Project Descriptions
Project – Written Report
Topic and content: The class project for this course is a written report, that addresses the biological study of a specific behavioral or mental phenomenon (normal or pathological) covered in the readings and videos. Please select a behavioral or mental phenomenon such as language or schizophrenia and then select a biological strategy for investigating it, such as hormonal or genetic mechanisms, neurotransmitters, drug treatments, or localization of brain processes by imaging.
As an example, the theme of your report might be neuroimaging approaches to the study of schizophrenia. For this example topic, the paper would briefly summarize fundamental issues and provide a general overview of the topic. The primary bulk of the paper would elaborate on your understanding of the brain processes involved in schizophrenia that are revealed using neuroimaging.
Example behavioral or mental phenomena Example biological strategy Example paper topic
Schizophrenia Neuroimaging Neuroimaging approaches to understand schizophrenia
Language Brain regions Brain regions involved in learning a second language
Substance use disorder Prefrontal cortex The role of the prefrontal cortex in substance use disorder
Maternal attachment Hormones The role of oxytocin in mediating maternal attachment
To accomplish this, you will have to use recent research articles (published within the last five years) to illustrate relevant points. You may use any of a number of electronic databases to find research articles that deal with your topic, including the UMGC library and the Internet. You must include at least two peer-reviewed scientific articles as references in your paper. You may wish to consult with the library staff or your faculty member to confirm whether a particular journal is peer-reviewed.
Newspaper or magazine articles should not be used as your major reference, but are sometimes useful when they lead you to the appropriate research article. You should avoid simply repeating the articles in summary form, but rather use them within the text of your paper to illustrate important points. You are welcome to discuss your choice of topic with your faculty member to make sure you are on the right track.
Format: Your paper should be:
6-8 pages or about 1,600 words, in length (use the word count as a guide to length and stay within 200 words of the target to avoid penalties).
Typed in 12pt font
Double-spaced with one-inch margins
Fully formatted and referenced using APA 7 format for student papers.
A paper in APA format will have these main sections:
Title page
Body – with properly formatted citations
Reference page (I attached 6 documents for you to use as a reference. You dont have to use all ofthem but at least three.You are more than welcome to use other outside sources)
Due date: Please check the course schedule in this syllabus for the due date.
Late penalty: The penalty for a late project is ten percent of the score on the project.
You may wish to submit a draft of your complete or near complete paper to the Effective Writing Center (EWC) for review and comment, prior to the due date of the paper. This should be submitted well in advance of the due date, in order for the EWC to respond and for you to make the necessary corrections. Once you receive feedback from the EWC, you can copy and paste it into a Word Document, then post it in your assignment folder with your project paper by the due date, for your instructor to view as necessary. The EWC can help address questions regarding format, structure, writing style, and appropriateness of references.
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