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PSYC 100: Foundations of Psychology (HC) Fall 2025 - Media Assignment

Psychology 100: Foundations of Psychology (Wang)

Popular Literature Versus Scholarly Literature

  Popular Scholarly
Examples Magazines & newspapers (Psychology Today, New York Times) Academic journals (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Cognition) 
Author Staff writer; journalist Expert in the field; known credentials
Audience General public Scholars, researchers
Language Little technical language or subject-specific jargon Uses technical language and subject-specific jargon
Coverage Broad topics; shallow coverage; shorter length Narrow topics; in-depth coverage; longer length
Documentation Usually no bibliography Bibliography present
Peer-reviewed? No Usually

Primary Literature Versus Review Literature

Primary literature

  • Reports on a study or original research done by the authors of the article. 
  • Contains telltale sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion 

Review literature

  • Summarizes previously reported findings rather than presenting original research.
  • Often pulls together the findings of multiple studies to give broader view of a given topic area.