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Journal of Divorce &
Remarriage
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Impact of Parental Divorce
on Children’s Dreams
Karoline Proksch Dipl. Psych. a & Michael
Schredl Dipl. Psych. a
a Lucidity Institute, Stanford, CA, USA
b Sleep Laboratory, Central Institute of
Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
Available online: 1
2
Oct 2008
To cite this article: Karoline Proksch Dipl. Psych. & Michael Schredl Dipl.
Psych. (1999): Impact of Parental Divorce on Children’s Dreams, Journal of
Divorce & Remarriage, 30:1-2, 71-82
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Impact of Parental Divorce
on Children’s Dreams
Karoline Proksch
Michael Schredl
ABSTRACT. The present article summarizes the findings of major
studies investigating the effect of stress on dreams. Forty-four children
(11 to 13 yrs.) participated in this study to investigate the impact of
parental divorce on their dreams. The dreams of the acute divorce
group have not been, as expected, more negatively toned but showed
more ‘‘primitivity’’ and ‘‘unsuccessful roles.’’ These findings were
discussed within the continuity and mastery hypothesis of
dreaming
.
[Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service:
1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworthpressinc.com]
KEYWORDS. Dream content, stress, divorce, children, sleep disor-
ders
In 1994, about 30% of all marriages in Germany ended with separa-
tion (Statistisches Bundesamt, 1996). The process of divorce for all
persons is a period of transition which may be accompanied by stress,
depression, and other problems (e.g., Emery, 1994). At least one child
was present in 54% of the divorce cases (Statistisches Bundesamt,
1996). These children often experienced family quarrels prior to the
divorce, at times accompanied by violence, the breaking-off of paren-
tal relationships, or a complete separation from one parent. Results of
Karoline Proksch, Dipl. Psych., is affiliated with the Lucidity Institute, Stanford,
CA. Michael Schredl, Dipl. Psych., is affiliated with the Sleep Laboratory, Central
Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany.
Address correspondence to: M. Schredl, Schlaflabor, Zentralinstitut für Seelische
Gesundheit, Postfach 12 21 20, 68072 Mannheim, Germany.
Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, Vol. 30 (1/2) 1999
E 1999 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All r ights r eserved. 71
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JOURNAL OF DIVORCE & REMARRIAGE72
a variety of studies investigating short-term and long-term effects of
divorce on children indicate that children experiencing parental sepa-
ration show more interpersonal problems, mental health problems,
such as depression or lower school achievement (Chase-Lansdale,
Cherlin & Kiernan, 1995; Bolgar, Zweig-Frank & Paris, 1995).
Another way to investigate the impact of stress on the well-being of
a person, is to study their dreams. According to the continuity hypoth-
esis which states that dreaming is reflecting waking life (e.g., Dom-
hoff, 1996), one would expect that dreams after stress or major life
events reflect the event itself and the possible negative affects associ-
ated with the event. For example, several studies in adults (Goode-
nough et al., 1975; De Koninck & Koulak, 1975; Lauer et al., 1987;
Powell, Nielson & Chung, 1993) showed that a presleep stress film in
some cases lead to the incorporation of film elements and higher
self-rated involvement but most dream affects shifted toward negative
emotions compared to the affect of watching a neutral film. Other
experimental stressors, such as presleep suggestions (De Koninck &
Brunette, 1992) and difficult cognitive tasks (Cicogna et al., 1976;
Stewart & Koulack, 1993) yield to similar results. However, some
researchers (e.g., Breger, Hunter & Lane, 1971) criticized that the
impact of experimental stress may be different from the effects of real
life stress. Breger, Hunter and Lane (1971) showed that intense psy-
chotherapy or awaiting a major surgery is more potent in altering
dream content (e.g., higher rates of incorporation) and dream affect
than a presleep film. Persons vulnerable to stress tend to rate their
dreams as more anxious than controls do and their dreams also contain
a greater incidence of misfortunes (Nesca & Koulak, 1991). Other
emotional stress, such as menstrual stress (Sirois-Berliss & De Ko-
ninck, 1982), interpersonal conflict (Delorme et al., 1996), nuclear
accident (Davidson et al., 1988), tornado (Pagel, Vann & Altomare,
1995), release from prison (Pung, 1978), loss of a beloved person
(Garfield, 1996) or escaping from homeland (Cernovsky, 1990) lead
to similar effects in dreams. Further evidence of the relationship be-
tween negative dream emotions and stress is provided by findings that
show that stress increases nightmare frequency (Kales et al., 1980;
Cook, Kaplan & Wood, 1990; Koulack & Nesca, 1992; Tan & Hicks,
1995). Even many years after severe stressors, for example, sexual
abuse (Garfield, 1987; Draijer, 1990; Cuddy & Belicki, 1992) or sur-
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Karoline Proksch and Michael Schredl 73
viving the Holocaust (Lavie & Kaminer, 1991), the dreams tend to be
more negative than those of non-stressed controls.
