Prior to beginning this assignment, please review all the required readings from the first three weeks as well as the articles you used in your Week 2 Discipline-Based Literature Review. During this course, you have been developing your knowledge in the area of learning and cognition. In the Week 2 assignment, there was special focus on six topics that influence a wide variety of disciplines in psychology and other fields. In the final week of this course, you will develop a Learning and Cognition Handbook based on these topics.

This week, you will write an extensive review and annotated bibliography on one of the six main course topics below:

• 1. Traditional learning theories: Operant and classical conditioning
• 2. Traditional learning theories: Behaviorism and social learning theory
• 3. Attention and memory
• 4. (Decision-Making)          I CHOSE THIS ONE
• 5. Language acquisition
• 6. Organizational and lifelong learning

The topic you choose should be based on the area in which you would most like to develop your knowledge. Your choice should also consider your current interests in psychology and support your future career goals.

As you prepare this assignment, keep in mind that it is designed to assist you with beginning the process of drafting your Learning and Cognition Handbook, which is due in Week 6. It is recommended that your paper be checked in Grammarly (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and through Turnitin (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. prior to submission.

Include the following components in your review:

Introduction: Explain your motivation focusing on your chosen topic and describe how this topic aligns with your future career goals.

Research: Research five Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. in the Ashford University Library focusing on your chosen topic, and provide an annotated bibliography (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. These articles must provide sufficient information so that they will support your work in the Learning and Cognition Handbook. (See the instructions in Week 6 for further clarification.) Provide a complete reference for each of the five articles. Beneath each reference, provide an annotation that explains the theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and/or empirical research within the article that describe and define your chosen construct.

Conclusion: Provide a concluding paragraph that synthesizes the cognitive learning principles and theories found within the articles as they relate to your chosen construct.

The Choosing Your Focus paper

• Must be three to five double-spaced pages in length and formatted according to APA style (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must begin with an introductory paragraph that clearly states the chosen construct.
• Must clearly discuss and explain the chosen construct with critical thought.
• Must include a Research section comprised of the Annotated Bibliography (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
  • The Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. guide offers additional guidance on correctly formatting references for the annotated bibliography.
• Must end with a conclusion that synthesizes the cognitive learning principles and theories found within the articles as they relate to the chosen construct.
• Must use at least five peer-reviewed sources (one per topic).
  • The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

NO Plagiarism

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Choosing Your Focus

Choosing Your Focus