Posted: May 1st, 2025

Each student will be responsible for comparing and contrasting 3 peer-reviewed studies related to psychology.

Research topic title: The Effects of a Mind-Body Intervention Program on Stress and Coping Strategies among Caregivers of Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease Requirements

Each student will be responsible for comparing and contrasting 3 peer-reviewed studies related
to psychology. Students will choose their own topics and their corresponding studies to critique
with the approval of the instructor. Students will write a 3-5 page paper (double-spaced, Times
New Roman, 12pt font, standard margins, APA format) which contains the following:
(1) Summaries of the main findings of the studies
(2) Discussion of how the articles relate to concepts discussed in the course
(3) Discussion of the differences and similarities of the studies
(4) Implications of the differences and similarities.

More instructions will be in the pdf the title psych paper rationale,the rubric also is there and the article that will be use for the paper.

Paper Rubric
Category
Study Summaries
Incorporating Course Knowledge
Poor (0 – 4 points)
Good (5 – 7 points)
Excellent (8 – 10 points)
A clear summary of the
studies is not provided in
the paper. The relevant
background information is
not discussed, and the
student provides little or no
summary of the methods or
results of the study. No or
only 1 empirical article is
included in the paper.
Knowledge gained from the
course is not incorporated
into the studies. No
discussion of how the
studies relate to course
material is provided.
Some aspects of the studies
are discussed, but a complete
summary of the background,
methods, and results of the
study are not provided. Only
one or two of these aspects
are discussed. Only 1-2
empirical articles are included
in the paper.
A summary of the backgrounds,
methods, and results of the studies are
provided. 3 empirical articles are
included in the paper.
Some discussion of how
course material relates to the
studies provided (1 example),
but the discussion is brief, or
the student fails to display an
understanding of the material
discussed.
Some discussion of the
similarities or the differences
is provided.
The essay incorporates material
discussed in class and displays a
thorough understanding of the topic.
Several topics (2-3) discussed in class
are incorporated into the essay.
Critical Evaluation of Context
Differences
No discussion of the
similarities and differences
of the results are provided.
Implications
A discussion of the
implications of the
similarities and differences
of the studies is not
provided. Little or no
conclusions are drawn from
the studies.
Some discussion of the
implications or impact of the
similarities and differences
(1-2 sentences), but the
student is not thorough or
does not demonstrate an
understanding of the studies
and or course knowledge.
Both the similarities and the
differences between the studies are
provided. Differences are elaborated
on—explained why they matter.
The implications of the studies are
discussed thoroughly (~1 paragraph)
and the student demonstrates an
understanding of the results and the
impact of the similarities and
differences between the studies. Key
takeaways are provided.
Score
Overall Writing
There are several (> 10)
grammatical errors and
formatting which make the
paper difficult to read or
understand. Significant
plagiarism, AI flagged
The essay has some
grammatical and formatting
errors (> 5) which interfere
with the intelligibility of the
paper. Massively over page
limit (1 pages+), some flags by
turnitin (plagiarism) 20-30%
range after recalculating score,
AI detected
The essay is well-written,
understandable, and contains few (< 2)
important grammatical and formatting
errors.
Nandy Dalmace
March 17th 2024
Health Across Contexts Sources
Research topic title: The Effects of a Mind-Body Intervention Program on Stress and Coping
Strategies among Caregivers of Individuals with Alzheimer's Disease:
Health Across Contexts Sources:
1. Caregivers' attitude toward disclosure of Alzheimer's disease diagnosis in Urban China.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28660845/.
2. Ethnic Differences in Beliefs Regarding Alzheimer Disease Among Dementia Family
Caregivers. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1064748112608173.
3. Biomarkers and Risk Assessment of Alzheimer's Disease in Low- and Middle-Income
Countries. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37694361/.
4. Dementia caregivers’ coping strategies and their relationship to health and well-being:
The Cache County
Study.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4845636/#:~:text=Given%20the%
20significant%20stress%20inherent,mental%20health%20and%20emotional%20outcom
es.
Work Cited
Adewale BA, Coker MM, Ogunniyi A, Kalaria RN, Akinyemi RO. Biomarkers and Risk
Assessment of Alzheimer's Disease in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. J Alzheimers Dis.
