1) The news article claims that children become more egalitarian as they become older, by eight age they would have learned the principles of equality. This may not seem like news to parents so the article quickly adds that children who have siblings tend to be more selfish than children without siblings. This peeks the interest of the audience, and the story continues with its report summary. In the technical paper, the researchers broadened the range between seven and eight years old while stating that through their experiments, children of a older age tended to favor decisions that benefited their associates. In other words, children between seven and eight years old were more conscious of how their decisions affected others than younger age groups. What the news article accurately portrayed was that the researchers of the technical paper did not know when and how this change of perspective occurs.

2) Yes. The news article addresses the Discussion section of the technical paper in brief sentences in the last four paragraphs. It stated how the development of parochialism in humans may have a vital role of enforcing the sense of equality among people. The news article also suggests further research should be done to understand how the sense of equality tends to be absent from chimpanzees and what that means for humans and the formation of societies.

3) In the technical paper, there is no Conclusion section. The research being conducted is in its elementary stages and cannot solidify a strong hypothesis. Therefore the discussion acts as a conclusion in the fact that more research must be done with chimpanzees and humans before any conclusions can be drawn on the development of egalitarianism in children. Additionally, the news article follows suit and ends with emphasis on future studies about how egalitarianism affects societies and social norms.

4) The broader implications of the news article are identical to those in the technical paper. The goal of each is the same: define what genetic and/or environmental factors make humans more cooperative in groups than chimpanzees and other primates.

5) The researchers of this technical paper actually support previous works as the foundation for their study. However, the researchers wanted to focus on the origin of egalitarianism in children. In the future, they hope progress will made in identifying the mechanisms for this mental development within children.

6) The journalist of the news article does not discuss an alternative side as there is no other feasible hypothesis to counter the researchers at this point in time.

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Last modified: 23 November 2008