Term Paper Instructions

TERM PAPER ASSIGNMENT

Please read the instructions for the term paper assignment below.

Papers that do not conform to the assignment specifications may not be accepted.

CASE STUDY

Pretext

A common application of personality theory is a case study of a single individual that applies one or more theoretical views to understanding a person. A good case study explains the causes of a person’s current behavior, makes predictions about their future behavior, and provides the information required for interventions designed to change the person. For example, a case study may be used to assist psychotherapy, personnel decisions (e.g., hiring, firing), legal decisions (e.g., parole, amicus briefs, insanity adjudication), educational placements (e.g., special education programs, admissions decisions), etc.

Assignment

The term paper should be a minimum of five pages, double spaced, and should consist of three sections: Background, Explanation, Comparison.

In section one, describe the history and development of two personality theories covered in the course as it relates to explaining human behavior in general.

In section two, explain a particular behavior pattern of an individual using each of the two theories you described in section one.  Describe how each theory would explain the causes of the behavior pattern.

In section three, explain how and why the two theories differ in their explanations of the behavior pattern.  Indicate how each would make a different prediction about the future progression of the individual’s behavior.

Format

The final term paper should be a minimum of 5 pages, double spaced.  Each of the three sections should have the headings above underlined and should be approximately two pages.

The paper should be written in APA (Links to an external site.) style. The text book is written in APA style and should serve as a model for the assignment’s style and format.  Students should be especially attentive to APA writing style (Links to an external site.):