2023;95(4):1339-1349. doi: 10.3233/JAD-221030. PMID: 37694361.
Heather L. Gray, Daniel E. Jimenez, Michael A. Cucciare, Hui-Qi Tong, Dolores
Gallagher-Thompson, Ethnic Differences in Beliefs Regarding Alzheimer Disease Among
Dementia Family Caregivers, The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Volume 17, Issue
11,
2009.
Snyder, C. M., Fauth, E., Wanzek, J., Piercy, K. W., Norton, M. C., Corcoran, C., Rabins, P. V.,
Lyketsos, C. G., & Tschanz, J. T. (2015). Dementia caregivers’ coping strategies and their
relationship to health and well-being: The Cache County Study. Aging & Mental Health, 19(5),
390. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2014.939610.
Zou Y, Song N, Hu YB, Gao Y, Zhang YQ, Zhao QH, Guo QH, Li X, Li GJ, Xiao SF, Chen SD,
Ren RJ, Wang G. Caregivers' attitude toward disclosure of Alzheimer's disease diagnosis in
Urban China. Int Psychogeriatr. 2017 Nov;29(11):1849-1855. doi:
10.1017/S1041610217001132. Epub 2017 Jun 29. PMID: 28660845.
Cross Cultural
Health Psychology
Term Paper
FAQs
Rationale
Approximately 95% of research is conducted with WEIRD (Western, College educated,
Industrial, rich, democratic [any bias there?]) populations despite representing only ~10% of
Earth’s population.
An American undergraduate is more than 4,000 times more likely to be a research participant in
a psychology study than is a non-western citizen! You will notice, in most psychology textbooks,
the overwhelming majority of research and discussion revolves around WEIRD populations.
This project will challenge you to think, research, and learn beyond this limited paradigm by
comparing the findings from 1 WEIRD and 2 under-researched population studies. That is,
student will need to locate, read, and synthesize a total of 3 peer reviewed studies.
This assignment is designed to further your understanding of peer reviewed journal articles,
assess the generalizability of research, develop critical evaluation skills of peer reviewed sources,
and how universal developmental processes are shaped and influence the environment.
For example, authoritative parenting has been found to correlated with positive mental health
outcomes in American university research settings, is that finding replicated among the Masai
people in rural Kenya?
Requirements
Each student will be responsible for comparing and contrasting 3 peer-reviewed studies related
to psychology. Students will choose their own topics and their corresponding studies to critique
with the approval of the instructor. Students will write a 3-5 page paper (double-spaced, Times
New Roman, 12pt font, standard margins, APA format) which contains the following:
(1) Summaries of the main findings of the studies
(2) Discussion of how the articles relate to concepts discussed in the course
(3) Discussion of the differences and similarities of the studies
(4) Implications of the differences and similarities
FAQs
• I need help with APA formatting
• https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_te
xt_citations_author_authors.html
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•
Should I include an abstract?
o No, but include all other APA formatting requirements.
Do I have to type out the entire citation in my Works Cited section?
o No, copy and paste it from Google Scholar (click cite) or the library database
(look for “citations”). Few people type citations out. There are also settings in
Microsoft Word which you can use to have it format references for you.
Can I include quotations from the authors?
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o No. Paraphrase the study.
Do I include the title of the study in my in-text citation?
o No, use a format like (Author, Year) or Author(s) (year). See the APA formatting
link provided above for more information
What is an empirical article? What is a study? What types of papers are accepted?
o Dissertations, theses, and review papers will NOT meet the requirement for a
study in this paper. You can include them in your paper but, they will not count
towards the required 2 empirical article source requirement
o Review articles will state, in the abstract, that it reviews/provides an overview of
the results
o Empirical articles collect data, form a hypothesis, generate results from the data
collected, and form conclusions based on the results. Expect to see a methods,
results, and conclusion section
o Dissertations are between 80-500 pages (no one is reading this), an empirical
article, in general, won’t be more than 15 pages.
What is a review paper then?
o A review paper reviews, in totality, all recent research in a field. For example, a
review of the relationship between authoritarian parenting and children’s alcohol
abuse, would detail every study, within a 5-10 year period, which has measured
the correlation between parenting and children’s alcohol use. This large
overview/review of research tells other researchers what the current scientific
