New Society

RESEARCH DIGEST

New Society 7 November 1986

What use is psychology?

Ordinary people who know nothing about psychology can predict the results of psychological experiments with reasonable accuracy on their own common sense. This finding that most hard-won psychological knowledge is in fact self-evid 11411f511l ent comes from John Houston , of the University of California at Los Angeles (Psychological Reports, vol.57, No.2, page 567).

Houston, a psychologist himself, placed a poster which read "Earn $5 by answering 21 questions about behavior" in a local park on a Sunday afternoon. He got 50 respondents who had never read a book on experimental psychology or studied the subject, and they completed a questionnaire consisting of 21 questions each of which embodied a principle relating to the working of the memory.

For example, they were asked how pigeons would behave if they expected food to be left on a particular windowsill because this had been so over a long period, and then found it empty one day. And they were asked which words in a word list were easiest to remember after they had been read aloud by somebody else.

Of the 21 items, 16 were answered correctly more often than chance would have predicted. Older and better educated people were more likely to be correct But one question, where the correct experimentally verified answer seems to contradict common sense, received significantly more wrong answers than might have been expected by chance.

Houston concludes that psychology is, at least partly, "a system of self-evident information." But he points out that what psychology does offer is precise measurement of such phenomena and a theoretical explanation.

New Society 6 June 1986

Eating people is wrong

Attitudes to the Russians among Americans shifted dramatically immediately after the shooting down of the Korean civilian airliner in 1983, according to a very small study carried out by David Krus of Arizona State University (Psychological Reports, vol.59, No.1, page 3).

The attribution of atrocities to other nationalities has long been regarded as a very effective measure of attitude, and one of the most significant attributions of atrocity is the accusation of cannibalism.

A study of the popularity of other nationalities had been carried out shortly before the KAL incident. Krus then administered a modified version of his test to 39 students immediately after the incident.

The students were asked to read a fictitious passage which described a New Zealand airliner crashing en route to the South Pole. There were 264 passengers on board, representing 21 nationalities. When the rescue party arrived half the passengers were dead and had been partially eaten by the survivors. Which nationalities would be most likely to commit cannibalism in the period of hardship and starvation following the crash?

The Russian passengers were rated fifth most likely to eat human flesh before the shooting down of the airliner, but jumped to the top immediately afterwards. Not surprisingly, the English and white Americans were consistently seen as least likely to resort to cannibalism.

New Society 25 April 1986

Too relaxed to read?

Backward readers can be helped more by teaching them to read than by teaching them to relax, according to Cristopher Sharpley, of Monash University, Australia, and Steven Rowland, of the Scot's School, Australia (British Journal of Educational Psychology, vol.56, part 1, page 40).

Previous studies have suggested that backward readers experience stress caused by anxiety at failure, and that their learning can be improved by teaching relaxation.

The study involved 50 nine to eleven year old children, in five small primary schools, in four country towns in New South Wales. The children were divided into five groups. One group were taught to lower their muscle tension by using electromyographic biofeedback (which involves electrodes attached to a forearm and to a visual display dial); the second was given relaxation training; and the third had remedial teaching based on phonics and comprehension. In addition, one of two control groups had daily reading tests (as did the three experimental groups) and the other did not.

The children's accuracy, speed and comprehension in reading were measured for two weeks, then the different treatments were given for five weeks. The results showed that only the group which had received remedial teaching improved in reading accuracy. No group improved in reading speed - and this even decreased for the group which experienced biofeedback.

All the experimental groups showed gains in comprehension, as did the first control group, suggesting that this was an effect of increased reading practice.

The authors sugest that reducing stress may have worked against any improvement in reading (an optimum level of stress being necessary for successful learning), or that teaching the children to relax reduced the attention they gave to their reading.

So while the relaxation may be of general benefit, reducing the symptoms of stress seems to be less helpful than reducing its cause - failure.

