Psyc 181 Research Summary and Critique Rubric

Instructions: Read the article Who Multi-Tasks and Why? Multi-tasking Ability, Perceived MultiTasking Ability, Impulsivity, and Sensation Seeking by David Sanbonmatsu and
colleagues, posted under the "Assignments" tab on Blackboard. Then write a critical
response essay/paper. Use this rubric as an organizational guide, and answer all the
questions listed in this rubric.
Length/style: Make your paper between 3-4 pages, double-spaced, in 12 point Times New Roman font,
with 1 inch margins. Organize the paper according to the template provided on page 2,
with all the appropriate headings. Papers lacking the required length or organization will
not be graded.
Submission: Submit your paper electronically via SafeAssign on Blackboard.
Papers must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. on the deadline. The SafeAssign portal will close
at this time; late submissions will not be accepted. It is your responsibility to double
check and verify that your submission has gone through successfully before the deadline.
Contact your T.A. with any questions.
Deadlines:

Section 150- 4:30 p.m. Tuesday March 31st.

Section 250- 4:30 p.m. Tuesday April 7th.

Follow the template provided on Blackboard and address all of the questions contained in the rubric
below. Use complete sentences; write in paragraphs. All information contained in your paper must be
written in your own words. Papers with direct quotations will not be graded. Plagiarism of any
kind will be treated as academic dishonesty- see syllabus and UNL student handbook for details.
- Put everything in your own words. Inserting sentences from the book/article and putting them in
quotations is not acceptable. Taking sentences from the book/article and changing only a few
words is not acceptable.
You only need to use the Sanbonmatsu article provided to write this paper. You may use information
from your textbook to support your arguments if you wish. Properly cite references to material from the
textbook when making in-text references. Format in-text references as follows (Author's Last Name,
page number). Do not cite dictionaries, Wikipedia, or other sources in your paper.
If you have any questions, contact your T.A. or come to T.A. office hours. It is our job to help you get
through this paper.
The UNL Writing Center is also available by appointment for writing consultation
(http://www.unl.edu/writing/home).

Psyc 181 Research Summary and Critique Rubric

How to write your paper
1. Create a heading on your paper in the heading section. Write your full name left aligned.
Write the course and section number right aligned. This heading should be 1 line across in the
header section (do not try to cheat extra length out of your paper by adding a long heading!)
Section 1: Summarize each section of the article
1. Create the title Summary and center it at the top of the page.
2. Provided all of the following information in your summary. Use your own words. Any papers
containing text copied from your book, the article, or another students paper will not be graded.
Do not use quotes or quotation marks- put the ideas in your own words instead.
a. Address all points in the Background section of the rubric (1-2 paragraphs)
i. In 1-2 sentences, summarize the background research that lead to the current
investigation. In other words, explain what brought about this current research.
Describe what is known/not known from the research literature described in the
introduction to this article.
ii. Explain the purpose of this research. In other words, what do the researchers want
to understand, and why do they say that this research is important? What is their
research question?
iii. What is the hypothesis of this study? In other words, what do the researchers
expect to find? State the hypothesis using your own words.
iv. What justification do the authors provide that gives support to their hypothesis? In
other words, why do the authors make such a prediction?
b. Address all points in the Method section of the rubric (1-2 paragraphs)
i. Describe the participants in the study, what groups were used and how were the
groups created.
ii. Indicate what type of research method was used (Experimental? Correlational?
Descriptive?) and how do you know? In other words, what elements of the study
led you to know what type of research method was being used?
iii. Describe each of the variables of interest, and how they were measured
(questionnaire? Task?) In other words, what questionnaires/tasks did the authors
use, and what are they designed to measure?
iv. For each measurement- was it used as independent or dependent variable in this
study, and how do you know?
c. Address all points in the Results section of the rubric (1-2 paragraphs)
i. What were the results? Do not cite statistics or numbers; summarize (describe in
words) the findings. In other words, what do the statistics mean?
ii. Indicate whether or not the results support the hypothesis.
iii. Describe the overall conclusions of this study. What conclusions do the authors
make? (2-3 sentences).
Section 2: Provide a detailed critique of the article
Address all points in the Critical Review section of the rubric:

