Choosing Your Focus

Prior to beginning this assignment, please review all the required readings from the first three weeks as well as the articles you used in your Week 2 Discipline-Based Literature Review.

During this course, you have been developing your knowledge in the area of learning and cognition. In the Week 2 assignment, there was a special focus on six topics that influence a wide variety of disciplines in psychology and other fields. In the final week of this course, you will develop a Learning and Cognition Handbook based on these topics.

This week, you will write an extensive review and annotated bibliography on one of the six main course topics below:

• Traditional learning theories: Operant and classical conditioning
• Traditional learning theories: Behaviorism and social learning theory
• Attention and memory
• Decision-Making
• Language acquisition
• Organizational and lifelong learning

The topic you choose should be based on the area in which you would most like to develop your knowledge. Your choice should also consider your current interests in psychology and support your future career goals.

As you prepare this assignment, keep in mind that it is designed to assist you with beginning the process of drafting your Learning and Cognition Handbook, which is due in Week 6. It is recommended that your paper be checked in Grammarly and through Turnitin .prior to submission.

Include the following components in your review:

Introduction: Explain your motivation focusing on your chosen topic and describe how this topic aligns with your future career goals.

Research: Research five Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources in the Ashford University Library focusing on your chosen topic, and provide an annotated bibliography. These articles must provide sufficient information so that they will support your work in the Learning and Cognition Handbook. (See the instructions in Week 6 for further clarification.) Provide a complete reference for each of the five articles. Beneath each reference, provide an annotation that explains the theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and/or empirical research within the article that describe and define your chosen construct.

Conclusion: Provide a concluding paragraph that synthesizes the cognitive learning principles and theories found in the articles as they relate to your chosen construct.

The Choosing Your Focus paper

• Must be three to five double-spaced pages in length and formatted according to APA style (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must begin with an introductory paragraph that clearly states the chosen construct.
• Must clearly discuss and explain the chosen construct with critical thought.
• Must include a Research section comprised of the Annotated Bibliography (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
  • The Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. the guide offers additional guidance on correctly formatting references for the annotated bibliography.
• Must end with a conclusion that synthesizes the cognitive learning principles and theories found in the articles as they relate to the chosen construct.
• Must use at least five peer-reviewed sources (one per topic).
  • The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. the 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.