Cartwright and coworkers (Cartwright & Lamberg, 1992; Cart-
wright, 1996) have investigated the effects of divorce on women and
found, as expected, more negative dream emotions in the divorce
group in comparison with married females (Cartwright et al., 1984). In
addition, dream content differentiated women reacting with depres-
sion from women who did not. The dreams of the former were domi-
nated by non-prefered roles of the dream ego and inadequate coping
behavior (Trenholme et al., 1984). A follow-up after one year showed
that differences in dream content diminished (such as preponderance
of negative dream emotions) in non-depressed women (Cartwright et
al., 1984). King (1996), who carried out a questionnaire study, re-
ported that adults whose parents were divorced have more negative
dreams and dreams which show a higher activity.
In children, a considerable amount of research has investigated the
effects of trauma, such as natural and man-made disaster, sexual and
physical abuse, war exposure, animal attacks, and hospitalizations on
children’s dreams (overview: Nader, 1996). For example, Terr (1979,
1981) has studied a group of 25 children who were kidnapped while
riding the school bus. Almost every child suffered, among other symp-
toms such as anxiety and pessimistic expectations, from night terrors
and nightmares directly after the trauma. Even a few years after the
trauma, nightmares did occur at the same intensity although they were
less frequent and did not replay the original traumatic experience
(Terr, 1983). The psychological impact of the Intifada (Israeli-Arab
conflict) on Palestinian children living in refugee camps (10 to 12
years old) was studied by Nashef (1992). Their dreams contained
more anxiety and conflict themes than the dreams of controls. Unfor-
tunately, almost no systematic research exists on the relationship be-
tween everyday stress and dream content in children although Garfield
(1984) gave parallels between dream content and waking-life prob-
lems, such as being chased in the dream representing feelings of
pressure from within or without in waking life. An experimental study
of the influence of television was carried out by Foulkes, Belvedere
and Brubaker (1971). They found no relationship between film con-
tent and negative dream emotions. However, Viermerö and Pajaanen
(1992) reported a relationship between the amount of time watching
violent TV series and the occurence of ‘‘bad’’ dreams. This discrepan-
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JOURNAL OF DIVORCE & REMARRIAGE74
cy may be explained by the recurrent exposure present in the second
study over the single exposure design used by Foulkes et al. (1971).
To summarize, dreams seem to reflect the effects of stress on adults
and on children.
The present study is aimed to investigate the effects of parental
divorce on children’s sleep and dreams. According to the previous
findings, it was expected that dreams would be negative-toned, show
higher involvement of the dream ego and would be characterized by
inadequate coping behavior.
METHOD
Participants
Overall, 44 children (11 to 13 years old) partcipated in the study.
They were divided into three groups: children whose parents were
divorced within the last year (acute), children whose parents were
divorced one to five years ago (non-acute), and a control group of
children living with both parents (see Table 1). Twenty-six children
attended ‘‘Gymnasium’’ and 18 children ‘‘Hauptschule.’’
Materials
Personality questionnaire. To measure personality, a standardized
test (Persönlichkeits-fragebogen für Kinder, PFK 9-14; Seitz &
Rausche, 1976) was used. This test measured three different areas:
behavior (70 items), motives (72 items), and self-concepts (61 items),
TABLE 1. Description of the Sample
Variable Divorce (<1 yr.) Divorce (1-5 yrs.) No Divorce (N = 12) (N = 10) (N = 22)
age (yrs.) 11.1± 0.3 12.1± 1.0 12.0± 0.7
female/male 8/4 5/5 16/6
Gymn./Hauptsch. 8/4 6/4 12/10
Sleep index 5.6± 2.1 3.5± 2.1 4.2± 2.1
No. of dreams 13.1± 7.7 13.0± 6.4 12.8± 6.4
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Karoline Proksch and Michael Schredl 75
such as ego-strength, anxiety, emotionality, extraversion, school
achievement, shyness, and social behavior. Interitem consistency of
the 15 subscales ranged from r = .587 to r = .812.
Sleep questionnaire. To quantify the sleep behavior, the Pittsburgh
Sleep Quality Index (Buysse et al., 1988) was used. The questionnaire
was comprised of 19 items measuring sleep quality, sleep efficiency,
and sleep disturbances during the last month. The global score ranges
from 0 to 21. The cut-off point 5 indicated sleep problems.
Dream content analysis. First, several scales of the dream manual of
Riemann et al. (1985) were adopted, such as dream-like quality, visual
and auditory perception. Second, dream content rating scales by Breg-
er, Hunter and Lane (1971), including formal-descriptive and thematic
dimensions, were translated into German. The formal-descriptive di-
mensions (five-point scales ranging from 1 to 5) were: ‘‘anxiety’’
experienced by the dream ego; ‘‘cognitive disturbance,’’ such as con-
fusion, fragmentation of dream episodes, inconsistencies; ‘‘implausi-
bility,’’ i.e., from real life (1) to bizarre (5); ‘‘involvement’’ of the
dream ego; and ‘‘primitivity’’ ranging from extremely socialized ex-
pression of impulses, such as conversation, intellectual activity, help-
ing someone to mostly or extremely primitive or unsocialized expres-
sion of impulses, such as stealing, injuring others, destroying
something, or murder. The thematic dimensions (three-point scales
ranging from 1 to 3) were: ‘‘quality of interactions,’’ pleasant (1),
neutral (2), unpleasant (3); ‘‘roles’’ inadequate or unsuccessful (1), for
example, when the dreamer fails a task, neutral (2), such as walking
around, talking, and adequate-successful (3), e.g., dreamer wins a
game or does something well; ‘‘outcome’’ of the dream, desirable
outcome (1), neutral (2), and undesirable outcome (3).
