Write a paper investigating one of several popular ideas (or myths) of psychology.

PSY 112 – Paper Assignment
You will complete a paper investigating one of several popular ideas (or myths) of psychology. A list of possible topics will be distributed. Worth 200 points total – 25 points for approval and sources, 150 points for the paper, 25 points for final discussion opinion.

Note: you will two opportunities to submit this paper. See our syllabus for dates. If you turn the paper in on the first due date, I will return it, graded with feedback. You can then turn it in again with revisions for a higher grade. If you prefer not to or find you don’t have time to do that, you can just turn it in on the second chance date (the last day of class).

Approval (25 points):
Choose the idea that you plan to investigate, do you think it is true or not?
List at least two possible sources that you will use to evaluate treatment options
Sources must be peer-reviewed journal articles (at least one should preferably describe an experiment)
Sources must be listed in an APA style reference list

Paper (150 points)
3-5 pages, typed & double-spaced, include an APA style reference list and in-text citations
Paper = 150 points total: writing style, grammar, spelling and organization = 20 points, thoughtful and thorough answers to the questions = 120 points, APA style referencing = 10 points
You can choose any of the ideas below to investigate, or one of your own, but it must be approved.
You must use 3 references, including at least two peer-reviewed journal articles (1 of these is suggested for you in the topic list to help you in your search, this is not an article that is necessarily considered definitive in the field, but an example article that addresses the issue).
You should use the Psychinfo or Psycharticles search engines to find references. These search engines can be found at MCC – Library – you will need to sign in to mycommnet to access the articles.

In your discussion of the idea/myth, you must:
Identify and explain the idea/myth, introducing both sides of the myth/idea including historical information and definitions of terms, why do some believe it, while some do not? (30 points)
Review the evidence about the myth from empirical sources (peer-reviewed journal articles), describe the research done and include statistical results if possible (70 points)
Compare the evidence from empirical sources to a popular press article on the topic, how do they differ? (10 points)
What is your final decision? Which side of the idea does the evidence support? Should people believe this idea? (10 points)

Final Discussion Opinion (25 points)
Summarize your final conclusion from your paper in a discussion post to share with the rest of the class.

Idea options & possible sources
(you may also suggest one of your own, but it must be approved):
Subliminal Messages Can Persuade People to Purchase Products
Smarandescu, L., & Shimp, T. A. (2015). Drink coca-cola, eat popcorn, and choose
powerade: Testing the limits of subliminal persuasion. Marketing Letters, 26(4), 715-
726. doi:10.1007/s11002-014-9294-1
The Polygraph (“Lie Detector”) Test Is an Accurate Means of Detecting Dishonesty
Patrick, C. J., & Iacono, W. G. (1989). Psychopathy, threat, and polygraph test accuracy.
Journal Of Applied Psychology, 74(2), 347-355. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.74.2.347
Happiness is Determined Mostly by External Factors
Diener, E., Suh, E. M., Lucas, R. E., & Smith, H. L. (1999). Subjective well-being: Three
decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276-302. doi:10.1037/0033-
2909.125.2.276
Opposites Attract: We Are Most Romantically Attracted to People Who Differ from Us
Nemechek, S., & Olson, K. R. (1999). Five-factor personality similarity and marital
adjustment. Social Behavior And Personality, 27(3), 309-318.
doi:10.2224/sbp.1999.27.3.309
There’s Safety in Numbers: The More People Present at an Emergency, the Greater the Chance that Someone Will Intervene
Fischer, P., Krueger, J. I., Greitemeyer, T., Vogrincic, C., Kastenmüller, A., Frey, D., &
… Kainbacher, M. (2011). The bystander-effect: A meta-analytic review on bystander
intervention in dangerous and non-dangerous emergencies. Psychological Bulletin,
137(4), 517-537. doi:10.1037/a0023304

Psychiatric Hospital Admissions and Crimes Increase during Full Moons
Frey, J., Rotton, J., & Barry, T. (1979). The effects of the full moon on human behavior:
Yet another failure to replicate. The Journal Of Psychology: Interdisciplinary And
Applied, 103(2), 159-162.
Most Mentally Ill People Are Violent
Desmarais, S. L., Van Dorn, R. A., Johnson, K. L., Grimm, K. J., Douglas, K. S., &
Swartz, M. S. (2014). Community violence perpetration and victimization among
adults with mental illnesses. American Journal Of Public Health, 104(12), 2342-
2349. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301680
A Large Proportion of Criminals Successfully Use the Insanity Defense
Silver, E., Cirincione, C., & Steadman, H. J. (1994). Demythologizing inaccurate
perceptions of the insanity defense. Law And Human Behavior, 18(1), 63-70.
doi:10.1007/BF01499144
Abstinence Is the Only Realistic Treatment Goal for Alcoholics Alcoholics
Koerkel, J. (2006). Behavioural self-management with problem drinkers: One-year
follow-up of a controlled drinking group treatment approach. Addiction Research &
Theory, 14(1), 35-49. doi:10.1080/16066350500489253
Electroconvulsive (“Shock”) Therapy Is a Physically Dangerous and Brutal Treatment
Bolwig, T. G. (2014). Electroconvulsive therapy reappraised. Acta Psychiatrica
Scandinavica, 129(6), 415-416. doi:10.1111/acps.12252

Reminder re: APA referencing style (see front section in your MCC textbook or http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/):
Your reference list should be in alphabetical order by first author’s last name, below is the format for a book:
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle.
Location: Publisher.
And the format for a journal article:
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical,
volume number (issue number), pages.
Format for Nonperiodical Web Document or Report:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from
http://Web address
In the text of your paper, all ideas that are not your own must be cited. Generally speaking one citation per paragraph is appropriate. In-text references should follow the author, date style, for example:

A Work by Two Authors: Name both authors in the signal phrase or in the parentheses each time you cite the work. Use the word “and” between the authors’ names within the text and use the ampersand in the parentheses.
Research by Wegener and Petty (1994) supports…
(Wegener & Petty, 1994)

A Work by Three to Five Authors: List all the authors in the signal phrase or in parentheses the first time you cite the source.
(Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993)
In subsequent citations, only use the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” in the signal phrase or in parentheses.
(Kernis et al., 1993)
In et al., et should not be followed by a period.

Six or More Authors: Use the first author’s name followed by et al. in the signal phrase or in parentheses.
Harris et al. (2001) argued…
(Harris et al., 2001)

How to find a peer-reviewed journal article on the MCC website:
MCC website – sign into mycommnet – click “my library info”– Manchester Community College library – click “articles and research databases” – scroll down to the P section – then click “psycharticles” or “PsychInfo” – then search for an article – may be helpful to check the boxes for “limit to peer reviewed” & “full text”
You will most likely have to search through many articles to find some that are useful to you. You can look through the titles and abstracts to find a couple that discuss the best ideas for your paper.

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