Perception, Mind and Reality

EXPOSITORY PAPER and PRESENTATION GUIDELINES

This paper and presentation are the culmination of your first two quarters of work in Perception, Mind and Reality! The final paper is extremely important; it will gauge your ability to focus and your motivation. These instructions must be followed to the letter! Please read the entire assignment twice now and refer to it frequently over the next month. This assignment has two parts: a thousand-word expository essay and a solo ten-minute presentation taken directly from your essay. There will be time for a few minutes of questions after your presentation.

For this essay, you may choose from a list of fifteen potential research topics (see below). Your presentation and paper must be based on at least three sources: one textbook or encyclopedia article (tertiary source), one review article (secondary source), and one peer-reviewed journal article (primary source). You should use a “discipline-specific” encyclopedia rather than a general Encyclopedia. Use sources such as The Encyclopedia of Buddhism or The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy or The Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, or The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. However, you may want to begin your research using a general Encyclopedia, such as Encyclopedia Brittanica or even Wikipedia, but do not use these as one of your three reference sources. You are writing an expository essay, so your goal is to summarize the research, not to express your feelings about them (see pages 7 & 8 in your Harbrace Writer’s Handbook). However, you may make one or two brief comments about your feelings in your presentation & paper.

Your goal in the paper and presentation is to demonstrate that you have read and understood a single peer-reviewed paper. You should strive to understand your primary source as fully as possible and to make your presentation and paper understandable to someone who isn’t an expert in this research (whether faculty or student). Your paper (and presentation) may need to spend the majority of the words (or time) on laying the background for the reader or audience to understand your primary source. You will need to coordinate with other students dealing with your same topic to decide who goes earlier (with the background information) and who goes later (focusing more on the primary literature). At the start of your bibliography, state which citation format you are using (APA or MLA). Be consistent in your citations. If you plan to choose a career in psychology use APA; for topics in music or philosophy, use MLA. You can find descriptions of APA and MLA styles in chapter 12 and 13 of the Harbrace Writer’s Handbook or in handouts in the library or at on-line links in the 4th column of the Library Catalog homepage.

TIMELINE FOR SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS ASSIGNMENT:

Week 4: Attend Library Resources Workshop. Read this handout several times. Read handout on potential topic choices.

Week 5: Thursday at 11 am: Give your seminar leader a full sheet of paper with your name and your choice of topic.

Weeks 5 & 6: Get copies of your 3 sources and read them several times. Get additional sources if you need them.

Week 7: Thursday at 11 am: Give your seminar leader a piece of paper with your name and a list of your research sources for your presentation and paper. Attach a copy of the first page of at least three sources – one primary, one secondary, one tertiary. (Attach a copy of the first page of the relevant chapter in a textbook or encyclopedia article.) These pages will not be returned. Sources must include one peer-reviewed journal article, one review article, and one book or encyclopedia reference. List the names of the databases that you used in your search (e.g. EBSCO, Proquest, etc.) The internet may be used only as a tool to get to the academic sources. List the names of the other two students from our program who will review your paper.

Weeks 7 & 8: Write your paper of at least 1200 words. Have your two peers review it (and sign their names to your draft). Include word count on the first page with your name and date of that draft. Don’t count your bibliography in the Word Count.

Week 9 Wednesday: Meet in LH 3 and find the others sharing your topic. Decide who will cover which topics & the order. Some students may choose to cover the more basic introduction to the subject followed by the more detailed presentations.

Week 9 Thursday: 1000-word paper due at 11 am. Attach both 1200-word drafts of your paper with comments and signatures from your two reviewers from our program. You may want to get comments from a tutor in the Writing Center if you have found a tutor who helps you write more effectively. However, due to the Writing Center’s policy of not allowing their tutors to sign papers they have reviewed, we are unable to help guide you to good tutors and we cannot accept the comments of a writing tutor instead of those from your peers in the program. Staple the entire packet together with the final draft on top.
On a separate sheet of paper, submit the names of the people in your topic group and the order of the week ten presentations. Use a single sheet of paper for each topic group. Those presenting on one topic will be assigned consecutive presentation times.

Week 10: Come to every class meeting, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Plan on staying about one hour later than usual each day. Your papers and presentation will be evaluated by your seminar leader, but feel free to ask any faculty for advice.


WINTER RESEARCH TOPICS

See the “Expository Paper and Presentation Guidelines” handout above.

Remember that you are required to use a primary, secondary, and tertiary source.

1. Implicit beliefs (Cognitive Psychology, see for example Carol Dweck)
2. Research on the current efficacy of lie detector tests
3. Music therapy for a specific condition
4. Physiological or psychological effects of meditation or contemplative practices
e.g. Cahn and Polich (2006) Psych. Bull 132 180 – 211
5. Different theories of the etiology of autism
6. Music and propaganda
7. Epigenetics in specific biological systems (See Biology of Belief for references)
8. Comparison of the health care system of the U.S.A. to other systems in the Industrial West
9. Music and trance
10. Lucid dreams – psychophysiology or utility in psychological or physical health
11. The effectiveness of different methods of pain control that are non-addictive
12. Utility and efficiency of chant versus song
13. Placebo effect
14. Cross-cultural belief systems and their effect on psychological resilience and adaptability
See: Human Development in Multicultural Contexts. (A book of readings) by Michele A. Paludi.
15. Music and memory