UNIT TWO

New Society
RESEARCH DIGEST

New Society 7 November 1986

New Society 25 April 1986
New Society 6 June 1986

What use is psychology?

Eating people is wrong Too relaxed to read?

1. Ordinary people who know nothing about

psychology can predict the results of
psychological experiments with reasonable 1 Attitudes to the Russians among 1 Backward readers can be helped more by
accuracy on their own common sense. Americans shifted dramatically teaching them to read than by teaching
This finding that most hard-won immediately after the shooting down of the them to relax, according to Cristopher
psychological knowledge is in fact self- Korean civilian airliner in 1983, according Sharpley, of Monash University, Australia,
evident comes from John Houston , of the to a very small study carried out by David and Steven Rowland, of the Scot's School,
University of California at Los Angeles Krus of Arizona State University Australia (British Journal of Educational
(Psychological Reports, vol.57, No.2, page (Psychological Reports, vol.59, No.1, page Psychology, vol.56, part 1, page 40).
567). 3). 2 Previous studies have suggested that
2. Houston, a psychologist himself, placed a 2 The attribution of atrocities to other backward readers experience stress caused
poster which read "Earn $5 by answering nationalities has long been regarded as a by anxiety at failure, and that their
21 questions about behavior" in a local very effective measure of attitude, and one learning can be improved by teaching
park on a Sunday afternoon. He got 50 of the most significant attributions of relaxation.
respondents who had never read a book on atrocity is the accusation of cannibalism. 3 The study involved 50 nine to eleven year
experimental psychology or studied the 3 A study of the popularity of other old children, in five small primary schools,
subject, and they completed a nationalities had been carried out shortly in four country towns in New South
questionnaire consisting of 21 questions before the KAL incident. Krus then Wales. The children were divided into five
each of which embodied a principle administered a modified version of his test groups. One group were taught to lower
relating to the working of the memory. to 39 students immediately after the their muscle tension by using
3. For example, they were asked how incident. electromyographic biofeedback (which
pigeons would behave if they expected 4 The students were asked to read a involves electrodes attached to a forearm
food to be left on a particular windowsill fictitious passage which described a New and to a visual display dial); the second
because this had been so over a long Zealand airliner crashing en route to the was given relaxation training; and the third
period, and then found it empty one day. South Pole. There were 264 passengers on had remedial teaching based on phonics
And they were asked which words in a board, representing 21 nationalities. When and comprehension. In addition, one of
word list were easiest to remember after the rescue party arrived half the passengers two control groups had daily reading tests
they had been read aloud by somebody were dead and had been partially eaten by (as did the three experimental groups) and
else. the survivors. Which nationalities would the other did not.
4. Of the 21 items, 16 were answered be most likely to commit cannibalism in 4 The children's accuracy, speed and
correctly more often than chance would the period of hardship and starvation comprehension in reading were measured
have predicted. Older and better educated following the crash? for two weeks, then the different
people were more likely to be correct But 5 The Russian passengers were rated fifth treatments were given for five weeks. The
one question, where the correct most likely to eat human flesh before the results showed that only the group which
experimentally verified answer seems to shooting down of the airliner, but jumped had received remedial teaching improved
contradict common sense, received to the top immediately afterwards. Not in reading accuracy. No group improved in
significantly more wrong answers than surprisingly, the English and white reading speed – and this even decreased
might have been expected by chance. Americans were consistently seen as least for the group which experienced
5. Houston concludes that psychology is, at likely to resort to cannibalism. biofeedback.
least partly, "a system of self-evident 5 All the experimental groups showed gains
information." But he points out that what in comprehension, as did the first control
psychology does offer is precise group, suggesting that this was an effect of
measurement of such phenomena and a increased reading practice.
theoretical explanation. 6 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.
7 So while the relaxation may be of general
benefit, reducing the symptoms of stress
seems to be less helpful than reducing its
cause – failure.
 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
APPROACHING 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.
THE TEXT ____________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________-

Scanning
WORKSHEET 1 ► Scan the reports in order to answer the following questions:
1. Which researcher paid his subjects to participate in his research?
_______________________________________________
2. Which study was carried out in Australia?
_______________________________________________________
3. Which study made use of a questionnaire?
_______________________________________________________
4. Which study involved dividing the subjects into groups?
_______________________________________________________
5. 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.