Procedure
In public schools children were asked to participate in the study. If a
child was willing to participate written consent of the parent(s) was
obtained. First, sociodemographic data were elicited, and then the
children completed the personality and sleep questionnaires. During a
period of twelve weeks the participants kept a dream diary writing
down every dream recalled in the morning. In weekly sessions chil-
dren rated their dreams along the scales by Breger et al. (1971). In
these sessions questions about dreams and emotional issues of the
children were discussed. In addition, dream content was judged along
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JOURNAL OF DIVORCE & REMARRIAGE76
the scales of Riemann et al. (1985) and Breger et al. (1971) by an
independent rater, and the dream words were counted out. The statisti-
cal analysis included ANOVA procedures with contrasts between di-
vorce groups and controls and ANCOVA procedures to control for
word count.
RESULTS
Personality questionnaire. The analysis of variance of the personal-
ity dimensions led to one significant result: the children whose parents
were divorced within the last year scored higher on the dimension
‘‘need for improvement.’’
Sleep questionnaire. The mean global score of the sleep question-
naire amounted to 4.43 2.52. Although analysis of variance for the
three groups did not reach significance, a tendency of heightened
values was found in the acute divorce group in comparison with con-
trols (p = .0654, one-tailed; see Table 1).
Dream recall and dream word count. Overall, 568 dream reports
were collected over the twelve-week peroid. Dream recall did not
differ between the three groups (see Table 1). Mean word count was
47.7 43.0 words per dream (range: 4 to 327 words). The analysis of
variance revealed significant group differences (F = 6.5, p = .0016; see
Table 2) so that word count was used as covariate in further analysis.
Dream content. In Table 2 the formal aspects measured by the
Riemann et al. scales are depicted. When word count was partialed out
(all effects p < .0001), all three scales still showed differences between
children of the acute divorced group and controls. For example,
TABLE 2. Formal Dream Aspects of the Three Groups (Riemann et al., 1985)
Variable Divorce (<1 yr.) Divorce (1-5 yrs.) No Divorce (N = 157) (N = 130) (N = 281)
word count 37.4± 33.4*** 49.6± 50.1 52.5± 43.4
dream-like quality 1.73± 0.94** 1.89± 0.82 2.06± 0.77
visual perception 1.17± 1.21*** 1.25± 0.88* 1.48± 0.87
auditory perception 0.20± 0.58* 0.38± 0.65 0.42± 0.77
*p < .05, **p < .01, *** p < .001 comparison to controls (covariate word count)
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Karoline Proksch and Michael Schredl 77
dreams of the acute divorce dream group were less dream-like (more
realistic) and contained a lower amount of visual and auditory percep-
tion. Significant differences were also found for the dimension ‘‘prim-
itivity’’ and ‘‘roles’’ (see Table 3). A similar but smaller difference in
the dimension ‘‘roles’’ was found for the non-acute divorce group.
The self-rated dimension ‘‘involvement’’ of the dream ego was more
pronounced in both divorce groups than in controls. The correlations
between self-ratings of the children and the ratings made by a judge
were high: ‘‘anxiety’’ (r = .905), ‘‘cognitive disturbances’’ (r = .581),
‘‘implausibility’’ (r = .784), ‘‘involvement’’ (r = .777), ‘‘primitivity’’
(r = .749), ‘‘quality of interaction’’ (r = .747), ‘‘roles’’ (r = .801), and
‘‘outcome’’ (r = .793).
The results of the judge’s ratings showed similar patterns to the
children’s self-ratings (see Table 4), with the exception of the dimen-
sion ‘‘involvement.’’ One unexpected finding was the significantly
lower value of the dimension ‘‘implausibility’’ of the non-acute di-
vorce group.
DISCUSSION
As expected, marked effects of parental divorce on personality
measures were not found, yet this may be due to the small sample size.
