Psychology Final Paper
Four to seven pages (double-spaced). Topic: My idea is to identify course topics such as schemas, specifically the Schematic Processing Principle, the forgetting curve, and flashbulb memories to make sense of the experience I had when I broke my left arm in fifth grade at a trampoline park and how I still vividly remember it. Instructions. Use the following section headings:
Issue
Begin by describing the personal goal, problem, experience, or phenomenon that you will be addressing. Explain briefly why it is interesting or important to you. (One paragraph)
Course Topics
Identify the topics from the course that you will be applying, including the relevant facts or theories you will make use of. (One paragraph)
Psychology Final Paper
Application
Apply information from the course to analyze your experience, create a plan for achieving your goal, find a solution to your problem, etc. Be sure to cite the specific sources for the ideas you are applying. You can also refer to general principles from the course readings and lectures. (2 to 3 pages)
Empirical Evaluation
Evaluate the strength of the evidence for the “facts” you are applying from topics in the course. If, for example, you applied the idea of “retrieval practice” to help you study more effectively, you might say something like, “The idea that retrieval practice leads to better memory is something we can be highly confident is true, because it has been repeatedly supported by well-controlled experimental evidence.” Or if you applied the idea of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to identify things that were interfering with your academic achievement you might say, “Although intuitively appealing, the ideas described in Maslow’s Hierarchy are things we can have very little confidence are true, because they are mostly based on only intuition and observational research, not repeated and well-controlled experiments.” Try to cite specific empirical evidence to support your conclusions whenever possible.
This can include primary sources such as journal articles. (The library has a Guide for Research that is very helpful.) (2 to 3 pages) 5. Conclusion. Sum up what you have done, and briefly discuss which information from the course you found most applicable to your issue. Also briefly talk about what questions you still have or what further information you think you might need. (1 to 2 paragraphs). 6. References. Provide an APA-style reference list for any source you used in your paper, whether it is a journal article, textbook chapter, course lecture, website, content-generating tool such as an AI system, or anything else that is not common knowledge or your own words and ideas. Each entry in the References list should also correspond to an APA-style in-text citation in the text of your paper. Each entry in the References list must include a DOI, or if no DOI is available it must include a URL that links to the source.
Psychology Final Paper
Instructions
Are the 5 sections listed in the instructions above clearly labeled and in the correct order? Does it follow instructions for form and content in general?
Application
Does it apply relevant ideas from the course in a way that makes sense? Are they specific, or only vague and general ideas from the course? Does the way that they are applied to your issue make sense?
Empirical Evaluation
Is specific empirical evidence cited for the ideas that are being applied? Are references provided? Is there a clear evaluation of how confident we should be that the ideas are true, and are clear reasons given for that evaluation?
Clarity and style
Is it written clearly and logically? Do paragraphs have clear topic sentences and supporting ideas? Is everything written in complete, grammatical sentences? Are there too many direct quotations?
Length and formatting
Is it 4 to 7 pages of text, not including title, references, etc.? Are the font-size and margins reasonable? Is it double spaced? Use APA referencing style.