PSYC 415 Research Proposal
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Topic for Spring 2023: This semester, you must choose from one of the topics listed below.
Regardless of the topic you choose, however, the focus of your paper needs to be on the
cognitive process portion of each topic. For example, you could choose to do your paper on the
effects of multiple sclerosis on prospective memory. This means that your paper should focus on
prospective memory, not multiple sclerosis. You can discuss articles that study the effects of
multiple sclerosis on prospective memory, but not multiple sclerosis by itself.
• Topics from which you can choose – you must choose one of the topics listed below. More
than one person can choose each topic choice:
o What are the effects of cell phone use on attention?
o Does listening to music while studying help or hinder one’s memory?
o What methods of notetaking in class are most beneficial for memory?
o How does spacing (in terms of studying) affect one’s academic success?
o Are teens more susceptible to the negative effects of distracted driving than adults?
o How can students use the encoding specificity principle to improve academic success?
o How can one’s perception of things affect how two people view the same event?
o How can one improve prospective memory performance?
o How does motivation affect your ability to pay attention?
o How does mental imagery affect athletic performance?
o How does emotion affect the accuracy of our memories?
o How does perception affect the development of eating disorders?
o What are the effects of emotion on reasoning?
o What is pregnancy brain and why does it occur?
• To Submit Your Topic:
o You must submit your topic choice via the dropbox on Blackboard.
o Your submission must consist of the following:
▪ What is your topic?
▪ Why did you choose this topic?
▪ Six primary, scientific references (from peer-reviewed sources) on your topic
properly listed/formatted in APA style.
• Check this site to see what a primary scientific resource is: https://cob-
bs.libguides.com/c.php?g=382112&p=2589133
o You must submit your choice for your topic by 12:00 PM on Thursday, February 9th, via
the dropbox on Blackboard.
This paper will include a review of the research on your topic, all leading to a future research idea.
You will need to say what the purpose of your study is/what your research question is, state the
hypothesis for your study, and write a “Conclusion” section.
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I have provided you with helpful information that will assist you in writing your paper. I would make
every attempt to listen to these presentations, and review the other documents, so that you can do
well on your paper.
• Requirements for paper
o Page total: I do not grade you on quantity of pages, but rather on quality of work – see
the rubric.
o AT LEAST 6 primary, scientific references (from peer-reviewed journals)
▪ Found using ResearchPort or Google Scholar
▪ Published between 2009-2022 (I’d prefer if you stay away from sources that
were published prior to 2010)
▪ You MUST use primary, scientific references – that means they are peer-
reviewed RESEARCH articles (so, they have a methods and results sections of an
original research study)
• You MAY NOT use meta-analyses.
• You MAY NOT use review articles.
• You MAY NOT use theoretical papers
▪ DO NOT USE:
• Google (unless it’s google scholar)
• Wikipedia
• Newspapers (Baltimore Sun, etc)
• Popular Magazines (Psychology Today, Time, etc)
• Textbooks
• Websites made for the general public (NIH, WebMD, emedicine)
o APA Writing Style – you must use the 7
th edition.
▪ APA Style Title page
▪ No Abstract
▪ Double spaced
▪ 12-point font
▪ 1 inch margins on all sides
▪ Proper in-text citations and references page
• NO DIRECT QUOTES
▪ Other APA Writing Style rules are followed (e.g., avoid personal pronouns,
proper use of abbreviations, proper formatting of headings, avoid use of
contractions, etc.)
▪ Avoid the use of the word “subjects” and “prove”
o What your paper should be:
▪ An introduction to your topic with a clearly stated thesis statement,
▪ A summary of the published research on the topic you choose, which…
▪ …leads to an idea for a future research study, complete with a purpose,
research question, hypothesis for the study, and
▪ A “Conclusion” where you wrap up loose ends.
This paper is NOT the same paper that you would do for Seminar (PSYC 431). Although, it is very
similar and has been designed to help prepare for the paper you must write for PSYC 431.
• Small Paper Assignment 1: Topic Proposal
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o You must submit your topic choice and answers to the questions by 12:00 on Thursday,
February 14th
.
o If you submit your topic before the due/date time, and your topic is not approved,
then you will be asked to resubmit the topic by emailing it to me. If it is still before the
due date/time, you may resubmit it via the dropbox for full credit. However, if your
topic is not approved, you must resubmit it via email, and you will only receive half
the credit (5 points). Therefore, it is up to you to ensure that you do your best to get
your topic approved the first time.
