Term Paper:  Psych 105, Spring 2008

Your term paper should be a research paper that relates to an issue of current interest to psychological principles, research and data. Select a topic from this list, or propose a topic that is related to current issues in psychology and the media. If you propose your own topic, you must discuss it with me in advance. (This is for your protection, so that you don't do all that work on a topic that isn't appropriate for this class.)

The paper must be typed, double-spaced, and should be around 1000 – 2000 words (5-10 pages). You may hand it in on paper or email it to me. It must contain at least two citations to published materials in addition to or other than your textbook; if you use Wikipedia, you must include two additional citations.

If I receive it by the day and time it is due, you get 100% of the assigned grade (which depends on my evaluation of the paper). If it’s late, your grade will be reduced by 15% per day.

Term Paper is due
May 8 at 6:00 PM  

If you email your term paper to me, it must be in a format that I can read on my computer. These formats are:

If you email your term paper, make sure you request a receipt, and follow up quickly if you don’t get one within 24 hours!!!

Please don't put your term paper in a folder or binder. It's easier for me to read it if you simply staple the pages together.

You must draw information from and cite at least two articles, books, or web sites, in addition to or instead of the textbook; if you use Wikipedia, you need two ADDITIONAL citations.

INCLUDE CITATIONS FOR ALL MATERIALS YOU USE AS SOURCES OF INFORMATION, INCLUDING MATERIALS YOU GET FROM THE INTERNET!!!

Your citations (in text and at the end of the paper) should follow the APA format - see the home page for this class for links to information about citation styles.

If you quote what someone else has said, you must provide a citation (source) of the quote. If you paraphrase what someone else has said, you must provide a citation for the the source of the ideas. Failure to cite materials from which you get your quotes, ideas and concepts, is called PLAGIARISM, and it will result in a 0 on the paper. Go to the home page (http://furpaw.com/psy105) for this course for links to information on how to properly use citations. And see the link at http://furpaw.com/psy105/plagiarism_examples.pdf for information about how to avoid plagiarising.

Some sources of information

Google, at http://google.com

Google's search engine for journal articles and other scholarly materials: http://scholar.google.com.

Recent news articles about a topic: http://news.google.com and http://news.yahoo.com.

The Monitor on Psychology [http://www.apa.org/monitor/ ](APA) and The APS Observer [http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/ ] are news sites that contain current and archived news related to psychology.

PsychPORT is a site that provides up-to-the-minute links on psychological topics in the news. You can also establish an RSS feed from here: http://psycport.apa.org/

The "Supplementary Materials" links supplied with each chapter contains links and references to a wide range of topics and web sites about various topics in psychology. See the Schedule at http://furpaw.com/psy105/schedule.htm for these links.

Links to useful and interesting psychology web sites on the main page of the class web site contains links to general psychology web sites and newsletters.

About citing Wikipedia

Wikipedia is both an excellent source of information and a source of error and misconception. The difficulty is in deciding which characterizes the page that you'd like to cite.

Here's the policy for this class:

You may use Wikipedia as a starting point for finding information about a topic.

If you quote or cite Wikipedia as a reference, you must cite two additional sources other than Wikipedia and other than your text book. Many of the articles in Wikipedia have links and references to scholarly sources of information; look them up and use them. If you use Wikipedia, do not use it as your primary source of information.

Remember that, in general, when you write a paper for a college class, relying on an encyclopedia as a primary source of information is frowned upon by many professors; you are expected have sufficient intellectual maturity that you don't need to rely on an encyclopedia.

Suggested Topics: - you may select one of these topics, or choose a different one that catches your interest. If you don't choose one of these topics, you need to get instructor approval of your topic.

(Link to this page from http://furpaw.com/psy105/paper_topics.htm to link to underlined web sites below)

Intelligence and Success in Life

Some people who score high on traditional intelligence tests do not fare well in life. Discuss factors other than "intelligence" that contribute to success and failure in life. You'll need to define intelligence, success and failure. Is culture a factor? Here's are a few places to start:

Intelligent Intelligence Testing, APA Monitor, February 2003.
Goleman, Daniel (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam.
Goleman, Daniel (2006). Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships. New York: Bantam.