APPROACHING THE TEXT	These brief research reports appeared in a weekly magazine (New Society) addressed to an educated public. Though less detailed and specialistic than the examples of academic research reports given elsewhere in this coursebook, they are similar to the latter in the type of information they contain. ► Before reading the reports, indicate the kinds of information you would expect to find in a research report.
WORKSHEET 1	Scanning ► Scan the reports in order to answer the following questions: 1. Which researcher paid his subjects to participate in his research? __________ ______ ____ ________________ Which study was carried out in Australia? __________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _________ Which study made use of a questionnaire? __________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _________ Which study involved dividing the subjects into groups? __________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _________ Which study used the fewest subjects? How many? __________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _________
	Familiarity with the genre or text type which is being read is of considerable help in approaching any text. If the reader is aware of the kind of information which is likely to be found, and its probable position in the text,  his expectations are heightened and he can process the information in the text more quickly and efficiently.
WORKSHEET  2	Skimming for text structure ► Skim each article and complete the flow charts below by inserting one of the following headings (indicating various types of information) in each box. Indicate also the paragraph(s) which contain the information. (Headings have been inserted for the first report.) Procedure - General assumptions (including previous work on the subject) - Conclusions - Summary (including researcher/s and publication) - Results

What use is psychology? Eating people is wrong Too relaxed to read?

Summary         (par.      )	(par. )	(par. )
Procedure         (par.      )	(par. )	(par. )
Results (par. )	(par. )	(par. )
Conclusions (par.      )	(par. )	(par. )
		(par. )

INTENSIVE READING
WORKSHEET 3	Checking understanding ► Read carefully the research report "What use is psychology?" and answer the following questions? What common characteristic did Houston's subjects have? What common characteristic did his questions have? How can the higher incidence of wrong answers to one of the question be explained? What use, then, is psychology, according to Houston?
WORKSHEET 4	Information extraction ► Read carefully the research report "Eating people is wrong" and complete the table below:

Title of research
Researcher and affiliation
Published in
Purpose of research	To verify changes in attitude towards national groups
When conducted
Procedure
Results

WORKSHEET 5

Information extraction ► Read carefully the research report "Too relaxed to read?" and complete the table below. Phase 1 of experiment (2 weeks) Procedure for all groups __________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _______________ Phase 2 (5 weeks)

Group	Procedure	Results
		Accuracy	Speed	Comprehension
				improved
			No improvement
		No improvement

Conclusions __________ ______ ____ ________________

__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _____________

__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _____________

LANGUAGE WORK

► In preparation for the following activity, re-read the three research reports and underline all the verbs. Note that the single sections of the reports are usually characterized by a particular verb tense. For example, the section regarding general assumptions will normally include verbs in the present tense, used to express "general truths" or describe a situation, or verb in the present perfect, used in this case to imply present relevance of a past event. If a section regarding the purpose of the research is included, we are likely to find the infinitive of purpose (e.g. "To determine whether 'x' was true, a questionnaire was distributed.") or alternative linguistic forms ("For the purpose of.", "In order to."). Sections on procedure and results will predictably make wide use of the past or past perfect tense, while comments and conclusions may include forms expressing possibility or probability ("'x' may occur.") "'y' may have depended on."), or present or future tenses ("When 'x' is the case, 'y' will occur."). Notice also the frequency of passive forms ("Subjects were asked to complete.", "50 questions were answered.").

WORKSHEET 6

Identifying tense patterns ► Complete the research report below by inserting the appropriate tense of the verbs in brackets. (Remember that certain tenses are recurrent in the different sections of a research report, as described above.) Use one form expressing probability or possibility.

(converse) When foreigners ____________ in English, their bodies seem to do

(know) likewise. Researchers _________ for some time that Arabs,

(prefer) South Americans, and Eastern Europeans __________ close conversa-

tional encounters, while Asians, Northern Europeans and North Americans

(keep) ____________ their distance.

In the most recent study, 35 Japanese and 31 Venesuelean students who

(study) __________ English before coming to America, and 39 American

(talk) students each ___________ to someone from his or her own country

(tell) about hobbies or sports. Half of the foreign students ____________

to speak in their native language, the others to speak in English.

(ask), (talk) The participants ___________ to sit down when they ___________ ,

(have to) and ____________ arrange their own chairs. Speaking their native

(perform) languages, each group ___________ as expected. The Venesuelans

(sit) ____________ closest (32.2 inches apart on average), the

(be) Americans _________ in between (35.4 inches), and the Japanese

(place) ___________ their chairs farthest apart (40.2 inches). But the

(change) spacing ___________ dramatically for the foreign students speaking

English. The Venesuelans sat an average of 7.9 inches farther away than

Tehir countrymen speaking Spanish - farther away, in fact, than the

(move) Americans. The Japanese students _________ their chairs an average

of 1.6 inches closer than the Japanese who were speaking Japanese.

