Critical Evaluation In Psychology

Critical Evaluation in Psychology:
A Guide for Students

Author: Julie Hulme

Table of contents

1. Introduction 3
1.1 What will this handout help me with? 3
1.2 What is critical evaluation? 3
1.3 Asking questions 3
1.4 Who is writing? 3
1.5 What evidence is used to support the arguments made? 4
1.6 What does this work contribute to knowledge of the subject? 5
2. Summary 6
3. An exercise in critical evaluation 7
3.1 The extract 7
3.2 Questions 8
3.3 Possible answers to the questions 8
4. Further reading: 9 Critical Evaluation: A Guide for Students

1. Introduction

This guide has been written by Dr. Julie Hulme ([e-mail]; tel 4674). A modified version of this document can be found as follows:
The types of evidence used to support arguments can vary enormously.

Sometimes, an author will make a claim that is completely unsupported, and will offer no evidence whatsoever to back it up. For example, I could argue that “reading this handout will enhance your ability to evaluate critically”. This sort of statement should ring alarm bells – on what basis am I making this assumption?

Alternatively, I could make the same claim, but support it with the statement that “Student X, after reading this handout, said that her ability to critically evaluate was enhanced”. This would go some way to supporting my view – but we have no way of knowing whether that one person really did improve, whether she was typical of other students, or whether other students read the handout and did not experience the same benefit. So, although some evidence has been offered, it is still not entirely
Cognitive development in children could potentially be influenced by many factors, some of which depend on social background. However, almost all children in industrialised societies are exposed to television for several hours a day. What effect does this have on their cognitive development?

Proponents of television for children include Bogatz and Ball (1972), who found that children from all socio-economic backgrounds who watched Sesame Street developed better vocabularies, better attitudes towards school and more positive attitudes to children of other races than children who did not watch Sesame Street.

On the other hand, many television programmes are full of violence, and watching them may well promote aggressiveness and impatience in children. In addition, commercials may encourage children to demand particular snack foods, toys and other items from parents (Taras et al.,