Although some states and cities have passed laws to ban texting and using handheld phones while driving, there is no current law to ban all cell phone use while driving. However, according to the National Safety Council (2009), 28 percent of all crashes—1.6 million per year—are caused by cell phone use and texting by drivers. The mission of a new national nonprofit organization called FocusDriven, patterned after Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is to make phone use while driving as illegal and socially unacceptable as drunk driving. US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood supports FocusDriven and its efforts.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, LaHood said that this movement would become “an army of people traveling the countryside” to push for bans on cell-phone use and tough enforcement (Schmitz, 2010). As a political advocate interested in this issue, you will be writing a policy proposal that utilizes the current research to propose a solution to the issue and submitting it in Module 5.

Annotated Bibliography: Effect of Cell Phone Use

Before you can write this proposal research, you will need to conduct initial research on the science behind this initiative. For this assignment, use the Argosy University online library resources to locate research reports from peer-reviewed journals that discuss the effects of cell phone use on vision, attention, perception, or memory. In selecting at least five research reports from peer-reviewed journals relevant to the topic, make sure they address one or more of the following issues:

• How do texting, handheld phones, and hands-free phones compare with each other in their effects on driving?
• How do other, traditional distractions compare to cell phone use in their effects on driving (such as eating, attending to children, talking to passengers, listening to music/news, etc.)?
• Can cell phone use while driving be compared with drunk driving? Why or why not?
• What other variables (such as age) can affect driving while using a cell phone?

Based on your reading of the five articles, create an annotated bibliography for each of the five sources. Each annotation should consist of the APA reference entry followed by a paragraph-long summary of the articles. In your summary, provide answers for the questions below. For the last question, think about how the research results could be generalized to fit other environments or not be generalized.

• Summarize the main ideas in the reference. What were they investigating?
• How were the studies conducted? What was the sample size? Is it appropriate?
• Were the studies conducted in the real world or was a simulated environment used?
• How might these methodological considerations affect the research findings and the conclusions drawn from them? How does this article fit in with your paper? How did it influence your own ideas about your paper?

Your annotated bibliography should be at 3–4 pages in length.

 

Although some states and cities have passed laws to ban texting and using handheld phones while driving, there is no current law to ban all cell phone use while driving. However, according to the National Safety Council (2009), 28 percent of all crashes—1.6 million per year—are caused by cell phone use and texting by drivers. The mission of a new national nonprofit organization called FocusDriven, patterned after Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is to make phone use while driving as illegal and socially unacceptable as drunk driving. US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood supports FocusDriven and its efforts: According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, LaHood said this movement will become “an army of people traveling the countryside” to push for bans on cell phone use and tough enforcement (Schmit, 2010).

As a political advocate interested in this issue, you will be writing a policy proposal that utilizes the current research to propose a solution to the issue and submit it in this assignment.

Please note that your proposal is not an opinion/position paper, and your conclusions need to be based on the scientific research you reviewed earlier. Please follow the typical steps in proper academic writing (planning, outlining, drafting, revising, proofing, and editing) to generate the following proposal structure:

Introduction

In the introduction, you should set up the purpose for the proposal, provide a bit of background on the topic, and present your thesis.

Policy

Now that you have researched a variety of studies (in M4: Assignment 2), compile that information together to create a recommendation for policy makers regarding cell phone use while driving.

1: In a one-page summary, compare and contrast the results of the various studies regarding the cognitive abilities that are affected during cell phone use while driving.

2: Using that research, develop and explain particular recommendations for policy makers. For instance, restrict texting, or regulate the use of hand-held phones. All your recommendations must be supported by your research findings.

3: Based on the gaps in current research, describe the variables, populations, and situations which you would like to see future research address.

Conclusion

Review the important current research, your conclusions from that research, and how the future could look in both policy and research. Keep your goal in mind: To convince the reader to support your current policy proposal and future research to examine this issue more closely.

Your proposal should be written in APA style (which includes a title page with running header and a reference page), and free of typographical and grammatical errors. The body of your proposal should be 4–5 pages long.

 

You probably have noticed in your educational career that some people are very good at remembering facts and therefore, do well at tests that require memorization. Other students, on the other hand, struggle with tests that require memorization.  To understand how memory works, this exercise will ask you to trace the memory system from the stimuli to long-term memory.

Use your textbook and research from the Internet to learn the process of memory, from beginning to end. Your description should include the following:

· Identification and description of each step in the human memory model; as you describe these steps, use an example to illustrate the process

· Discussion of factors that enhance or impede information flow in each step of the process

· Explanation of proactive and retroactive interference and how you might counteract their effects while studying to facilitate maximum retention via long-term memory

· Explanation of other kinds of forgetting and a discussion of strategies that can improve memory consolidation and retrieval

Submit this in a paper of 2–3 pages. You can use illustrations to demonstrate the process.    Be sure to document your references using APA format.

Please use the following guidelines for formatting your assignment:

· Margins: Set to one inch

· Font: 12pt.-Times New Roman, no bold, no underline

· Title: Centered above the paper, 12 pt.-font (Level A Heading), no bold, no underline, no italics

· Pagination: Every page; consists of a header containing a short title for the paper and a page number placed in the upper right corner of the page

· Line Spacing: Double space all work, including the References page

· Point-of-View: Third person, objective; limit perspective to research; no personal opinion or narrative; first person is allowed in describing the test and results, as well as discussing personal ways to enhance EI

· In-text citations: Must conform to APA requirements

· References list: Must conform to APA requirements