THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

Social Psychology
SPRING 2005
Dr. Huxtable-Jester PSY 3331.501
Office: GR 4.522 Wednesdays 7-9:45pm
Office hours: MW 12:30-1:30, T 11-12 GR 4.428
Phone: 972-883-6434
Email: DrKarenHJ@UTDallas.edu

I. Course description
This course presents an introduction to the field of social psychology, and will examine theory and
research as well as practical applications to social problems. In addition to learning how social
psychologists do research, we will learn about how we think about the social world, how we come to
understand other people and ourselves, self-justification and the need to maintain self-esteem,
influencing thoughts and feelings, influencing behavior, influence in social groups, interpersonal
attraction, why people help, why we hurt other people, and causes and cures of prejudice. Special
attention will be paid to what social psychology can offer to the solving of social problems in these
areas and in the areas of health-related behavior and beliefs, the physical environment, and the law.
This course is appropriate for students interested in psychology, the health professions, law,
political science, business, advertising, human services, education, communications, gender
studies/women's studies, history, public administration, and sociology—essentially, this course will
be interesting to all who are or live among human beings. Course requirements will include class
attendance and participation, exams, and multiple writing assignments (no final exam). Satisfies the
Core Curriculum Social and Behavioral Science requirement. (3 credits, call number 13272)

II. Texts & supplies

A. Aronson, E., Wilson, T.D., & Akert, R.M. (2005). Social psychology (5th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
B. The STUDY GUIDE designed to accompany this text also is required. The text website is
optional, and it appears at http://www.prenhall.com/aronson.
C. Additional chapters and journal articles may be assigned to complement, elaborate on, or
contradict the text. More details about this will be discussed in class.
D. You must use the APA style guide at http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html.
E. You should have internet access, including your UTD e-mail account. Important: Please put
SOCPSY in the subject line of your message, or I will not realize it is from you, and probably
will not read it. I want to get to know you, so please also sign your messages with your first
and last name. Feel free to get in touch with me via email any time. University regulations
restrict me from revealing your personal information via email. I will not be able to send your
grades to you—you will receive your exam and assignment grades in class on designated days.
If you need to see me privately, please come to my office.
F. Pick up 4 Exam System II #229630 answer sheets for exams, available free at the off-campus
bookstore. You MUST bring an answer sheet (and your #2 pencils, of course) to each
scheduled exam.
G. You deserve your very own stapler. Please buy yourself a stapler so that you can staple all
papers that you give me.
PSYCH 3331 ? Social Psychology ? Fall 2002 2

III. Course requirements

A. Readings and class participation. You are encouraged to contribute for class discussion
examples from the media (i.e., articles from newspapers, magazines or television) of societal
attitudes, policies and practices relevant to social psychology.
1. To get the most benefit from your time in this class, please keep up with the readings as
indicated in the course calendar. You will find classes to be much more interesting and
involving if you come prepared to discuss each day's topic. Advance preparation also
enables you to understand the material, to be prepared to ask questions to clarify the day's
material, and to put the material into context with material covered earlier.
2. Class attendance and participation are an important indication of your commitment and
professionalism, and are critical to your success in this course. Classes will consist of
lectures, discussions, and demonstrations, and frequently will cover content not found in
the texts. Attendance (or the lack of it) will be seriously considered when assessing final
grades. Participation includes asking and responding to questions and contributing to class
discussions, and also is considered in the grading.
3. Please come to class on time and stay for the duration of the class session. You should be
seated and ready to begin on time. Coming in late or leaving early is disruptive and
distracting. Repeated absences and/or disruptions will result in a significant reduction of
your final course grade.
4. It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to acquire missed lecture notes, assignments, handouts,
and announcements from a classmate. You are responsible for all information given
in class. This includes any changes to the syllabus, content and format of quizzes,
and details given regarding assignments.