Skimming for text structure

WORKSHEET 2 ► 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
Checking understanding
WORKSHEET 3 ► Read carefully the research report "What use is psychology?" and
answer the following questions?
1. What common characteristic did Houston's subjects have?
2. What common characteristic did his questions have?
3. How can the higher incidence of wrong answers to one of the question
be explained?
4. What use, then, is psychology, according to Houston?

Information extraction
WORKSHEET 4 ► 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

Information extraction
WORKSHEET 5 ► 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 ► In preparation for the following activity, re-read the three research reports and underline all the
verbs.
WORK
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.
1. Each of the participants spoke to someone from a different
country.
2. All the foreign students spoke in English
3. The participants positioned their own chairs.
4. 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 Class Translation Synonym(s) Antonym(s) Noun Verb Adjective Adverb
Location

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
(1,5)
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 Brief summary – of the main points of the research, including
researchers and place of publication
B General assumptions – 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
C Purpose of the research research
– where the aim of the present investigation is
D Procedure or method 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,
E Results of the research experiments, and so on)
– including what new information, if any,
F Conclusions/ comments 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 don’t you? didn’t it?

He knows I’m here,
There are three classes of verbs in English: doesn’t he?
A: You don’t want to go A: Who made the
Do you? cake?
1.The auxiliary verbs B. I do. B. Jack did.
The verbs do, be and have are used as auxiliary verbs to form
different sentences.
Be
Do a. Be as an auxiliary + past participle (-ing) is used to form
a. Do is used as an auxiliary verb to form negative and question continuous tenses:
forms of the present simple and did is used in the past simple: Alice is writing a book.
We were going for a walk.
Present Simple Past Simple I’ve been trying to get hold of you for a week.
Negative I don’t understand. I didn’t agree. We’ll be leaving soon.
They don’t like it. He didn’t pass.
She doesn’t cut meat. They didn’t like it. b. Be + past participle (-ed etc.) is used to form passive sentences:
Paper is made from wood.
Question Do they like it? Did they enjoy it? My car is being repaired at the moment.
What does he want? When did they arrive? He was injured in a car accident.
Don’t you want to come? Don’t we go to the I’ll be finished soon.
same school? They’ve been robbed.
Doesn’t she know him?
b. Do is only used in the positive to give emphasis to a verb Have
Present Simple Past Simple
She isn’t lazy. She I did try to phone, Have as an auxiliary + past participle (-ed etc.) is used to form
does try hard. but there was no perfect tenses:
answer. I’ve never been there before.
c. Do is used in tag questions and short answers By the time we arrived they had left.
Present Simple Past Simple Will you have finished by lunch time?
You think it’ll work, It worked,
2. Modal auxiliary verbs b. temporary activity
We’re living in a hotel until we can find a house to buy.
Modal auxiliary verbs are auxiliary because they “help” other verbs, You’re being very silly today. Usually you are so sensible.
but unlike do, be and have (which only help to form tenses) modal auxiliaries
have their own meanings. They express certainty, ability, possibility and c. possibly incomplete activity
advice. Who’s been eating my sandwich?
He must be at least sixty. (certainty) (Compare: Who’s eaten my sandwich?)
I can’t swim. (ability)
It might rain this afternoon. (possibility)
You should rest for a few days (advice) I was writing the report on the plane.
The modal auxiliary verbs are: can, could, may, might, will, would, (Compare: I wrote the report on the plane).
shall, should, must, ought, need.
2 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.
3. Full verbs Verbs of mind and thinking:
Full verbs are all the other verbs in the language, for example go, Believe, think, assume, consider, understand
walk, think, help, eat. Suppose expect agree know remember forget

