Assignment: Psychology Research Paper Essay

Assignment Psychology Research Paper Essay

A Phobia is one of the types of anxiety disorder which causes a person to experience extreme and irrational fear about a living creature, situation, object or a place. Most people experience phobia in their lifetime. Most of the time, when an individual has a phobia, they normally shape their lives in such a way that they avoid what to them seems dangerous. The threat that they are thinking of is usually more intense than an actual threat that might have been caused by terror. Phobias are usually diagnosed as mental disorders (Milosevic, & McCabe, 2017). Research in management of phobias might help several individuals cope with what they consider dangerous and hence boost their quality of life. For instance, the most common specific phobias in the United States include Claustrophobia, which is the fear of being in constricted or confined places. Acrophobia is the fear of flying. Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders while a driving phobia is a fear of driving a vehicle. Xenophobia is the fear of vomiting, erythrophobia the fear of blushing, hypochondria the fear of becoming ill, zoo phobia the fear of animals and aqua phobia the fear of water. Other specific phobias include acrophobia which is the fear of heights, blood, injury, and injection (BII) phobia the fear of injuries involving blood, escalaphobia the fear of escalators and lastly tunnel phobia the fear of tunnels.

Background Information

Phobia has been a psychological problem and part of human life for as long as humanity has existed. An individual usually experiences intense distress when they encounter phobia triggers. As a result, they are unable to function properly and may even end up developing a panic attack. Statistical records by most researchers indicate that more than 19 million individuals in the United States have one or more phobias in their lifetime (Milosevic, & McCabe, 2017). The mental disorder is more serious than other simple fear sensation and it is not limited to fear or anxiety for specific triggers. In as much as individuals might be aware of their phobia, it is very hard to control their reaction for fear. The symptoms of phobia may include chest pains, sweating and pins, and needles. It is normally treated either through behavioral therapy or medications.

A comprehensive understanding of human phobias may help in understanding the causes, and hence implement better interventions in how one can control them. Phobia is a crucial topic in psychology as it impairs the way affected individuals function and a needs to be addressed at a global level. Mental disorder can range from minor to major symptoms. in most cases, individual usually experience mild phobia that may not actually affect their normal lives. However, in severe cases, the phobia can detrimental the lives of an individual both socially and psychologically. Currently, several different phobias have been identified such as specific phobia where an individual’s irrational and intense fear is triggered by a specific object or situation. Individuals with stage fright and those who have a profound fear of humiliation in public or being judged negatively by others have social anxiety or social phobia (Milosevic, & McCabe, 2017). Agoraphobia is an extreme fear of a situation in which an individual feels like is hard to escape in case of extreme panic such as a closed room, lift or being outside of their homes. Most people with agoraphobia are usually at high risk of developing a panic disorder. Phobia is usually diagnosed when an individual begins to organize his or her life in such a way that they are avoiding the cause of their fear. It is, however, very important to address this issue at an early stage to avoid further complications. Assignment Psychology Research Paper Essay

Hypothesis

For a better understanding of the psychological response which occurs in an individual’s brain experiencing phobias, it is important to try to determine the relationship between the individual’s experiences of the stimuli and their reactions. The null hypothesis, in this case, is that phobias are normally associated with a traumatic experience involving a stimulus (Fung et al., 2016). But, the alternative hypothesis is that phobias are not necessarily associated with a traumatic experience.

: phobias are normally associated with a traumatic experience

: phobias are not necessarily associated with a traumatic experience

Study Population and Data Collection

The study will utilize a very diverse population. Samples from various age groups will be used for the study. The study must include all individuals from both male and female gender and as many ethnic and cultural groups as possible. This will ensure that the collected data is random and unbiased to enhance the right conclusion to be made (Kratochwill, & Levin, 2016). A survey should then be conducted to the sample population, which will be composed of a questionnaire, structured with questions such as:

Question one: Is there anything, an object or even a situation that makes you experience extreme and unrealistic fear when you encounter it? An example of phobia triggers may include animals such as snakes among other situations such as heights or water (Vahabzadeh, Gillespie, & Ressler, 2015).

Question two: Have you ever encountered a traumatic experience with the target of the fear trigger?

