Cognitive psychology Theory Development Term Paper History of Pyschology

Aims. The objective of this paper will be to present an original current theory in the field of psychology and to examine aspects of the rich ideological and scientific heritage that, over time, have helped to shape the theory. This will be done by connecting the theory (or aspects of it) to various historical perspectives and contributions that are relevant to the questions addressed by the theory.
Learning Objectives. The purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to:
1. develop a deeper understanding of the influence that major historical trends in thought have had on our execution of psychological science today.
2. utilize critical thinking skills to apply the informational content learned in course lectures to the analysis of the current psychological literature.
3. gain familiarity with attributes of scholarly publications that contribute to the quality of the material as an information resource.
4. develop a deeper understanding of academic and scientific integrity, including use of quality sources of information and the both the importance of and accepted methods for the citation of sources.
Instructions. For this paper, you will be required to use references from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, university-based history of psychology websites, and published psychology textbooks only – no other types of references will be accepted. A minimum of two of your references will be primary sources. A primary source is one that presents novel information (empirical data or theoretical formulations) that cannot be traced back to any other source. Secondary sources (e.g., literature reviews, textbooks, university-based history of psychology websites) are those that review the extant primary literature on a topic, but on their own, do not make any original contributions to the current knowledge base.
Of the two primary sources you are required to use, one will be a recent theoretical review that presents a theory in which you have an interest. The review must have been published in a peer-reviewed academic journal within the past 10 years. The theory presented in the text of this paper will constitute your paper topic and will be your starting point. The theory can be relevant to any current subfield of psychology (e.g., developmental, cognitive, behavioral, educational, social, or clinical psychology, psychopathology, affective and cognitive neuroscience, etc.) and can address any phenomenon of interest to psychology (e.g., particular psychological disorders; theories of particular individual or social behaviors or cognitive/affective phenomena; etc).

Your second primary source can be either: (1) an empirical article; or (2) an important historical theoretical paper published prior to 1970 that influenced the theory in the recent theoretical review. You may use this source in any way you feel is appropriate to support the assertions you make and/or information you present in the text of your paper.
In your paper, you will begin by stating the objectives of your paper as they pertain to the theory you are presenting. You will then summarize the theory presented in the recent theoretical review as well as define any terminology with which the reader will need to be familiar in order to understand your summary. Next, you will describe how at least one historical idea or development from each of the following four time periods covered in the course are likely to have influenced the formulation of this theory:
1. the ancient Greek philosophers
2. the Renaissance
3. the early Enlightenment up until the advent of psychology as an experimental science (1600’s – late 1800’s)
4. the period following the advent of experimental psychology
Be sure to describe the historical idea well prior to connecting it to the theory. Then, as you explain the contributions of older conceptualizations to the formation of the recent theory, as much as possible, you should provide support for your assertions by referring to the text of the theoretical review. Keep in mind that there may not be a direct correspondence between the recent theory and older ideas; you may have to engage in some degree of conjecture/deduction to make the connections. This is fine, as long as you support your assertions by referencing the text of the main theoretical article.
While the most of the historical information you present can be from your textbook (Hergenhahn, 5th Edition), you can feel free to present historical contributions not found within the text. If you choose to do this, just make sure to accurately cite your sources. Again, these sources should be from published texts, university-based history of psychology websites, and/or peer-reviewed journals only.
Format. Papers should be 5-6 pages in length (excluding cover page and references page). The paper should be written in APA style, include appropriate citations of the two primary sources, as well as all other secondary sources you may have used for the paper. You should consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Ed.) or another appropriate source regarding any APA formatting questions that arise.

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