B. Exams
1. Four non-cumulative exams focusing on the assigned readings and lecture material will
be given to assess your mastery of the material in each section of the course. Exam format
will be multiple-choice, based on materials from the readings, lectures, class discussions
and demonstrations, and videos.
2. You must be present for exams. If you might miss an exam, notify me at 972-883-6434
IMMEDIATELY. I must hear from you before the scheduled time of the exam. If you
wait to talk to me at the next class meeting, you will not be able to make up the exam.
Make-up exams will be given only if: (a) you were seriously ill and have documentation
from a physician, or (b) you were detained the day and time of the exam (and have
appropriate documentation), or (c) you made arrangements prior to the exam to attend an
urgent family affair (e.g., funeral). In any of these cases, you must notify me in advance
of the scheduled time of the exam (call and leave a voice-mail message if you can do
nothing else). Otherwise, you will receive an F (0 points). It is your responsibility to
make sure that an exam is made up within one week of the scheduled time. Beware,
make-up exams are designed to be more difficult to compensate for having more study
time.
3. Exams will be returned during class time once only. If you miss class on the day exams
are returned you must come to my office. Privacy regulations prohibit me from emailing
your grades to you!
4. See me early if you need help preparing for an exam. It is helpful (but not required) to
study first, and then come with a list of specific questions or areas of concern. Also, if you
feel that you worked hard studying for an exam, but received a much lower grade that you
anticipated, come see me so that we can determine where your study strategies went
wrong. Coming to ask me what you can do to improve your grade makes sense if you
PSYCH 3331 ? Social Psychology ? Fall 2002 3

come early in the semester, but is pointless if you come late in the semester (e.g., after
the 4th exam)—at that point there is nothing you can do.
5. Preparing for an exam is an important part of the learning process—it takes weeks of
preparation, not days or hours. Learning and understanding the material are the best
preparation for the exams. Keeping up with the readings pays off. Plan to spend at least
9 hours per week outside of class on reading and writing assignments for this course.

C. Evaluative summary of research

1. In place of a traditional term paper, you will evaluate an original report of research in
social psychology by writing a one-page critical review of research literature. Additional
details appear later in this syllabus and will be discussed further in class.
2. The References page and citation format for this summary will follow the format approved
by the American Psychological Association as described in the APA Publication Manual.
Use of the website http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html is
REQUIRED. I suggest that you acquaint yourself with the information to be found here
early in the semester—waiting until you have finished writing your paper is likely to be too
late.

D. Journal/Scrapbook Application Paper

You will write a short paper (3-4 pages, typed and double spaced), worth up to 30 points
toward your final grade, in which you will reflect and elaborate on the course material. In
order to write the application paper you will need to stay current in your assigned readings and
attend class. As we continue through the semester, you will begin to notice examples from
social psychology in action all around you. In fact, it will be very helpful to keep a scrapbook
journal of your thoughts about and reactions to course readings, class sessions, and your
experiences throughout the semester. News clippings, cartoons, advertisements, and so forth
that illustrate specific concepts also may be included. Your journal entries and the
observations you describe will provide the foundation for application of course concepts.
Additional details will be discussed in class.

Be sure to focus on course concepts. Do not waste space giving an evaluation of the course,
instructor, or textbook (you are encouraged to share your ideas on these in other ways, but not
in this paper!). Also, please do not waste space summarizing course material. Focus instead
on thoughtful application of course concepts to your experiences and the development of your
personal belief system. Note that a paper discussing “what I learned in social psychology” will
be far too superficial for this assignment. Writing an autobiography is not a useful approach
to this paper, although you certainly may use examples of course concepts that come from
your life experiences. The “Try It!” exercises in the book also can give you good ideas to get
started.

The goal of this paper is to provide you with an opportunity to reflect on the relationship
between course concepts and your understanding of yourself, others, and the world or life in
general. In the process of doing this you might also share your reactions to the ideas presented
in the reading material, critically evaluate an issue, or relate a personal concern or experience
to course content.

