​​​​Dr. Stephanie Smith

As you will surely see throughout this course, the topics we cover will often apply to experiences that you have in your own life. To help you connect the course content to your daily life, you will write four papers throughout the semester that discuss examples from your own life that are relevant social psychological principles and research that are covered in class.  

 

The four papers will constitute 20% of your final grade in this course.

 

In each paper, you will cover two social psychological topics. The topics can be an entire theory (such as self-discrepancy theory) or a more specific concept (such as the ideal self). You are free to choose the topics that you find most relevant to your own life or observations of others. There needs to be enough detail about your own experience so that its relevance for the social psychological topic that you are using is clear. You may not use made-up examples or examples given in lecture. Feel free to run your chosen topics and examples by me before beginning your paper (this is strongly encouraged).

 

For EACH social psychological topic (2 per paper), you must:  

Clearly and accurately name the principle and state which chapter it comes from

 

Thoroughly define the principle

Do NOT copy the definition given in the book. You must use a definition written in your own words. If you copy from the book or an internet source, this is considered plagiarism which will result in a failing grade on the assignment and referral to the Honor Council.

You should NOT use quotes from the book when defining a concept. This paper needs to be written in your own words.

 

Give a detailed example from your own experience

Explain in detail how/why the experience fits the psychological principle

 

Use proper spelling, grammar and general clarity of writing. Follow APA paper format guidelines. Write in a professional manner. 

 

Minimum of 2 typed double-spaced pages (note: the cover page does NOT count towards this page count) with 1-inch margins and 12 pt. Times New Roman font. All papers should follow APA formatting and include references if necessary. More specific instructions regarding how papers should be formatted can be found here.

 

Must be professionally written, in paragraph form (no numbering, etc...)

See the sample outline below for an idea of how to structure your paper.

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Sample outline

1. Concept 1

   • Name the concept​, state which chapter it comes from, and define it

   • Give a detailed example of the concept from your life

   • Clearly and explicitly state how your experience exemplifies this concept

2. Concept 2

   • Name the concept​, state which chapter it comes from, and define it

   • Give a detailed example of the concept from your life

   • Clearly and explicitly state how your experience exemplifies this concept

 

Paper 1 must include topics covered in Chapters 2 - 4, Paper 2 must use topics covered in Chapters 5 - 6, Paper 3 must use topics covered in Chapters 7 - 8 and Paper 4 must use topics covered in Chapters 9 - 10.

 

All papers must be turned in via Connect. No hand-written or emailed papers will be accepted 

 

All due dates are given in the course calendar. Papers turned in after the due date will automatically lose 20% until 24 hours after the due date. After that point, no late papers will be accepted. 

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Helpful tips!

The following tips have been compiled from feedback I have given on these papers in the past. Pay attention to these! These are easy things you can fix and save yourself some points.

• Don't capitalize concepts unless they are proper nouns (i.e., someone's name or a place).

• Your are NOT "proving" theories correct. You are "providing evidence" to support theories. DO NOT USE THE WORD PROVE!

• You do not have to say "I think..." or "I believe...", you are the author so it is implied that the paper is full of your thoughts on things.

• Pay attention to length! There is a 2-page minimum. If you have less than 2 pages, you probably aren't discussing something or are missing something. 

• This is a paper, don't just list facts. There should be cohesion and flow.

• Your audience for the paper is other psychological science students that are not in this class. You can assume they have basic psychological knowledge but do not know the specifics that you have learned in this class.

• You can earn extra credit on your paper if you take a draft of your paper to the Writing Center before turning it in!

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The rubric provided below is the rubric that will be used to grade your Action Papers. It is highly recommended that you review this rubric before writing your paper. All papers are graded using an average system, meaning all students' papers are graded against each other with the performance of the majority of students classified as an average performance.