Verbs of emotion:
Like love detest envy hate hope prefer wish want
English Tense Usage
English tenses have two elements of meaning: Verbs of having and being:
TIME – Is the verb action present, past or future? Belong own depend contain cost seem appear need have
ASPECT – How does the speaker see the verb action?
Verbs of the senses:
Examples See hear taste smell
She’s talking on the phone.
TIME – present 3 Some of these verbs can be used in continuous tenses when the verb
ASPECT – activity in progress now expresses an activity, not a state. However, the meaning changes
slightly.
I saw a good film last night. Compare the use of simple and continuous tenses in the following pairs
TIME past of sentences:
ASPECT – action completed at a specific time
I think it’s a great idea. (“think” as opinion i.e. a state)
Have you ever seen “Gone with the Wind”? He’s thinking of emigrating (“think” as mental process, i.e. an activity)
TIME – before now
ASPECT – the exact time when is not important. The question asks I see what you mean. (“see” meaning “understand”)
about an experience at any time in the past. I’m seeing Jenny this afternoon. (“see” meaning “meet”)

I’ll give you my phone number. This soup tastes delicious. (a state).
TIME – immediate future I’m tasting the soup to see if it needs more salt. (an activity)
ASPECT – spontaneous intention
I expect you’d like something to eat (“expect” meaning “suppose”)
I’m going to give Helen a plant for her birthday. She’s expaecting a baby. (She’s pregnant).
TIME – future
ASPECT – planned action
Perfect aspect
These are two aspects in the English tense system; they are called continuous The perfect aspect expresses the following ideas:
and perfect. 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.

Continuous aspect Have you ever been to America? (sometime before now)
1. The continuous aspect expresses the following ideas: When I arrived, he had already left (some time before I arrived)
a. activity in progress I’ll have finished the report by tonight (some time before tonight)
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. The Present Perfect, Past Perfect and Future Perfect could perhaps be
Don’t phone her at 8.00. She’ll be having dinner. named “Before-present”, “Before-past” and “Before-future” to give a
Why don’t you stop reading now? You’ve been reading all day. more accurate description.
1. Identifying tenses
1. 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.
2. 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.

1. It's been really cold lately, so I've bought some new thermal underwear. 
2. Manchester United play really well at the moment. Their new player has real talent. . 
3. I've heard you'll have a baby! Congratulations. . 
4. Was Tim working in Barcelona while you were working in Madrid? . 
5. When I was a little girl, I've always spent my pocket money on sweets. . 
6. I went out with Paul for two years now, and we're still crazy about each other. . 
7. I can't decide what to buy my brother for his birthday. Perhaps I'm going to get him a new shirt.. 
8. She'd trained do hard for the Olympics that I felt sure she would get at least a bronze medal. . 
9. A one-day strike has called by London Underground staff for Friday this week. . 
10. 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.

1. They don't make Volvos in Norway.

Volvos_______________________________________ .
2. They built our house in the 17th century.
Our house_____________________________________ .
3. Has someone decorated your room?
Has_________________________________________ ?
4. Someone's decorating my bedroom at the moment.
My bedroom_________________________________ .
5. We moved out of our house while they were building the extension.
While the extension_____________________________ .
6. We arrived home from holiday to find someone had burgled our house.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
7. They won't recognize her in those dark glasses.
She __________________________________________

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

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

2. Jo ___________ (arrive) home to find feathers everywhere. Her cat _______ (catch) a bird.
3. Our dustbins ________ (empty) on a Monday.
4. Mr Taylor was furious with the newsagent because his Sunday newspaper __________ (not deliver).
5. It's a very upsetting time for Aunt Mary. Her budgie ________ (miss) for three days now.
6. Why _____ you _____ (not like) going to the opera? We _______ (love) it. We _______ (see) La Bohème next Saturday.
7. We _________ (drive) down a quiet country lane when suddenly we ______ (overtake) by a police car.
8. When I woke up this morning, the world looked like a wonderland. It ___________ (snow) all night.
9. Don't worry. When you _______ (arrive) in New York, you _______ (pick up) by one of our drivers and taken to the conference
center.