Sample observations and descriptions of how they relate to course concepts may be seen at:
http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu//240/jrnindex.htm .
PSYCH 3331 ? Social Psychology ? Fall 2002 4

Please notice in particular that the quality of your writing DOES COUNT. Please use correct
grammar and punctuation, and a clear, coherent writing style. More details about grading
criteria will be discussed in class. The following rubric serves as a useful guideline:
Thesis Handling the question Evidence Meaning & analysis Errors of fact or
grammar
Grade A Clear and concise, Nuanced and complete Fulsome and relevant at Insightful and Free of errors;
well developed all points creative gracefully written
Grade B Clear and Understands the terms Clearly organized; fully Good logical flow, No major errors of
complete and significance of the supported thesis persuasive fact; clearly written
question
Grade C Comprehensible Superficial understanding Weak evidence for a part Weak logical flow No major blunders,
of the question of thesis or interpretation comprehensible
Grade D Non-existent or Lacks basic understanding Lacks evidence for major Shallow or illogical Blunders or
or F incomprehensible of the question parts of the thesis incoherence

E. Additional notes:
1. Policy on ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: Students who violate University rules on
scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of
failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. Since such dishonesty harms
the individual, all students, and the integrity of the University, policies on scholastic
dishonesty will be strictly enforced. Written policies may be found on the UTD website
under “Student Life.”
2. All assignments must be handed in by class time on the day they are due. Late
assignments will be subject to the LOSS OF 10 PERCENTAGE POINTS (one full
letter grade) FOR EACH DAY LATE for 10 calendar days (a paper turned in after
class has begun will be counted as late). Assignments will not be accepted 10 calendar
days after the due date (therefore, for example, a paper due on the 18th will not be
accepted after the 28th). Absolutely NO assignments can be accepted after the last day
of class (the day of the 4th exam).
3. In addition to submitting a hard copy of each written assignment in class, you will
submit your papers online at www.turnitin.com. Details about how to set up your
account will be discussed in class.
4. Special educational needs: The University of Texas at Dallas proudly supports a very
diverse student body. Among our students are those with learning disabilities or other
special needs. If you have a learning, sensory, or physical reason for special
accommodations in this class, please contact Kerrie Tate at 972-883-2098. Personnel in
Disability Services (SU 1.610) will provide the documentation to pass on to me so that I
can accommodate your needs.
5. University rules stipulate that a grade of "Incomplete" may be given only under extreme
circumstances outside of the student's control, and only after at least 70% of the course
work has already been completed (that’s everything but one exam). All requests for an
incomplete grade must have written approval from the College Master before I will
consider them.
6. If you find that for ANY REASON you are unable to attend three (or more) classes, you
should withdraw from the course. Come talk to me.
7. Absolutely no individualized extra credit will be available. Students concerned about
their grades are encouraged to contact me as soon as possible.
8. I am always available to answer questions about grades and assignments. Please come
to see me early to clear up points of confusion rather than waiting, which may simply
add to your frustration and decrease your learning efficiency.
PSYCH 3331 ? Social Psychology ? Fall 2002 5

E. NEW UTD ADD/DROP POLICY

Deadlines for Adding or Dropping a Class
Prior to the Census Day (1/26) students may drop or add a course by submitting a Drop/Add
form to the Office of the Registrar. Classes may not be added after January 14. Any
courses dropped through Census Day will not show on the student’s transcript. Students
may not add courses after Census day without the consent of the instructor and the Dean of
Undergraduate Education.

From 1/27 through 2/13 students may drop classes by completing a drop form and having it
signed by their academic advisor and course instructor. A grade of “W” (withdrawn) will
appear on the student’s transcript.

From 2/14 through 3/14, students who submit a completed drop form will receive a grade of
“WP” (withdrawn passing) or “WF” (withdrawn failing) depending on the student’s
performance in the class. On the drop form containing the advisor’s and instructor’s
signatures, the instructor is required to record the student’s academic progress in the class to
that point.

After 3/14, a student may only drop a class for nonacademic reasons (see below).

