Questions We Can Help You To Answer
Paper instructions:
THE JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW:
You are asked to read a peer-reviewed article from a scholarly journal in the field of learning and memory. Articles of this type will typically report on original research or replications of previously conducted experiments, or they will be literature reviews in which the author(s) present the results of a literature search on a specific topic. In the latter case, the article will usually be a dissertation on the most current thinking on a specific topic.
TO LOCATE AN APPROPRIATE ARTICLE:
Full text
Scholarly (peer reviewed) journals
Published in the past 10 years
Google Scholar is an option to search for journal articles, as long as you make sure they meet the requirements above (full text, scholarly, published in the last 5 years).
NOTE: ARTICLES MUST BE ACCESSIBLE BY ANYONE FOR FREE!
Example:
Wood, D. (2003). Effect of child and family poverty on child health in the United States. Pediatrics Sep2003 Supplement, Vol 112, 3, 707-712
I. First, summarize the article.
The subject of this article is to review the literature on the effects of poverty on children in the United States, including economic, ecologic and family influences. Poverty is defined as "a condition of misery, hopelessness and dependency." (Heclo, cited in Wood, 2003). This article examines previous writings and attempts to develop an understanding of the role the state of poverty could play in the development of the child.
II. Next, explain and critique the methods used and/or the findings presented.
The author selected research articles and other writings from the field for review and analysis. His methods were thorough. His intent was to integrate the findings that had already been reported into a single article that could be the starting point for future research. Wood found that…………
III. Offer your opinion on the value of the study. Will this study further our knowledge base or the goals of psychology, i.e., to describe, explain, predict and influence behavior? What does it add to our knowledge of learning and memory or general psychology?
IV. How does this study relate to your career or field of interest? Did you learn more about your field of interest? Did you learn something unexpected about your field? Maybe it helped you refine your interest?
