ournal Article Summary Assignment
Example Article:
A summary of a research study in psychology is given below. As you read the summary, think about the following questions:
What behaviors are the researchers observing?
How are the observations being recorded by the researchers?
Were the researchers able to identify a cause of behavior from this study?
Were the researchers able to answer their research questions with the observations they collected? How?
What results would have falsified the explanation of behavior the authors were testing?
Do you think this study qualifies as primarily basic or applied research? Why?
What are some examples of real-world behaviors that the results of this study might apply to?
Research Study. Olson, K. R., Banaji, M. R., Dweck, C. S., & Spelke, E. S. (2006). Children’s biased evaluations of lucky versus unlucky people and their social groups. Psychological Science, 17, 845–846.
Purpose of the Study. The researchers were interested in how we develop views of other people in terms of how lucky they are. Do people view lucky individuals more positively than unlucky individuals, or do they prefer unlucky individuals because they feel bad for them? Olson, Banaji, Dweck, and Spelke (2006) examined this way of thinking by measuring children’s preference for individuals portrayed as lucky or unlucky.
Method of the Study. Children between 5 and 7 years old participated in the study. A group of study participants listened to stories about other children. In these stories, the children performed an intentional action that was either positive (i.e., helpful) or negative (i.e., harmful) or were involved in an uncontrollable event that was either positive (i.e., something good happened to the child that he or she had no control over–the child was “lucky”) or negative (i.e., something bad happened to the child that he or she had no control over–the child was “unlucky”). After hearing the stories, the participants were asked to rate how much they liked the child in the story by choosing one of six different facial expressions (e.g., smiling face, frowning face) that matched how they felt about the child they heard about.
Results of the Study. Study participants preferred children who experienced positive events. This result was shown for both intentional actions (i.e., children who were intentionally good were preferred over children who were intentionally bad) and uncontrolled events (i.e., “lucky” children were preferred to “unlucky” children). Participants also preferred children who experienced uncontrolled negative events (i.e., “unlucky” children) as compared to children who performed an intentional negative action. However, the difference in preference for intentional positive actions and uncontrolled positive events (i.e., “lucky” children) was less clear.
Conclusions of the Study. The authors concluded that children prefer lucky individuals as compared with unlucky individuals. This preference was present in children as young as 5 to 7 years old. According to the researchers, these results may help explain negative attitudes that are sometimes present for disadvantaged individuals.
Article Summary Assignments (each worth 20 points). Please note this assignment is the same as that in Ms. McLane lab module. You should submit your work to Ms. McLane’s Lab module for grading.
Based on the example above, summarize Article 1 and Article 2 in the following format:
Research Study (Title of the article)
Purpose of the Study
Method of the Study
Results of the Study
Conclusions of the Study
Article 1: (Due at the end of Week 4, Sunday 02/05, 11:59 PM)
Lee, L., Frederick, S., & Ariely, D. (2006). Try it, you’ll like it: The influence of expectation, consumption, and revelation on preferences for beer. Psychological Science, 17, 1054–1058.
Article 2: (Due at the end of Week 8, Sunday 03/06, 11:59PM)
Smith, S. M., & Moynan, S. C. (2008). Forgetting and recovering the unforgettable. Psychological Science, 19, 462–468.
List of Topics and Sub-Modules for Journal Article Summaries
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