The student should retain copies of all add and drop forms for at least one year following the
end of the semester in which the student initiates a drop or add course action.
Non-academic Drops
Students wishing to drop a class for nonacademic reasons must have a drop form completed
by the academic advisor and course instructor and prepare a written petition detailing the
nature of the request and including verifying documentation. These documents must be
submitted to the Director of Undergraduate Student Advising (MP 2.240). The Director will
distribute the petition to three academic advisors who will independently judge the validity of
the request and return their decisions to the Director. The Director will inform the student of
the outcome. If the petition is approved, the student will receive a grade of “W” for the
course, otherwise the student must continue enrollment in the class. Therefore, it is
extremely important that students petitioning to drop a class continue to attend and perform
in the class until the petition request is resolved.

V. Grading. The basis for assigning grades in this course will be as follows:
Points % of final grade
Exams (4 @ 50 pts each) 200 80%
Evaluative summary of research 20 8%
Application paper 30 12%
TOTAL 250 100%

Attendance and participation adjustment

Attendance records will be kept. When the time comes to assign final grades, I will review your
record of attendance and adjust your score higher for excellent attendance and participation, or
lower for poor or late attendance and lack of preparation. If you find that for ANY REASON you
are unable to attend three or more classes, you should drop or withdraw from the course. Come
talk to me! Additional details will be discussed in class.
PSYCH 3331 ? Social Psychology ? Fall 2002 6

Assignment of letter grades is as follows:

Points earned Percent Letter grade
232-250 93-100% A
224-231 90-92% A-
219-223 88-89% B+
207-218 83-87% B
199-206 80-82% B-
194-198 78-79% C+
182-193 73-77% C
174-181 70-72% C-
169-173 68-69% D+
162-168 65-67% D
0-161 0-64% F

VI. Office hours

Please feel free to stop by, email, or call any time. I always return your messages, so if you don’t
hear back from me within a reasonable amount of time (24 hours), you should assume that I did
not get the message and try contacting me again (IMPORTANT: put SOCPSY in the subject line
of your e-mail messages). Please feel free to get in touch with me any time you have a question or
concern about anything relating to assignments, exams, or anything else you can think of.
Although I can send documents to you, it is not possible for me to receive files as
attachments via e-mail. You are welcome to e-mail me any time, but please do not send
assignments via e-mail, even in the body of the e-mail message. I am happy to look over a hard
copy of any writing assignment on which you would like some extra help, but please remember that
to have time for everyone (and to get it back to you in time to rewrite it a few more times) I need to
receive your draft at least 3 class days or 10 calendar days before it is due (no emailed
submissions, please). Also, I can help you more if you bring me your best effort, not a first (or
even second) draft!
The Graduate Teaching Assistant is Kristin Atchison. She may be contacted via email at
katchison@student.utdallas.edu.

You can record your grades here:

Exam 1 _____/50
Exam 2 _____/50
Exam 3 _____/50
Exam 4 _____/50
Evaluative Summary _____/20
Application Paper _____/30
TOTAL _____/250
PSYCH 3331 ? Social Psychology ? Fall 2002 7

VII. Course Calendar

Week Date Topic Readings to be discussed
1 1/12 Course overview
Introduction to social psychology Aronson Ch. 1

2 1/19 How social psychologists do research Aronson Ch. 2

How we think about the social world Aronson Ch. 3

3 1/26 Social cognition continued Aronson Chs. 3-4

How we come to understand other people Aronson Ch. 4

4 2/2 EXAM 1: Chs. 1-4

How we come to understand ourselves Aronson Ch. 5
Submit your paper by today for early feedback

5 2/9 How we justify our actions to preserve our self-esteem Aronson Ch. 6

6 2/16 EVALUATIVE SUMMARY DUE at 7:00 p.m. CST

Social Psych in Action: Health & stress Aronson SPA 1
Attitudes & attitude change Aronson Ch. 7

7 2/23 EXAM 2: Chs. 5-6, SPA 1, Ch. 7

Changing people’s behavior Aronson Ch. 8

8 3/2 Conformity & compliance continued Aronson Ch. 8

Influence in social groups Aronson Ch. 9

9 3/9 NO CLASS—Enjoy your Spring Break

10 3/16 Group processes continued Aronson Ch. 9

Social Psych in Action: Law Aronson SPA 3

11 3/23 What causes prejudice? What can be done? Aronson Ch. 13

Submit your paper by today for early feedback

12 3/30 EXAM 3: Chs. 8-9, SPA 3, Ch. 13

Why we hurt other people Aronson Ch. 12

13 4/6 APPLICATION PAPER DUE at 7:00 p.m. CST

Social Psych in Action: The environment Aronson SPA 2
Forming, maintaining, and dissolving relationships Aronson Ch. 10

