Plasticity and functional recovery.

Critical Thinking Assignment Guidelines

The purpose of this assignment is to summarize and critically evaluate a scholarly, peer-reviewed research study.

Students are first asked to choose an article from the alternative assignment article list or an article provided by the instructor. Students should then read the article and follow the outline of the assignment structured below. The main purpose of this assignment is to go beyond summarizing what you have read to applying theory to the findings of the study.

This assignment requires students to critically analyze the article they have read and write a summary, in essay form, that includes the points listed below. Students must use their own words in completing this assignment (in other words, do not quote directly from the article). Be sure to check your spelling and grammar before submitting your work.

First Paragraph (Introduction):

Introduce the article.

What was the purpose of the study?

What was the hypothesis in this study?

What did the researchers expect to find?

Second Paragraph (Background):

What are the main ideas or the theory behind the hypothesis?

Why were the researchers interested in studying this question?

What is the supporting research for this study?

Third Paragraph (Results):

What were the results of the study? In other words, what did the researchers find?

Was the hypothesis supported? If so, how? If not, why not?

Fourth Paragraph (Discussion):

Discuss the results of the study.

What is the interpretation of these results?

What impact do these findings have on theory?

***This is the most important part of the assignment: Make a connection between what you have learned in our course and this article. Specifically, analyze the conclusions with consideration of the major theories of biopsychology. You may use any theory you choose as long as it relates to the study findings and/or conclusions in some way***

Fifth Paragraph (Conclusion):

What are your thoughts on the research findings? What were the study strengths? What were the study weaknesses?

Were the findings surprising? If so, why, if not, why not?

What additional research could be conducted to explore this area further in future research?

Assignment Guidelines:

2 pages (3 pages maximum)

Double-spaced

1” margins

Times New Roman Font (12 point)

The above outline serves as a guide for student writing. You may use more than one paragraph to address any of the points listed above.