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PHIL/PHIX 2062: Philosophy of Psychology
Research Essay Questions, Instructions, and Ru
ic
Essay Instructions:
General points:
The window for submission opens on 6/9/2020 and closes at 23.59 on 13/9/2020. Essays are to be
submitted to turnitin which is accessible via the assessment section on the ilearn for this unit. You can
only submit once, do not submit a draft. Resubmissions will not be allowed so make sure you are
uploading the co
ect file. The late work policy is as follows: ‘Unless a Disruption to Studies request
has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will
e deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be
accepted seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. If you need an
extension you will need to apply for a special consideration via student services:
https:
students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration.
Assessment:
Essays will be marked and assessed using the ru
ic that is on page 5 of these instructions. Essays are
expected to demonstrate knowledge of the course material as well as additional research beyond the
mandatory weekly readings. Your examiners will not assume any knowledge on your part, your goal is
to convince them that you understand the course material and have conducted additional research.
Please use at least four sources. You can use as many weekly readings as you like but at least three of
your references need to be non-weekly mandatory readings. Make sure to back up your claims with
evidence and arguments.
Further and recommended readings have been provided on the ilearn (this can be used as
part of your research and does not count as a weekly reading). There is also a wide range of material
available at both the li
ary and through journals accessible through the li
ary online system. Please
https:
students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration
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aim to use appropriate peer-reviewed sources. Do not cite lectures. There are also exemplar essays of
previous good work that can be found in the assessment section of the ilearn and a guide about how
to write a philosophical essay. Also, you can see the week 7 lecture on essay writing for more advice.
Citations and structure
Essays are 1500 words. There is a 10% discrepancy on the word count. Beyond this you will be
penalised 5 marks per 100 words over this. Please make it clear which question (see choices below on
page 6) you are answering. Essays are to formatted as doubled spaced – this is for the sake of the
examiner’s eyes (please help preserve our eyesight!). They will be marking over 100 assessments. If
you do not comply with this you will be penalised.
Essays are to be well structured (introduction, argument and discussion, and conclusion) and
must also be properly referenced and cited. The reference list WILL NOT count towards the word
count for this essay. But footnotes of content will (not footnotes of citations). The Harvard system is
preferable for referencing – this is explained in detail below. But as long as a consistent method is
used that is clear and provides all the information this is acceptable. For further advice please see
lecture 7 on the course which will be an essay writing workshop.
Harvard system:
I prefer this system because it is relatively easy to use and provides the core information in text and
the rest in the reference list. But you could also use (APA, Chicago, etc.)
In text: The key here is that after a quote or reference you provide the following information in
parentheses (author name, date of publication, page number [required only for a direct quote]).
E.g. direct quote:
“Its decline in popularity was not the result of dualist counterattacks, however, but a consequence of
the rise of a very different conception of mind: functionalism” (Heil, 2013, p. 87)
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E.g. citation:
Substance dualism is a position that begins with the work of Rene Descartes (Heil, 2013)
In reference list: Here you provide all the information about all your sources alphabetically by author
surname. The information is the following general order depending on whether it is a journal article,
entire book, or a chapter from an edited collection – more information about this can be found at the
online sources below:
Journal article: Author surname(s), author initials. (Year of publication date) Full Title of the Paper.
Name of the journal in italics. Volume number (Issue number), page numbers.
E.g.
Alač, M. & Hutchins, E XXXXXXXXXXI See What You Are Saying: Action as Cognition in fMRI Brain Mapping
Practice. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 4(3), XXXXXXXXXX.
Book: Author surname(s), author initials. (Year of publication date) Full Title in italics. Place of
publication: Publishing company.
E.g.
Collins, B. E. & Guetzkow, H XXXXXXXXXXA Social Psychology of Group Processes for Decision-Making. New
York: John Wiley & Sons.
Chapter of edited collection: Author surname(s), author initials. (Year of publication date) Full Title of
the chapter. (page numbers) “in” Initials of editors, Editor(s) name “(ed.)” Full Title of edited collection
in italics. Place of publication: Publishing company.
E.g.
