Paper on a Psychological Disorder

Paper on a Psychological Disorder

As you will see from the start, psychology is more than just the study of psychological disorders. However, many students find the study of psychological disorders fascinating so here is your opportunity to explore this area of psychology. Your assignment is to choose a topic from Chapter 12, Defining Psychological Disorders, in your e-textbook. Your paper should be from 1,000 – 1,200 words (or about 2 to 2 1/2 single-spaced typed pages), and you should follow APA style.  Please  adhere to page length requirement. 

Choose at least two Web sites that contain information about the topic. Both sites need to be credible and one site should represent a national organization that has formed because of the topic. For example, if you choose depression as a topic, then you could choose any national organization devoted to researching and/or providing information about depression. Be sure you discuss each site in your paper.

Next, choose at least two journal articles from credible sources, using one of the Psychological databases to find more in-depth information than what is listed in your textbook about your topic. These articles should be research oriented, i.e., involve a research study. As such, the study will have participants, procedures (or methods), and results. Wikipedia, Psychology Today, or other such sources  will not count as credit for one of your research articles from a credible psychological journal.

Begin your paper with an overall introduction telling the reader the purpose of the paper and what you will review. Next, you may wish to start with how the topic is presented in the textbook or module and why you chose it as your topic of interest (keep in mind that you should avoid being too personally revealing in discussing your topic). Then spend most of your paper writing about the information you discovered in your research. Next, summarize your findings and any limitations of the research that you may have noted. End your paper with a concluding paragraph that tells the reader what they should know from reading your paper and the importance of this information.

Make sure your paper flows logically and is not a patchwork of bits and pieces of information. I will give you more information about how to find references and the type of references you should use later in the course.

This assignment is worth 18% of your final grade. Points will be deducted if your paper is turned in late, so please try to have yours turned in on time.