Reference no: EM133688908
Introduction to Psychology: Human Behaviour
Assignment - Critical Analysis
The second written assignment for this unit is a 1200-word critical analysis.
The Assessment Task 2 Critical Analysis Document 1 (this document) is designed to explain what the major written assessment is, how to complete it, and the resources you'll need.
The AT2 Critical Analysis Rubric is designed to outline, and explain each criterion (including grade standards) you will be marked on.
The AT2 Critical Analysis Example is an example of a critical analysis on a different topic which you can use to model your own assignment.
The APA 7th Word template file (.dotx) is a special file type that will set up your cover page and styles for APA 7th, which will help you get your formatting correct. You don't need to use this, but it might make your life easier than doing formatting manually. If you don't understand styles, go see this video.
Rationale
As part of your training as a student in psychology and a tertiary student in general, it is vital you develop a set of skills and competencies that will help you become an independent, critical thinker. Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate and critique the strength of claims and the validity of arguments presented on a range of issues. This applies irrespective of who is presenting the argument or where the argument is being presented, be it a social media post shared by an acquaintance, a scholarly article published in a journal article by a leading researcher, or online article written by an "expert". It is important be able to not only critically analyse the claims made by others, but also be able to identify and evaluate reliable evidence and present it effectively.
By completing this assessment, you will begin to develop the ability to critically analyse the strength of evidence in support (or rejection) of claims. You will also develop the ability to find, evaluate, summarise, and present empirical evidence found in scholarly articles to support your argument.
Learning Outcome 1: Develop an understanding of the biological bases of human behaviour and the foundations of individual adaptation to environmental challenges.
Learning Outcome 2: Develop an evidence-based position on an issue pertinent to psychology.
Learning Outcome 3: Demonstrate communication skills
Learning Outcome 4: Demonstrate critical thinking and digital literacy
Learning Outcome 5: Develop real-world professional and academic skills in researching, reading of technical documents, planning, drafting, and editing.
GLO1 Appropriate to the level of study related to a discipline or profession
GLO2 Using oral, written, and interpersonal communication to inform, motivate and effect change
GLO3 Using technologies to find, use and disseminate information
GLO4 Evaluating information using critical and analytical thinking and judgment
Task Outline
Task Summary
Your task is to critically analyse the empirical support for the central claims presented in an online article. To do this, you will be required to:
Develop a search strategy to identify scholarly articles that support or counter the claims made in the article.
Present and explain the relevance of the presented evidence in relation to the primary issue in the article, and comment on the credibility of the claims made by the author of the stimulus.
Adhere to scientific writing conventions to clearly articulate your argument. This includes your ability to construct a logical, well-structured, and well-supported argument.
Stimulus article to be critiqued.
The stimulus article to be critiqued is called "Treating addiction with TMS: A new hope for recovery".Central Claims of the Article
The central claim of the source article is that Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) can be used to effectively treat addiction. The article contains minor and major claims. We would like you to focus on the main claims that (1) TMS is effective in treating cocaine addiction, (2) is effective in treating alcohol and/or tobacco addiction, and (3) TMS promotes neural plasticity in the brain. Your task is to evaluate the veracity of these claims using empirical evidence. You can evaluate these claims using direct evidence (e.g., empirical articles that have assessed TMS), or indirect evidence (e.g., theoretical/review studies, animal models). You should target 3 major claims.
Background to stimulus article
The source article is a blog post in which the author (Stephenson, 2023) discusses whether a form of non- invasive brain stimulation called ‘transcranial magnetic stimulation' (TMS) may be a promising alternative
treatment for addiction disorders. TMS is a technology which emits a magnetic pulse to temporarily and non-invasively (i.e., without requiring surgery) increase or decrease activity in specific areas of the brain. The article suggests that using TMS to emit such magnetic pulses might be used to help treat addiction disorders without the need for medication or surgery.
Scholarly journal articles
In addition to the stimulus article, you are required to find, summarise, integrate, and cite scholarly journal articles to support or reject the claims presented in the stimulus article. The descriptions and explanations of the scholarly articles should be integrated into a cohesive, logically structured argument which supports your major contention. The articles should not be presented as a list of article summaries; you should use the scholarly articles to provide evidence for arguments that you make. There is no minimum or maximum number of articles you must use (aside from being more than none). You need to use as many articles as you deem necessary to make your arguments persuasive. Where possible, try to use research that reflects the current understanding of the topic (i.e. not outdated due to more recent findings). The stimulus article provided above is not included as a scholarly article (but should be included in your reference list).
How do I understand scholarly articles?
To assist you with your ability to understand scholarly articles, we will deconstruct and analyse empirical research articles in the week 2, week 3, and week 4 seminars. In these seminars, we will show you strategies to approach and understand the sections of an original research article. In general, the sections of a research article include the introduction, method, results, and discussion. Week 2 will focus on the introduction and methods sections. In week 3, the focus will be the results and discussion sections. In week 4, we will discuss systematic review and meta-analysis and how to summarise research articles succinctly.
How do I find and use scholarly articles?
You will be required to generate and implement a search for relevant scholarly articles using the Deakin library scholarly article search engines. The week 2 - 4 seminars have been developed to assist you with finding scholarly articles. You will be shown how to create and implement a search using the Deakin library search engines. This will include how to identify key terms, how to use different search functions, how to retrieve articles and how to summarise/cite the articles you have found. In week 5 we talk about critical thinking and application of evidence, and weeks 7 - 9 focus on writing skills.
Referencing: APA 7
Introducing Crime and Criminology