The questionnaires will be presented with interviews, where the subjects will be asked whether they have experienced any anxiety symptoms during certain situations or when encountering certain objects in their lifetime

Statistical Test Utilized

This study will utilize the Chi-square test ( test) to analyze the collected data. The test is utilized in determining whether a

relationship exists between two nominal variables (Kratochwill, & Levin, 2016). The test will also determine the likelihood in which a relationship in the sample population is reflected as a relationship between the variable in that specific population from which the sample was retrieved. All the data will then be assigned a numerical value, and a table created for feeding the data. The table will be composed of two rows, the first row with question one as the second row will contain the second question. It will then be filled with the response from the population sampled, by the number of the individuals who provided a ‘yes’ answer and those who responded ‘no.’ Cumulative data will then be fed in specific formulas in order to calculate the values that will be utilized in the Chi-square test (Kratochwill, & Levin, 2016). The calculations will be as follows:

= and

The results can then be entered into an SPSS so as the Chi-square test can be effectively performed. The results will then be used to draw the conclusion as they will determine whether the null hypothesis will be retained or rejected.

In conclusion, a phobia is a major psychological issue that needs to be addressed. More research needs to be conducted to confirm the exact reason why someone might develop a phobia or extreme anxiety. However, most scientists believe that phobia is normally caused by a combination of brain chemistry, in association with life experiences, and genetics. Some parts of the brain retain the memory of dangerous or traumatic experiences. As such a person tends to retrieve the stressful memory from the brain when they encounter similar experience later in their lives. Researchers however discovered that the amygdala which is located behind the pituitary gland is associated with phobia. The amygdala is known to trigger the release of the ‘fight or flight’ hormones which may lead to extreme fear or anxiety (Milosevic, & McCabe, 2017). Treatment for phobia may, however, involve both psychotherapy and medications. Psychotherapy will help the individual develop resilience which will help them reduce the symptoms of anxiety and fear triggered by a specific phobia stimulus (Seligman, 2016). Medications include beta blockers, antidepressants, and tranquilizers.

Assignment directions:

In 1,250-1,500 words, answer the following questions about possible research options.
Create a research question in the field of psychology that you are interested in researching. Write questions clearly. Include a brief background of the problem you are proposing and why it is important to the field of psychology.
State the null and alternative hypothesis (in both words and statistical notation) need to address the research question.
Choose which statistical test would be used to conduct the study and support it with research.
Describe the type of data needs to be collected to conduct the study and what techniques are best for collecting data.
Use three to five scholarly resources to support your explanations.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.

You will have your final project worth 150 points of your grade, Research Question Project. Create a research question in the field of psychology that you are interested in researching.

directions from professor:
Write questions clearly.
Include a brief background of the problem you are proposing and why it is important to the field of psychology.
State the null and alternative hypothesis (in both words and statistical notation) need to address the research question.
Choose which statistical test would be used to conduct the study and support it with research.
Describe the type of data needs to be collected to conduct the study and what techniques are best for collecting data.
Use three to five scholarly resources to support your explanations.

Lopes Write Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to Lopes Write, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
Include in-text citations in your response
Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
Follow APA-7th edition
Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
Follow APA 7th edition
Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
Here are some helpful links
Student paper example
Citing Sources
The Writing Center is a great resource

As we begin this session, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify my expectations for this course:

Please note that GCU Online weeks run from Thursday (Day 1) through Wednesday (Day 7).

Course Room Etiquette:

It is my expectation that all learners will respect the thoughts and ideas presented in the discussions.
All postings should be presented in a respectful, professional manner. Remember – different points of view add richness and depth to the course!

Office Hours:

My office hours vary so feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected] or my office phone is 602.639.6517 and I will get back to you within one business day or as soon as possible.
Phone appointments can be scheduled as well. Send me an email and the best time to call you, along with your phone number to make an appointment.
I welcome all inquiries and questions as we spend this term together. My preference is that everyone utilizes the Questions to Instructor forum. In the event your question is of a personal nature, please feel free to post in the Individual Questions for Instructor forumI will respond to all posts or emails within 24 or sooner.

Late Policy and Grading Policy

Discussion questions:

I do not mark off for late DQ’s.
I would rather you take the time to read the materials and respond to the DQ’s in a scholarly way, demonstrating your understanding of the materials.
I will not accept any DQ submissions after day 7, 11:59 PM (AZ Time) of the week.
Individual written assignments – due by 11:59 PM AZ Time Zone on the due dates indicated for each class deliverable.

