Berk Essays and Research Papers

Essay Instructions: Write an essay of 4-7 pages (Times New Roman, font 12, double-spaced) which integrates the following points in any order you wish. Title your essay creatively. Be sure to include in-text citations to at least 1 passage in each of the relevant readings you have located as well as from the Berk and Martin articles, using correct MLA or APA format for both citations and source lists.


1.Locate via the Internet at least 2 published articles on the relationship between humor and physical health. Use the ESC Library to do this. You may find some ideas in the online resources listings. (You may also include material from websites, if you wish, but be sure to provide appropriate citations and complete information on how to reach these sites in your source list.)

2.You should focus on a certain population or topic, e.g. nursing home residents, pediatric cancer patients, injured teen athletes, roller coaster operators, workaholics, or physically challenged individuals--whatever is of special interest to you.

3.Discuss, compare, and contrast your findings in your essay. Include one or two personal (or family or friend) examples relevant to your topic to show how the positive effects of humor relate to physical health.

4.Consider and discuss what relevance this information has to your life, especially in your workplaces.

5.Be sure you have cited the Berk article, the Martin article, the text, and at least 2 published articles (published in print, although you may have read them on the Internet) and that you have includes them in your properly titled source list.

Essay Instructions: Important - make sure you read the section on plagiarism.

Writing is an important skill. As such, you will be required to turn in a 4-5 page research paper on the lifespan development topic of your choice. You may select any topic from your textbook, or any other topic in the world that is related to lifespan development. In addition to summarizing your outside research you must also discuss to a lesser extent how this fits with the material in your textbook. You should submit your topic to me for approval no later than the date listed in the syllabus.

Topics are never easy to come up with. I have left this assignment open so that you can explore any area you wish. You can compare sides on an issue, do an in-depth exploration of a specific subject, trace a historical pattern, trace a pattern of a concept across development. The main criterion is that it has to be related in some way to developmental psychology. You should use at least 3 outside sources, at least one of which must not exist on the internet. If you wish to use a primary source, he/she should be authoritative. You must clear any primary source with me in advance, or that person will to be counted within your sources.

Your textbook will not count as one of your outside sources. However, bear in mind that part of your grade involves comparison to your textbook, so you will have to cite the pages you use. Moreover, you must select a topic that you can compare to the textbook in some way, either directly or indirectly. check this in advance - it would be no fun to write 4 good pages on your outside work, only to find you have no text comparison you can make. Text comparison is worth ten points overall, so this part is not somethign you should skimp on.

Your grade for this assignment will be based on the following scale:

Topic approved by deadline: 3 points
Outside research content: 20 points
Comparison with textbook: 10 points
Quality of writing, formatting: 12 points
Sources cited: 3 points
Read/pasted paragraph on plagiarism: 2 points


Content:

Content is the largest part of this grade; this portion of your grade will be based on thoroughness, coherence, how far you went beyond your textbook, quality of main points. You do not simply get 30 points for having content; rather, the quality of your content is what is being graded. The individual components generally break down as follows:

Excellent content - 20 points outside research/10 text summary
Very good content - 18 points/9 points
Good content - 16 points/8 points
Adequate content - 14 points/7 points
Content needed work, or not enough content - less than 14/7

How do I gauge these things? Well, excellent means you went well beyond the norm, had thorough detail, well-researched using research-oriented outside sources. Only the very best papers will be granted 20 points on outside content. If you receive 18 it means you went above the norm, and did very good work, well-researched and communicated. 16 out of 20 means you did good work - not as thorough as the best paper would be, but certainly respectable. 14 means you met the requirements of the assignment.

If your paper has less than 4 full pages of text, regardless of quality, you will receive less than 14/7 points on your content components. Above four pages, length is not a definitive factor in your grade, but it is harder to score 20 with a minimum length paper - it would have to be very succinct and thorough. However, writing the maximum length does not earn 20 automatically. Both quality and quantity are important.

Can you go longer than 5 pages? I won't mind if you go as far as 6 pages, but you will be graded down if you go beyond 6 pages of text. Part of the challenge is to write well within limits.

Your comparison to the text is worth one fifth of your paper grade, so keep this in mind as you do this part. You may compare directly or indirectly to various concepts in the text. You must cite page numbers within your paper to make clear which parts of your paper refer to the text, and which parts of the text you are comparing to. If textbook content is not clearly cited within the text, I will assume the material is outside research content, and you will ot get those points for text comparison.