Why did the English speaking Venesuelans choose such such a large

(speculate) distance? Perhaps, the researchers __________ because

(know) they were not sure of the American "distance norms. They _________

the proper direction to move, but not how far." Why did the English-

speaking Japanese make a smaller adjustment? The researchers

(suggest), (be) ___________ that this ______ due to the fact that they did not

speak English as well as the Venesuelans.

(do) The research _________ by Nan Sussman, a psychologist at

the International Council on Education for Teaching, Washington, D.C.

with Howard Rosenfield, a psychologist at the University of Kansas.

(appear) A repot _________ in The Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, Vol.42, No.1

Adapted from an article in Psychology Today, July 1982.

WORKSHEET 7

Checking understanding ► Making reference to the text, decide whether the statements below are true or false. Each of the participants spoke to someone from a different country. All the foreign students spoke in English The participants positioned their own chairs. The language spoken by each participant did not affect the result of the experiment.

VOCABULARY WORK

AND WORD BUILDING                  ► Find the words in the text, decide the word class, and write it and the translation of the word in the space provided.

► Then complete the table by forming other words using appropriate suffixes if necessary. Consult your dictionary both for this task and for the rest of the vocabulary practice.

VOCABULARY WORK					WORD BUILDING
Word and Location	Class	Translation	Synonym(s)	Antonym(s)	Noun	Verb	Adjective	Adverb
Accuracy (1, par.1)
Accusation (2,2)
Administered (2,3)
Anxiety (3,2)
Behave (1,3)
Comprehension (3,3)
Concludes (1,5)
Contradict (1,4)
Correctly (1,4)
Experimental (1,2)
Measurement
Partially (2,4)
Predict (1,1)
Psychological (1,1)
Questionnaire (1,2)
Respondent (1,2)
Significant (2,2)
Theoretical (1, 5)

OBSERVATIONS ON TEXT TYPE                 BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT

Function:	To summarize an extended research project for the general reader
Structure:	Although individual examples may deviate somewhat from the general model, the report normally includes the following sections:
	A B C D E F	Brief summary General assumptions Purpose of the research Procedure or method Results of the research Conclusions/ comments	of the main points of the research, including researchers and place of publication remarks or other background information where the author introduces the subject and may report the state of present knowledge or current beliefs regarding the subject of the research where the aim of the present investigation is explained in which the various steps of the research project are explained, the subjects described and the means of gathering the data are set forth (e.g. through questionnaires, interviews, experiments, and so on) including what new information, if any, emerged from the analysis of data including general remarks regarding the findings of the research and their relevance in some larger context
Aspects of language:	In the research report we will tend to find language with a descriptive, not evaluative, function, and therefore a prevalence of nouns and verbs and a low density of adjectives. See pg. XXXX for a discussion of recurrent tense patterns in research reports

EXTENSION

The Tense System (Review)

Introduction

There are three classes of verbs in English:

The auxiliary verbs

The verbs do, be and have are used as auxiliary  verbs to form different sentences.

Do

a.        Do is used as an auxiliary verb to form negative and question forms of the present simple and did is used in the past simple:

Present Simple Past Simple

Negative I don't understand. I didn't agree.

They don't like it. He didn't pass.

She doesn't cut meat. They didn't like it.

Question Do they like it? Did they enjoy it?

What does he want? When did they arrive?

Don't you want to come? Don't we go to the

same school?

Doesn't she know him?

b.        Do is only used in the positive to give emphasis to a verb

Present Simple Past Simple

She isn't lazy. She I did try to phone,

does try hard. but there was no

answer.

c.        Do is used in tag questions and short answers

Present Simple Past Simple

You think it'll work, It worked,

don't you? didn't it?

He knows I'm here,

doesn't he?

A: You don't want to go A: Who made the

Do you? cake?

B. I do. B. Jack did.

Be

a.        Be as an auxiliary + past participle (-ing) is used to form continuous tenses:

Alice is writing a book.

We were going for a walk.

I've been trying to get hold of you for a week.

We'll be leaving soon.

b. Be + past participle (-ed etc.) is used to form passive sentences:

Paper is made from wood.

My car is being repaired at the moment.

He was injured in a car accident.

I'll be finished soon.

They've been robbed.

Have

Have as an auxiliary + past participle (-ed etc.) is used to form perfect tenses:

I've never been there before.

By the time we arrived they had left.

Will you have finished by lunch time?

2. Modal auxiliary verbs

Modal auxiliary verbs are auxiliary because they "help" other verbs, but unlike do, be and have (which only help to form tenses) modal auxiliaries have their own meanings. They express certainty, ability, possibility and advice.

