Current Perspectives in Psychology

the module shall
be failed as a result of no submission of the summative assessment.
Academic misconduct including plagiarism
Written coursework will be submitted on VLE, through an on-line plagiarism-detection
service called Turnitin. Turnitin matches the text of what you submit with the information
held in its databases (including journal articles and previous submissions by other students),
and the web. You will have the opportunity to use Turnitin to improve your work. To do this,
submit your work well in advance of the deadline, and Turnitin will give you a report of any
matches it has found with other sources. You can use this information to re-write those
sections in your own words. Leave yourself plenty of time to do this before the final deadline.
Be aware that Turnitin is not part of LJMU but a separate company that provides this service
to many universities, and if it is busy you may have a short delay before receiving the
originality report.
Turnitin will also give you a percentage similarity score. Tutors are often asked ‘what
Turnitin percentage is OK’? This is an impossible question to answer, because the percentage
depends on too many factors. Depending on how the assignment is set up and how you have
structured your file, a high percentage could be ‘OK’, because it is only picking up on
legitimate similarities with other sources, such as the marksheet, the reference list, or direct
quotations. Conversely, a very low percentage might be ‘not OK’ because it is picking up on
a small section that has been cut and pasted from the Abstract of a journal article. This is
plagiarism, and it is unacceptable even when it only makes up a small percentage of the total.
So, tutors will never just look at the raw percentage when they are marking your work, they
will look at WHAT is similar in the full originality report.
By submitting your work you acknowledge that you have read and agree with the
above statements.
General Guidance
Your assignment should be word processed (handwritten assignments are not accepted), using
Times new roman size 12 font, double spaced, with numbered pages and your student number
printed as a footer on every page.
The word limits stated for this assignment excludes the reference list at the end of the assignment
but includes all text in the main body of the assignment (including direct quotations, in-text
citations, tables). Tables and figures should not be included within your text but separately as an
Appendix.
Please be aware that exceeding the word count limit will affect the academic judgement of the
piece of work and may result in the award of a lower mark.
Appendices are not considered a supplement, and thus, will not be assessed as part of the content
of the assignment. As such, they will not contribute to the grade awarded; however it may be
appropriate to use an Appendices section for any material which is a useful reference for the
reader. Please note that appendices are not included in the word count.
The majority of references should come from primary sources (e.g., journal articles, conference
papers, reports, etc.) although you can also utilise area specific textbooks. You must ensure that
you use the APA style of referencing.
Please indicate the word count length at the end of your assignment.
NO STUDENT WILL BE ALLOWED TO COLLECT ANY PRIMARY DATA
Marking and assessment
The final summative assessment requires the creation of a Portfolio. The assignment submission
will be graded out of 100%. Please note that the essay assessment will contribute to the 40% of
your overall module grade.
Learning outcomes assessed in this assessment

·	Present psychological theorizing and research in a concise and professional manner

Assessment Guidelines
Write an essay on a contemporary theory or model on changing behaviour.
You should define the behaviour your essay focuses on, e.g. reducing crime,
improving health at work, increasing healthy eating, reducing screen time etc and then
consider the extent to which the theory or model relates to this.
This assessment is an essay assignment which means that we are looking for you to
develop an argument and support it with reference to appropriate academic literature.
Therefore, it is essential that your points must be supported with credible sources,
derived from primary sources (i.e.: peer reviewed journal articles).
Structure of Presentation Commentary

Title of Section	Criteria	Marks Awarded
Cover page	· Assignment topic and personal details
Introduction	· Sets the scene of the topic · ‘Signpost’ the reader to the overall shape of the portfolio · Clear definition and explanation of relevant terms / main discussion points	/20
Discussion	· Detailed description and understanding of key psychological theories and/or constructs · Critical assessment and synthesis of relevant psychological literature · Evidence of wider reading around the topic to support discussion with a balance of seminal and contemporary reference sources · Clear focus on answering the question · A coherent structure to the essay, presenting a concise argument supported by examples from relevant psychological literature	/50
Conclusion	· Ability to draw main points of discussion together · Linkage of conclusions to assignment title	/20
Presentation & Referencing	· Correct use of grammar, punctuation and spelling · Appropriate writing style (use of “third” person) · The majority of references are from academic journals and primary sources · References reported accurately in essay text · References reported accurately in attached ‘References’ section	/10

Marking Criteria

Fail	3rd	2.2	2:1	1st
Content	Fails to address the topic or to answer the question.	Fails to address the topic or to answer the question. Accurately produces material which is only partly relevant, or inaccurately produces relevant material.	Presents relevant material but fails to use it to fully address the central issues or answer the question.	Clearly addresses the topic or answers the question.	Addresses the topic in a thorough, explicit and relevant manner.
Structure	Lacks an appropriate general structure and fails repeatedly to relate statements to each other.	Lacks an appropriate general structure and has relationships between statements that are often difficult to recognise.	Has an appropriate but rather loose structure, and relationships between statements that are sometimes hard to follow.	Has an appropriate global structure adhered to for the most part and relationships between statements that are generally easy to follow.	Has an easily identifiable appropriate global structure and relationships between statements that are very easy to recognise.
Critical Evaluation	Contains no evaluation of the material presented.	Includes implicit evaluation of the relevance of the material presented.	Provides little explicit evaluation of the material presented.	Provides an explicit evaluation of the material presented.	Provides an exhaustive, explicit, and critical evaluation of the material presented.
Line of Argument	Lacks a line of argument.	No coherent line of argument.	Weak line of argument (information drives the argument rather than the other way round).	Coherent line of argument (information is used in support of the argument rather than to drive it forward).	Convincing, coherent and evolving line of argument.
Range and use of Evidence	Minimal or no consideration of the literature and evidence-base. Consistently fails to use evidence to support claims that are made.	Basic consideration of the literature and evidence-base, but restricted to recommended readings. Makes poor use of evidence to support claims that are made.	Sufficient consideration of the literature and evidence-base, but little consideration beyond recommended readings. Tendency to make unsupported claims.	Good consideration of the literature and evidence-base that develops from recommended readings. Supports claims in the argument by reference to relevant literature.	Thorough and independent use of the literature and evidence-base. Gives wide ranging and appropriate evidential support for claims that are made.

Communication	Standard of writing tends to be weak. The expression is confused, and/or there are numerous errors in spelling/grammar. Narration is incomplete and/or vague.	Standard of writing is acceptable. The expression is reasonable, but there are some areas of confusion and/or some errors in spelling/grammar. Narration is satisfactory.	The standard of writing is reasonable and there are very few areas of confusion and/or errors in spelling/grammar. Narration is coherent and accurate.	The standard of writing is clear and readable. Narration is fluent and precise.	The standard of writing is very clear and readable, with some sophisticated phrasing. Narration is persuasive and sophisticated.
Referencing (Reference list and in-text citation)	Fails to use a recognisable referencing system.	Presents a systematic referencing strategy, but which does not conform to the key principles of APA style.	Meets key principles of APA style, but with extensive errors.	Meets key principles of APA style, but contains some errors.	Meets key principles of APA style, with no errors or only minor occasional errors.