Read the paper by Roberts and Gelman (2016, Developmental Psychology) and the two related media reports (Media Report 1, Media Report 2). Summarize the original research paper, then critically evaluate how authentically the media reports represent the actual scientific evidence.
Make sure to include the answers to the following questions in your summary:
What is the purpose of the research studies reported in this paper?
Who were the participants? What did the authors test?
What did the authors find?
What do the authors conclude from their findings?
Following your summary, critically discuss the two related media reports. What mistakes/exaggerations/illogical conclusions do you find? (Note: You must find at least one problem.) Here are some good questions to ask yourself:
What valuable information did I gain by reading the scientific paper?
Was there any important information in the scientific article about the participants/methods/results that was not in the popular press article? Note that a popular press article has to be shorter, but if critical information about the methods or results is left out, the reader of the press article may misinterpret the findings.
Were there any caveats noted in the scientific article that was not noted in the popular press article? Was the popular press article misleading in any way?
Did the popular press article make conclusions that were not supported by the results of the research article? Did they exaggerate the findings or ignore the results?
Did the popular press article ignore a possible explanation for the results?
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