Psychology 202 - Fall 2001 (Hodges)

Psychology 202 - Fall 2001 (Hodges)

Paper Assignment #3: Applying Psychology to Real Life Events

Due in Discussion Section, November 27-29

The events of September 11 (the hijacking of four jets and the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon) have raised numerous questions. Does Psychology have an answer to any of these questions, or at least something to say that is useful and relevant in beginning to answer these questions? The goal of this paper is to read a recent psychology journal article and apply the ideas and findings in that article to aspects of people=s behavior after September 11.

In order to do this assignment, you must first pick one of the questions listed below and read the accompanying article (the articles are on reserve at the Knight Library; they are also available in the bound volumes of the journals (on the shelves in the Astacks@ of the Knight Library). Pick ONE question; read the article that goes with THAT question.

1. Why did so many Americans volunteer to help after September 11?

Clary, E. G., & Snyder, M. (1999). The motivations to volunteer: Theoretical and practical considerations. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 8, 156-159.

2. Some people who were traumatized on September 11 will suffer worse and longer term effects than others. Why?

Foa, E. B., & Riggs, D. S. (1995). Posttraumatic stress following an assault: Theoretical considerations and empirical findings. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4, 61-65.

3. Many Americans showed increased patriotism after September 11. A few showed prejudice against those whom they perceived as not American. Why?

Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (2000). Pride and prejudice: Fear of death and social behavior. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 6, 200-204.

Your paper should consist of three parts:

1) A summary of the article: What was the topic of the article? If the author (or authors) did a study (collected data and reported the results), how did he/she/they conduct the study, what did he/she/they find, and what did he/she/they conclude? If the author (or authors) did not collect any new data, but only reviewed past studies, what was the thesis of the article and how was it supported? In either case, what is the conclusion or Atake-home@ message of the article?

2) A discussion of how the information found in the article can be used to explain people=s behavior in reaction to September 11: In what ways are the article=s conclusions consistent with the way people behaved after September 11? In what ways are the points of the article illustrated by examples of how people behaved after September 11? If you had read this article on September 10, in what ways would it have helped you to predict how people behaved after September 11?

3) A discussion of how the article=s findings or theories may NOT explain people=s behavior in reaction to September 11: Are there some conditions specified in the article that were not present post-September 11? Are there additional, critical aspects of the events of September 11 that the were not addressed by the article? In what ways might the article=s conclusions not generalize to people=s behavior after September 11?

I anticipate the that part 2 is likely to be (but not necessarily) longer than part 3. If you don=t think the article applies to people=s behavior after September 11 AT ALL, you can drop part 2 and only write about parts 1 & 3 (but it better be REALLY good!).

Make it clear which article you read early in your paper. Give credit to the author(s) by citing her/him/them when you refer to their ideas. For example:

Foa and Riggs (1995) state that people...

Past research has shown that volunteerism has many causes (Clary & Snyder, 1999).

If you quote things directly from the article (use the author=s or authors= exact words), put the quoted material in quotation marks and provide a page number:

Solomon, Greenberg, and Pyszczynski (2000) report that such preferences are the result of Athe validation or challenge to to the participants= cultural worldview@ (p. 202).

VERY IMPORTANT: This paper is NOT an opinion piece on what you personally believe about the events of September 11. [Such an assignment would be very interesting for me to read and would also be a valid assignment in a different context. However, the goal of this assignment is apply current psychology research to a recent event.] You should use the information (empirical results and/or theories) in the article you read to support or refute ideas, not your opinion. If you feel compelled to do so, you may also use other psychology sources to write your paper IN ADDITION to the article, as long as you provide references for them AND give them credit in the text of your paper. One last time: The goal of this paper is to use psychological research found in the article you read to support your ideas.

If you would like to pick ANOTHER PSYCHOLOGY JOURNAL ARTICLE to read for this paper, you must first have the article approved by your discussion section leader no later than the end of the day on November 16. If you don=t clear the article with your discussion section leader and you write your paper on it anyway, you may receive a 0 on the assignment.

You have two weeks to do this assignment. It is due in your last discussion section (November 27-29). There are no discussion sections the week before, so any questions you have about the paper should be addressed to your discussion section leader during office hours or via email. Papers are to be typed (double-spaced, 12-pt Times-Roman font or some other similar standard font, with approximately 1 inch margins) and will likely be between 3 and 5 pages. As is the case for all late papers in the class, late papers will be docked 5 points a day. You should come prepared to discuss your paper in discussion section during the last week of class.

Further note: The events of September 11 stirred up many strong emotions for many of us. Subsequent, related events will probably continue to have an impact on our lives for some time. Some of you may be troubled to think about certain aspects of these events. For that reason, a number of topics have been offered above. If you find all of the topics troubling, or have other concerns about this assignment, please see Dr. Hodges or your discussion section leader.