• Plagiarism training and Certificate
o You must complete an online plagiarism training and take the quiz for the training by
12:00 PM on Thursday, February 23.
o You will earn easy points towards your grade in the class by doing this. HOWEVER, this
certificate is also the “pre-requisite” for all your other drafts to be accepted/graded.
o Your quiz (which you must earn a 9/10 on) is due by 12:00 PM on Thursday, February
23.
o You must earn at least a 9/10 on the plagiarism quiz to be able to submit your rough
drafts and your final paper. If you cannot see the dropboxes for your rough drafts,
then check your score on the plagiarism quiz.
• Rough Draft 1: Title page, References page, Introduction to paper & summary of ONE research
article (properly cited)
o You must submit a properly APA-formatted title page, Introduction to your paper,
summary of ONE research article/reference and properly formatted APA style
references page (with all 6of your sources – even if you have to replace some) by
12:00 PM on Thursday, March 9th (via dropbox on Blackboard)
▪ I allow UP TO 10% matching for your rough draft.
• If you have more than 10% matching, regardless of whether it is cited as
a direct quote, you will receive a 0 on the draft. NO EXCEPTIONS. NO
TEARS. NO EXCUSES. Please make sure you understand what does and
what does not constitute plagiarizing (both intentional and
unintentional). There is a presentation that goes over this. I won’t even
bother grading the draft if it more than 10% matching.
• I will look at the draft to see what is being picked up as similar. I will
primarily look for phrases that appear in the introduction and
literature review.
• You may submit your draft up to three times prior to the due date/time
so that you can check the plagiarism and make revisions if necessary.
▪ If you have more than 10 grammatical and/or APA style errors, you will receive a
0 on the draft.
• Rough Draft 2: Title page, References page, Introduction to paper, Proposed Research Section,
and References
o You must submit a properly APA-formatted title page, Introduction to your paper,
summary of all research articles, Proposed Research section, and properly formatted
APA style references page (with all 6 of your sources – even if you have to replace
some) by 12:00 PM on Thursday, April 6th (via dropbox on Blackboard).
▪ You should use the comments/corrections I made on rough draft one to make
revisions on things you previously submitted before submitting this draft. You
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should also use these suggestions to guide how you write the rest of your
summaries.
▪ I allow UP TO 10% matching for your rough draft.
• If you have more than 10% matching, regardless of whether it is cited as
a direct quote, you will receive a 0 on the draft. NO EXCEPTIONS. NO
TEARS. NO EXCUSES. Please make sure you understand what does and
what does not constitute plagiarizing (both intentional and
unintentional). There is a presentation that goes over this. I won’t even
bother grading the draft if it more than 10% matching.
• I will look at the draft to see what is being picked up as similar. I will
primarily look for phrases that appear in the introduction and
literature review.
• You may submit your draft up to three times prior to the due date/time
so that you can check the plagiarism and make revisions if necessary.
▪ If you have more than 10 grammatical and/or APA style errors, you will receive a
0 on the draft.
▪
• Final Paper
o Due by 12:00 PM on Thursday, May 4 (via the dropbox on Blackboard)
▪ The Dropbox is a plagiarism-check tool
▪ I allow UP TO 10% matching for your paper.
• If you have more than 10% matching, regardless of whether it is cited as
a direct quote, you will receive a 0 on the paper. NO EXCEPTIONS. NO
TEARS. NO EXCUSES. Please make sure you understand what does and
what does not constitute plagiarizing (both intentional and
unintentional). There is a presentation that goes over this. I won’t even
bother grading the paper if it more than 10% matching.
• I will look at the draft to see what is being picked up as similar. I will
primarily look for phrases that appear in the introduction, literature
review, proposed research, and conclusion sections.
• You may submit your paper as many times as you’d like prior to the due
date/time so that you can check the plagiarism and make revisions if
necessary.
▪ If you have more than 10 grammatical and/or APA style errors, you will receive a
0 on the draft.
o Only Microsoft Word Files will be accepted (.doc or .docx)
o Please see the paper rubric for grading specifics
Please note that if there are more than 10 instances of APA writing style errors, OR more than 10
instances of serious errors in spelling/grammar/punctuation on your rough draft or your final OR if
you have more than 10% plagiarism, you will receive a 0 for the assignment.