Clearly describe the paradigm, or scientific perspective, that you have chosen and explain how it is relevant to your contemporary issue.

Assignment Details (Paper or Podcast): Your paper should focus on one of the paradigms (i.e., scientific perspectives) covered in class and discuss its relevance to a contemporary issue that you care about. You should thoughtfully discuss how the paradigm provides one perspective on that issue, and how critics of the paradigm might have a different perspective. For example, you might choose the topic of behaviorism and apply it to the contemporary practice of cognitive-behavioral therapy, noting that Calkins might advocate for a greater focus on introspection. Or, you might choose the topic of empiricism and apply it to the contemporary issue of science denial, noting that Yarkoni might say some well-informed “science denial” is warranted.
Assignment Structure: Assignments should include the following elements:
1) Clearly describe your contemporary issue. This could be a specific event (e.g., the infamous slap, the “don’t say gay” bill, an episode of Euphoria, etc.), or a more general topic (e.g., mental health care on campus, algorithms on Christian Mingle, sexism in conspiracy theorist communities, etc.)
2) Clearly describe the paradigm, or scientific perspective, that you have chosen and explain how it is relevant to your contemporary issue. Support this argument with sources (these can be from class and/or from your own independent research).
3) Clearly describe at least one perspective that challenges the paradigm that you chose and explain how it would lead to a different understanding of your contemporary issue. Support this argument with sources (these can be from class and/or from your own independent research).
Paper Requirements
Your paper should be between 750 and 1500 words, not including references.
You should cite at least 5 articles (this can include articles assigned for class). At least 3 of these articles should be from scholarly sources, meaning they are published in peer-reviewed psychology journals. You can find these through the APA PsycINFO database. In text citations and reference list should be in APA format.
Formatting for all papers must be 12pt Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins, double spaced throughout.

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