PSYC 2080 - R. Colaw: Home

This course requires an APA research paper and must be written in APA format. This assignment is a paper consisting of three parts: an interview, a personal exploration, and a theory critique. 

• First, interview your parents or your primary care giver to gain their perspective of your journey through Erikson’s developmental stages. (Reference Erikson’s stages during the interview including the psychosocial crisis of that stage and your age).

• Second, personally explore your own journey and recollection of progressing through Erikson’s stages. For each stage you traveled thus far, explore how you personally resolved the conflict presented in that stage and how that resolution facilitates future stages. (For example, the first stage is trust versus mistrust. Explore with your parents/care giver the events and circumstances of your first year. Examine also how your past and present issues with trust vs. mistrust have been affected). This is the personal reflection area of your paper.

• In the second section of your paper, conclude with your understanding of your resolution in this stage. (Remember, having resolved the conflict at age one does not preclude you’re dealing with that conflict at a later stage in life. Yet, how you deal with trust vs. mistrust currently may be a window into your earlier resolution).

• The third part of your paper is to critique Erikson’s stages based on your personal journey. Does his theory adequately explain your behaviors? Did you have any problems relating to his theory? In what way is his theory helpful for developmental psychology? Speak to potential drawbacks as well as strengths. 

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Research Paper Formatting Basics:

• Your paper should have a correct APA (6th edition) title page (see APA Style Guide)
• Your paper should have in-text citations throughout (Remember, in APA writing when you define a term, it must have an in-text reference)
• Your paper should have a correct Reference page utilizing the correct APA (6th edition) citation guidelines (MLA calls this a Works Cited page and APA calls this a References page -- see APA Style Guide tab)
• APA formatting requires a 12 font in Times New Roman