14 4/13 Why do people help (or not)? Aronson Ch. 11

15 4/20 EXAM 4: Ch. 12, SPA 2, Chs. 10-11

Course grades will be ready May 4
PSYCH 3331 ? Social Psychology ? Fall 2002 8

Social Psychology Quiz

Take a moment to answer the questions below, each of which is based on social psychological research.
Though the correct answers may seem obvious in retrospect, many are hard to guess in advance.

1. Suppose an authority figure asks college students to administer near-lethal electric shock to
another student who has not harmed them in any way. What percentage of these students will
agree to do it?

2. If you give children a reward for doing something they already enjoy doing, they will
subsequently like that activity (a) more, (b) the same, or (c) less.

3. Seeing someone you admire do something rather clumsy or stupid, such as spilling a cup of
coffee, will make you like him or her (a) more, (b) the same, or (c) less.

4. Repeated exposure to a stimulus, such as a person, a song or a painting, will make you like it (a)
more, (b) the same, or (d) less.

5. You ask an acquaintance to do you a favor--for example, to lend you $10—and he or she
agrees. As a result of doing you this favor, the person will probably like you (a) more, (b) the
same, or (c) less.

6. True or false: It is most adaptive and beneficial to people's mental health to have a realistic view
of the future, an accurate appraisal of their own abilities and traits, and an accurate view of how
much control they have over their lives.

7. Suppose that a representative of a community organization knocks on people's doors and asks
them to put a small sign in their window promoting auto safety and that most people agree to this
request. A couple of weeks later, a different person from a different organization knocks on their
doors and asks a much larger favor: to erect an unsightly billboard in their front yard, promoting
a clean environment. Do you think that agreeing to the first, smaller request will (a) make people
more likely to agree to the second request, (b) make people less likely to agree to the second
request, or (c) have no effect on people's agreeing to the second request?

8. Suppose that two elementary school children, Mary and Bob, take an IQ test and Mary gets a
higher score than Bob. Which of the following might have contributed to Mary's higher score?
(a) On average, girls are smarter than boys; (b) IQ tests are biased so that girls do better than
boys; (c) the children's teacher thought Mary was smarter than Bob, even though this is not true;
or (d) the children's teacher thought Bob was smarter than Mary, so Mary tried hard to prove her
wrong.

9. In public settings, (a) women touch men more, (b) men touch women more, or (c) there is no
difference—men and women touch each other equally.

10 True or false: The more you pay people to make a speech against their own beliefs, the more
they will change their minds and agree with the speech they made.
PSY 3331 • Social Psychology • Spring 2005 9

Evaluative Summary Assignment

This writing assignment is intended to help you to refine your ability to summarize and critically evaluate
reports of original research in social psychology. You also will learn how to cite your sources and list your
references using APA style. Select from the list below the one article that looks most interesting to you.
You must choose one of the four articles listed on this page.

References

Culhane, S.E., & Hosch, H.M. (2004). An alibi witness’ influence on mock jurors’ verdicts.

Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34(8), 1604-1616.

Harré, N. Brandt, T., & Houkamau, C. (2004). An examination of the actor-observer effect in

young drivers’ attributions for their own and their friends’ risky driving. Journal of

Applied Social Psychology, 34(4), 806-824.

Hart, J.W., Karau, S.J., Stasson, M.F., & Kerr, J.A. (2004). Achievement motivation, expected

coworker performance, and collective task motivation: Working hard or hardly working?

Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34(5), 984-1000.

Ruthig, J.E., Perry, R.P., Hall, N.C., & Hladkyj, S. (2004). Optimism and attributional

retraining: Longitudinal effects on academic achievement, test anxiety, and voluntary

course withdrawal in college students. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34(4), 709-

730.

