Annotated Bibliography

Create an annotated bibliography on the topic of your Signature Assignment. Find five peer-reviewed articles to annotate for this assignment.
Length: 5 annotations
Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.
You may also find the following links helpful to you in understanding how to compile an annotated bibliography, located under your weekly resources.
• Annotated Bibliographies. Purdue Online Writing Lab
• How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography. Cornell University
• Annotated Bibliography. The Writing Center. University of Wisconsin – Madison
• Writing an Annotated Bibliography. University of Toronto

Critiquing Research in the Field of Cognitive Psychology
Studying mental processes is not an easy task. Early psychologists, for example, used the introspective approach to study perception, however, that method did not always yield the desired results. Pioneers in cognitive psychology focused on integrating a scientific approach to studying mental processes. However, many cognitive researchers still ask individuals to explain the reasons behind their behavior.
Nisbett and Wilson (1977) analyzed several studies examining higher-level cognitive processes such as decision-making in which the researchers found people may not necessarily be consciously aware of the behavior leading to their decisions. Nisbett and Wilson discovered that these studies revealed that people were aware of the result of their decisions, but were unaware of the mental processes involved. Rather than using an introspective approach, Nisbett and Wilson concluded that introspection might be helpful in developing theory, but an empirical approach was necessary to test the hypotheses that were generated. To do so requires usage of specific research designs

This week, you are asked to locate research in cognitive psychology that relates to your Signature Assignment. Some approaches used today include a psychobiological approach in which the relationship between cognition and brain structure and function is examined. Another approach is process-tracing in which the researcher records the focus of a participant’s attention over a set period. This approach often examines the process involved as a participant tackles a task. Researchers may track eye movement, computer usage, and even ask participants to keep a diary that is later coded and analyzed. A relatively new approach used in cognitive psychology today is computer simulations. In this, researchers may input a theory into a computer and then have the computer simulate actual human behavior.