Reference no: EM131036755

Requirement

Humans tend to describe, explain, and predict their own behavior and the behavior of others. As aresult, many folk theories or commonsense notions about human thinking and behavior exist. Sometimes, thesetheories are conflicting, underscoring the importance for making a distinction between psychobabble (folktheory) and claims based upon empirical psychological research. Consider the following four pairs ofincompatible folk theories:

1. Absence makes the heart grow fonder vs. Out of sight, out of mind

2. Many hands make light work vs. Too many cooks spoil the broth

3. Birds of a feather flock together vs. Opposites Attract

4. You're never too old to learn vs. You can't teach an old dog new tricks

It is likely you have heard at least one of these folk theories. Perhaps you personally subscribe to one orseveral of them. However, as students of Psychology, you now realize the importance of distinguishing betweenfolk theory (psychobabble) and claims based upon empirical research. In other words, when considering thesefolk theories, you should ask yourself, "Is there empirical psychological evidence to support this claim?" andthen seek that evidence. Toward that end, the primary goal of this paper is to select one folk theory thatinterests you and find out whether psychological research supports or refutes that theory.

Goals for this paper:

1. Select one of the folk theories (e.g., opposites attract) and describe, in your own words, what the folk theorymeans.

2. Formulate a hypothesis that would allow you to test some aspect of the theory you selected.

3. Based on your description and hypothesis, come up with some key terms that should help you search forscientific articles that have explored the topic you chose.

4. Find one empirical article in a peer-reviewed psychological journal that is relevant to your hypothesis.

Preferably, the article either supports or refutes your prediction. Hint: An empirical article has a methodsand results section.

5. Briefly explain, in your own words, both the method and results of the empirical study.

6. Describe how the research either supports or refutes the theory you chose.

7. Critically analyze the article you read.

8. Provide a reference in APA format for the article that you cite in your summary.

Specific Paper Content:

In the first paragraph of your paper, you will:

Name the folk theory you chose and describe IN YOUR OWN WORDS what it means. Next, formulate ahypothesis that would allow one to test some aspect of the theory you selected.

In the second paragraph, you will:

Relate the folk theory you chose to one empirical article in a peer-reviewed psychological journal. Specifically,describe the purpose of the study and the primary hypothesis the researcher(s) tested. Make sure the relevance(or link) between the testable hypothesis you developed and the hypothesis the researcher(s) tested is clear andappropriate (i.e., they are conceptually similar).

In the next 1-2 paragraphs, you will:

Summarize, in your own words, the method of the empirical study. A good summary will address theseimportant points:

Who were the subjects and how many?

What methodology did the researchers use (experiment, observation, psychological tests, surveys,narratives, mixed-method, etc.)? You should succinctly describe how the researchers tested theirhypothesis by explaining the procedure they employed to measure the variables of central interest. Inother words, what did they ask the participants in the study to do?

In the next 1-2 paragraphs, you will:

Summarize, in your own words, the results of the empirical study. A good summary will clearly explain themain findings as they relate to the hypothesis that was tested. Be sure to explicitly state how the results supportor refute the folk theory you chose.

In the final 1-2 paragraphs you will:

Conclude your paper by critically analyzing the empirical study you read and how it related to your folk theory.

In other words, depending on whether the research supported or refuted your folk theory, are you convinced ofthose findings? Can you imagine a scenario in which you might find contradictory results? Discuss directionsfor future research that may either further support the research findings or lead to a conclusion that differedfrom the results of the study you read. For example, you may choose to discuss at least one of the following:

• Would you expect similar results if you did the same study with a different age group? Differentcultural group?Other demographic variables (race, ethnicity, SES, education, sexual orientation,gender orientation, etc.)?

• Would you expect similar results if you operationalized the hypothesis differently? In otherwords, are there other ways of measuring the variables of interest that may either support orrefute the folk theory?

• Would you expect similar results if the research was framed from a different theoreticalperspective? For example, what perspective did the authors of the study you read adopt(cognitive, developmental, social, personality, clinical, behavioral, psychoanalytic,neurospsychology, combined/eclectic approach, etc.). Would framing this particular problemusing a different theoretical lens support the findings or potentially lend new insight into thisphenomenon?

Reference Page:

You will prepare a reference page for the article you read. You will cite the article in proper APA format.

Response must be APA format will be provided in section.