PSY105: Introduction to Psychology: Opt Out Paper

For this paper, you will describe experiments that have been done on a topic covered in your text or in class. Identify journal articles related to your topic and describe the purpose, methods, and findings of each journal article. Conclude your description of each article by discussing how it relates to the topic as presented in the text or lecture. 

Steps to writing the paper:

1.) Select Topic: Pick a topic and get your instructors approval. The topic should have something to do with materials discussed in class or covered in your text. One way to get an idea for your topic is to look at the table of contents in your text, and then read a section of the text that seems especially interesting to you. For more help on topic selection and keywords, go to the Topics & Keywords page. 

2.) Literature Search: Use the database, PsycINFO, to find recent journal articles containing experiments on your topic. For more information on using PsycINFO, go to the PsycINFO page.

3.) Find Journal Articles: Talk to your professor to determine how many articles you will need for your paper. You must use articles from peer reviewed psychology journals. For more information on peer reviewed journal articles, go to the Peer Review page.

4.) Write your paper: For each article, describe: (a) the general purpose of the experiment, (b) the major hypotheses being investigated, (c) the method used by the researchers to conduct the experiment, and (d) the main reason of the experiment, and whether those results supported or failed to support the major hypotheses being investigated. (Try not to get bogged down in the complicated statistics contained in the Results section of the article. The next section, called the Discussion, usually begins with an explanation of the findings in plain language.) Go to the Scholarly Articles page for tips on reading an article. Conclude your description of each article by discussing how it relates to the topic as presented in your text or in class. 

5.) APA citations: Use basic American Psychological Association (APA) style. This means (a) 1 inch margins on the left, right, top and bottom margins; (b) double spacing; and (c) 12-point, Times New Roman font. You must include a Reference section in your paper where you list the complete citation for each of the articles that you reviewed in your paper. Your reference page and title page do not count towards the page requirement of your paper. For more information on citations, go the Citations page.

6.) Turn In Your Paper: Attach a copy of each of the journal articles that you reviewed in your paper. Turn everything in to your professor.