TABLE 3. Descriptive and Thematic Dream Dimensions of the Three Groups
(Self-ratings, Breger, Hunter & Lane, 1971)
Variable Divorce (<1 yr.) Divorce (1-5 yrs.) No Divorce (N = 157) (N = 130) (N = 281)
Anxiety 2.29± 1.54 2.05± 1.40 2.25± 1.59
Cognitive disturbances 1.59± 0.93 1.63± 0.89 1.70± 0.92
Implausibility 3.27± 1.46 2.86± 1.39* 3.25± 1.35
Involvement1 2.46± 1.59* 2.47± 1.51* 2.20± 1.47
Primitivity 2.55± 1.10*** 2.21± 1.04 2.21± 1.08
Quality of interaction 1.99± 0.74 1.93± 0.76 1.97± 0.76
Roles 2.52± 0.76*** 2.66± 0.60* 2.81± 0.48
Outcome 2.00± 0.79 1.98± 0.82 2.12± 0.82
*p < .05, **p < .01, *** p < .001 comparison to controls (covariate word count) 1one-tailed tests
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JOURNAL OF DIVORCE & REMARRIAGE78
TABLE 4. Descriptive and Thematic Dream Dimensions of the Three Groups
(Ratings by judge, Breger, Hunter & Lane, 1971)
Variable Divorce (<1 yr.) Divorce (1-5 yrs.) No Divorce (N = 157) (N = 130) (N = 281)
Anxiety 2.27± 1.46 2.12± 1.41 2.25± 1.42
Cognitive disturbances 1.66± 0.86 1.49± 0.75 1.59± 0.80
Implausibility 3.41± 1.24 3.19± 1.38 3.44± 1.21
Involvement1 2.40± 1.57 2.39± 1.54 2.19± 1.46
Primitivity 2.55± 0.99* 2.52± 1.07 2.40± 1.06
Quality of interaction 2.03± 0.69 1.94± 0.73 1.96± 0.71
Roles 2.59± 0.71*** 2.70± 0.59 2.80± 0.50
Outcome 2.09± 0.76 2.12± 0.78 2.22± 0.75
*p < .05, **p < .01, *** p < .001 comparison to controls (covariate word count) 1one-tailed tests
On the other hand, increased sleep difficulties were associated with
recent divorce, congruent with findings indicating that stress increases
sleep problems in adults (e.g., Hohagen et al., 1993).
Whereas dream recall frequency did not differ between the three
groups, dream length was considerably lower in the acute-divorce
group. If one interprets dream length as a measure of dream recall, as
done by Waterman (1991), one could say that stress reduces the
amount of recalled dream material. In the literature, the findings con-
cerning the effect of stress on dream recall are inhomogeneous, for
example, stress increases dream recall in females but reduces dream
recall in males (Armitage, 1992). It may also be possible that sleep
disturbances influence dream recall since it was found that dream
recall and dream length were higher in long sleepers (Taub, 1972).
The formal aspects of the lowered auditory and visual perception in
the dreams of the acute-divorce group cannot be explained by the
influence of stress on dreams, and thus warrants further research.
Although dream content of the acute-divorce group did not reflect
an increased global negative affect (‘‘anxiety,’’ ‘‘quality of interac-
tions’’ and ‘‘outcome’’), as predicted by previous findings (see
introduction), it showed more ‘‘primitivity,’’ such as unsocialized ex-
pression of impulses and ‘‘inadequate’’ or ‘‘unsuccessful’’ roles.
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Karoline Proksch and Michael Schredl 79
These dreams may reflect role confusion the child experiences during
the time of separation and adaptation to new family structures (e.g.,
Knoke, 1994). Although a small difference was still found in the
non-acute divorce group, the increase of ‘‘adequate’’ and ‘‘success-
ful’’ roles in these dreams may indicate an increase of coping behavior
in those children adapting to the new situation. Whether dreams them-
selves contribute to the adaption process is discussed in the literature
as mastery hypothesis (Koulack, 1993). Wright and Koulack (1987)
assumed that the process of mastery in dreams is the same that occurs
during the waking state. When we are confronted by a stressful event
or a problem during the waking state, we think about it, until obtaining
a successful resolution or until having to put it away because of other
demands of our waking life. Support for this hypothesis was provided
by the findings of Cartwright (1991, 1996) who found that incorpora-
tion of the ex-spouse in the dream was helping the investigated women
to cope with divorce. The findings of Hajek and Blecher (1991) re-
ported that persons with negative toned dreams about smoking are
those who stayed abstinent. In the present study, higher self-rated
involvement in dream action and more realistic (less dream-like)
dreams in the acute-divorce group may reflect the process of mastery
within the dream.
On the other hand, dream work was adopted in group therapy with
women undergoing divorce to cope effectively with the demands of
this transition period (Falk and Hill, 1995).
Overall, the results of the present study indicate that children’s
dreams were influenced by the stressor divorce. To extend the present
findings, it will be of interest to carry out a prospective longitudinal
study of children prior to divorce, during the process, and at least one
or two years after the divorce. Additional measures such as subjective
stress experienced by the child and the investigation of incorporation
of the life event into dreams (the separated parent, family conflict) will
shed more light on the possible coping function of dreams. Whether or
not the reported pattern (no change in dream emotions but more
‘‘primitive’’ themes and ‘‘unsuccessful role’’ behavior) is typical for
children of divorce could be evaluated by studying dreams of children
who experience other stressors, for example, mental illness of one
parent, school problems or loss of a near relative.
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JOURNAL OF DIVORCE & REMARRIAGE80
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Psyc 100 Term Assignments
Rationale
Psychology relies on a variety of research methods in order to come to a better
understanding of behaviour and other phenomena. Most research methods can be
classified either as true experiments or as non-experimental designs and it is important
for you as a student of psychology to be able to clearly differentiate which type of a
design is being used in any specific study. One goal of the term assignments is for you
to be able to find different studies relating to a specific topic and identify which type of
research method the study uses to address the questions of interest.
