Papers should be submitted no later than 30 minutes prior to being due. Each student will be required to write a term paper that contains five full pages (top line of the page through the last line at the bottom of the pages) plus a title page and reference page/pages for a minimum of 7 total pages. Your term paper must describe a psychological disorder from a biopsychosocial perspective. Students will be required to describe the disorder in terms of symptoms. describe biological, psychological. and social causes of the disorder and include information about treatment.
- Students will select one psychological disorder when completing Thinking Assignment 1. You selected one of the following topics:
- schizophrenia spectrum disorder
- bipolar I disorder
- Bipolar II disorder
- major depressive disorder
- separation anxiety disorder
- specific phobia
- panic disorder
- hording disorder
- reactive attachment disorder
- post-traumatic stress disorder
- pica in children
- pica in adults
- anorexia nervosa
- bulimia nervosa
- erectile disorder
- female orgasmic disorder
- intermittent explosive disorder
- alcohol-related disorders
- opioid-related disorders
- cluster A personality disorders (you must pick one: paranoid personality, schizoid personality, schizotypal personality)
- Symptoms may be described in terms of emotional symptoms. cognitive symptoms, behavioral symptoms, somatic symptoms, and impairment in social and occupational functioning.
- Biological explanations may include the following: Brain structure and function. genetics. hormones, evolution/natural selection. neurotransmitters (oversupply. under supply. dysfunction)
- Psychological explanations may include the following: Learning. memory, personality traits. cognition (thought patterns). trauma/stress. emotion/mood
- Sociocultural explanations may include the following: Gender roles. socioeconomic status. locations (city or rural), school/education. cultural values, poverty
- Treatment may include medications. cognitive therapy. behavioral therapy, group therapy. client centered therapy
You will use the same five scholarly (peer reviewed) journal articles that you used when completing the Thinking Assignment 1 (Annotated Bibliography).
NOTE: Books and Websites of any kind are not allowed for this class.
The paper must be formatted entirely in APA formatting following the rules of the 7th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. This includes a title page and reference page/pages with APA formatted references, in-text citations, 12 point Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins on all sides. A minimum of five scholarly (peer reviewed) journal articles must be used to research the information for the paper. All articles should have been published in the last 5-7 years. Older articles may no longer be relevant and will not count towards your five scholarly sources minimum requirement.
The paper must be written in the student’s own words.
The paper may not contain more than two direct quotes. Each quote must be no more than one full sentence.
Each paper will be analyzed using either a Safe Assign or a Turnitln dropbox. The paper’s originality score must at 25% or lower. Any paper that scores higher than 35% on the originality report will be subject to further review. Remember that if you turn in your paper early and your originality score is too high you can revise and resubmit until the due date has passed.
While personal knowledge/experience may have lead you to select a specific disorder, please do not include personal stories or experiences. This paper must utilize research studies that have studied thousands of individuals.
Helpful Hints: Selecting Scholarly sources:
All research should come from books, professional journals, and other publications in the field of Psychology (YouTube, Wikipedia, and Joe’s Homepage are not acceptable references). The college library has an online presence that you should use to locate and check out your research materials. Their website is located at http://www.westgatech.edu/library/index.htm and they can be of assistance in accessing journals and other materials both online and in the physical library on the campus nearest you. Their online helpdesk is located at http://libraryhelpdesk.westgatech.edu
Assistance in developing your paper:
Your BbLearn course site has two great resources to assist you in developing your paper.
- The first one is a tutorial site called UpSwing. This link will either be found on your course home page for completely online courses, or your instructor will need to provide the link to you if you are enrolled in a web-enhanced or hybrid course. Once you have your draft completed please submit it to UpSwing and ask for their assistance to check your paper for formatting issues, content consistency, and readability.
- The second one is to help check to make sure that you have properly cited your resources called Safe Assign. The Safe Assign drop box which is located in the Research Paper folder. Prior to submitting your paper for your grade you should submit it here to get your originality report and address any issues that are found.
- a. Please submit your draft at least 3 weeks prior to project deadline to get feedback on your APA format and the content of your paper. Make the corrections on the draft with the feedback provided by UpSwing tutors and submit your completed paper in Safe Assign to get the originality report.
Pay particular attention to citations and quotations. Every statement made in an APA paper should originate from a referenced source unless it is common knowledge or previously established within the paper. Any three consecutive words that are in an author’s original text should be treated as a complete thought and included in quotes. Sources must have an author/editor, date, and scientific, educational, government, or institutional entity that is responsible for the material
Suggested step-by-step guidelines for completing the paper:
Step 1) Get your Instructor’s approval for your paper (this should have been done when you completed Thinking Assignment 1).
Step 2) Do your research utilizing our Library of GALILEO.
Step 3) Submit your draft to UpSwing tutor by 10th week of the term.
Step 4) Work on suggested revisions
Step 5) Submit your final draft to Safe Assign/TurnItIn to make sure you have properly quoted and cited direct source material, and cited paraphrased material for all resources used and check your originality report (which should be at 25% or less).
Step 6) Revise as needed