Reading and understanding reports of original research

Make a photocopy or printout of the entire article. Just as if you were planning to write a traditional term-
paper using this article as one of your sources, you will need to take notes to help you remember and
organize what you read. Use the guidelines for organizing your evaluative summary (see page 11) to
take notes on this research report.
Write a brief critical summary of the research investigation you read about. Remember, you are
not writing about an article, you are writing about someone’s research, about their attempt to ask and then
answer an interesting or important question. Anyone reading your one-page paper should know exactly
what the article was about without having to read it. Your summary should be one double-spaced page in
length, using 12-point font (Times Roman) and 1-inch margins, with the page number appearing in the top
right corner ½ inch from the top of the page, and probably will have 3-4 paragraphs. You are writing in
APA style, so please do not use first person.
PSY 3331 • Social Psychology • Spring 2005 10

Learning objective: Identify, summarize, and evaluate the main sections of a research report, and
cite your source appropriately
In one double-spaced page, summarize and evaluate the research that was done. Cite the source you are
discussing using APA style (check the APA format website again if you are unsure of how to do this—
using a correct citation and references page is worth 25% of the grade on this assignment—if you omit
them or have errors, you will not earn more than a C for this paper).

Citing your source means that you indicate where your information comes from. You do this as part of
your paper (in the body of the text) instead of using footnotes or endnotes. All APA style in-text citations
must include the authors’ last names and the work’s date of publication. If you were to use a direct
quotation you also would give the page number, but do not use any quotations in this paper. Also, because
this paper is only one double-spaced page in length, and you are only using one source, it will be sufficient
to cite your source one time only, near the beginning of your summary. Examples of the three possible
APA style citation formats (with the matching reference, which would go on a separate page) look like this:

Researchers have found that children enrolled in didactic, highly academic preschools and

kindergartens demonstrate negative outcomes on several measures of motivation as compared to

children in child-centered programs (Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, & Milburn, 1995).

Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, and Milburn (1995) discovered that the type of instructional

programming (didactic vs. child-centered) significantly influenced the achievement of basic skills

and the motivation of 227 4- to 6-year-olds.

In 1995, Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, and Milburn examined the impact of two types of

instructional approaches on the academic achievement and motivation of children in preschool and

kindergarten.

References

Stipek, D., Feiler, R., Daniels, D., & Milburn, S. (1995). Effects of different instructional

approaches on young children’s achievement and motivation. Child Development, 66,

209-223.
PSY 3331 • Social Psychology • Spring 2005 11

Use one of the three possible APA style citation formats—don’t name the article or the journal in which it
appears (or the authors’ first names, initials, or affiliation…) in your summary. Also, be sure to
paraphrase your source without using direct quotations. Your organization guidelines will be very handy,
here. Do not write a title on your summary page, and do not use subheadings (you won’t have room).
The purpose of this exercise is to help you learn how to include discussion of others’ research in
the papers you write (and, ultimately, in the decisions you make!). Very briefly and clearly, you should
be able to explain the purpose of the study, how it was conducted, what was found, and what it
means. When you are writing a critical review of research literature, you need to be able to discuss the
research in terms of examining the question that the investigators asked and how they went about answering
it, rather than simply accepting their results (or worse, their conclusions) as the only part of the article
worth reading.

Listing references
Create a References page for the article that you are evaluating. At the top of the page, write the word
“References,” but without the quotation marks (or bold type, or italics, or underlining, or fancy font). On
the next line, begin your list of references (in this case, only one reference will be listed). Use APA style,
as indicated on page 9 (this is described in detail on the website listed in the syllabus).
For the source information for the article you read for this assignment, list the original primary
source as indicated on the first page of the article (don’t worry about the format for electronic sources, for
example, even if you retrieve the article online). Notice that only authors’ last names and initials are
needed. The author element ends with a period. The year of publication is placed in parentheses, and this
element also ends with a period. Capitalize only the first word of the title of the article and end the
article title element with a period. Use capital letters for the title of the journal, followed by a comma, the
volume number and issue (if the issue number is needed), and the pages on which the article appears, and
end this element with a period. The title of the journal and the volume number both should be either
underlined or italicized, but the issue number (the number in parentheses) is not italicized. Remember, the
references should appear in your list in alphabetical order (when you have more than one reference—for
this assignment you only have one), but don’t change the original order in which authors appear on
each article.