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Nersessian, N. J XXXXXXXXXXInterpreting Scientific and Engineering Practices: Integrating the Cognitive,
Social, and Cultural Dimensions. (pp XXXXXXXXXXin M. E. Gorman, R. D. Tweney, D. C. Gooding & A. P.
Kincannon (Eds.) Scientific and Technological Thinking. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associate.
Online source: peer reviewed material is preferable but there are some very good online sources for
academic writing (e.g. The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy: https:
plato.stanford.edu/). Online
sources are cited as follows in the reference list: Author surname(s), author initials. (Year of
publication date) Full Title of the online. Available at: [insert web address]. Accessed on: [insert date
on which you accessed the information]. If you cannot find a date, indicate this as (n.d) – this means
“no date”
E.g.
Calef, S. (n.d) Dualism and Mind. Available at: https:
www.iep.utm.edu/dualism/. Accessed on
20/02/2020.
More information about co
ect citations and bibliographies can be found at the following places
online:
http:
www.citethisforme.com/guides/
https:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation#Humanities
http:
libguides.mq.edu.au/Referencing
Plagiarism:
Essays will be submitted through the turnitin system. This system automatically detects plagiarism. Be
careful when using online material and other resources to either put this in quotations and cite
properly or to put it in your own words and cite. But should also note that putting too much of the
essay in other people’s words will detract from your grade. If you do cite, it is good to try and recap
that point to demonstrate your understanding. All papers uploaded to turnitin are automatically
scanned and compared to a massive online database (as well as Google) – and any significantly similar
https:
plato.stanford.edu
https:
www.iep.utm.edu/dualism
http:
www.citethisforme.com/guides
https:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation#Humanities
http:
libguides.mq.edu.au/Referencing
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text is flagged for the marker to evaluate. As such, beware: if you copy from other sources without
citing properly then your examiner will know. Additionally, do not falsely attribute claims to authors
who have not made them. This will be heavily penalised. All cases of suspected plagiarism will be
efe
ed to the university disciplinary committee, and the exam will not be marked pending an
independent investigation.
Qualitative Marking Ru
ic
HD D CR P F
Understanding
and
Knowledge
Demonstrates a
deep and
critical
understanding
of the topic and
issues.
Demonstrates a
deep
understanding
of the topic and
issues.
Demonstrates a
sound
understanding
of the topic and
issues.
Demonstrates a
satisfactory
understanding
of the topic and
issues.
Insufficient
evidence of a
satisfactory
understanding
of the relevant
issues.
Argument and
Critical
Analysis
An excellent
argument and
deep critical
analysis of the
elevant topic
and issues.
A very good
argument and
critical analysis
of the relevant
topic and
issues.
A clear
argument and
critical analysis
of the relevant
topic and
issues.
A satisfactory
argument and
critical analysis
of the relevant
topic and
issues.
A poorly stated
and defended
argument and
little or no
plausible critical
analysis.
Judgment and
Focus
Focuses on the
most important
issues to the
ight degree.
Focuses on
elevant issues
to the right
degree.
Mostly focuses
on relevant
issues to a
easonable
degree.
Reasonable
focus on the
elevant issues.
Inadequate
focus on the
elevant issues.
Research Excellent use
and integration
of relevant
esearch;
excellent
selection of
appropriate
esearch.
Good use and
integration of
elevant
esearch; good
selection of
appropriate
esearch.
Satisfactory use
and integration
of relevant
esearch;
satisfactory
selection of
appropriate
esearch.
Adequate use
and integration
of relevant
esearch;
adequate
selection of
appropriate
esearch.
Poor use of
esearch; little
or no research
undertaken;
uses only
i
elevant
esearch.
Referencing Co
ect
eferencing
with no e
ors.
Co
ect
eferencing
with very minor
e
ors or
shortcomings.
Co
ect
eferencing
with some
minor e
ors or
shortcomings.
Mostly co
ect
eferencing
with some
minor e
ors or
shortcomings.
Problematic or
inco
ect
eferencing.
Communication Excellently and
clearly
communicated;
contains little
to no e
ors of
language.
Very clearly
communicated;
may contain a
few minor
e
ors of
language.
Clearly
communicated;
may contain
some e
ors of
language.
Adequately
communicated;
may have a
number of