In addition, reading and interpreting published research are important skills that all
scientists must develop. The term assignments for this course will allow you to
demonstrate that you can select, read, summarize and interpret research literature
related to one specific topic within the scope covered in Psychology 100.
The written assignments must be completed entirely by you alone.
Assignment #1 (3% of final grade)
You will be assigned a specific topic relevant to the Psyc 100 curriculum (see your WebCT
MyGrades section by the middle of the second week of classes). With your assigned topic
area in mind, you should read the appropriate section of the textbook to fully understand the
scope and parameters of your topic area (many of the topics will only be discussed in class
later in the course). Once you feel that you understand enough about the assigned
topic, you will use PsycINFO® (an abstract database that provides coverage of the
psychological literature from the 1800s to the present) to find two empirical (original data
collected), peer-reviewed research articles that you understand well enough that you
can summarize them in your own words. One of these articles must be based on a true
experiment while the other article must be based on a non-experimental study that examines
the same general research hypothesis. [In addition, to ensure that not everyone uses the
same articles, there will be further constraints on the articles including limiting them to a
specific range of publication dates and requiring that at least one author of the article have a
last name starting with a range of specific initials.] You will find your specific topic [with
related restrictions] on your MyGrades page (WebCT) by the middle of the second week of
classes.
Step 1.
Finding The Articles
An efficient way of finding published research that relates to your topic is to conduct a
literature search using PsycINFO®. There is a learning module on WebCT that will provide
you with specific instructions on using PsycINFO® to find articles relevant to your specific
topic. The articles you use must be listed in PsycINFO®– this is a way to ensure the
scientific merit of the articles you select – however, you will need to judge whether or
not the research reported is empirical or not, and truly experimental or not.
2
Format Notes: Formatting your Assignments
Nearly all manuscripts and published works in Psychology follow a standard set of
conventions outlined by the American Psychological Association (APA). For authors wishing
to publish research and students of psychology, these conventions provide a standard format
so that ideas can be more accurately communicated. Of particular concern is the appropriate
acknowledgement of original sources with citations and references. Instruction will be
provided in class and you should complete the APA learning module in WebCT.
Step 2. Submission of Assignment #1
Once you have found two empirical articles (one true experiment, one non-experimental) that
meet the criteria you were assigned you will need to obtain paper copies (print or photocopy
originals) of the abstract and method section for each article (DO NOT simply copy and
paste into a word-processed document – that is considered unacceptable academic conduct).
You will submit the appropriate article sections properly annotated (labels and highlighting or
underlining) to indicate the evidence supporting your judgment that the article is reporting a
true experiment (non-experimental) design assessing the same general research hypothesis.
Your submission will include an APA-formatted title page (see WebCT for an example) listing
your name, student number, and your tutor/marker’s (TM’s) name, followed by the annotated
article sections, followed by an APA-formatted reference page listing your two articles.
Assignment #1 is due in class at 10:30 on Tuesday February 21
st
. Late assignments
will be awarded a grade of zero.
Assignment #1 will be graded based on the appropriateness of the articles submitted and the
conformity of your title and reference pages to APA standards (see WebCT). Articles deemed
inappropriate, that is, incorrect topic, publication dates, author(s), two articles reporting the
same type of research method, or both articles not related to the same general research
hypothesis must be replaced with appropriate articles for Assignment #2.
Assignment #2 (7% of final grade)
Rationale
One important skill you need to succeed when writing papers, answering essay exam
questions, or simply taking notes in lecture is the ability to summarise material accurately
and concisely. Accurately means that you have selected only the key points and recorded
them precisely. Concisely means that you have used the minimum number of words and
figures to communicate the accurate meaning of the original source. One goal of the
assignments in this course is to give you practice in summarising material in your own
words.
3
Step 1. Summarizing The Articles
Article summaries must be written in your own words. If you merely copy the words of the
author(s) you are committing plagiarism. [You should work through the Plagiarism module in
WebCT in order to learn how to avoid plagiarism.]
Each summary should be between 300 – 400 words and should address the following issues
in the following order. Please label each section. Please include an in-text citation in each
section. Failure to clearly label each section or missing in-text citations will result in a lower
grade.
Introduction (Experimental) (or Non-Experimental)
In their introduction, the author(s) will describe previous research. In your summary indicate
the main findings of that previous research. Additionally, in the introduction the author(s) will
describe the purpose of the study they conducted and how it relates to the previous
research. In your summary you should identify the question that the author(s) were trying to
answer and the hypotheses they were evaluating. Be sure to specify the general hypothesis
concisely – it will be compared with the general hypothesis of your second article summary.
Method
The author(s) will describe the methods they used in their study. In your summary you should
provide a conceptual description of the methods used in the study and identify the study as
using either a true experimental or a non-experimental design.
For the experimental study identify the independent and dependent variables and provide the
operational definitions of these variables. Briefly describe the experimental method used.
