PSY205 Social Psychology Tutor Marked Assignment 01 (TMA01) | SUSS

Essay Question 

Both the Biden and Trump administrations oversaw periods of robust growth. Since Biden’s inauguration, GDP has increased by 8.4 percent when adjusted for inflation. Under Trump, GDP grew 6.8 percent – but that includes the plunge in economic activity that occurred during the first year of the pandemic. Excluding 2020, Biden comes out slightly ahead, with an annualised growth rate of about 2.9 percent, compared with just under 2.7 percent for Trump.

Under Biden, the economy has added about 15.7 million jobs. By contrast, Trump left office with some three million fewer jobs – although that figure was skewed by the pandemic. However, even before the pandemic, job creation grew at a slower pace during Trump’s administration than it has under Biden.

Extracted from Power (2024).

Essay: Part A – 750-word limit

According to Picchi (2024), “65% of Americans remember the economy under former President Donald Trump as being good, compared with 38% giving the current economy under President Joe Biden the same positive assessment.”

Considering the extract by Power (2024), examine how basic principles underlying how we form social beliefs and judgments account for the reported discrepancy between facts and perception. Describe at least four psychological concepts in your response, alongside providing relevant empirical support.

Essay: Part B – 550-word limit

Develop a better understanding of human fallibility in judging, perceiving, and explaining our social worlds as you analyse the extent your arguments in Part A apply to the Singapore context.

To this end, you shall apply at least three of the four principles you cited in Part A to at least one local example to discuss the applicability of these concepts to local culture.

References

Note on the use of referencing software

Reference lists created by referencing software have formatting restrictions, and your instructor will not be able to insert comments within the list. If you wish to receive feedback on errors in your reference list, prepare this without using any referencing software.

The References lists the full reference of all sources cited or referred to in your assignment. In-text citations also need to be presented accurately in APA format.

• In-text citations and the reference list are presented in APA format with no errors. None of the sources cited in-text are missing from the reference list and vice-versa. A minimum of 5 academic sources are cited.
• In-text citations and the reference list are presented in APA format, but there may be one or two minor stylistic errors. There may be sources cited in-text that are missing from the reference list and vice-versa. A minimum of 5 academic sources are cited.
• Formatting errors are evident in the in-text citations and/or the reference list. There may be sources cited in-text that are missing from the reference list and vice-versa. A minimum of 5 academic sources are cited.
• Major formatting errors are evident in the in-text citations and/or the reference list. There may be sources cited in-text that are missing from the reference list and vice-versa.
• Effort was made to present a reference list even though there may only be one item listed, and it contains formatting errors; in-text citations may be missing.
• In-text citations and the reference list are missing.

English competency 

No marks are allocated to English competency, but a penalty of up to 5 marks will apply for errors.

• Minor errors are present, such as typos and spelling or punctuation mistakes.
• Major errors or a fair number of minor errors present, such as spelling or punctuation mistakes or use of colloquial and/or non-academic writing style.

Generic Band Descriptors for Students

Excellent answer

• Shows a clear and thorough understanding of the topic concerned by covering relevant points accurately and comprehensively in a well-structured, focused and cohesive manner.
• Provides excellent illustrations/examples/supporting evidence. 
• Shows very strong evidence of critical thinking/analysis and in-depth understanding.
• Goes beyond expectation and shows original thinking.

Good to Very Good answer

• Shows a good to very good understanding of the topic concerned by covering relevant points accurately in a well-structured, focused and cohesive manner.
• Provides good illustrations/examples/supporting evidence.
• Shows good evidence of critical thinking/analysis and in-depth understanding.
• Shows evidence of original thinking.

Fair answer

• Shows a fair understanding of the topic concerned by covering relevant points adequately, but may not always be well-structured, focused and cohesive.
• Provides adequate illustrations or examples, however, they may not always be appropriate.
• Shows little evidence of critical thinking/analysis and lacks in-depth understanding.
• Shows little evidence of original thinking.

Weak answer

• Shows only a rudimentary understanding of the topic concerned and only manages to cover a relevant point or two adequately, but is not well structured, focused and cohesive.
• Attempts to provide illustrations or examples, however, are generally inappropriate or irrelevant.
• Shows no evidence of critical thinking or in-depth understanding.
• Shows no evidence of original thinking.
• It may contain inaccuracies and omissions.

Poor answer (borderline pass)

• Does not show adequate understanding of the topic concerned and may not sufficiently cover any of the relevant points.
• Does not provide illustrations or examples.
• Tends to be descriptive and may be off-point.
• Contains errors and misconceptions.

Fail (less than 40%)

• Shows very little understanding of the topic concerned and does not cover any of the relevant points.
• Fails to provide illustrations or examples.
• Attempts to describe but is off-point.
• Contains serious errors and misconceptions.

Bad Fail (less than 15%)

• Shows no understanding of the question.
• Some marks may be awarded if there is evidence that some effort was made to make sense of the question.