understanding of knowledge is in the topic and what still needs to be learned
through future studies
o Because review articles review dozens of empirical studies, you can skim them
and mine their Works Cited for sources
How do I find empirical papers?
o Use your library resources. Specifically, look to use PsycInfo found in library
databases.
o Google scholar is useful but at times, the article is not free to view. DO NOT pay
for it. Contact me. Also, sources are often not experimental/empirical studies
published in peer review journals. Tread cautiously.
I found an interesting study I want to use on Google Scholar, but it’s behind a paywall,
what do I do?
o Never pay for it, your college pays publishing companies for access to peer
reviewed journals
o Contact me with the name of the study and authors and I will get the study to you
What counts as under studied?
o For the purposes of this paper, any study conducted internationally will count as
under studied. Additionally, any population within the United States which is
historically understudied. This can include racial minorities, the homeless,
LGBTQ+, the poor, disabled individuals and more. Also, this can include a
significant historical event/era (i.e., war, economic depression, etc.)
How do I read an empirical study? I’m a newbie help!
o Generally, a study will contain the same sections in the same order they include—
introduction/literature review, methods, results, conclusions
o Introduction is designed to tell the reader about previous research. It puts the
reader on semi equal footing. It also tells the reader what is not known about the
topic and thus why the study you are reading is being conducted. It provides
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justification for the existence of the study you are reading. It’s like a scientific
introduction paragraph but longer.
o Methods tell the reader how the study was designed—how many participants, race
of participants, how much money the participants make, what specific
surveys/questionnaires were administered by the researchers, where the
participants are from.
o Results are the stats jargon. Skim this for parts you understand, skip the parts you
don’t
o Conclusions translates the stats jargon results into English. The section also
reintroduces some of the previous studies reviewed in the introduction. This
allows the researcher to explain if their results were consistent or different from
older studies and offer a global takeaway message to the reader.
This study talks about “limitations” does it suck?
o No. All studies are required to list limitations because every study in world
history has had limitations. As you gain more expertise you will be able to better
identify which limitations are most meaningful.
There’s a ton of information here? What do I do!?
o Pick and choose which parts of the study are most applicable to your paper. You
cannot include everything. The practice in science jargon is called trimming.
o Include only parts you understand otherwise your summarizing will not be
specific enough and make less sense
How do I structure this paper?
o You have a lot of flexibility.
o You can choose to focus on 2 psychology topics. For example, two mental health
developmental outcomes such as eating disorders and depression with two journal
articles for each topic.
o You can also choose to focus on one topic. For example, for depression, all four
of your selected studies can measure this one topic.
o You can choose to look at multiple understudied groups or focus on just 1
understudied group. For example, either self-efficacy among the homeless in
the United States and in Ecuador OR self-efficacy in Ecuador would be
accepted.
Alternative paper idea?
o Do you have an alternative idea that you are really interested which meets the
rigor of this assignment? Reach out to me. One previous idea that a student
pitched to me was 4 journal articles from a single country. That is, no WEIRD
studies.
I submitted my PDFs but now I want to change my topic. Can I?
o Yes
Can I paraphrase studies reviewed in our course discussions?
o Yes, but they will not count towards your four study requirement.
What’s the Turnitin score requirement?
o Approximately 15%, this is excluding the wrongly flagged material (e.g., sources,
titles). I manually rescore every submission. Any AI modified work will be heavily
deducted and or given no credits.
How old can the sources be?
o In general, the source should be published no later than 2009. Exceptions can be
granted with a rationale for inclusion.
Can I use AI, what about Grammarly?
o No AI is permitted. This includes Grammarly. If you have the Grammarly add on
turn it off while writing. If you are flagged on this assignment, you likely will not
have time to resubmit with a significant deduction due to the course size. AI will be
checked through Turnitin, but you will not see the results of this check when you
submit the assignment.