Final paper

Your final paper should be a coherent literature review of a specific topic that relates to the concepts covered this quarter. The paper should cover both current theories and empirical research relating to your topic. Thematically, your paper should build strong connections between your chosen topic and the broader themes of how context shapes psychological functions and processes.

Your paper (formatting instructions below) should be written for an intelligent non-specialist. Organize your thoughts coherently, illustrate concepts with concrete examples, cite all scientific claims, and aim for clarity and persuasiveness over style.

Your submission should be free of typos.

If you make an office hours appointment, I will review whatever you’ve written with you in our 20-minute timeslot. I will not read full drafts in office hours or via email.

Your literature review must include at least one assigned reading from the course (to which your topic directly relates) and at least 3 (better 4–5) additional readings that were not assigned in the course.

Format

Your paper should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document, Google document, or as a PDF.

For all sections, please use:

  • 12-pt Times New Roman font
  • Double-spaced
  • 1-inch margins on US Letter paper

There are four parts to the full final paper:

  1. Cover page
    • 1 page
    • Your name
    • Your ID number
    • The title of your paper
  2. Body of paper
    • 8–10 pages
  3. Expanded references
    • APA-formatted reference list of every paper cited, with the addition of…
    • The abstract for each referenced paper (correct any copy-paste errors)
    • Take as many pages as you need for this section
  4. Self-assessment
    • Write 1–3 sentences each on how your paper fulfils the grading criteria below

Grading

Final grades will reflect:

  1. Quality of the chosen set of readings (i.e., do you present a coherent sampling of a specific—and pre-approved—topic?);
  2. Quality of the literature review text (i.e., are the readings covered in sufficient depth and explained in a manner that draws out the core concepts and methods in each, common themes across papers, and critical differences/conflicts in methods, findings, topics, etc.?);
  3. Clarity of the theoretical content (i.e., do you effectively convey the key theories, hypotheses, and concepts that provide a basis for discourse between the publications you have selected? If your publications conflict in their theoretical content, make that clear too and describe how and why.)
  4. Strength of the thematic connection between the topic, the literature review outcomes, and the course topic of context effects in psychology.

I will make my own assessment on these three points before reviewing your self assessment. I will take both our perspectives into account in giving you a final grade.

NOTE: Unless you explicitly ask for detailed feedback I will only give a summary of the final grade justification.

A note on using AI

For this assignment, I leave it to students to use AI in whatever way best serves their learning. However, students are always responsible for knowing and understanding the ideas presented in their written work. Therefore, I reserve the right to conduct an oral exam on any submission if I suspect plagiarism or over-reliance on AI. If I request an in-person oral exam, it will be scheduled before 5pm on Thursday of Finals Week. If I request an oral exam, you will receive an Incomplete (I) grade in the course until you come to take it.

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