The class project for this course is a written report, that addresses the biological study of a specific behavioral or mental phenomenon (normal or pathological) covered in the readings and videos. Please select a behavioral or mental phenomenon such as language or schizophrenia and then select a biological strategy for investigating it, such as hormonal or genetic mechanisms, neurotransmitters, drug treatments, or localization of brain processes by imaging. The project will be worth a maximum of 100 points.
Written paper. As an example, the theme of your report might be imaging approaches to the study of schizophrenia. Your paper should summarize fundamental issues, questions, and controversies and provide a general overview of the topic using the biological line of investigation you chose. It should also elaborate on your understanding of the brain processes that are revealed through imaging research in schizophrenia. To accomplish this, you will have to use recent research articles (published within the last five years) to illustrate relevant points. You may use any of a number of electronic databases to find research articles that deal with your topic, including the library and the Internet. The one requirement for the research articles that you select is that two of them must have appeared in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. You may wish to consult with the library staff or your faculty member to confirm whether a particular journal is peer-reviewed.
Newspaper or magazine articles should not be used as your major reference, but they are sometimes useful when they lead you to the appropriate research article. You should avoid simply repeating the articles in summary form, but rather use them within the text of your paper to illustrate important points. You are welcome to discuss your choice of topic with your faculty member to make sure you are on the right track.
Your paper should be 1,600 words, or about 6 to 8 pages, in length (use the word count as a guide to length and stay within 200 words of the target to avoid penalties). It must be typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, and fully referenced in APA format. Please check the course schedule in this syllabus for the due date. The penalty for a late project is ten percent of the score on the project.
Include multiple scholaryly sources.