Paper formatting instructions:

Margins no more than 1.25 inches all around. Font size no more than 12 points, Times New Roman or Arial font only. Double-spaced (not single, 1.5, or more than double).
All papers must be submitted as emailemail attachments, in MS Word format (.doc), or in rich Text format (.rtf). There are hundreds of word processors out there,and I don't own them all. If you are not using MS Word, then please look under "Save As..." within your word processor, and find an option to save in Word or RTF format. RTF is pretty universally available.
4-5 pages refers to full pages of text; simply writing one paragraph on the fourth page does not count as 4 pages! Also, taking up half of the first page with title and class information does not count. A title page does not count. Your reference page does not count. Only full pages of text count toward the length requirement. Please do not come in under 4 pages - even by one paragraph - or you will be graded down.
For all internet sources you must cite what the author's authority is; that is, anybody can put up a web page - what makes this person an authority on the subject?
Don't overdo the block quotes.
Citing sources - all sources that are listed on your reference page should be cited somewhere within your paper. All sources should have specific pages listed for what material was used. All outside material within your paper must be cited, with page numbers, within the text when you use the material and in a references page at the end. You may cite using APA or MLA style.
Read the section below on plagiarism. Then, copy and paste the noted paragraph below the sources on your references page.
I check all of this stuff!
Paper Submission Instructions:

You should submit all homework assignments via emailemail. For your paper, you should submit it two ways. Please send it via emailemail AND upload it to Blackboard via the Digital Dropbox function under Student Tools. Should the paper go missing via emailemail, and you fail to have a backup copy posted before the deadline, you will receive a zero on the assignment.

Plagiarism

Important - read the following, then follow the instructions at the bottom of the section.

Plagiarism, be it intentional or unintentional, is a recurring problem with writing assignments, all the more so in the cut-and-paste computer age. I check for plagiarism. If I catch plagiarism on any assignment you will receive a zero on that assignment, and will face a hearing on academic misconduct which may lead to a failing grade in the course and expulsion from Columbus State.

It is important that you understand what constitutes plagiarism so that you can avoid it. In its most common form, plagiarism includes:

Taking another person's idea, opinion or data and representing it as your own product.
Quoting a source without attributing it.
Paraphrasing the ideas of another without attribution; this includes taking a chunk of text and changing only a few words here or there and representing it as your own.
If you feel like you need clarification on any of these, please check out this page at the University of Indiana. If you are still not clear from their examples, please e-mail me. I nailed 5 people for plagiarism in spring quarter, and none of them expected to be caught. Once you are clear on this, copy the following section of text between the lines onto your reference page of your paper:


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"I have read and understand the section on what constitutes plagiarism for this assignment, as listed on the PSY 261 web site Assignments page. I attest that I have listed all sources used for this paper, and that I have attributed all quotations and paraphrases used in this paper. I further attest that all work not represented as belonging to someone else is my own."


My textbook comparision should come from the 4th edition of "Infants and Children Prenatal Through Middle Childhood" by Laura E. Berk. The section on Alcohol come from page 117 and 118 in the book, this section reads as follows:

Alcohol:
In a moving story, Michael Dorris(1989), a Dartmouth University anthropology professor, described what it was like to raise his adopted son Adam, whose biological mother drank heavily throughout pregnancy and died of alcohol poisoning shortly after his birth. A Sioux Indian, Adam was 3 years old when he come into Dorris's life. He was short and underweight and had a vocabulary of only 20 words. Although he ate well, Adam grew slowly and remained painfully thin. He was prone to infection and had repeated brain seizures. His vocabulary revealed that Adam's intelligence was below avg. At age 12, he could not add, stubtract, or idenify the town in which he lived.

Fetal alcohol syndrome(FAS) is the scientific name for Adam's condition. Mental retardation, impaired motor coordination, attention, memory, and language; and overacitivyt are typical of children with the disorder. Distinct physical symptoms also accompany it, including slow physical growth and a specific pattern of facial abnormalities: widely spaced eyes; short eyelid openings; a small, upturned nose; a thin upper lip; and a small head, indicating that the brain has not develope fully. Other defects--of the eyes, ears, nose, throat, heart, gentials, urinary tract, or immune system--may also be present.

In all babies born with FAS, the mother drank heavily through most or all of her pregnancy. In a related condition, known as fetal alcohol effects(FAE), individuals display only some of these abnormalities. Usually, their mothers drank alcohol in smaller quantities. The particualr defects of FAE children vary with timing and length of alcohol exposure during pregnancy(Goodlet & Johnson, 1999;Mattson et al.,1998).

