Assessment 3 Instructions: Literature Review

 

Write a literature review that will help support a proposed research study, applying scholarly research findings and theories to your selected topic in biological psychology.

As you select articles for and work on your Literature Review assessment, you’ll explore vision and how we see. You will start by examining the eye structure that processes visual information. You’ll also explore learning and memory. These are two of the most exciting topics in biopsychological research. The central hypothesis is focused on how and where memories are stored in the brain.

Overview

Using the backbone of what you’ve done in both the Analysis of Articles and Theories and Ethics assessments, utilize what you discovered through the analysis of the literature’s research and theory into a coherent and well-written literature review. Utilize resources you’ve already found to support your work and anything else you want to add. Ultimately, this literature review will support your final piece by making a case for a research proposal.

Preparation

You will be using these resources to help support a proposed research study of your choosing. Note that the assessments in this course build on one another. It is a good idea to look ahead to the Study Applications assessment to begin to think about a topic you might be interested in researching. This is a good time to select articles for this assessment that will help support your ideas for that assessment as well.

Instructions

For your Literature Review assessment, use the Capella library and course readings to locate a minimum of ten peer-reviewed journal articles (published within the last 10 years) that discuss a biological psychology topic of interest to you (the same topic you’re using for your other assessments). For example, you might be interested in:

• Neurobiology of ecstasy (MDMA) abuse.
• Progression of reading ability in a child diagnosed with autism.
• Effectiveness of a new drug to treat depression.

 

You are not limited to these topics, but may choose one of these if you are interested. They are listed to help give you an idea of types of appropriate topics.

Submit your literature review on the topic you selected for this assessment in accordance with the criteria listed below:

Format your paper using the following headings, as well as the APA Paper Template [DOCX]:

Topic:

• Identify the topic and describe the search strategy used for locating articles for the review.

Literature:

• Identify the major themes you’ve located in the literature.
• Use the MEAL plan for Organizing Paragraphsand use two or more sources to support each main idea.
• Analyze existing studies by discussing their strengths and weaknesses.
• Apply scholarly research findings to your topic in biological psychology from at least ten scholarly sources.

Theory:

• Identify the theory or theories used in your articles and discuss how they are applied to the topic.
• Apply a theory or theories to explain the themes of the research findings.

Paper Requirements

Number of Resources: 10–12 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Length: 5–7 pages.
Format: Formatted using the APA Paper Template [DOCX]. Use current APA style and formatting.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

• Competency 1: Analyze research methods used in the study of biological psychology.
  • Analyze existing research, including the strengths and weaknesses.
• Competency 2: Apply psychological theories to topics in biological psychology.
  • Apply psychological theories to a topic in biological psychology.
• Competency 3: Apply scholarly research findings to topics in biological psychology.
  • Apply scholarly research findings to a topic in biological psychology from a sufficient number of scholarly sources.
• Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for professionals in the field of psychology.
  • Integrate appropriate use of scholarly sources, evidence, and citation style.
  • Address assessment purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.
  • Use proper APA style for headings and title page.