Exam 2 Review – Spring 2006
Chapter 5: Gender, Culture, and Genes
 Evolution v. cultural explanations of behavior – what is emphasized with each
approach (universals versus diversity)
 Evolutionary Psychology
o What is the basic approach to explaining behavior?
o Research o n mate selection
 Parental investment theory – what is it? What does it predict?
 Culture & Behavior
o How is culture defined? What does it influence?
o What are universal norms across cultures?
 Gender
o Distinction between gender and sex
o Gender and Interdependence – what are the gender differences?
o Gender and Lying
 Feldman study – what was the procedure? Results?
o Social Dominance
 Eagley’s studies of women leaders – what did she report?
o Aggression and Sexuality – what are the gender differences?
o Androgyny – what is it?
Chapter 6: Conformity
 Types of conformity – private acceptance, obedience, public compliance
(distinctions between each)
 3 Classic Conformity studies (Sherif, Asch, Milgram)
o Know the details, results, and major contributions of each
o Milgram’s original study results and later follow-up studies (see
graphs for obedience rates – don’t need to know #s but general
patterns)
 Factors that influenced obedience- how was each one
demonstrated?
 Victim’s emotional distance
 Closeness & legitimacy of authority
 Institutional authority
 Back-up from others (Levy’s study of dissenters as
example of this)
 Normative v informational influence of groups
 Personality effects –
o What personality dimension seems to be the one that most affects
conformity?
o Language of requests for compliance – Langer study details
 Jonestown – cults and mass suicide
o What were main details and how was this an example of conformity
and the power of the situation?
Chapter 7: Persuasion
 ELM Model: Central v Peripheral routes of Persuasion
o Definitions and examples of each
o When does each work best and when is it most likely to be used?
o Typical ELM study example – Petty et al (1981) – what did they
manipulate and what did they find regarding personal relevance and
expertise of the source?
 Influence of Communicator, Message, Audience
o Communicator
 What are the main influences on communicators’ effectiveness?
 Sleeper effect as an exception – w hat is it?
o Message
 Reason v emotion – when to appeal to each based on audience?
 Arguing against self-interest – effective or not?
 Mood induction experiments – what do they show?
 Effects of inducing fear
 Primacy vs. recency – which is the more powerful effect?
o Audience
 Attentional biases and resistance
 Study of students supporting vs opposing legalization of
marijuana – results?
 Previous Commitments
 Effects of political allegiances? Public commitment?
 Resisting persuasion / attitude inoculation – how does this work?
 Media and Persuasion
o Third person effect – what is it?
o Why is it difficult to do research on the media’s impact on persuasion?
o Impact of consumer ads? Political ads? Agenda control?
 “The Ad and the Ego” video – history of ads, exposure to ads
 Carli’s study on ‘powerless speech’ – 4 categories and examples of each
o When is there a gender difference? What is most effective?
 Subliminal messages – Greenwald’s study; Murphy’s study
o What were main results; how did the 2 studies differ?
o Do such messages work?
o (note: add any other material covered in class 3/7 not noted here)!