Write a conclusion paragraph that summarizes your findings and whether or not the commonly held belief you have chosen to explore is supported by psychological research and theory.

Fact or Fiction?

[WLOs: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

The purpose of the Final Paper is to apply critical insight to discern fact from fiction with regard to a topical area of your choice. You will review the available evidence for a commonly held belief and provide a conclusion regarding the merit of this claim by describing concepts in core psychological domains and examining variations in psychological functioning.

To complete this activity,

• Write an introduction paragraph for your topic. (You must continue with your selected topic identified in Week 3, unless you have received permission from your instructor otherwise.)
  • For assistance with a thesis for your introduction paragraph, visit Ashford Writing Center’s Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) and Thesis Generator (Links to an external site.).
• Develop supporting Body Paragraphs (Links to an external site.) that apply a professional psychological perspective to a commonly held belief about why people think or act as they do. Consider both perspectives. Use headings as necessary to organize your work. (Use your sources identified in your Week 3 annotated bibliography, your course content, as well as any additional scholarly resources that support your argument. Visit APA Style Elements (Links to an external site.) for help with headings, and the Ashford University Library to obtain additional scholarly articles as necessary to fully inform your thinking and address gaps in your knowledge of the topic. Refer to the Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table for additional guidance.).
  • Apply psychological theory and research to a commonly held belief.
    • Employ examples to fully illustrate your analysis.
  • Examine potential implications of diversity.
  • Discern any relevant ethical issues.
  • Relate potential applications of this insight to various careers.
• Write a conclusion paragraph that summarizes your findings and whether or not the commonly held belief you have chosen to explore is supported by psychological research and theory. Review Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) for more.

The Fact or Fiction? Final Paper

• Must be five double-spaced pages in length at minimum (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style  (Links to an external site.)resource.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • A header
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
    For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).
• Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
• Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
  • For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
  • Using headings within your writing may assist you in organizing your thoughts more succinctly. For more information about using headings, please review APA Style Elements (Links to an external site.).
• Must use at least three scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. These may be from Week 3 annotated bibliography, unless your instructor has requested the use of differing sources.
  • Additional scholarly sources are encouraged. Be sure to integrate your research smoothly rather than simply inserting it. Review Integrating Research (Links to an external site.) for more.
  • The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment. For more, review the Ashford University Library Quick ‘n’ Dirty (Links to an external site.)
• Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) guide.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Waypoint Assignment Submission

The assignments in this course will be submitted to Waypoint.  Please refer to the instructions below to submit your assignment.

1. Click on the Assignment Submission button below. The Waypoint “Student Dashboard” will open in a new browser window.
2. Browse for your assignment.
3. Click Upload.
4. Confirm that your assignment was successfully submitted by viewing the appropriate week’s assignment tab in Waypoint.

For more detailed instructions, refer to the Waypoint Tutorial (Links to an external site.).