Psyc 181 Research Summary and Critique Rubric

1. Create the title Critical Review and center it just below your Summary.
2. Describe the significance of the results of this study. In other words, why are these results
important? What do the results contribute to our understanding of peoples thoughts and
behaviors in psychology or apply to real-world situations / applications for better
understanding human nature? Do not use personal experience or anecdotes; instead discuss
the significance as is applies to people and psychology in general. (1-2 paragraphs)
3. Please describe, in paragraph form, a thoughtful critique of the article. Use the following
questions as a guide. Do not tell your personal experience; instead, write thoughtful scientific
critique about the articles methods and results, and use logical justification to support your
arguments. You do not need to answer every question below, but you must make an
organized, well thought out argument supported by logical justification. (1-2 paragraphs).
a. Were there any other variables, other than the ones they studied, that might have
affected the results of this study and hence, cause us to question their findings?
b. How realistically does this articles methods reflect how people multi-task in real life?
How could the study have been designed differently to better address their research
question?
c. Is there anything that the authors could have done to make their findings easier to
understand (i.e., would more graphs or pictures help)?
d. What other investigations should be done in the future to better understand the
relationship between the variables that the authors were studying?
Section 3: Reference.
2. Create the title Reference and center it just below your critical review (same page).
3. Cite the journal article using APA formatting standards (pay attention to capitalization and
punctuation). Example:
Last name, FI., Last name, FI., & Last name, FI. (year). Title with first letter of first word
capitalized and first word after color or question mark capitalized. Journal Title, volume(issue), page
numbers.
How your paper will be graded (Grading Rubric)

Psyc 181 Research Summary and Critique Rubric

I. Summary
Background
- Background research is clearly and thoroughly described. Description of
background research is appropriate and relevant to the study. (4 points)
- The purpose of this study (research question) is discussed in a clear and accurate
way. (3 points)
- The research hypotheses for this study (what results the researcher expect to find)
are clearly defined in your own words. (3 points)
Method
- Characteristics of the participants used in this study are clearly and accurately
described (2 points)
- Research method is correctly identified and explained with logical and correct
reasoning. (2 points)
- Variables of interest are accurately identified. Measures are clearly and
accurately described. (4 points)
- Each of the variables is correctly identified as independent or dependent
variables, with appropriate justifications for why. (4 points)
Results
- Results of the study are appropriately and accurately summarized in your own
words to demonstrate understanding. (Described with words, not numbers.) (5
points)
- Results are compared to the research hypotheses accurately. (3 points)
- Description of the overall results is thorough and accurate. Conclusions made by
the authors are accurately described in your own words to demonstrate your
understanding (4 points)
II. Critical Review
- Justification for the significance of results of this study is provided in a clear,
well thought out response. (8 points)
- Article critique thoughtfully and appropriate addresses the questions outlined in
the guide. Article critique is discussed in a sophisticated way that portrays an
understanding of the material in the article. (8 points)
III. Citation
- Reference is properly formatted following all APA guidelines
IV. Style
- Writing is clear, coherent and free of grammatical and spelling errors.
o Writing uses complete sentences and correct paragraph structure.
o Writing uses correct sentence structure, paragraph structure, and overall
flow of the paper is logical and well organized.
o Writing is free of grammatical errors and correctly uses commas.
- Follow rules of academic writing, do not use conversational language.
o Words are spelled out without using contractions. (e.g., it is instead of
it's, do not instead of don't, will not instead of won't, etc.)
o Writing uses third person (he/she/it) instead of first person (I) and
second person (you).
- Follow all length and formatting requirements.
o Heading is properly organized, following all instructions
o Paper is proper length
TOTAL

(32 points)

10 points

12 points

12 points

(16 points)
16 points

(4 points)
4 points
(12 points)

12 points

66 POINTS