Project Overview
Throughout this course, you will be composing a brief literature review that addresses the biological study of a specific behavioral or mental phenomenon (normal or pathological) that you are interested in. First, you will need to select a behavioral or mental phenomenon, such as language, memory, movement, sensory experience (hearing, sight, taste, pain, etc.), or any neurodegenerative or mental disorder like Alzheimer’s, depression, stroke, bipolar illness, etc. – any relevant biological process associated with human psychology that sparks your curiosity. If you are wondering whether a topic is appropriate, you can reach out to your instructor to ask.
Then, you will select a biological strategy for investigating that phenomenon, such as hormonal or genetic mechanisms, neurotransmitters, drug treatments, or localization of brain processes by imaging. Once you have chosen your topic, you will need to determine an expository (explanatory) thesis statement for your project.
You will eventually be presenting a cohesive literature review on this topic (turned in at the end of Unit 7), but here in Unit 3, you will choose your topic, craft your thesis, and kick start your project with some initial research in the form of an annotated bibliography. Read more below.
Assignment 1: Topic, thesis statement and annotated bibliography (3 pages)
Brief Overview of Unit 3 Annotated Bibliography Assignment:
· Choose a biological process you are interested in, and a method used to study that phenomenon.
· Formulate a clear thesis statement
· Compile an annotated bibliography
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· Summarize three related peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles. Two of these articles will directly support your thesis and one will offer a challenge to it. In the full assignment instructions, the purpose of and process of doing an annotated bibliography is explained and an example paper is provided to help teach and guide you along the way.
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· Briefly, annotations are summaries of articles that go beyond an abstract; they offer more information on the study’s methods, identify weaknesses in the study’s methodology, and give you space to “think with your fingers” about how teach article ties directly into
your thesis. With each annotation you will answer the question “how will I use this article to strengthen my point in my full Unit 7 paper?”
·
· Click to see an
example of the Unit 3 Assignment
Detailed Instructions for Unit 3 Annotated Bibliography Assignment:
For this assignment, you will need to clearly
identify your topic (behavioral/mental phenomenon + biological strategy),
determine your thesis statement, and
create an
annotated bibliography
for three sources you will use to support/strengthen your thesis. These sources must be peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles. Two of them should directly support your thesis and one of them should present a fair contrast or challenge to your position, demonstrating you’ve considered the topic from all angles (and are intentionally addressing confirmation bias).
These resources can be found using Google.com/scholar but remember you will need to review the entire article for this project (not just the abstract). This means you will need to locate a full text version. You should not have to pay for access to any article – our library has
free research help and access to many relevant journals.
What is an annotated bibliography? An annotated bibliography is a list of citations of scholarly sources (in this instance, peer-reviewed journal articles), each accompanied by a brief description of the work, an evaluation/critique of it, and a short discussion of how the article fits into your thesis. An annotation differs from a traditional abstract in three important ways.
1.
1.
It provides more and different information. Like an abstract, the article summaries provided in an annotated bibliography provide brief overviews of the authors’ hypotheses, methodology, and results, as well as the conclusions they draw.
This summary, though, goes beyond the article’s abstract and suggests a deeper, thorough reading of the piece, as it is this deep read that will allow for points 2 & 3 below.
2.
Critique. Annotations include a fair critique of the study’s research design (i.e., their sampling methods, sample size/demographic composition, measurement choices, threats to validity, etc.). It would also be appropriate to highlight any conflicts of interest the authors might have or to identify any biased lenses the authors might be wearing.
3.
Tie into thesis: Annotated summaries don’t stand alone; they aren’t only summaries. They end with a central point-of-view; a brief touch on
how this article ties into the larger point you want to make (your thesis). If an article contrasts with your thesis or challenges it in some way (which one of your articles should do), then this is where you will discuss that and how you explain it in context.
Annotated bibliographies are commonly used to jump start, organize, and scaffold larger research projects, like literature reviews. They allow you to collect and organize condensed versions of articles in one place – a valuable skill to learn, indeed! Each annotation kick starts your conceptualization and demonstrates the depth and breadth of your legwork and thinking.
This streamlined structure allows you to think critically about how you will build your argument. It is this critical thinking and focused point of view that you are showcasing in this assignment. That, and the assignment itself serves as an important learning moment – practice at going to the literature and collecting and organizing your research to make a central point. Your willingness to authentically use this moment to practice this skill is also showcased in this exercise (along that vein, remember to see below for commentary on use of Generative AI).
Here is an outline that will help you format your paper.
Name:
Topic:
Thesis statement:
Annotated bibliography – References formatted in
APA 7
.
1.
1. First reference formatted in APA 7.
200+ word annotation of the article, following the guidelines described above (summary, critique, brief discussion that ties article into thesis).
2. Second reference formatted in APA 7.
200+ word annotation of the article, following the guidelines described above (summary, critique, brief discussion that ties article into thesis).
3. Third reference formatted in APA 7.
200+ word annotation of the article, following the guidelines described above (summary, critique, brief discussion that ties article into thesis). Make sure one article offers contrasting evidence or evidence that challenges your thesis. You might earmark this one for your third choice.
