Cognition Handbook

Handbook

The primary goal of the Learning and Cognition Handbook is to integrate concepts from the discipline of learning and cognitive psychology into a usable and professional guide that is designed for a specified audience which will be designated based on students’ current or future career goals. Students will choose one of five assigned constructs and focus their handbook on this specific area of learning and cognition. Skills and information learned throughout the course will be applied in the design and creation of this handbook. Findings from required sources, including those from the text and individual peer-reviewed articles, will be incorporated into the handbook; however, these findings will not constitute the total information for each of the sub-constructs addressed within the project. Students should include the relevant sources they researched in the Week Two Discipline-Based Literature Review as well as those from the Week Three Assignment. The purpose of the handbook is to share helpful strategies, apply the chosen construct to seven sub-constructs in the field, and present a holistic guide for others that can be used in the discipline.

To complete this assignment, students may utilize the Learning and Cognition Handbook template or create their own using the template as a guide. Each section of the handbook should be written in the student’s own words with use of limited paraphrased material cited according to APA standards as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Each section of the handbook should include a minimum of one visual (e.g., table, figure, or image) with a maximum of five visuals per section. Each image must be retrieved and cited based on current copyright laws. Students may wish to use the Where to Get Free Images guide for assistance with accessing freely available public domain and/or Creative Commons licensed images.

The following constructs will be the subject content options for this handbook and will be chosen based on an evaluative literature review in Week Two and students’ future career goals:

• The Neurosciences:  A Look at Our Brains
• Socio-Cognition: Social Interactions in Learning
• Learning and Literacy: Reading, Writing, and Language Development
• Diversity and Culture: The Effects to Learning
• Connectionism and Learning: A Web of Development

The sections listed below must be used within the paper to delineate the sections of content.

Table of Contents
In this section, students will list all sections and subsections included in the handbook with the applicable page numbers.

Preface
In this section, students will provide a 100- to 150-word overview of the handbook and its potential use by the chosen audience.

Introduction to Chosen Construct
In this section, students will provide a 200- to 300-word introductory summary of the chosen construct and discuss any careers in psychology specifically related to this construct. Beginning with the work completed in Week One, students will include the language from their personal epistemology (revised based on instructor feedback and the further development of their ideas and beliefs throughout the course and the program thus far).

Chosen Construct
In this section, students will provide information that communicates how and why the chosen construct of learning and cognition affects the following sub-constructs through synthesizing the learning principles and/or theories. For each of the sub-constructs, students will apply basic research methods and skeptical inquiry to explain the theoretical perspectives and empirical findings that substantiate the relationship between the construct and the sub-constructs. Although creative liberties are encouraged, all information incorporated should be supported and professionally presented through the consistent application of ethical principles and adherence to professional standards of learning and cognition psychology as applied to the chosen audience.

Sub-Constructs