For the non-experimental study identify the variables being measured and how they are
operationally defined. Briefly describe the method used to study the relationship between the
variables.
Results
Summarize the major findings that the article author(s) report in the results section. This is a
conceptual summary only – do not include specifics unless critical to communicating the main
findings.
Discussion
In the article’s Discussion section the author(s) will tell you the implications of what they
found in their study. Your summary should include a brief overview of the implications of the
study.
4
Part of your goal is to communicate your understanding of the research, so the accuracy of
the summaries will be important. Assignment #2 will be graded based on the appropriateness
of the article summaries and how your paper conforms to APA standards (see WebCT for the
grading guide used by the TMs).
Article summaries must be written in your own words (you need to paraphrase the ideas
expressed in the articles). Using quotations is strongly discouraged as it demonstrates a lack
of understanding of the material. In the rare cases when a quotation is absolutely necessary,
you must include the proper quotation marks and the appropriate citation.
Format Notes: Formatting your Assignments
Nearly all manuscripts and published works in Psychology follow a standard set of
conventions outlined by the American Psychological Association (APA). Of particular concern
is the appropriate acknowledgement of original sources with citations and references.
Instruction will be provided in class and you should complete the APA learning module in
WebCT.
APA specifies 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins on all sides, double-spacing of all lines (title page
and reference page included), 12-point Times (Times New Roman) font, and single-sided
printed pages for manuscripts. Please do not use any document covers.
Step 2. Submitting Assignment #2
Your assignment submission should include the following in this order:
an APA-formatted title page listing your name, student number, and TM’s name (see
WebCT for an example)
the two article summaries (in APA format – see WebCT for details)
an APA-formatted reference page listing the two articles you summarized
annotated paper copies of the two complete articles (print your name on each)
o remember, do NOT just cut and paste these into a word-processed document
o on the copies of the articles, identify and label by circling/highlighting the
specific elements of the study that make one a true experimental design, and
for the other, a non-experiment design
for the experimental study you will need to identify and label the
hypothesis, the independent and dependent variables, and the
experimental method
for the non-experimental study you will need to identify and label the
research question, the variables under investigation, and the method
used
a copy of the successful online submission screen from WebCT
o Windows users see:
http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Microsoft-Windows#In_Windows_7
o Mac users see:
http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Mac-OS-X
o Linux users: — if you’re using Linux you surely know
http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Microsoft-Windows#In_Windows_7
http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Mac-OS-X
5
You must submit two copies of this assignment. One copy, the paper hardcopy will
include the annotated copies of the articles. Be sure that you’ve stapled the various
components of the assignment, in the requisite order, in advance of bringing to class for
submission.
The second copy of the assignment (only the material you have written) must be
submitted electronically in WebCT (in either , docx, or .rtf format).
The paper copy and the article photocopies will be returned to you with comments; we will
archive the electronic copy of your assignment as an antidote to plagiarism.
The paper copy is to be submitted at the beginning of class (9:30am) on Thursday,
March 22
nd
– the electronic copy must be submitted by 9:00 am on the same day to
avoid late or incomplete penalties.
Late or incomplete assignment submissions will not be graded (e.g., a paper copy of the
article summaries without attached articles or a missing electronic copy) until complete and
are subject to significant penalties (25% per day late or incomplete).
Psyc
100 Term
Assignments
Rationale
► Psychology relies on a variety of research methods in order to come to
a better understanding of behaviour and other phenomena. Most
research methods can be classified either as experiments or as non-
experimental designs and it is important for students of psychology to
be able to clearly differentiate which type of a design is being used in
any specific study. As such, one goal of the term assignments is for
you to be able to find different studies relating to a specific topic and
identify which type of research method the study uses to address the
questions of interest.
► In addition, reading and interpreting published research are important
skills that all scientists must develop. The term assignments for this
course will allow you to demonstrate that you can read, summarize
and interpret research literature related to one specific topic within the
scope covered in Psychology 100.
Overview
►two components
Assignment #1 – Article Selection
►worth 3%
►due start of class Tuesday Feb. 21st
Assignment #2 – Article Summaries
►worth 7%
►due start of class Thursday March 22nd
Assignment #1 – Rationale
►an essential early step in any empirical
investigation involves a review of the
published literature relevant to the specific
topic under investigation
►this assignment will familiarize you with
locating “good” research articles as well as
introducing you to some aspects of a
standard format – namely, APA format
►on WebCT you have been assigned a
general topic
you need to find a more specific research issue
related to that topic
also have date and author restrictions
►An efficient way of finding published
research that relates to your topic is to
conduct a literature search using
PsycINFO
Using PsycINFO
Introduction
For your assignment you will need to find articles
published in scholarly/academic journal. Luckily
you don’t need to skim through hundreds of
journals looking for a good article. You don’t
need to look through hundreds of Google results
either.
This tutorial will introduce you to PsycINFO, an
online psychology index which is like a very
specialized version of Google. PsycINFO will
find citations for articles on your topic, and will
even lead you to the actual articles.