Treatment of POWs at Guantanamo and in prisons in Iraq: brutal guards or people caught up in a bad situation?

Do you see a relationship between Milgram's studies of response to authority, Zimbardo's studies of college students assigned to play "guards" and "prisoners," and the treatment of POWs at Guantanamo and in Iraq? Describe the treatment of the prisoners, the studies and their results, any other materials you consider relevant. Point out relationships or lack thereof. Do you think the guards are brutal people, or people taking on "expected" roles in a bad situation? Support your arguments. Here are some starting points:

Simulated Prison Experiment

Obeying and Resisting Orders

Violent Video Games, Violent Television and Movies - do they make people more aggressive and violent?

For more than 50 years psychologists - and the public - have been asking whether or not seeing violence in movies, television, cartoons, and now video games tends to induce children to become more violent in their "real" lives, and to make them less emotionally responsive to "real" violent behavior when they see it. Discuss evidence for this proposition, pro and con. What can parents do to counteract the high levels of exposure to violence that their chidren experience? Be sure you look critically at studies which are merely correlational in nature; can you conclude from the correlations that violent video games and shows cause the players to become more aggressive? Or do people attracted to violent games and shows have more violence-prone personalities? Some starting points are on this site:

Violence and Violence Prevention

Male Brain - Female Brain

Studies of the human brain have turned up differences between men and women. What are the differences betwee men's brains and women's brains, and how do they relate to differences that are observed between men and women? Some starting points:

His Brain, Her Brain

Hyde, J. S. (2005). The Gender Similarities Hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60, pp. 581-592.

Does Use of Cell Phones Make for Bad Driving?

There have been many assertions that cell phone use makes for poor driving. Present arguments for and against this assertion, using constructs and data from studies in perception and cognition, such as selective attention, multiprocessing and inattentional blindness. California is banning the use of cell phones while driving for teenagers under age 18 - should the ban be extended to adults? Here are some starting places:

Ramachandran, V. S., and Rogers-Ramachandran, D. (2005, June). "How Blind Are We?" Scientific American Mind, pp. 95-96.

Change Blindness and Inattentional Blindness

Cell Phone Induced Failures...

Lohr, Steve (2007, March 24). Slow Down, Multitasker, Especially if You’re Reading This in Traffic. New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2007, from
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/business/25multi.html?pagewanted=print Effects of divided consciousness and multitasking on performance.

California banned all teenage cellphone use while driving: http://www.ergoweb.com/news/detail.cfm?id=2155

"Schoolyard Bullies"

There have been many recent reports in the media of schoolyard bullies and the effects of bullying on their victims. Is this a phenomenon of the late 20th and early 21st century, has bullying become more prevalent, has the nature of bullying changed, or is more attention being paid to the phenomenon? Were you ever a victim of bullying? Or a bully yourself? Discuss the nature of bullying, the impact on victims, and measures that can be taken to counteract bullying. A place to start:

Schafer, Mechthild. (2005, June). Stopping the Bullies. Scientific American Mind, 77-81.

The Psychology and Biology of Happiness

What makes people happy? Why are some people happier than others? Is this due to their biology, or to their behaviors and attitudes, or both? What can you do to make yourself feel happier? Discuss these questions, drawing upon psychological research into happiness. Some places to start:

Lemonick, Michael D. (2005, January 17). "The Biology of Joy." Time Magazine. Retrieved January 30, 2005, from http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1015863,00.html

Seligman, Martin. Learned Optimism. New York: Free Press, 1998 - reissue.

Wiederman, M. (2007, February). Why It's So Hard To Be Happy.Scientific American Mind, pp. 36-43.

STRESS!!!!! and Katrina (and other natural and man-made disasters)

Living through hurricane Katrina and its aftermath has created unbearable stressors for many of its victims. How is this experience of stress affecting the victims psychologically and physically, and what can they do for themselves to help cope? This page has several articles about the effects of massive stress and coping.

APA. Topic: Natural Disasters.

. Polygraph tests: valid tools or pseudoscience?

