HON 210: Mind Morals and Evolution

Panel Presentations and Individual Responses to articles

Tuesday, February 24                          SEX, FAMILY  Student Presentations

Thursday, February 26                         SOCIAL, RELIGION  Student Presentations

Tuesday, March 3                                FOOD, CLINICAL   Student Presentations

Panels will be responsible for presenting a logical discussion of current research in their area: Clinical, Social, Sex, Family, Food, and Religion. We will cover two areas in each class period, so each panel will have 30 minutes total to present current research. You should meet as a group to decide whether each group member will present a separate article, or whether you will present one or more articles as a group.

Goal: The goal of the panels is to consider specific topics in EP that are not already covered in your syllabus. You want to inform the class about these research areas. You will not be able to present all the data on a topic, but you will be able to highlight good examples of research in the area. You should be aware of strong and weak points in the research you read, and you should note both strengths and weaknesses to the class. Drs. James and Bruce have suggestions for readings in the area, and you can use these or build from them.

Team- You must have ONE typed outline for the class related to the articles you choose to present in your panel, the points you want to stress, etc. You need to include the bibliographic information for your sources, and we will post a pdf of your article(s) for the class to read. Thus, you need to give us your articles no later than 3 work days before your panel presentation.

Individuals: PAPER on your presentation paper (above) Due NOON MARCH 6: Typed paper including a short summary of the article, your reaction to the article (as appropriate: compare to other class readings and discussion, videos; comment on experimental style, validity of conclusions… be sure to back up your comments) and comments about your presentation (strengths, areas of improvement, class response).

Points to consider in your presentation and/or individual paper/reaction.

• State the purpose of the study in your own words.

• How does this study address adaptive value and evolutionary history?  How does it relate to evolutionary theory by natural selection or a mid-level evolutionary theory? Be specific.

• Does the study use a “top-down” or “bottom-up” approach?

• What method(s) was used to test the evolutionary hypotheses? What type(s) of data was collected? Generally describe the methods used.

• What were the general findings?

• What was a strength of the study?  Why do you think so?   Be specific.

• What was a weakness of the study?  Why do you think so?  Be specific.

• What other comments do you have about the article?

How to find articles:

1. Use PsychInfo database to search for your topic http://library.uncw.edu/web/research/databases/information/psycinfo.html

2. Look through issues of:

Evolutionary Psychology http://www.epjournal.net/About_the_journal/

Evolution and Human Behavior http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/ens

3. Look through the book Evolutionary Psychology (Buss) on reserve in Randall (under this class).

4. See either Dr J or Dr B for suggestions.