University of Nairobi Module 4 Developmental Pillar Evidence Worksheet 3

Please complete this assignment in Canvas, and submit your responses by the deadline. Here’s a word doc version you may work from: Evidence Worksheet 3.docx

Module 4: Developmental Pillar: Learning, Lifespan Development, Language

Assignment: Evaluating the Evidence Worksheet 3 (10 points 3

We are consistently presented with claims about human behavior and mental processes on a near daily basis. It is important that we begin to develop skills required to critically evaluate these claims. These critical thinking skills will help us understand what we are being asked to believe, evaluate the evidence supporting claims, and assist us in deciding whether we want to base our own judgements on these claims. Below you will find two claims related to Module 4. Select one and proceed with completing the evidence worksheet.

Claim 5: Children raised in similar ways have similar personalities.

-OR-

Claim 6: Too much sugar causes hyperactivity in children.

1. Choose ONE of the Claims above to evaluate. Which type of claim is it: Frequency, Association, or Causal? EXPLAIN your answer.

1. Search for and read ONE primary source of evidence related to this claim (i.e., a peer-reviewed scientific journal article written by the researchers themselves). If you begin with a media article or other non-scientific website (secondary source), find the original research journal article described in the secondary source. You could begin with a simple Google search of the question related to the claim, but again, you’ll want to find a primary research source, perhaps from a link in a secondary source, through scholar.google.com (Links to an external site.), or better yet, in the library’s PsycArticles + PsycInfo (Links to an external site.) database (log into my.rockford.edu > Library > scroll down to Databases by Subject > Psychology > select PsycArticles + PsychInfo (not PsycTests)). You could also look into an article from the References section from the Module 4 Required Readings (Noba chapters). Please email me if I can be of assistance. WHERE did you find evidence? Provide the researcher’s name, year of publications, and weblink or “digital object identifier” (doi) for the article or the abstract you evaluated.

For example, if I were investigating the claim that “Humans use 10% of their brain capacity,” I might start by Googling “Percent of brain humans use,” which would bring me to this secondary source media article. (Links to an external site.)From here, I would select the link for the “study published (Links to an external site.)” mentioned in the media article, which would bring me to the primary source journal article, in this case, a systematic review of several studies. So, my answer to this question would be: Herculano-Houzel (2009), doi: 10.3389/neuro.09.031.2009 (Links to an external site.)

1. WHAT did the evidence say? Briefly describe the researcher’s methods and conclusions. If you do not have access to the full article, briefly describe the Abstract for the article, in your own words.

1. What TYPE of evidence was it? List only the types of evidence the researcher produced.

Case study

Survey

Correlational study

Quasi-experimental study

Longitudinal study

Controlled Experimental study

Systematic review or meta-analysis of many studies

1. Evaluate whether the types of methods used in the study (descriptive, correlational, or experimental) appropriately matched the type of claim (frequency, association, or causal).