Coursework Assignment

Assignment Brief

As part of the formal assessment for the programme you are required to submit a Introduction to Social and Developmental Psychology assignment. Please refer to your Student Handbook for full details of the programme assessment scheme and general information on preparing and submitting assignments.

Learning Outcomes:
After completing the module, you should be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of developmental theories and topics.
2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of group norms and social influence processes including cultural influences, group interactions, leadership and member roles.
3. Recognise different perspectives or theories of developmental and social psychology.
   4. Integrate ideas and findings through appropriately linking theories and research evidence in developmental and social psychology.

Guidance

Your assignment should include: a title page containing your student number, the module name, the submission deadline and the exact word count of your submitted document; the appendices if relevant; and a reference list (see referencing section for more information).You should address all the elements of the assignment task listed below.

Please note that tutors will use the assessment criteria set out below in assessing your work.

You must not include your name in your submission because Arden University operates anonymous marking, which means that markers should not be aware of the identity of the student. However, please do not forget to include your STU number.

Maximum word count: 3,000 words

Please refer to the full word count policy which can be found in the Student Policies section here: Arden University | Regulatory Framework

Please note the following:

Students are required to indicate the exact word count on the title page of the assessment.

The word count includes everything in the main body of the assessment (including in text citations and references). The word count excludes numerical data in tables, figures, diagrams, footnotes, reference list and appendices. ALL other printed words ARE included in the word count.

Please note that exceeding the word count by over 10% will result in a 10-percentage point deduction.

Assignment Task

(One 3000-word essay based on a short case study)

Question

Case Study

Salina is a community group leader who has been working with local schools and the wider community to help stop anti-social behaviour. She has invited a developmental psychologist to give a talk to a community group on adolescence and moral reasoning and parenting styles. There are two main theories he has decided to talk
about from developmental psychology and his audience is a community group of a range of ages, including young parents and older members of the community.

Salina has also invited a social psychologist to talk to the same audience about inter-group conflict and anti-social behaviour.

The community group have been brought together the work on the issue of anti-social behaviour from a developmental and social psychology perspectives.

1. Identify and critically discuss two theories related to adolescence and moral reasoning and parenting styles and link these to the case study. (Developmental Psychology).
   
2. Identify and critically discuss two theories related to inter-group conflict and anti-social behaviour and link these to the case study. (Social Psychology).

Guidance

a) Introduction

• Introduce the nature of moral reasoning in adolescence and parenting styles and also inter-group conflict and anti-social behaviour. Include a brief definition of each.
• Provide an overview of what you intend to do in this essay and the structure.

b) Main body of essay

• Provide a discussion and evaluation of two theories related to moral reasoning in adolescence and parenting styles and research material.
  Structure this section using paragraphs, each paragraph should address one main idea and at size 12 font, with single spacing formatting, should be no more than a third of a page long.
• Include a second section discussing two theories relating to inter-group conflict and anti-social behaviour, evaluating theories from social psychology.
• Address the essay question throughout. Additionally, make sure to link the arguments and debates you present, back to the key concepts and aims of your essay throughout.

c) Conclusion

• Pull the threads of your essay together with a firm conclusion.
• Your conclusion should address intentions referred to in the introduction.

(100 marks)
(3000 words)
(LO 1-4)

Submitting the Assignment:

Question- Case Study Essay – This is submitted as a Word Document through the Assessment Portal, on ILearn.

Formative Feedback

Formative feedback for this module is provided via in-module activities and discussion with lecturers and peers.

In addition, you will have the opportunity to submit [e.g. ONE draft research report of ≤1000-words] to gain written feedback. The feedback provided is designed to guide you in terms of helping you identify areas of your work that need further development and skills you should aim to strengthen to enable yourself improve your overall performance as an independent learner.

You can either provide a section of your written draft, or a detailed essay plan. If you require support on techniques of debate and evaluation development, a draft section is advised. If you require support on structure and content, a plan is advised.

Formative feedback is provided through ongoing lecturer support and formative assessment tasks such as set briefs, in-module activities, self-initiated briefs, and discussion with lecturers and peers (in online forums/debates). The level of formative feedback provided varies depending on the level of assessment.

The feedback is designed to help you develop areas of your work and it helps you develop your skills as an independent learner.

If you are a distance learning student, you should submit your work via Turnitin. Please check your iLearn module pages/forum for the formative feedback deadline and submission link.

If you are a blended learning student, your tutor will give you a deadline for formative feedback and further details. If you have a confirmed extension to your summative (final submission) deadline, please contact your lecturer for information on extensions to the formative feedback deadline.

Formative feedback will not be given to work submitted after the published date or the date specified by your tutor (if a blended learning student).

Referencing Guidance
Guidelines for students studying BSc (Hons) Psychology:

You MUST underpin your analysis and evaluation of the key issues with appropriate and wide ranging academic research and ensure this is referenced using the APA system(s).
Follow this link to find the referencing guides for your subject: Arden Library Guidelines for students studying
BA (Hons) Criminology and Psychology
BA (Hons) Criminology and Psychology with Foundation Pathways
BA (Hons) Criminology and Law
BA (Hons) Criminology and Law with Foundation Pathways
BA (Hons) Criminology and Sociology
BA (Hons) HRM and Psychology
BA (Hons) Psychology and Sociology
BA (Hons) Psychology and Sociology with Foundation Pathways
BA (Hons) Psychology and Human Resource Management
BA (Hons) Psychology and Law
BA (Hons) Social Science

You MUST underpin your analysis and evaluation of the key issues with appropriate and wide ranging academic research and ensure this is referenced using the AU Harvard system(s).

Follow this link to find the referencing guides for your subject: Arden Library Submission Guidance
Assignments submitted late will not be accepted and will be marked as a 0% fail.

Your assessment can be submitted as a single Word (MS Word) or PDF file, or, as multiple files.

If you chose to submit multiple files, you must name each document as the question/part you are answering along with your student number ie Q1 Section A STUXXXX. If you wish to overwrite your submission or one of your submissions, you must ensure that your new submission is named exactly the same as the previous in order for
the system to overwrite it.

You must ensure that the submitted assignment is all your own work and that all sources used are correctly attributed. Penalties apply to assignments which show evidence of academic unfair practice. (See the Student Handbook which is available on the A-Z key information on iLearn.)