What to turn in:

1. Title page—this should include the name of the assignment (e.g., Evaluative Summary), your name,
course name, my name, semester and year
2. One-page evaluative summary with one-inch margins, double-spaced, 12-pt Times Roman font
3. References page (be sure to number all of your pages, including your references page, in the top right
corner)

Guidelines for Organizing your Evaluative Summary

To organize your summary of the research, make note of the following (by paraphrasing):
1. ARTICLE TYPE: For example, is this a correlational study, a descriptive study, a review of the
literature, a survey, an experiment? You don’t need to be sure to mention this in your summary,
but you should be aware of it as you interpret and evaluate the research.
2. PROBLEM: What was the purpose of this investigation? What issue was addressed? You’ll find
this in the introduction.
3. HOW INVESTIGATED: How did they go about answering their question? You’ll find this in the
method section. (Not how did you locate this article.)
4. RESULTS: What did they find out? Look in the results section.
5. INTERPRETATION: What does it mean? What are the implications for practical application to
PSY 3331 • Social Psychology • Spring 2005 12

real-world problems? You’ll find this in the discussion section.

6. CRITICISM: What are the limitations of this study? What do the authors say should have been
done differently, for example? What do you think about this study? Are the authors’ conclusions
warranted?
7. DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: What should be done either to try again to answer
the initial question posed here, or what questions were raised by these findings that should be
answered next?

For your References page, be sure to make a note of the following information:
1. AUTHOR(S): Who wrote this article that you are reviewing? Be sure to list the authors in the
original order in which they appear.
2. YEAR: In what year was this article published?
3. ARTICLE TITLE: What is the complete title of the article?
4. JOURNAL TITLE: In which journal did you find this article?
5. VOLUME: In which volume of the journal did this article appear?
6. ISSUE: Is a particular issue within that volume indicated? Or is it possible to use page numbers
alone to locate that article?
7. PAGES: On which pages is the article to be found? (Not how many pages long is the article.)

NOTE: Two sample evaluative summaries are on reserve in the library. I strongly suggest
that you take a look at them. Ask for them at the Reserve desk under my name rather than
the course name.

How to find articles in the library when you already know what you want:
1. Go to www.utdallas.edu
2. Click on LIBRARY near the top of the page (the 3rd choice under the green bar)
3. Click on Connect from Home in the bottom right corner
4. Click on Connect From Home again.
5. Enter your Comet Card Number and click on Submit Query
6. Click on McDermott Library Catalog
7. Click on Basic Search, which is your first choice
8. Type in the name of the journal you are looking for and click on Search
Example: journal of personality and social psychology
9. Select journal you need, if necessary, then scroll down and click the link under ejournal available
full text (it likely will indicate a range of volume numbers)
Example:
Location: eJournal: From off campus use
http://libproxy.utdallas.edu
Available Full
vol. 55- (July 1988-)
Text:
10. Type in key words for the specific article you are looking for
Example: self-handicapping
11. Scroll through the results and select the article you need, or enter more search terms to limit your
results
12. Click on PDF Full Text
13. Print your article
PSY 3331 • Social Psychology • Spring 2005 13

Please tell me about yourself. Tear off this sheet and return it to me at the end of class today.

Name: ____________________________________________________________________________

Phone number where I may reach you, if necessary: _________________________________________

Email address: ______________________________________________________________________

Academic major/minor: _______________________________________________________________

How long have you been at UTD? _______________________ When will you graduate? ___________

What psychology courses have you taken?

What education courses have you taken?

Relevant work experience:

Future job expectations:

Anything else about you that is relevant to this course:

Personal expectations for this course:

Course content that appears of greatest interest and value to you:

Course content that appears of least interest and value to you:

Additional comments: