ASSIGNMENT 1

General Psychology 103

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE NEWS

Like many other areas of scientific endeavor, research from psychological studies often is presented in the news.  As part of your grade, you are required to turn in a brief (2-3 page) report on psychological research presented in the media.  The report will be worth 30 points and must include the following information:

Points Description

5 Title of report (newspaper or magazine article title; descriptive title otherwise)

Source of report (name of magazine/newspaper; show and/or network name)

Date of report

5 Basic summary of information (100 words or less)

10 Implication or importance of information for psychology

10 Personal reaction_

30 TOTAL POINTS 

Only a specified set of sources are acceptable for these reports.  In general, reports in higher quality, national newspapers (such as the New York Times and the Washington Post) will be acceptable while reports in regional or lower quality paper (e.g. USA Today, Post-Standard, etc.) will NOT be acceptable.  Similarly, reports on articles in national weekly news magazines (e.g. Time, Newsweek, U.S. News, Psychology Today) are acceptable although reports from other magazines (e.g. People, Cosmo, Glamour, etc.) will NOT be acceptable.  Finally, news reports and special broadcasts on public or educational radio or television (PBS and NPR) will be acceptable as will special reports on network television (e.g. 60 Minutes, 20/20, etc.).  Reports garnered from syndicated talk shows (e.g. Oprah, Dr. Phil, Tyra, etc.) are not acceptable.  Below is a brief example of a (fictional) report:

Title/Source/Date “Homework increases grades”;  All Things Considered – NPR

February 17, 2009.

Summary Psychologists studying children’s performance in school have discovered that the amount of time children spend working on homework is a better predictor of performance in school and later success than are their standardized test scores or socioeconomic status.

Implications The researchers speculate that cross-national differences in standardized test scores may result from the greater amount of homework done in countries other than the U.S.  Perhaps teachers should assign and provide feedback on more homework.

Personal Reaction

In my opinion…