Your job is to decide whether you believe that memory of early childhood trauma can be forgotten (or
"repressed") and later remembered,or that so-called recovered memories are usually distorted, inaccu-
rate, or created by therapist suggestion. Be sure that you state your stance on this issue (or thesis) very
clearly early in your paper. Using only the information from your reading (from weeks two and three)
and class discussion, support your point of view.
To get a good grade on this paper, I expect the following:
· A clear statement of your thesis.
· At least three solid bits of evidence to support your thesis, taken from course material.
· APA formatting of references. See your APA guide for this--we will cover it more thoroughly in
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class as the semester goes on,but I expect you to use the basics.
· Clear, organized writing.
Please see me if you have questions or need help getting started.On this paper and all papers in my class,
number of pages is not that important to me. Just write the best paper you can and fill the entire assign-
ment,even if it takes more or less pages that I estimated.And remember that I would rather read a short,
brilliant paper than a long not-so-brilliant one!
Writing Assignment 2
Critiquing a Psychology Journal Article [This assignment is partially and loosely based on an assignment from
Michelle Leichtman's Developmental Psychology syllabus]
Due November 5, beginning of class
Approximately 3-5 pages
The purpose of paper two is to show me that you are capable of finding a psychology experiment using
PsycInfo and of critically analyzing a primary source journal article in psychology.
A primary source article describes one or two experiments, as opposed to a review article in which many
experiments are described. You will be able to tell that it is a primary source article because it has a
methods and results section. Using PsycInfo and Hollis, find a primary source journal article in the
library and photocopy it.(Hint: this paper might be more fun and interesting if you choose a paper with
a lot to criticize. While you can always point out what was done well, it is sometimes harder to critique
a brilliant experiment in an interesting way!) Be sure to attach a copy to your paper. Using the QALM-
RI method as your guide, read the article critically. If you have ever completed a similar assignment for
a different psychology class, you must write a different paper for this class unless you have permission
from both instructors to use the same paper twice.
While writing this paper, focus on your opinion of what the authors did in the experiment. You should
consider both what the authors did well and what they could have done better. Here are some questions
you may wish to think about:
1 How interesting and/or compelling was the rationale behind the study? How useful is this study for 1
1
helping our understanding of the topic?
2 How well did the methods used answer the questions posed by the author? Were the appropriate
1
subjects used? How were they assigned to a condition? What about the experimental design (i.e.
1
longitudinal, descriptive, experimental, or correlational)? How well does the task measure what
1
it is supposed to measure (i.e. does punching a toy indicate aggression?). Could the results be
1
explained by something else that happened during the procedure?
3 How well do the conclusions follow the authors' results? Are there any results inconsistent with
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their interpretations? Is there an important analysis that the authors neglected?
A TF's GUIDE TO TEACHING WRITING FOR PSYCHOLOGY
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