Principles of Psychology (Fall 2002):

Final projects in Psychology 110 are due in class on Wednesday, November 20. You have two general options for the final project. If you choose Option 1 (below), please be certain to attend to the three commandments (I-III) given in the option description.

• Option I. The first option is to create a Web page, videotape, set of overheads, game, poster, set of slides, computer program, handout, small study, demonstration, course assignment, or some other means to illustrate or review a concept or basic phenomenon in psychology. For example, you might videotape an interview with someone who has special knowledge about something we have covered, create a review quiz for major concepts or figures in psychology, develop a web page that offers information on some topic, create an artistic product to represent a psychological concept or phenomenon, or design a model of some part of the nervous system. Use your creativity! If you choose this option, you may work together with other students in the class on the project. However (and this is Commandment I), each person who chooses this option must also submit his or her own one-page statement explaining what you are attempting to do and how your product achieves your goals. Commandment II: Be sure to ground your statement in relevant readings. Commandment III (the big one): Get approval for any project you might contemplate in this category. There are standards and procedures that must be followed, for example, before conducting a study, and an idea you have may not be feasible in light of the time required to complete those procedures.
  
• Option II. The second project option is to pose a question about an issue or phenomenon and to review a few original research articles from major journals in psychology investigating that issue or phenomenon. (A variant of this is to use your literature review as a basis for proposing a research study to investigate the issue or phenomenon further.) Please be certain to specify your question and to discuss your question's relationship to the material we have covered in the course this term. I have listed the names of some basic psychology journals below. Note that if you find that you do not fully understand all of the procedures, data analyses, and arguments presented in an article you read (something that would not be unexpected), seek assistance from the course instructor, teaching assistant, or a proximate psychology major. You should submit a two page paper reviewing the literature you find on your topic.

  A selection of major journals in psychology:

  • American Psychologist [highly recommended]
  • Child Development
  • Current Directions in Psychological Science [highly recommended]
  • Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
  • Journal of Counseling Psychology
  • Journal of Educational Psychology
  • Journal of Experimental Psychology
  • Journal of Personality
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
  • Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin [highly recommended]
  • Psychological Science [highly recommended]
  • Psychology and Aging

I urge you to invest in the writing of whatever you submit. Your writing should be clear and concise, and it should show definite signs of organization.