PSY 322: How to find and identify peer-reviewed journal articles: PSY322 assignment

Saint Leo University
PSY 322 – Physiological Psychology

PROJECT GUIDELINES FOR PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR

You will benefit immensely by reading academic journal articles as well as learning APA style.

You may choose to investigate a “brain-behavior relationship”, i.e. physiological behavior of particular interest to you and use several previously published studies as citations and support from a scholarly research journal relevant to brain and behavior. Only articles from peer-reviewed, scholarly journals, may be used as references. Be careful, much of what you find, particularly from the Internet, is not from acceptable sources. To avoid any misunderstandings, please check your sources with your instructor to avoid extra work and headaches later on! Sorry, but reviews of books are not acceptable for this assignment.

Papers must be: typed, double spaced, 12 point font, 1” margin, conform to APA style, and contain no fewer than five pages of text, at a minimum and no more than eight pages of text total. Correct spelling, grammar and citations are required. Demonstration of critical thinking is a must!

Sample topics include:

• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Narcolepsy
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – ALS
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Bell’s Palsy or Cerebral Palsy
• Tourette’s Syndrome
• Cerebrovascular Disease – Stroke, Aneurysm
• Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease - CJD
• Encephalitis
• Epilepsy
• Guillian-Barre Syndrome
• Huntington’s (Chorea) Disease
• Meniere’s Disease
• Migraine Headaches
• Aphasia

Attend to the following.

Basically, you must address:

• the name of the disorder, how it is identified
• review of the research (significant findings)
• physiological basis
• anatomical correlates
• behaviors associated
• neurological elements
• summary of related processes (if any)
• possible treatments

Descriptively, you must address:

Present an Introduction and Purpose: What is the main thesis of your paper? Summarize and paraphrase the main points regarding the subject (anatomy, function, disorder, treatment) your paper discusses. Do you or the authors (if a single study) state a hypothesis? Why was the study done?

Type of study: Was the study an experimental or a correlational study? Was the study a single subject or a group design?

Who were the subjects? Please provide the scientific name of any animal subject and its common name, if it is a lesser-known species (some obscure or exotic kind of invertebrate, for instance). If your paper involves human subjects, please list basic data such as gender, age, as well as membership in any special populations such as brain injured, developmentally delayed or disabled, etc.

Methods/procedure: What was done to the subjects or what variables were measured? If the source describes an experiment, please state the independent and dependent variables. Given the right equipment, are enough details provided such that the experiment could be replicated?

Conclusions: Did the study uphold or refute the original hypothesis? Please elaborate upon and or qualify your answer. A simple yes or no is not adequate.

Reactions: YOURS!! Does this make sense to you? In your opinion, is it worth researching/was the article worth reading? Why or why not? Let the data lead you.

Objectively evaluate claims, propositions, and conclusions to determine whether they LOGICALLY follow from the evidence presented.

Ask Yourself:

• What am I being asked to believe?
• What is the “evidence” available?
• Can this “evidence” be interpreted any other way?
• What evidence would help to evaluate the alternatives?
• What conclusions are most reasonable?

Your papers are evaluated based on your display of critical thinking and research elements as well as correct spelling, grammar, and your ability to paraphrase and explain what you’ve read in your own words at a college level.

Please demonstrate YOUR understanding of the research concepts and terminology. DO NOT write your paper assuming that your readers “know what you mean” so you don’t have to explain.

REMEMBER THESE ARE GUIDELINES; ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE OUTSIDE OF THESE – PLEASE ASK YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Frequently Asked Question: How many citations do I need? Well that depends, if the ideas are not your words or thoughts, cite them.

Download and watch the 36-minute webinar that accompanies this libguide. Recorded 1Feb15.