following resource is required to complete the assessment.
You will complete this assessment by replacing all instructional and sample text with your own words. (An abstract is not required for this assessment.)
Remember, your briefing paper is for an interdisciplinary team, so it will be important to communicate in a manner that can be understood by a those not trained in psychology. Be sure to include plain language definitions of psychological terms used in the paper.
Title Page
On the title page, enter the following:
- A descriptive title of approximately 5–15 words. It should stir interest while maintaining professional decorum.
- Professional development for [enter the type of institutional context your paper is designed for].
- Your name.
- Your specialization.
- Course number and title.
- Capella University.
- Faculty name.
Note: If this paper was written for an actual professional context, the entries under your name would be replaced by your job title, the name of your organization, and your contact information.
Introduction
Briefly discuss in very general terms that how the three topics relate to each other and how they can be used to help people in your work context.
Topic Sections
The briefing paper will have three sections, each dedicated to one of the three topics. Within each section:
- Analyze briefly the origins and evolution of each theory that you will reference in relation to the topic.
- Explain how theories, principles, and evidence-based best practices related to the topic can be used to explain behavior and help people. Remember, these factors should be relevant to the context. For each of these:
- Analyze how and to what extent brain physiology or neuroscience can provide an explanation of relevant phenomena.
- Analyze how affective manifestations may impact cognitive performance.
- Explain how theories and principles related to at least one of the topics in your paper apply to culturally diverse populations.
- Explain one or more ethical issues that might arise in the application of theories and principles related to problem-solving, creativity, reasoning, or intelligence.
- Cite the APA Code of Ethics or another code of ethics if it is more relevant to your area.
Conclusion
Conclude your paper with a succinct statement that sums up the utility of what you have written.
References
Cite references using current APA style and formatting guidelines.
Be sure your paper meets the following requirements:
- Written communication: It should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.
- APA format: Use current APA style and formatting guidelines as they apply to this assessment.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:
- Competency 1: Analyze the evolving fields of cognitive and affective psychology as independent and interdependent domains of investigation.
- Analyze the origins and evolution of theories related to problem-solving, creativity, reasoning, and intelligence.
- Analyze how affect may impact cognitive performance related to problem-solving, creativity, reasoning, or intelligence.
- Competency 2: Incorporate theories, principles, and evidence-based best practices of cognitive psychology into professional practice.
- Explain how theories, principles, and evidence-based best practices related to problem-solving, creativity, reasoning, and intelligence can be applied in professional practice.
- Analyze how brain physiology or neuroscience is relevant to problem-solving, creativity, reasoning, and intelligence.
- Competency 4: Explain how ethical principles and practices influence application of theories and principles of cognitive and affective psychology.
- Explain one or more ethical issues that might arise in the application of theories and principles related to problem-solving, creativity, reasoning, or intelligence.
- Competency 5: Analyze how the theories and principles of cognitive and affective psychology apply to culturally diverse populations.
- Explain how theories and principles related to problem-solving, creativity, reasoning, or intelligence apply to culturally diverse populations.
- Competency 6: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for members of the psychological professions.
- Write clearly with correct spelling, grammar, syntax, and good organization.
- Apply proper APA formatting and style.