That’s it! No introduction, transitions, or conclusion needed. We’ll get to that in Unit 7. For this assignment, all you need to turn in is this annotated bibliography.
See attachment for
Example Paper (Annotated Bibliography)
.
Because this example paper uses structural brain changes seen on MRI in schizophrenia patients, this option is kind of “off the table,” so to speak. But there are
so many other interesting biological processes in psychology to explore. You won’t want for any ideas!
Tips for Success:
1.
Choose a topic you are personally interested in. If you chose a topic you genuinely want to learn more about, then you will be more internally motivated, and this energy will show in your work and – ultimately – your grade.
2.
Read instructions carefully. This course-long project is scaffolded to help you create a strong literature review by the end of Unit 7. Read the instructions carefully, so that you can work the steps, so to speak. In working these steps, you are also practicing a skill in addition to learning information. That skill is the process of researching, synthesizing, organizing your thinking, outlining a literature review, and ultimately writing one.
3.
Read your articles carefully and make notes. Academic, scholarly journal articles can be challenging to read, especially in the biological sciences. But it’s important that you come away with an understanding of what the authors’ hypotheses were, how they tested or examined them, what their findings were, and the conclusions they drew from them. You’ll also want to thoughtfully look at how well they executed their scientific approach (they usually have to call themselves out on their “limitations,” as per publication requirement, so pay particular attention to this, usually in the discussion section).
Do your best and while you may not understand all the nuance, if you walk away with the gist of the hypotheses, methods, findings, conclusions, and limitations, then you got what you needed. Make notes as you read (have a Word document open, maybe) and before you move on to the next spend time thinking and notetaking about how this study fits (or doesn’t fit) into your specific thesis and what this means for your paper.
4.
Read the
Example Paper
. An example paper is provided to help you “see” what this project looks like, likely answering a lot of questions and giving you confidence to move forward.
Unfortunately, structural changes seen on MRI in schizophrenia patients will no longer be an acceptable topic, since that is what the example paper focuses on. But that’s only one of an almost infinite number of possibilities for this assignment. Your instructor looks forward to seeing what you choose!
5.
Read the Rubric. The
Annotated Bibliography Rubric will guide your thinking and help you feel confident when turning your paper in (ask yourself “does my piece quality as exemplary? Strong?”). It serves to reinforce the points illustrated in the example paper.
6.
Read the guidance about use of Generative AI/ChatGPT-style platforms below. This will clarify for you what is deemed inappropriate use/overreliance on these platforms for producing your content and discusses why content generated by these platforms will not yield a high quality paper. It is your authentic engagement with learning this activity that is being assessed, and engagement is not evidenced in AI-speak.
7.
Get an early start. This annotated bibliography can be broken down into five or six distinct chunks, each can be spread around so that you aren’t working on everything in the day or two leading up to the due date. You can select a topic early on. Then, on another day, spend some time collecting articles. Spend another study session reading them and making notes. Spend a day writing up one annotation, another on another day, and so forth. As they say…the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!
8.
Ask questions! Don’t let questions go unanswered – ask your instructor. An early start helps you here, as your instructor is in a better position to help if not pressed up against the deadline.
Writing Format and Guidelines
· A title page is not needed. If included, it does not count in the length requirement.
· 600+ words of annotated content (roughly 200+ per annotation), plus your thesis and the citations written out. All told, with your name, topic, thesis, citations, and annotations this assignment should fill
three full pages (see
Example Paper which gives you a sense of the scope/length of this work).
· Typed in an
APA-accepted font and font size:
· sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 12-point Times New Roman
· Double-spaced with one-inch margins
· Submitted as a Word document
· Citations that lead your annotations should be in
APA 7 format.
Due date: By 11:59pm Eastern on the last day of Unit 3.
Use of Generative AI (ChatGPT) Technology
Generative AI programs like ChatGPT can produce content that, on the surface, looks like a good effort on an annotated bibliography. However, because this assignment involves actively finding, reading, digesting, and critiquing scholarly journal articles, it requires and inspires you to flex your research skills and dive into the virtual stacks, so to speak. This assignment will showcase your legwork and interest in this topic, and this is something AI databanks simply cannot do, well or authentically, anyway.
And, because this paper focuses on a central thesis, AI databanks do not have the insights necessary to provide the attention to nuance, critical thinking, and authentic point-of-view needed to do well on this assignment. It will offer vague connections and overgeneralized commentary, but not the level of specificity and authenticity we are looking for here. So, in this instance, over-reliance on AI generative tools will not satisfy this assignment.
You can certainly use ChatGPT and other generative AI software to brainstorm topical ideas (i.e. “What are some interesting biological process in psychology and how are those processes studied?”), but in your writing, you must speak from the point of view of the
scholar of psychology that you are and bring in points that authentically represent your effort at honing your research skills and acumen. The written, submitted text must be largely if not exclusively your own.
If you choose to use AI, remember the adage: Process vs. output. Leveraging AI to help you get some questions answered or to help you brainstorm (your process) is okay. Using the content it generates in your paper (the output) is not acceptable.
