PSYC 191 Paper

Requirements:        5-6 typed pages (minimum), double-spaced with 1” margins, 12 point font using a standard font style (Times New Roman or Arial), a title page, include page numbers.

Consent must be obtained from the parent or guardian of the child or the adult subject. (If the child is your own, you may sign).  In addition, assent must be obtained from the child/adolescent if the child is 8 or older.

Topic:                     Cognitive or Moral Development.

Due:                        No later than 9:15 AM on 4/24/13 (8:00-9:15 AM class) or 10:45 AM on 4/24/13 (9:30-10:45 AM class) or 12:15 on 4/24/13 (11:00-12:15 PM) class.  Student must hand in a hard copy of the paper to me by the due date and time.  E-mailed copies will not be accepted.  The grading rubric must be turned in with the paper; if it is not turned it with the paper, 2.5 points will be deducted.  The paper must also be submitted to Turnitin; if it is not submitted, your paper will not be accepted for grading consideration, and it will be given a zero.  Only papers with a plagiarism rate of less than 10% will be accepted for grading consideration; all others will be given a zero.  The deadline to submit your paper to Turnitin is 8:00 AM for my 8:00-9:15 AM, 9:30 AM for my 9:30-10:45 AM , and 11:00 AM for my 11:00-12:15 PM class.  I will not accept late papers.

Style:                      The tone of the paper is to be written formally; slang, text speak, and contractions are not acceptable.  Quotes are not allowed from the sources, except in the case of quotes from the people used in the interactions.  If quotes are used, five points will be deducted from the paper grade.

Those who write papers on cognitive development will complete the same two tasks with the same two children of different ages (see Piagetian tasks handout – one child should be between 5-7 and the other between 8-11).  Those who write papers on moral development will complete the same two dilemmas with the same two people of different ages (one should be between 7-15 and the other between 18 or older).  All instructions regarding the tasks must be followed; if the instructions are not followed, points will be deducted.

All papers will include: 1) background on the theory and/or phenomena that you are investigating (a description of the theorist, theory, and stages); 2) a brief description of your interactions with the subjects – describe each subject, what happened during the interaction, your familiarity with the subject, and if there were any problems; 3) how you would classify the subject according to the relevant stage theory; 4) whether your observation matched what you expected before you began; what you learned about children/people; and whether this changed your thoughts on children/people; 5)  What revisions/corrections/additions do you believe should be done in the future to improve upon your study?  For both topics, compare and contrast the two subjects.

References:             You must cite at least two references; one of them must be a journal article.  Internet sources must be approved by the instructor; if they have not been approved, the Internet sources may not be used.  Wikipedia is not an acceptable source.  A reference page is necessary; however, the reference page is not one of your 5-6 pages.  The reference page must be in APA format.

Citing:                    You must cite sources within the text of your paper in APA format.