Even when provided with enriched diets, FAS babies fail to catch up in physical size during infancy or childhood. Mental impairments is also permanent: In his teens and twenties, Adam's intelligence remained below average, and he had trouble concentrating and keeping a routine job. He also suffered from poor judgment. For example, he would buy something and not wait for change, or he would wander off in the middle of a task. The more alcohol consumed by a woman during pregnancy, the poorer the child's motor coordination, speed of information processing, reasoning, and intelligence and achievement test scores during the preschool and school years (Aronson, Hagberg, & Gillberg,1997;Hunt et al.,1995;Jacobson et al.,1993). In adolescence, FAS is associated with poor school performance, trouble with the law, inappropriate sexual behavior, alcohol and drug abuse, and lasting mental health problems(Streissguth et al.,1999). Adolescents with FAS who managed to escape mental retardation still have serious cognitive impairments, including deficits in attention, memory, planning, and spatial abilities(Olson et al.,1998)

How does alcohol produce its devastating effects? First, it interferes with cell duplication and migration in the primitive neural tube. Psychophysiological measures, such as fMRI and EEGs, reveal structural damage and abnormalities in brain functioning, including electrical and chemical activity involved in transferring messages from one part of the brain to another(Guerri,1998;Roebuck,Matson,&Riley,1999).
Second, the body uses large quantities of oxygen to metabolize alcohol. A pregnant woman's heavy drinking draws away oxygen that the developing organism needs for cell growth.

Like heroin an dcocaine, alcohol abuse is higher in poverty-striken sectors of the population(Streissguth,1997). On the reservation where Adam was born, many children show symptoms of prenatal alcohol exposure. Unfortunately, when girls with FAS or FAE later become pregnant, the poor judgment caused by the syndrome often prevents them from understanding why they should avoid alcohol themselves. Thus, the tragic cycle is lekely to repeat itself in the next generation.

How much alcohol is safe during pregnancy? One study linked as little as 2 ounces of alcohol a day, taken very early in pregnancy, to FAS-like facial features (Astley et al.,1992). But recall that other factors--both genetic and environmental--can make some fetuses more vulnerable to teratogenic effects. Therefore, a precise dividing line between safe and dangerous drinking levels cannot be established, and it is best for pregnant women to avoid alcohol entirely.

That concludes the discussion in the textbook.

Essay Instructions: Course nam:Human Development.Intro to Psychology.Text book read was Berk,E.E. Development across the Lifespan.
Assignment:Student should select one dimension of human behavior and trace the development across the lifespan, noticing what he has learned that might contradict what was known prior to this study.
I am a part time night student.Please keep it simple with simple vocabulary so I will be able to understand it.No footnotes or citations required.

Essay Instructions: you are about to write an original case about aspect of adolescence, the materiel may be autobiographical, or fictional or combination of both. 14 pages double spaced in lengh10-12 of the catual case , 3-5 of self analysis of the case. the key to writing an effective case is to focus , a worthy problem this may be a relationship, a pivot experience, a significant other, ongoing struggle or identity issue,etc. what does not work well is a surface narrative covering multiple events over a long period of time.the case itself should be amrked by engagement and immediacy. it should communicate the significance and power of the materiel to the individual. analyse the case using relevant theory and the beauty of hindsight to explain how pieces fit together, what pieces dont fit, what has or has not been resolved. where is this person in terms of process? what does the case tell usus about adolescence in general?
please make sure to mark each section with these heading:
Abstract on the case and your finding ( 1 page)
Section A: Original case about some aspect of adolescence, at least 10 pages double spaced, APA margins, page number in header (not theries just the story please)
Section B: Then analyse the case 3 pages using relevant theory and the beauty of hindsight to explain how pieces fit together, what pieces dont fit, what has or has not been resolved. where is this person in terms of process? what does the case tell usus about adolescence in general?
references to include Berk, and strauch the primal teen, use terminology and studies from Berk 11-12 and strauch in your analysis as citations
1 Coherence : ability to focus on a theme
2 engagement: abitily to create a sence of immediacy and power
3 developement: ability to shape a narrative to tell a clear and effective story
4 analysis: clarity and insight of perspective on the case
5 Grammar, spelling
integrate theory and practice, research and experience, use peer-review journals
apply questions and challange theory and research in the field
examine, either directly or from distance, some issues in own lives.
Please dont forget References
if you need any additional materiel please emailemail me, anything emailemail me
thank you