Alternative Credit Assignment

Instructions: If you would prefer not to take part in experiments, you can learn about research in another way. You can read and summarize articles (1 research credit each) from one of the journals listed below. This is not an all or none policy. You may combine experiment credits with alternative assignment credits (e.g., 5 credits experiments and 1 alternative assignment). Alternative assignments will not count towards extra credit.

Due Date: **Alternative assignments are due on the last day of our class—October 14, 2008. There are NO exceptions to this rule. Your name must be at the top of each assignment.

Step 1: For each credit you need, please find an article from a psychology journal listed below (e.g., Psychology Today does not count). The article has to have been published within the last few years (2000-present)
Step 2: The WPI library has a number of psychology journals. You will need to retrieve the article yourself. You will need to hand in the first page of the article with your assignment. Please check the WPI library for the exact location, as they may not be available online.
Step 3: Read the article. You don't have to read and understand all of the statistical parts of the results section. The authors usually summarize the findings in English at the beginning of the Discussion section.
NOTE: You will need to photocopy/print the first page of this article and hand it in with your assignment. Failure to do so will make your assignment incomplete and you will not be given credit!
Step 4: After you have read the article, you will need to write a 2-3 page typed summary of the research question, methods, and findings of each article, ending with at least one paragraph giving your own critique, or ideas for further research. Be sure to include the reference of the article at the end.
See the template on myWPI of how to set up your alternative assignment.
Step 5: Hand in your alternative assignment by hardcopy to Professor Skorinko.
Reminder: You must hand in the following for each assignment completed: a written non-plagiarized summary that is 2-3 pages long, a copy of the first page of the article, a reference for the article, and your name.

Academic Honor: By turning in the alternative assignment, you are automatically stating that it is your own work. Professor Skorinko checks these summaries and reports violations of academic honor to the relevant professor and the Dean of Student life. Plagarism (i.e., copying directly from the article) will not be tolerated and credit will not be given for plagiarized summaries.

Possible Journals to Use: Below is a list of appropriate journals that may be used for this assignment. In order to ensure that you read an empirical article of good quality, you should read articles from these journals (e.g. Psychology Today is not acceptable, nor are “pop” magazines such as “Time”).

Journals (alphabetical order):
Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

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Last modified: December 02, 2008 17:17:02