Psych. 375 Cognitive Psychology

 

Fall 2007 Paper Assignment

 

 

One 8 to 10 page paper is required. The 8 to 10 pages does not include the title and reference pages. It will be due Oct. 23. You’ll get it back 1 or 2 weeks later. If you’re not happy with the score you got, you can fix it up, using the comments I gave you, and turn it in again any time up until the last day of class.

 

You should choose a topic covered in class that you would like to know more about, and research it in more detail. Your topic can be any area covered in class, but make sure it’s not too broad, or you will have too much to cover. For example, you wouldn’t want to write a paper on “memory” or “reading”, but you might want to do “implicit memory” or “dyslexia”. The paper should be relevant to Cognitive Psychology. So if you choose a topic like Alzheimer's, you would want to focus on its cognitive aspects (such as performance on various types of memory tests), rather that its physiological basis. Some possible paper topics are listed below.

 

The paper must include at least 5 primary references. You do not need an Abstract, Method, or Results section, but it is very important that your References are APA style. Any paper that does not have proper references will be given a score of 0. A primary reference is one written by the original experimenter, and does not include textbooks, popular newspaper or magazine articles, or Web pages. Most articles you find with Psych. Info. will be primary references. NEIU librarians may recommend that you use the free online journals instead of Psych. Info., but these are usually not as good as the journals covered by Psych. Info.

 

Whenever possible, you should cite the original source. If you can’t cite the original source, you may cite a secondary source under certain conditions (see APA manual for proper format). When you cite something you should have read the whole article, not just the abstract.

 

Note that the 5 reference requirement does not mean that you simply go to the library, find 5 articles on your topic, and then write a summary of the articles. You must show how these separate studies relate to each other. You will probably have to read many more articles than you will eventually cite in your paper. Although only 5 references are required, for some topics you may need substantially more than that to adequately cover all the relevant information.

 

If you are having trouble coming up with a topic, or want to know if your topic is appropriate, don’t hesitate to ask me after class or during office hours.

 

The substance of the paper is most important, but you will loose points for misspelled words, incorrect grammar, and incorrect use of APA style.

 

Note that Homework assignment #3 is an outline of your paper. Therefore, you should have most of your articles by then.

 

Re-writing the paper. If you are not happy with the score you receive on your paper, you may re-write it, based on the comments I have given, and turn in a second version by Nov. 27. However, since you have been given two chances, I will be more rigorous in my scoring of the second version. If I recommended major substantive changes, and you made only small cosmetic changes, you may receive a lower score than you did on the first version. In other words, do not re-write your paper unless you are willing to put a fair amount of work into the re-write.

 

 

Possible paper topics:

 

Is implicit memory spared in Alzheimer’s disease?

 

Is there a deficit in selective attention in schizophrenia?

 

Do autistic children have a deficit in theory of mind?

 

At what age does theory of mind develop in normal children?

 

Is Piaget’s theory of cognitive development accurate?

 

Which aspects of reading are impaired in dyslexia?

 

Is facial identity processed separately from emotional expression?

 

Are children more prone to false memories than adults?

 

How can false memories be avoided in eyewitness testimony?