Choose any one topic: 

 1. discuss the way that our neurological chemistry can be affected as a result of living under stressful circumstances, such as a pandemic. 

2.  discuss the manner in which the pandemic could affect our dreams, our meditative practices, our drug or alcohol consumption and/or our general states of consciousness. 

3. discuss how this crisis has an impact on our memory processes. 

4. psychological difficulties and their treatment, which would both be excellent topics to address in a paper about a global crisis. 

I have attached the rubric for it, please read it. 

The document should be in APA format with 2 full pages, Single Spaced. 

PSYC 2301 – General Psychology Term Paper Assignment

Psychological Effects of a Pandemic

Due Date: By Friday, February 19, your electronic copy ( , x or only) must be submitted through

eCampus by 11:59 p.m. Late paper submissions will NOT be accepted – NO EXCEPTIONS

Point Value: 70 Points (see “Grading Criteria” at the bottom of this page)

Paper Format:

• APA Style – American Psychological Association (only exception – NO abstract section is required for this paper)
To learn about APA formatting, link here to use Purdue University’s resource: Purdue Online Writing Lab

• Length: Two (2) full pages (in addition to a cover page and reference page) and no more than 3 pages.

Assignment Objective:

The purpose of this assignment is to stimulate self-awareness and intercultural understanding, by exploring the effects of

our present pandemic situation, from a psychological perspective. In order to fulfill this objective, students are expected to

identify and analyze specific subject matter, individually chosen from the textbook, and describe associations between this

material and their own psychological experiences or the current condition of our society, as a whole. For detailed

illustrations of this, please refer to the “Examples of Topics to Address” section below.

Course Core Objective:

This assignment intends to promote social responsibility, intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility and

the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.

Requirements and Recommendations:

• In addition to the textbook, students are required to use at least one other, reputable, source of information. This can
be a separate book, a professional journal, a website, etc. If this requirement is not fulfilled, you will automatically be

deducted 10 points. If you are not sure if your reference is “reputable,” please email me the name of the source or the

link and I will advise you. DO NOT use Wikipedia as your source.

• If your writing skills are not good, please use the Online Writing Lab (OWL). The instructions to access this resource
are posted in eCampus, within the tab titled “OWL.”

• IMPORTANT NOTE: Essays containing plagiarized material will automatically earn a grade of zero.
Plagiarism means using someone else’s words, as if they were your own, without them being quoted, cited and

included in the references page.

Examples of Topics to Address:

The list below is simply to generate ideas. This is NOT a complete list of topics from which you can choose. They are

only examples, to give you a better understanding of the assignment objective. There are many more concepts, related to

this class, from which you can pick. You should select subject matter that is of interest to you! Be creative!

• Related to chapter 2, you could discuss the way that our neurological chemistry can be affected as a result of living
under stressful circumstances, such as a pandemic.

• Related to chapter 4, you could discuss the manner in which the pandemic could affect our dreams, our meditative
practices, our drug or alcohol consumption and/or our general states of consciousness.

• Related to chapter 6, you could discuss how this crisis has an impact on our memory processes.

• Chapter 10 has many topics that could be addressed (theories of emotion, depression, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,
motivation to engage in volunteer work, etc.)

• Even though you are not required to read chapter 12 this semester, it contains many issues (e.g., stress, lifestyle, well-
being, etc.) that are relevant to this assignment.

• Chapter 15 and 16 relate to psychological difficulties and their treatment, which would both be excellent topics to
address in a paper about a global crisis.

Grading Criteria (70 points total):

➢ 35 points – Fulfillment of assignment “Objective” described above
➢ 15 points – College level organization & structure of essay (introduction, flow of ideas, conclusion, etc.)
➢ 10 points – College level writing (grammar, spelling, sentence structure, etc.).
➢ 10 points – Following the “Paper Format” instructions above.

Note: 0 points will be awarded for this last criterion if an additional source is not included and referenced, or if

the essay is short of the required length, or if it is not written in APA style.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html