He must be at least sixty. (certainty)

I can't swim. (ability)

It might rain this afternoon. (possibility)

You should rest for a few days (advice)

The modal auxiliary verbs are: can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must, ought, need.

3. Full verbs

Full verbs are all the other verbs in the language, for example go, walk, think, help, eat.

English Tense Usage

English tenses have two elements of meaning:

TIME - Is the verb action present, past or future?

ASPECT - How does the speaker see the verb action?

Examples

She's talking on the phone.

TIME - present

ASPECT - activity in progress now

I saw a good film last night.

TIME past

ASPECT - action completed at a specific time

Have you ever seen "Gone with the Wind"?

TIME - before now

ASPECT - the exact time when is not important. The question asks about an experience at any time in the past.

I'll give you my phone number.

TIME - immediate future

ASPECT - spontaneous intention

I'm going to give Helen a plant for her birthday

TIME - future

ASPECT - planned action

These are two aspects in the English tense system; they are called continuous and perfect.

Continuous aspect

The continuous aspect expresses the following ideas:

a. activity in progress

Don't interrupt me. I'm thinking. Why aren't you working?

I was going out of the hotel when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

Don't phone her at 8.00. She'll be having dinner.

Why don't you stop reading now? You've been reading all day.

b. temporary activity

We're living in a hotel until we can find a house to buy.

You're being very silly today. Usually you are so sensible.

c.  possibly incomplete activity

Who's been eating my sandwich?

(Compare: Who's eaten my sandwich?)

I was writing the report on the plane.

(Compare: I wrote the report on the plane).

There are four main groups of state verbs that are rarely used in continuous tenses. This is because they have the idea of permanency and completeness, which conflicts with "b' and "c" above.

Verbs of mind and thinking:

Believe, think, assume, consider, understand

Suppose expect agree know remember forget

Verbs of emotion:

Like love detest envy hate hope prefer wish want

Verbs of having and being:

Belong own depend contain cost seem appear need have

Verbs of the senses:

See hear taste smell

Some of these verbs can be used in continuous tenses when the verb expresses an activity, not a state. However, the meaning changes slightly.

Compare the use of simple and continuous tenses in the following pairs of sentences:

I think it's a great idea. ("think" as opinion i.e. a state)

He's thinking of emigrating ("think" as mental process, i.e. an activity)

I see what you mean. ("see" meaning "understand")

I'm seeing Jenny this afternoon. ("see" meaning "meet")

This soup tastes delicious. (a state).

I'm tasting the soup to see if it needs more salt. (an activity)

I expect you'd like something to eat ("expect" meaning "suppose")

She's expaecting a baby. (She's pregnant).

Perfect aspect

The perfect aspect expresses the following ideas:

a.        The exact time of the verb action is not important.

I've bought a new car.

Have you seen my wallet anywhere. I've lost it.

b.        The action is completed before another time.

Have you ever been to America? (sometime before now)

When I arrived, he had already left (some time before I arrived)

I'll have finished the report by tonight (some time before tonight)

The Present Perfect, Past Perfect and Future Perfect could perhaps be named "Before-present", "Before-past" and "Before-future" to give a more accurate description.

Identifying tenses

Write in the correct verb form, using the verb in bold.

Walk

A Our baby Jack __________ now. He's just twelve    months old.

B 'How did you get therre?'

'We _________ It didn't take long.'

C After ten miles I had to stop for a rest.

We __________ non-stop for four hours.

Take

D My dog looked guilty. He __________ some food from the kitchen table.

E It was a hard match. At half-time, one of the footballers _______________ to hospital.

F 'This shirt is $45, sir.'

' 'That's fine. I _________ it.'

Have

G I think we should buy a new car.

We ________ this one for ages.

H Don't phone at 8.00 this evening.

We _________ dinner then.

I We ________ a lovely picnic until my wife was stung by a bee.

Make

J This is a great sandwich shop. Everything _____

freshly

K By the time I'm forty I _________ enough money to retire.

L Have you heard about Lenny? He _________ redundant.

Wash

M 'Where are my jeans?' "They _______ at the moment. Sorry.'

N My favorite white T-shirt went pink. It ________

with my daughter's red sweater.

O 'Why are you all wet?' "I __________ the car.

Sell

P I wish I'd bought that antique chair I saw in the shop window. It ________ by now.