The news media report that the use of polygraphs tests is on the rise by the CIA, FBI and other government agencies, as well as in business and industry. But psychologists and others familiar with the nature of polygraphy claim that these tests are not "lie detectors;" rather, they measure several physiological indices of emotional arousal and anxiety. Is the use of the test justified? What research has been done to validate or invalidate the tests? If you were charged with making a recommendation to a corporation of using or not using polygraph tests for screening new employees and employees who are being considered for promotions, what would you recommend and why? Use research and expert opinion to justify your recommendation. Here's a start:

Egan, D., and Vedantam, S. (2006, May 1). More Questions Than Answers. The Washington Post, p A01, Retrieved May 16, 2006. (If no longer available on line, see me.)

Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences and Education (2003). The Polygraph and Lie Detection. Washingon, D. C.: National Acadamies Press. Retrieved May 16, 2006 from http://fermat.nap.edu/openbook/0309084369/html/index.html . Free on-line text version is awkward but readable.

And what about brain scans? Are they better at polygraph tests at detecting lies? Heres a discussion about that:

Temple-Raston, D. (2007). Neuroscientist Uses Brain Scan to See Lies Form. Retrieved February 22, 2008, from National Public Radio web site at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15744871

Psychology of Suicide Bombers: what makes them do it?

Reports of bombings by suicide bombers have become an almost daily feature of news. Kamikaze pilots took that role in WWII for the Japanese army. What leads people to become suicide bombers? Are they psychotic? Mentally deranged? Are there personality variables at work? Or are there social and environmental factors that lead people to make this ultimate sacrifice for their country, religion or cause? What research has been done to try to understand these people? One starting place is this profile in Time:

Ghosh, Aparasim (2005, July 4). "Inside the Mind of an Iraqi Suicide Bomber". Time Magazine.   Retrieved August 6, 2005, from and Available for a small fee at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601050704,00.html

Dingfelder, S. F. (2004). "Fatal Friendships." Monitor on Psychology, 35, 20. Retrieved August 6, 2005, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov04/friendship.html

Schaefer, Annette (2007, December). Inside the Terrorist Mind. Scientific American Mind, 73-79. Also available from http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=inside-the-terrorist-mind

Eating Disorders: Media, Familial or Biological?

Many people (mostly women, but some men as well) suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. These disorders are not only damaging to health, but they can be life-threatening. What is the reason for the prevalence of the disorders? Are they caused by slavishness to fashion, in particular the current trend towards extreme thinness? Are they encouraged by media? Are they caused by disorders in the family? Or are some people biologically disposed towards developing eating disorders? A good place to start is with an issue of the Monitor on Psychology that dealt with eating disorders:

http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar02/eatingtoc.html

Autism and Related Syndromes

Recently several news reports have put the incidence of autism at 1 in 150 births. This strikingly high figure for a disorder that can be quite debilitating mentally and socially suggests that it is important to understand the origins, effects and treatments of the disorder. There are many papers than could be written on the topic of autism. Here are some recent discussions of autism and people diagnosed with autism in the popular media:

Time magazine (May 15, 2006) has several articles about autism:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601060515,00.html

Here are some suggestions for papers:

(a) What are the current theories of causation, how are children diagnosed with autism and their parents affected, and what treatments are emerging? Is the incidence of autism really increasing? The Monitor on Psychology has published several articles that deal with these issues. Go to this link: http://www.apa.org/monitor/ and search on "autism". Dr. Temple Grandin's book, Thinking in Pictures, is an excellent personal account of autism, written by a remarkable person with autism.

(b) Some remarkable people with autism have come to the notice of the public. How do they differ from "neurotypical" individuals? What capabilities do they have? What are some of their deficiencies? This link,

http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant/synopsis.cfm,

discusses the savant syndrome, which is seen in a small percentage of autistics and other individuals with various brain disorders. The site includes videos and links about several savants, including Kim Peek, who was one of the people who inspired the character Raymond in the movie "Rainman." Amanda Baggs was recently profiled on CNN's Anderson Cooper

