BOOK

Spring 2023, The University of Akron p. 1

Introduction to Psychology Paper

Ethical Issues & Learned Helplessness

Using the information about evaluating ethics from the textbook for this course and the linked articles and videos (see below), consider the impact of the learned helplessness study – an important experiment in psychology with respect to Ethical Issues. Think critically about the information in these sources. In the Assignments section of Brightspace, using 2.5 pages in your own words, clearly explain your thoughts regarding:

(a) your evaluation of the credibility and validity of each of the 3 sources. Be brief but clear, using some of the questions on p. 2.

(b) identify at least two ethical concerns of the study and, using critical thinking, describe why these aspects of the study are indeed concerning. Some ethical issues to consider regarding studies include vulnerable populations, protection from harm, and animal well- being, although there are others. Identify concerns you determine are relevant and important in this study.

(c) for each concern identified, describe what the researchers could have done instead. How could researchers have studied learned helplessness in a more ethical way?

Sources

Read: Module 34, p. 396 (Myers & DeWall, 2019)

Module 2, p. 30-31 “Studying and Protecting Animals” (Myers & DeWall, 2019) Watch this: https://youtu.be/CMp9rxN-LP0 Read/watch this: https://academy4sc.org/video/learned-helplessness-experiment-doggone- attitudes/

Writing the Paper

• Look at the paper grading rubric on the last page of this document. This shows how the paper will be graded and what needs to be included in each section of the paper.

• Do NOT use any quotes. Write the paragraphs in your own words. This means that you summarize the information from the sources (the articles and textbook, etc.) and write new sentences describing the phenomena, research results, etc.

• This paper needs to be at least 2.5 full pages.

Citing Your Sources

• Keep track of where you found each piece of information. Provide the cite (e.g., Myers & DeWall, 2019) for each piece of information in the text (i.e., the body) of your paper. See page 3 of these instructions to see how to do this.

• Copy the reference list from the document in Brightspace, How to Make a References Page and include it at the end of your paper

• References: Academy 4SC (n.d.), Lady White Rabbit (2020), Myers & DeWall (2019)

Do not plagiarize. Write the paper in your own words. This means you do not turn in another

person’s work as your own. According to the Office of Student Conduct’s Academic Honesty Guide,

plagiarism involves “Submission of an assignment as the student’s original work that is entirely or

partly the work of another person.

Spring 2023, The University of Akron p. 2

Use the information below to judge whether the information you find from each source

is credible and has validity. In other words, is it trustworthy?

Adapted from: http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/how/evaluate.htm – retrieved on 9/28/15

How do I...? Evaluate sources

To evaluate sources such as articles, websites, or books, you will want to evaluate the credibility of the author and the validity of the information.

Credibility of the Author

The first step in evaluating a source is determining the authority of the author who produced the material. To determine authority, you'll want to evaluate the trustworthiness (credentials, education, experience, etc.) of an author.

To determine credibility, ask these questions: • Is the author formally educated in the subject? • Does the author work for a university or research center? • Is the author a recognized scholar in the subject? • Does the author have an established history of research and writing on the subject?

Validity of the Research or Information

The second step of evaluating a source is determining the validity of the research being presented in the article, website or book. To ensure that the research is valid, you want to determine the quality of the research used to support the argument being made. It is also important to remember that excellent or persuasive writing doesn't necessarily ensure that the research presented is valid.

To determine the validity of the research in the source, ask these questions: • Does the author thoroughly cite all the sources? (Saying "a study was done" is not a citation.) • Is there a list of sources at the end of the article? • Does the author's evidence support the claim? • Is the author's evidence objective research instead of personal narrative? • Does it come from a peer-reviewed publication (which means the research was evaluated by

experts before it was published)?

Spring 2023, The University of Akron p. 3

Using APA Format to Give Credit to your Sources

2 things are needed for APA format for this paper… 1. a Reference List & 2. In-Text Citations

(and that’s all!)

In your paper, use information, theories and research results from the articles and textbook. You need to give

the original author(s) credit for this information by citing them, both in the text of your paper and in a

reference list at the end of your paper. Be sure to use citations in APA format for any piece of information in

the paper that is not your own original thought. Any idea you do not cite as being from another author, you

are claiming as your own.

Do not plagiarize. You must write the paper in your own words. This means you should not turn in another

person’s work as your own. According to the Office of Student Conduct’s Academic Honesty Guide, plagiarism

involves “Submission of an assignment as the student’s original work that is entirely or partly the work of

another person.”

It is possible to plagiarize a source even if no full sentences are copied word-for-word. Anytime you use

information from another source, you must give that source credit. If you take ideas from a source, but don’t

indicate where the ideas came from with an accurate reference, you are guilty of plagiarism. If you have

questions, ask your instructor.

According to the Academic Dishonesty Guide and the University’s Student Code of Conduct, “Plagiarism, cheating, or other forms of academic dishonesty” may lead to grade penalty, “formal disciplinary probation, suspension, or dismissal.”

The information you get from the articles and textbook must be paraphrased (summarized in your

own words) in your paper. Do not use any quotes.

In-Text Citations:

In the text (the body) of the paper, be sure to cite each source accurately using APA format, as follows:

If there is only one author it should look like the following:

Myers (2014) describes psychology as… OR Psychology is defined as… (Myers, 2014).

If there are two authors it should look like the following:

Rank and Jocobson (1977) discuss obedience as… OR Obedience is … (Rank & Jocobson, 1977)

If there are three or more authors it should look like the following:

Hockok et al. (2002) OR (Hockok et al., 2002)

Reference List:

Provide a list of references at the end of your paper (titled “References”). The reference list provides

complete citation information for all sources cited in your paper. See the master reference list on your

Brightspace site. Specifics:

• The reference list starts on a new page.

• The title is “References” – no bold, no underline, no quotes, just the word “References” centered at the top of the page.

• Simply copy the references (already in APA format) for your sources from the How to Make a References file on your Brightspace site, then paste them into your word processing document.

Spring 2023

Grading Rubric – Introduction to Psychology Paper Assignment

Required Criteria! (Up to 20 points off per missing criterion) Meets Does Not

At least 2.5 pages

No quotes! Information from the book, article and video must be in your own words

Includes a reference page; Copy & paste this from Brightspace site

Includes in-text (in-paper) citations for information from the book, article, and video

Typed 8 ½ x 11” paper, double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point font

Evaluating Your Sources 20 points

Q: Evaluation of credibility for all 3 sources based on “How do I evaluate sources?” on p. 2 /10

Q: Evaluation of validity for all 3 sources based on ”How do I evaluate sources?” on p. 2 /10

Writing the Paper 60 points

Q: Identifies at least two ethical concerns and describes why these aspects are concerning

Q: Describes what the researchers could have done instead for each concern identified

/30

/30

Feedback: Bases answers on critical thinking and sound reasoning

Describes relevant concepts, theories and/or research findings

Includes accurate information from the article(s), textbook & video

Discusses implications of the ethical issues

Format & Grammar 20 points

APA Format – give credit to sources

5 Paper contains in-text citations & reference list, Format matches that provided to students 2 Format for in-text citations or reference list contains numerous errors 0 In-text citations and reference list are missing OR follows another format than APA

/5

Spelling/Grammar

5 No spelling or grammatical errors 4 1 – 2 spelling or grammatical errors 2 3 – 5 spelling or grammatical errors 1 6 – 8 spelling or grammatical errors 0 9 or more spelling or grammatical errors

/5

General Writing

10 Engaging, Thoughts are well organized, Complete sentences, Statements in paragraphs support main ideas, Good use of transitions 5 Several unclear/incomplete statements

/10

Total: /100