Assignments:

Assignments turned in after their specified due dates are subject to a late penalty of -10%, each day late, of the available credit. Please refer to the student academic handbook and GCU policy.
Any activity or assignment submitted after the due date will be subject to GCU’s late policy
Extenuating circumstances may justify exceptions, which are at my sole discretion. If an extenuating circumstance should arise, please contact me privately as soon as possible.
No assignments can be accepted for grading after midnight on the final day of class.
All assignments will be graded in accordance with the Assignment Grading Rubrics

Participation

Participation in each week’s Discussion Board forum accounts for a large percentage of your final grade in this course.
Please review the Course Syllabus for a comprehensive overview of course deliverables and the value associated with each.
It is my expectation that each of you will substantially contribute to the course discussion forums and respond to the posts of at least three other learners.
A substantive post should be at least 200 words. Responses such as “great posts” or “I agree” do notmeet the active engagement expectation.
Please feel free to draw on personal examples as you develop your responses to the Discussion Questions but you do need to demonstrate your understanding of the materials.
I do expect outside sources as well as class materials to formulate your post.
APA format is not necessary for DQ responses, but I do expect a proper citation for references.
Please use peer-related journals found through the GCU library and/or class materials to formulate your answers. Do not try to “Google” DQ’s as I am looking for class materials and examples from the weekly materials.
I will not accept responses that are from Wikipedia, Business com, or other popular business websites. You will not receive credit for generic web searches – this does not demonstrate graduate-level research.
Stay away from the use of personal pronouns when writing.As a graduate student, you are expected to write based on research and gathering of facts. Demonstrating your understanding of the materials is what you will be graded on. You will be marked down for lack of evidence to support your ideas.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of claiming credit for another’s work, accomplishments, or ideas without appropriate acknowledgment of the source of the information by including in-text citations and references.
This course requires the utilization of APA format for all course deliverables as noted in the course syllabus.
Whether this happens deliberately or inadvertently, whenever plagiarism has occurred, you have committed a Code of Conduct violation.
Please review your LopesWrite report prior to final submission.
Every act of plagiarism, no matter the severity, must be reported to the GCU administration (this includes your DQ’s, posts to your peers, and your papers).

Plagiarism includes:

Representing the ideas, expressions, or materials of another without due credit.
Paraphrasing or condensing ideas from another person’s work without proper citation and referencing.
Failing to document direct quotations without proper citation and referencing.
Depending upon the amount, severity, and frequency of the plagiarism that is committed, students may receive in-class penalties that range from coaching (for a minor omission), -20% grade penalties for resubmission, or zero credit for a specific assignment. University-level penalties may also occur, including suspension or even expulsion from the University.
If you are at all uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism, you should review the resources available in the Student Success Center. Also, please review the University’s policies about plagiarism which are covered in more detail in the GCU Catalog and the Student Handbook.
We will be utilizing the GCU APA Style Guide 7th edition located in the Student Success Center > The Writing Center for all course deliverables.

LopesWrite

All course assignments must be uploaded to the specific Module Assignment Drop Box, and also submitted to LopesWrite every week.
Please ensure that your assignment is uploaded to both locations under the Assignments DropBox. Detailed instructions for using LopesWrite are located in the Student Success Center.

Assignment Submissions

Please note that Microsoft Office is the software requirement at GCU.
I can open Word files or any file that is saved with a .rtf (Rich Text Format) extension. I am unable to open .wps files.
If you are using a “.wps” word processor, please save your files using the .rtf extension that is available from the drop-down box before uploading your files to the Assignment Drop Box.

Grade of Incomplete

The final grade of Incomplete is granted at the discretion of the instructor; however, students must meet certain specific criteria before this grade accommodation is even possible to consider.
The grade of Incomplete is reserved for times when students experience a serious extenuating circumstance or a crisis during the last week of class which prevents the completion of course requirements before the close of the grading period. Students also must pass the course at the time the request is made.
Please contact me personally if you are having difficulties in meeting course requirements or class deadlines during our time together. In addition, if you are experiencing personal challenges or difficulties, it is best to contact the Academic Counselor so that you can discuss the options that might be available to you, as well as each option’s academic and financial repercussions.

Grade Disputes

If you have any questions about a grade you have earned on an individual assignment or activity, please get in touch with mepersonally for further clarification.
While I have made every attempt to grade you fairly, on occasion a misunderstanding may occur, so please allow me the opportunity to learn your perspective if you believe this has occurred. Together, we should be able to resolve grading issues on individual assignments.
However, after we have discussed individual assignments’ point scores, if you still believe that the final grade you have earned at the end of the course is not commensurate with the quality of work you produced for this class, there is a formal Grade Grievance procedurewhich is outlined in the GCU Catalog and Student Handbook.