Consistent with Psychology’s claim to be a scientific

Evidence-Based EssayDue: 10 May (Optional submission of Intro Paragraph for feedback due 12 April)Submit: via Turnitin on the course Blackboard site (n.b. submissions are automatically screened foroverlap with other sources, e.g. plagiarism and collusion)Length: 1000-1500 wordsSupport for the essay component of PSYC1020 is based in the tutorials from week 5onwards.Consistent with Psychology’s claim to be a scientific discipline, arguments for or against anyproposition should be made by presenting and interpreting relevant empirical evidence rather than byappeal to authority, emotion, or individual experience. You are probably exposed daily to argumentsabout psychological phenomena which claim to be scientifically-based. In order to assist yourdevelopment of critical thinking and communication skills with respect to such arguments, we ask thatyou research and construct such an argument yourself on the question of the reliability of humanmemory. Of course, we all know that human memory is not perfect – that we do forget things. Butwhen we do succeed in remembering something, can we trust the accuracy of our memory? This isthe topic of this semester’s PSYC1020 essay:Is human memory for the details of past events reliably accurate? Present andinterpret experimental research evidence arguing for or against the reliability ofmemory.This assignment will allow you to explore this topic in somewhat greater depth than we are able totreat most content in this introductory course. You will begin to access the primary research literature,and to interpret this from the critical perspectives you are gaining from lecture, text, and tutorialmaterials. You should begin by reading the relevant parts of out text book on “false memories”, onpages 292-298, and then reading at least one of the references listed below. It may be helpful towatch Elizabeth Loftus giving an overview of some of her work in a 2013 TED talk, which you can findonline for yourself. But please note that you need to base your essay on the actual published primaryresearch journal articles, rather than on any reviews or summaries of this information.For your essay, you will need to choose, present, and interpret relevant evidence from twoexperimental studies published in peer-reviewed journals. You should choose from one of thestudies listed below as one of your sources, and find and choose one other relevant referenceon your own. Suggestions for how to do this will be made in the tutorials.From whatever peer-reviewed, published experimental studies you choose to include in your essay,use the ideas and evidence in them to construct and to back up your arguments. Some of thosereferences will include reference lists at the backs of the papers; you are encouraged to consult thoselists, as well as other search processes, to find more on your topic. Tutorials will assist you indeveloping your skills for finding, evaluating, and reporting research.In assessing your essay, we will look most carefully at the following:1. How well you have set out and addressed the specific thesis statement you pose. This is notsimply a matter of writing within the general topic area, but of clearly and persuasivelyaddressing the specific thesis statement you have put forward in your introductory paragraph.There are a number of possible thesis statements which could legitimately be advanced. Youneed to construct just one good thesis statement and build your evidence-based argumentaround it. Tutorials will assist you in learning how to do this. To help see that you get off on agood track, you will have the opportunity to turn in (by 12 April) and receive feedback(approximately 26 April) on your introductory paragraph before completing the full essay.2. Your use of material from the readings to back up your arguments. Please be sure to supporteverything you say with materials from the readings. Be sure to distinguish betweenanecdotal evidence and research findings; anecdotal evidence is fine to illustrate a point, butyou need research findings to properly make an evidence-based argument. For example, thefollowing sentence is well-backed up with research evidence: “Researchers believe thatknowledge is inborn because Johnson and Morton (1995) have shown that babies prefer tolook at human faces from birth.” The following sentence is backed up with anecdotalevidence: “I believe that knowledge is inborn because my sister’s baby daughter recognisedher mother’s voice at birth.” The following sentence is not backed up at all: “It is well knownthat knowledge is inborn.”3. The appropriateness of your conclusions with respect to the evidence presented relevant toyour thesis statement, and acknowledgement of any limitations in the argument or evidence.