Q My sister earns a good salary. She __________

life insurance policies.       

R If no one offers to buy the house, it _______ by auction next month.

Teach

S at the end of this term I __________ for six years.

T The soldiers _________ how to use grenades when unfortunately one blew up and injured them.

Complete the tense chart with the verb forms from Exercise !. There is one for each gap.

Active	Simple	Continuous
Present
Past
Future
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
Future Perfect
Passive	Simple	Continuous
Present
Past
Future
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
Future Perfect

2 Correcting mistakes

Three of the sentences in this exercise are correct. Put a tick next to them. All the other sentences contain mistakes. Put a cross ( next to them and correct them.

It's been really cold lately, so I've bought some new thermal underwear.

Manchester United play really well at the moment. Their new player has real talent. .

I've heard you'll have a baby! Congratulations. .

Was Tim working in Barcelona while you were working in Madrid? .

When I was a little girl, I've always spent my pocket money on sweets. .

I went out with Paul for two years now, and we're still crazy about each other. .

I can't decide what to buy my brother for his birthday. Perhaps I'm going to get him a new shirt. .

She'd trained do hard for the Olympics that I felt sure she would get at least a bronze medal. .

A one-day strike has called by London Underground staff for Friday this week. .

The teacher said that Megan had been working hard and was deserved to pass all her exams. .

3 Choosing the right tense

Read the telephone conversation between Mr Lewis and June the travel agent. Put the verbs into the correct tense. Sometimes there is more than one possibility.

A holiday in South Africa

J  Good morning. Fairweather Travel, June speaking. How can I help you?

Mr L Good morning. I (1) __________ (look) at your brochure on holidays in Cape Town and the Westen Cape and I (2) ______­­___ (wonder) if you could give me some more information?

J Certainly, Mr.?

Mr L  It's Lewis, Mr Lewis.

J  Well, as it happens, Mr Lewis, I (3) _________ (go) to Cape Town myself last Christmas. I (4) _______ never ______ (be) there before. I (5) ________ (do) some research for Fairweather Travel, so I (6) _______ (get) to know the city pretty well.

Mr L Really! Then you're just the person to talk to. Tell me, (7) ________ you ______ (feel) safe? There (8) _________ (be) so much unrest in South Africa recently. J  Well, Mr Lewis, I (9) _______ (visit) many countries on behalf of Fairweather Travel, and I have to say that I (10) ________ (feel) very safe the whole time I (11) _______ (travel) around South Africa.

Mr L  That's reassuring. My three children (12) _______ (look forward) to seeing Table Mountain. My wife (13) _______ (hope) to sample some South African wine. (14) ______ that _______ (be) possible?

J  Oh, yes indeed. There are tours to many of the vineyards and wine cellars. Your wife (15) _______ (be able) to try some really good wines. South Africa (16) _________ (produce) some of the best wine and brandy in the world.

Mr L  How interesting. Well, you (17) _______ (be) most helpful. I (18) ______ (get) back to you as soon as possible, after I (19) ________ (discuss) it with my wife. Thank you very much. Goodbye.

J  Goodbye.

Passives

4 Active or passive

A. These sentences sound unnatural in the active. Rewrite them using the passive.

They don't make Volvos in Norway.

Volvos

They built our house in the 17^th century.

Our house__________ ______ ____ _____

Has someone decorated your room?

Has__________ ______ ____ __________ ?

Someone's decorating my bedroom at the moment.

My bedroom

We moved out of our house while they were building the extension.

While the extension

We arrived home from holiday to find someone had burgled our house.

They won't recognize her in those dark glasses.

She __________ ______ ____ ___________

B. Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense, active or passive.

The robbers __________ (catch) as they ______ (leave) the bank.

Jo ___________ (arrive) home to find feathers everywhere. Her cat _______ (catch) a bird.

Our dustbins ________ (empty) on a Monday.

Mr Taylor was furious with the newsagent because his Sunday newspaper __________ (not deliver).

It's a very upsetting time for Aunt Mary. Her budgie ________ (miss) for three days now.

Why _____ you _____ (not like) going to the opera? We _______ (love) it. We _______ (see) La Bohème next Saturday.

We _________ (drive) down a quiet country lane when suddenly we ______ (overtake) by a police car.

When I woke up this morning, the world looked like a wonderland. It ___________ (snow) all night.

Don't worry. When you _______ (arrive) in New York, you _______ (pick up) by one of our drivers and taken to the conference center.