Psychology 190: History and Systems in psychology
Research Paper assignment

 

For this assignment, you are asked to create a review paper that illustrates an important and interesting trend in the history of Psychology. To complete this assignment, you should begin by selecting an article from the American Psychologist or from article reprints and source material that can be found the Classics in the History of Psychology website (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/index.htm ) that discusses a topic that interests you and is also related to the history of Psychology. After discussing this central article and its place in history, you are then to review three additional articles topically related to the first. These articles may be research reports, article reviews or theoretical statements (not, however, book reviews, brief case or research reports, or letters to the editor), but all should reinforce and support your view of the historical placement of your initial article. In general, your paper should discuss the ways that the authors address the selected area through the empirical work that they perform or review, how the conclusions and questions have changed over time, and how the four papers as a whole illustrate the larger historical trend introduced by your main article and in class material. The three additional articles could trace backwards and demonstrate how issues raised in your central article got started, or if you select an older article from the American Psychologist or the website, you could trace the steps the field has taken to the present day. Regardless of which path you chose, you should select articles that demonstrate the trend in some topic that has been a focus of study over a fifty year or more timeframe.

 

While the subject area is up to you, there are some requirements in terms of the articles that you need for this paper:

 

1. One of the articles (either a supporting or the central article) must be relatively recent - no earlier than 2000 in terms of its publication date, and one must be published at least fifty years ago (1960 or earlier). The other articles can fall in-between in any fashion, but having at least a few years between the articles helps make the contrast easier in this paper.

 

2. Try to use articles from the journals listed at the end of this handout or from the Classics website. This list has journals that are in our library and are also widely available both in paper and electronic form. Articles from other publications may not be acceptable and your grade may be adversely affected. If you find relevant articles from journals not on the list, be sure to obtain prior approval before you use them.

 

3. When writing your paper, the relevance of your trend is most importantly demonstrated through the connection of your review to class material. While we do not cover all aspects of the field so your specific articles might not be included in the textbook for this class, the analysis dimensions and theoretical trends discussed in this course should tie to your arguments and conclusions.

 

When developing your idea for the paper, try to first develop a historical trend that you wish to illustrate, and then find articles that fit the trend. Most textbooks covering a sub-discipline of this field include a history chapter, and you might want to start your search for trends and articles there. Review material in the later chapters of our textbook as well, as many trends are highlighted there, and a connection in your paper to the class material is important. You might also find that the yearly volumes of the Annual Review of Psychology are helpful in the development phases of your paper. Otherwise, glancing through the table of contents from recent issues of the American Psychologist could also be a way to begin.

 

The assignment consists of three parts (note the due dates on the syllabus). First, you will be asked to turn in a short statement of what topic you plan to cover and how it connects to class material. This statement need only be a short introduction to your main thesis (possibly only a paragraph), but a clear connection to class material should be provided, and at least a suggested article found in the American Psychologist or at the Classics website should be listed. Next, after further research you will hand in a proposal outlining your paper topic more fully. This proposal needs to include:

You will also need to include with your proposal photo-copies or printouts of first page of your articles (which will hopefully include the abstract). The proposal will be worth 25 points in terms of your eventual overall score (out of a 100 point scale).

 

Near the end of the term, the paper is due in class. Note that papers will be accepted after the announced due date will receive a serious penalty. The paper should include a general statement of your topic and why you think that it is historically important. Following this, you should briefly introduce your central article and then step through a review of the supporting set of articles. Where appropriate, you should carefully review the main ideas, conclusions and goals of the authors, summarize the arguments, methods and results of each, and connected the papers in such a way that they support your arguments and the historical relevance of your chosen topic. The bulk of the paper should consist of a comparison of the four articles and a discussion of how they all connect.  Keep in mind that you need to go beyond providing only a descriptive review. Your conclusion should revisit the trend that these studies illustrate, the role played in the history of the field, and what you believe might have been as well as what future work might discover.

 

While the paper is basically a review paper, style guidelines are important. Your references, citation of sources and general page layout must adhere to the A.P.A. guidelines (see the newest edition of the publication manual of the A.P.A. at the library and bookstore, or visit the links on my web site for aids in using A.P.A. style guidelines; see also the PsychWeb internet site at http://www.psywww.com), and the section structure should follow generally that of a review paper (not an experimental report). Finally, the paper must be typed, although electronic submission is also acceptable if you get prior approval.

 

Journal List – The library has most of these (or they are available electronically) and they generally contain articles that work for this assignment. Note, however, that they may include articles that are not appropriate for this assignment.

 

Child Development
Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Hispanic Journal of the Behavioral Sciences
History of Psychology
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Journal of Applied Psychology
Journal of Black Psychology
Journal of Child Language
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
Journal of Educational Psychology
Journal of Experimental Psychology (all sections)
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Journal of Language and Social Psychology
Journal of Personality
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Journal of Research in Personality
Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
Memory and Cognition
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Psych Discourse
Physiological Psychology
Psychology of Women Quarterly
Social Cognition
Sex Roles

 

Other journals and magazines may lead you to interesting topics but should not be counted as one of the three articles for your paper. Please note that it would be best that you avoid using articles from psychiatric and medical journals as they are not always clearly empirically-based research articles. Also be sure NOT to use anything from Psychological Reports or Perceptual and Motor Skills as their studies are typically problematic.