Research Topic
Let’s assume you’re interested in
investigating further the phenomenon of
bystander intervention that Darley and
Latane first examined in the 1960’s
so you’re interested in articles referenced
in PsycINFO that have bystander
intervention as a subject
Connecting to PsycINFO
PsycINFO is the specialized index or
search engine which psychologists and
psychology students use to find journal
articles.
To link to PsycINFO, open up a web
browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox) in a
new window and go to http://www.sfu.ca
http://www.sfu.ca/
Connecting to PsycINFO (con’t)
Now, click on the Library Services link.
Connecting to PsycINFO (con’t)
At the left side of the library home page under the Find column click
on the link to Journal articles and databases.
Connecting to PsycINFO (con’t)
Now look under Browse databases by title and click on P to reach all databases with
names starting with the letter P, and find PsycINFO in the list.
Connecting to PsycINFO (con’t)
Click on the link to PsycINFO and read the description of this
database.
Connecting to PsycINFO (con’t)
Click on Connect to link to PsycINFO
Connecting to PsycINFO (con’t)
alternatively, you could just click on the Connect link on the
previous page
PsycINFO — you should now have a page like the one below
PsycINFO — now type in your search term
bystander intervention
Using Official Subject Headings
The dropdown boxes beside (to the right) of each search term
in PsycINFO can be used to restrict the results of the search
Using Official Subject Headings
use the dropdown boxes a choose to search for instances
where the search terms are Subjects
Using Official Subject Headings
you’ll get a screen like the one below and then click on the
Search box to conduct your initial search
Using Official Subject Headings
doing this you should get a screen like this
the problem with this initial search is that the term “bystander
intervention” is not recognized as an official term within
PsycINFO
there are a couple of ways of getting around this problem
the easiest way is to use the “SmartText Searching” feature in
PsycINFO
to access this feature click on the link (see above)
SmartText Searching
• clicking here gives you the results (listed next)
SmartText
Results
•
Narrowing Your Search Results
to Citations to Appropriate Articles
For many psychology assignments you need
to find a scholarly or peer-reviewed journal
article which reports an empirical study.
Luckily PsycINFO provides an easy way to
limit your search results by making choices on
a Search Options menu like the one that
follows.
You can use the sliding bar beside each set of options to read all the
options available before making your choices.
Often, you’ll
want to only
choose “Peer
Reviewed
Journals”
Narrowing Your Search Results (con’t)
to Citations to Appropriate Articles
Now, use the available search options to
choose
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal article
Methodology: Empirical Study
Language: English (and any other languages you
may read)
Then click on the Search button.
Narrowing Your Search Results to Citations to Appropriate Articles
you can further refine your results to articles published within a certain range of
publication dates by using the sliding bars on the right
let’s say we want only articles published between 1995 and 2000
Narrowing Your Search Results to Citations to Appropriate Articles
use the sliding bars on the right (or type the dates into the boxes) to set the limits
of 1995 and 2000 and click “Update Results”
True Experiments or
Correlational Studies?
For many Psychology assignments, you are
instructed to select an article which describes a
true experiment, an experiment with an
independent variable. An independent variable
is one that can be manipulated or changed by
the researcher.
Unfortunately, the PsycINFO indexers code both
true experiments and correlational studies as
empirical studies. To decide if the article
describes a true experiment with an independent
variable you need to read the abstract of the
article carefully.
Finding the Journal Article
Finding the journal article described in the
citation is the real goal of library research!
The SFU Library has an excellent
collection of psychology journals, some
online and some in paper
format.
Just click on the Where can I get this? link
in the PsycINFO citation to open up a new
window with information about where to
get the journal.
Where can I get this
Assignment #1 – Formatting
►the American Psychological Association
(APA) has a publication manual that outlines
standard format for articles submitted for
publication
►your assignments need to conform to APA
formatting guidelines
General Instructions
►your manuscript should be printed on one
side of standard sized paper
22 X 28 cm — 8 ½ X 11 in.
►use 12-pt Times Roman font
►leave uniform margins of at least 2.54 cm
(1 in.) at the top, bottom, left, and right of
each page
►double space between ALL lines of the
manuscript
Example
Title
Page
Be sure to include:
• the short title & page
number
• the running head
• the title
• submission information
Reference Page
►your reference list should appear on a
NEW page at the end of your paper
►it provides the information necessary for a
reader to locate and retrieve any source
you cite in the body of the paper
►each source you cite in the paper must
appear in your reference list;
►similarly, each entry in the reference list
must be cited in your text.
Reference Page
Note: References are listed
alphabetically by last name
of the first author of each
source.
References
{centered on first line}
• use hanging indentation for each
reference
Short-title & page#
Assignment #1 – Submission
► assignments are due at the START of lecture, 10:30 am on
Tuesday February 21st
late assignments will receive a grade of zero
► you will need to obtain copies of the abstract for each
article as well as copies of the method section for each
article.
you will annotate these sections to indicate what makes the article
either a true experiment or correlation and to show that they’re
dealing with the same general research hypothesis
Levy et al. Abstract
Experiment
Hypothesis
Levy et al. Method Section
Experiment due to random
assignment of subjects to
the four groups
Assignment #1 – Submission
► You will submit these along with an APA-formatted
reference page listing your two articles to your TM
(tutor/marker).
