Critically Analyzing Professional Literature on Your Own

When reading professional articles, it is important to challenge the article’s validity by considering such questions as:

• What errors are there in the reasoning behind the article?
• Is the author attempting to put forward a particular theoretical view of the world?
• What kinds of evidence does the author muster in support of this view?
• How adequate is the evidence?
• What would you have liked to have seen in the article with respect to arguments or evidence that was not there?

Select a topic in psychology that interests you. Then, visit the Library research databases and search in the PsycINFO database for an article on the topic you selected. Review the article using a critical thinking perspective.