I. Discuss one “real world” activity in your personal experience that relies on

I. Discuss one “real world” activity in your personal experience that relies on cognitive processes. (3‐4
pages, 20 pts)
In the first section, you will think about how the information you’ve learned this term relates to
your everyday experience. Cognition is what you do every day in your social interaction, academic
work and extracurricular activities -though you might not think about it. Your task is to choose an
aspect of your activities that you would like to analyze in terms of cognitive processes that we
have discussed in class.
Once you have decided on “real world” activity, you should write about it in the following way:
A. Introduce the everyday activity by describing your (or someone else’s) subjective
experience of it.
B. Identify one major component cognitive process that is involved in that activity
(e.g. attention, working memory, problem solving).
C. Connect your real-world experience to examples of information you learned in class or in the
text that are relevant to understanding the process.
II. Summarize and critique a relevant research article (3‐4 pages, 25 pts)
*Remember: summarize does not mean plagiarize! Use quotations sparingly if at all*
A. Summary
1. Question under investigation and why the authors think it is interesting
2. Hypothesis being tested and how it was operationalized
3. Methodology and design (independent and dependent variables, control conditions etc.)
4. A summary of the results, and how the authors interpreted them
5. Conclusions drawn by the authors about the overall question of interest
B. Discuss the merits as well as the deficits of the article (Be sure to putthe mosttime and thought
into this section)
1. Do you agree that this is the right way to frame the question? Is this an interesting question? Why or
why not?
2. Is the hypothesis logical, and is the operationalization valid? Why or why not?
3. Were the independent and dependent variables well chosen, and were the necessary control
conditions included?
4. Was the report of the findings complete and clear? Did the authors interpret the findings
appropriately? Why or why not?
5. Were the authors conclusions appropriate given the data they reported? Why or why not?
6. Where you see a deficit, always state what you think would be a better approach
III. Your overall evaluation and conclusion (1 page, 3 points)
A. Articulate a balanced and integrated overall judgment about the significance and quality of the
contribution made by the article to your question of interest
B. Take stock of what you have learned about the everyday activity by looking at relevant research
and/or what further work needs to be done.
IV. References in APA format (1 page, 2 points)
Important Notes
1. The paper must be use the APA style for references and in-text citations, but you do not
need an abstract or running head. Points will be deducted if the style is not followed.
2. Any problems with spelling, grammar, or writing style can lead to the loss of points