► Your submission will also include an APA-formatted cover
page (see WebCT for an example) listing your name,
student number, and TM’s name.
Assignment #1 Grading
Assignment #2 – Rationale
► One important skill you need to succeed when
writing papers, answering essay exam questions,
or simply taking notes in lecture is the ability to
summarise material accurately and concisely.
Accurately means that you have selected only the
key points and recorded them precisely. Concisely
means that you have used the minimum number
of words and figures to communicate the accurate
meaning of the original source.
Assignment #2 – Summarizing the
Articles
► Article summaries must be written in your own
words. If you merely copy the words of the
author(s) you are committing plagiarism. [You
should work through the Plagiarism module on
WebCT in order to avoid plagiarism.] Your article
summaries will require you to describe in your
own words what the article was about. Each
summary should be between 300 – 400 words and
should address the following issues in the
following order. Please label each section. Failure
to clearly label each section will result in a lower
grade.
Introduction
In their introduction, the author(s) will
describe previous research. In your summary
indicate the main findings of that previous
research. Additionally, in the introduction the
author(s) will describe the purpose of the
study they conducted and how it relates to
the previous research. In your summary you
should identify the question that the author(s)
were trying to answer and the hypotheses
they were evaluating.
Method
The author(s) will describe the methods they used in
their study. In your summary you should provide a
description of the methods used in the study and
identify the study as using either an experimental or
a non-experimental design.
For the experimental study identify the independent
and dependent variables and provide the operational
definitions of these variables. Briefly describe the
experimental method used.
For the non-experimental study identify the variables
being measured and how they are operationally
defined. Briefly describe the method used to
study
the relationship between the variables.
Results
Summarize the major findings that the article
author(s) report in the results section.
Discussion
In the article’s Discussion section the
author(s) will tell you the implications of what
they found in their study. Your summary
should include a brief overview of the
implications of the study.
Assignment #2 – Formatting
►the assignment should be submitted in APA
format
Psyc 100 Assignment
#2
Example Summaries
Note:
The example summary is
provided only to illustrate
format.
General Instructions
►your manuscript should be printed on one
side of standard sized paper
22 X 28 cm — 8 ½ X 11 in.
►use 12-pt Times Roman font
►leave uniform margins of at least 2.54 cm
(1 in.) at the top, bottom, left, and right of
each page
►double space between ALL lines of the
manuscript
Example Title
Page
Be sure to include:
• the short title & page
number
• the running head
• the title
• submission information
Example First
Page
•
Short title & page #
Title
{heading centred}
Introduction
{heading centred,
underlined}
Method
{heading centred,
underlined}
• Start with the summary of
the experimental study
{heading left-justified}
Results
{heading centred,
underlined}
Short title & page
#
Discussion
[heading centred, underlined}
Continue with the summary
of the non- experimental
study
{heading left-justified}
Introduction
{heading centred, underlined}
Method
{heading centred, underlined}
Results
{heading centred, underlined}
Short title & page #
Discussion
{heading centred, underlined}
Reference Page
►your reference list should appear on a
NEW page at the end of your paper
►it provides the information necessary for a
reader to locate and retrieve any source
you cite in the body of the paper
►each source you cite in the paper must
appear in your reference list;
►similarly, each entry in the reference list
must be cited in your text.
Reference Page
Note: References are listed
alphabetically by last name
of the first author of each
source.
References
{centered on first line}
• use hanging indentation for each
reference
Short-title & page#
Assignment #2 Submission
► each summary should be between 300-400
words
► be sure to clearly label the sections
► you will need to submit two copies of this
assignment:
your paper/hard copy
► this will include the summary of the two articles (with the
title and reference pages)
► also submit your annotated copies of the two articles that
you summarized
an electronic copy submitted in WebCT
► this will be just your written summary of the two articles
(with the title and reference pages)
► this needs to be in either or .rtf format
• finally, with your hard copy you’ll need to include
a copy of the successful submission page from
your WebCT online-submission
Click Here
Click Here
Locate the file
on your
computer and
select it and
then click OK
Click Here
Click Here
You’ll want to print off and include a copy of this page with your
hard copy.
Assignment #2 Submission
DUE:
►the paper copy is to be submitted at the
beginning of lecture (9:30 am) on March
22nd
►the electronic copy must be submitted by
9:00 am on the same day to avoid
penalties.
Assignment #2 Grading
First Term Test
►Thursday January 26th
12% of course grade
Chapters 1, 2, & appendix
25 multiple-choice questions
choice of one of two short-answer essay
questions
bring pencil/eraser and know your student
number
Multiple Choice Answer Sheets
(need to use a pencil)
Fill in circles completely
Complete Personal Information
Fill in special code
Completely erase changes
3 3 3 3
Short-Answer Essay
► Use Outline
(if you have time)
► Limit essay to space provided
► Circle the question you’ve chosen to answer
► Write your name, ID #, and your TMs name
Jane Student 399999999
Your TMs Name
