• Overview for paper #1: For the first paper, I will ask you to think of how you

• Overview for paper #1: For the first paper, I will ask you to think of how you could apply two different
social-psychological concepts to solve problem(s) in your own life. You should not carry out these applications yet; just think of possible applications that you could actually implement later in the semester.
1. Describe one or two social problems (6 pts):
a) For the paper, you will pick one or two SOCIAL problems that you or others that you know currently
experience. Briefly explain the topic(s) you are focusing on (e.g., close relationships), and how it relates to the current problem(s) in your life (e.g., I would like my partner and I to help each other more). No need to tell us every detail of your personal life.
b) You can focus on any problem(s) we discuss in class or think of a new problem(s), as long as it is a social problem(s) you actually experience and can implement a solution later in the semester. The problem(s) you choose can be significant (e.g., Why am I so aggressive?) or trivial (e.g., Why don’t people do what I say?). It can be a problem with you, other people, or both.
2. Define TWO SOCIAL psychological concepts you could apply to solve your problem(s) (12 pts):
a) In class, we will learn about social psychological concepts and transform them into practical solutions.
b) For the paper, pick two social psychological concepts that could help solve your problem(s). They can
come from lectures or the book.
c) Clearly explain the two social psychological concepts: provide the term for your concept (if there is
one) and define the concept in your own words. More importantly, demonstrate that you understand what this concept means (e.g., provide enough detail to define the concept; provide an example of the concept that is unrelated to your problem).
3. Turn the psychological concepts into actual plans that could solve your problem(s) (9 pts):
a) Describe how you would actually implement each social-psychological concept to solve your
problem(s). Ultimately, you should transform the two social psychology concepts into two actual plans
for the problem(s) your described earlier.
b) Provide enough detail of your solutions/plans so that someone else would be able to recreate/apply
them. Explain what you would do step-by-step. The plans should demonstrate the psychological
concepts you defined.
c) Make sure you create plans that you can actually complete, as you will need to implement one of the
solutions for the second paper.
4. Explain how your plans apply to each social psychological concept (9 pts):
a) Make it 100% clear to the reader why you think your plan is an application of the concept. You need to tie back your plan to the abstract concept. Sometimes, students come up with plans that are either complete unrelated to the concept or only loosely related.
5. APA 7 format, in-text citations, and references (4 pts):
a) Each paper should follow APA style, 7th edition. Papers should be 1-4 pages (longer papers are
acceptable; the goal is to cover all points outlined above), double spaced, an APA 7 recommended font style and size, APA 7 style header & page numbers, 1-inch margins, and include a Title Page.
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Application Paper Instructions
Social Psychology
b) As this is not an empirical research project, do not include an Abstract, Method, Results, or Discussion
section. You are free to add APA-style headings to sections if you believe they will help structure your
paper.
c) You should only use scientific sources of information, such as information from the textbook or
lectures. If these are your only sources, you do not need to include in-text citations or a References section. If you are citing additional scientific sources (i.e., empirical journal articles), you must provide APA-style in-text citations to give credit to your sources and a References section with the full APA- style reference of your source. Do not use websites/news articles as sources of information.
d) DIRECT QUOTATIONS are not allowed for either paper. Instead, you should be properly summarizing any concepts/information in your own words.
e) Check out the APA 7 resources in Moodle for help with APA formatting, in-text citations, and references; or contact me for help.