psyc 1110
TRANSCRIPT
PSYC 1110
Psychology in the Popular Media Assignment Tips
Pay attention to the highlighted phrases and words in the news clipping that you are given.
• READ YOUR ASSIGNMENT CAREFULLY!• It lists all the steps to do well
Brain Damage for Easier Moral Choices • Section:• news SCAN• NEUR0SCIENCE• How long would you hesitate before pushing someone in front of a runaway train to keep it
from killing five other people? The answer may be no time at all, if you have damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPC)--a region in the forebrain associated with emotional response. Researchers confronted volunteers with such scenarios and found that those with VMPC injury were three times more likely than healthy people to advocate throwing the person to certain death for the good of the many. In a similar scenario, VMPC patients were five times more likely to advocate smothering one's baby to save others. Senior author Antonio Damasio of the University of Southern California says that the patients are not amoral but seem to lack the natural conflict between emotion and reason. The study, in the March 22 Nature, also shows that such decisions result not from a single moral faculty but from two different processes that can compete with each other.
• ~~~~~~~~• By Nikhil Swaminathan
Choose Guides A-Z
• Each study is searchable through the PsycINFO datbase.
• Follow the steps in these slides to search PsycINFO…
• Start at the Mount Library: www.msvu.ca/library
Choose Psychology
Choose PsycINFO
Add the clues from your news article.
• Use keywords, or other search fields if available.
• If general keyword do not work, the drop down menu under Select a Field allows you to get more specific, such as the journal name (i.e., SO Publication Name), the institute where the study took place (i.e., AF Author Affiliation), or the name of one or more of the authors (i.e., AU Author).
• You may have to add or omit certain search terms and alter the way results are displayed (e.g., order by date vs. relevance) to find your study.
Remember to take a screen shot of your results page that includes your search terms.
Click PDF full Text, or if no PDF, try Check for full text.
Confirm that the article is the same as the one described in the news clipping
Next, you will provide a brief summary of the journal article and provide commentary on how the information in the journal article compares to the information provided by the news clipping you were given. Read your assignment for more details.
