Writing assignment two

General Instruction: There are three short essay topics, each of which requires some research and an answer of 350 – 500 words in paragraph form (one or more paragraphs, NOT bullet points). Please follow the direction and the grading rubric for each topic carefully. Here are the only APA style requirements that will be applicable to this assignment:

• Title page (use “Written Assignment Two” as the title)
• Margins are 1 inch on all sides, font type = Times New Roman, font size = 12, double-spaced
• There are three sections in this assignment with three different tasks, but there will be only one reference section at the end of the assignment. The reference section should start on a new page after the main text. All reference should be listed in APA citation style.
• Use the section headings below for Part I, Part II,and Part III (bold, upper and lower case, aligned to left margin)
• No direct quotes from any reference

Part I (20 points)

Brain research has made significant progress in the past few decades and stimulated a new industry of brain training programs. Although more research is clearly needed to verify the effectiveness of such programs, many of them have been developed by psychologists and neuroscientists and hold great promise for people who are trying to maintain or improve their cognitive abilities.

On the website below, there is a list of brain training programs designed to help children diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or some other conditions. Suppose you are a parent who would like to see if one of those programs might work for your child. Following the direction below to perform your research and draw your conclusion for this topic.

http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/11593.html

Direction:

1. Select one of the listed programs on that website and perform some research to answer the following questions.
2. What claims are made about the benefits of the program? (3 points)
3. What research is cited or what evidence is supplied to support those claims? (3 points)
4. Who are the people who have provided testimonials or evidence in support of the program? (3 points)
5. What level of expertise do these individuals have regarding brain functions? Were any of those individuals paid to provide their endorsement of the program as far as you can tell? (3 points)
6. What is your conclusion about this program? Would you get it for your child? (4 points)
7. Write your answers to the above questions into a coherent short essay as an evaluation of the selected brain training program (no bullet points). Be sure to include all the webpages or references used in your research in the reference section. Note that there is no “right or wrong” conclusion as long as it is based on the evidence collected.

Part II (20 points)

Read the following report of a research study and then follow the direction to complete this part of the assignment.

Marijuana causes depression!

The controversial debate of whether to legalize the use of marijuana (cannabis) can now benefit from accumulating research findings. In a study, scientists have found marijuana to cause depression in the long run (Bovasso, 2001). The researcher of this longitudinal study concluded, “in participants with no baseline depressive symptoms, those with a diagnosis of cannabis abuse at baseline were four times more likely than those with no cannabis abuse diagnosis to have depressive symptoms at the follow-up assessment.” Even though it was unclear from the study how long it would take for cannabis use to trigger depressive symptoms, the potential of developing depressive symptoms is clearly a significant downside of legalizing either the medical or recreational use of the substance.

Bovasso, G. B. (2001). Cannabis abuse as a risk factor for depressive symptoms. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(12), 2033-2037.

Direction:

1. Find the article cited above (from google scholar or ASU library) so you can get information from the article as needed to answer the following questions.
2. Answer each of the questions below:
3. What was the target population of the research study (Bovasso, 2001)? (2 points)
4. What was the target population of the claim in the report above (in bold)? (2 points)
5. Are the two target populations similar or different? (2 points)
6. What was the main finding of Bovasso’s study (2011)? (3 points)
7. What was the claim of the report above (in bold)? (3 points)
8. Did the claim of the report above (in bold) match the finding of Bovasso’s study (2011)? (2 points)
9. What is your overall evaluation of the report above (in bold)? (2 points)

3. Write all answers into one or two coherent paragraphs (no bullet points). Include the Bovasso study in the reference section.

Part III (10 points)

Imagine that you are a mayoral candidate for your city and you are brain-storming for the focal issue in your next speech to all the voters. You would like to bring up an issue that you think is important for the voters and then propose a solution to be implemented if you are elected as mayor. Note that there is no right or wrong solution and the issue could be very small or very big, the key is to make an argument and support it with relevant evidence.

Direction:

1. State the issue and your position on the issue with no ambiguity or vagueness. (2 points)
2. Propose a solution to be implemented that is consistent with your position. (2 points)
3. Provide evidence to support your proposed solution. The evidence can come from scholarly sources or internet sources (only .gov or .org or .edu websites, no .com websites). (4 points)
4. Address all of the above in one or two coherent paragraphs rather than bullet points.