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/21/autism.amanda/index.html;

she is a 26 year old woman with autism who is a remarkably fluent communicator - as long as she is able to type. This article has links to several video clips and related web sites. And here is a link to Dr. Temple Grandin's web site:

http://www.templegrandin.com/

(c) Asperger's Syndrome - a mild form of autism? The geek next door? That kid with an obsession with computers, with no other interests? Is this due to a neurological disorder, or does the child simply lack social skills? Many researchers think that these children suffer from a neurological disorder, with symptoms similar to, but not as severe as autism. Some starting places:

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/asperger/asperger.htm

http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=life_aspergers

The Romanian Orphans: Psychological Aftermath of Isolation, Abuse and Neglect

After the fall of Romanian Premier Ceaucescu in 1989, the world was horrified at the conditions of abuse, isolation and neglect revealed in hundreds of orphanages in Romania. Many of these children were adopted by people from around the world, and some of them had difficulty in forming attachments with their adoptive parents, and grew up with a number of social and psychological difficulties. What has the course of development of these children been, as they approached adulthood? Do you see any relationship between the treatment of these orphans and Harlow's treatment of monkeys raised on surrogate mothers, and the results of such treatments? Were any treatments effective in overcoming their early childhood environment? What does their experience tell us about the importance of environment during early development? Here are some starting places:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4629589.stm

http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb04/doearly.html

Harlow, H. F. (1959). "The Nature of Love." American Psychologist 13, 673-685. Available online at http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Harlow/love.htm .

Binge Drinking - a growing problem among teens and college students

This site contains links to many resources regarding the popularity and problem of binge drinking among teens. What leads young people into the binging culture, what maintains the behavior, likelihood of later alcoholism, brain damage.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). College Drinking: Changing the Culture. Retrieved 9-10-2007 from http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/

Amazing feats of memory - how do people with extremely good memories differ from 'normal'?

Some people can remember virtually everything that happened to them. Others have a seemingly total recall for everything they have read. Others have incredible memories for pictures and scenes. Some of the people with super-memories are savants with deficits in other forms of intelligence; others are seeminly otherwise 'normal.' How do psychologists characterize these feats of memory? How do they relate to the several types of memory? Do people who have extraordinary memories view them as a blessing or a curse?

Some starting places:

CNN.com/Health (2008, February 22). Amazing Memory Man Never Forgets. Retrieved February 23, 2008, from
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/22/memory.man.ap/index.html

Ramde, D. (2008, February 22). Scientists to Study "Memory Man. Retrieved February 24, 2008, from TIME Magazine at
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1716642,00.html

Some savants with phenomenal memories
http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant/synopsis.cfm

Pedophiles

What is pedophilia? How do men (mostly) become sexually attracted to children? Is it genetic or learned or both? What treatments are used to rehabilitate pedophiles? Are the treatments successful, or are they doomed for life? (Be careful with your selection of articles; because the topic incites strong emotion, many internet sites are quite biased in their discussions.) Some starting points:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childsexualabuse.html - an overview with links to several websites

Transgendered?

Some people believe that they are born the 'wrong' sex - they feel like a woman living in a man's body, or a man living in a woman's body. How do we develop our sexual identities? To what extent are they socially defined and biologically defined? And how do some people end up with a mismatch? How prevalent is gender identity disorder, how is it treated, and what are the long-term consequences for people who undergo a sex change operation? Here are some places to start:

http://www.apa.org/topics/transgender.html - has links to several websites

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/ET/popup/200803022100.html - March 2 on National Geographic Channel; web site will probably have additional information after that date

Do Animals Experience Emotions?

"Common knowledge" says that they do, but philosophers and Behaviorists argued that there is no way for us to know, and that it is incorrect to attribute human emotions to animals. Still, some scientists, starting with Darwin, have made a case that similarities of behavior and similarities of brain structures in the limbic system argue that they do. Some places to begin exploring this topic:

de Waal, F. B. M. (2007, December). Do Animals Feel Empathy? Scientific American Mind, 28-33. Article also available on-line at
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=do-animals-feel-empathy

McConnell, P. B. (2006). For the Love of a Dog. New York: Ballantine Books.

Darwin, C. (1872). The Expression of The Emotions in Man and Animals. Several reprinted editions are available.