Social Psychology
Exam 1
Directions
Answer any 3 of the following six questions. Please indicate which question you are answering by specifying the
question number. Please type your responses and email them to me (jbickfor@mtholyoke.edu OR
john@johnbickford.com) by the end of the day on Friday, March 17. I prefer to receive them as attached Microsoft
Word files, but you may also attach them as “rich-text format” files, or as a last resort, you may paste them into the
body of your email. Please be sure to indicate your full name!
Spend no more than a total of 2.5 hours on this exam. Each of your three responses should be no longer than
approximately two double-spaced pages (less than that is fine if you feel it is sufficient to answer the question).
Some questions are more broad than others and lend themselves to longer answers (but you need not cover every
possible base—be selective!). To help you focus your efforts, I have indicated the most relevant textbook chapter for
each question (but of course, related material covered in class is also relevant).
None of these questions has a specific, objectively correct answer—they each can be answered in a variety of ways.
Therefore, don’t worry about covering the “correct” answer—just make a good case for your answer.
If you have questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to email me. If you have an urgent or complex question, feel free to
call me at 978-979-6290. If the exam deadline presents you with a conflict or a hardship, please just let me know
and we can discuss remedies for that.
Questions
1. The premise for the television series American Idol is a singing competition among 12 young
contestants. In the first several episodes of the show’s season (before the competition begins), 24
semi-finalists are selected by judges from a pool of tens of thousands of applicants who
individually audition for the judges. During these “audition shows” the home viewers are shown
the painful auditions (and the subsequent ego-shattering rejections) of many horribly untalented
singers who sincerely believe that they are destined to become singing stars. How might these
young people’s self-perceptions have gotten so far out of step with reality?
(Focus on Chapter 2)
2. A common practice in criminal investigations is to interrogate a suspect at length—usually for
many hours under stressful conditions. Sometimes the suspect will eventually break down and
confess to the crime (sometimes falsely). A videotape of the suspect’s confession may then be
offered as powerful evidence at trial. This videotape almost always focuses solely on the suspect,
and despite defense arguments that the confession was false and was only offered under extreme
duress and psychological manipulation, jurors usually believe the confession and give it great
weight.
Imagine that you’re testifying on behalf of the defense at just such a trial. What socialpsychological arguments could you offer to reduce the evidentiary impact of the videotaped
confession? What modification to this interrogation procedure would make it less biased, and
why would that modification work? (In other words, why is this interrogation procedure just a
bad idea?)
(Focus on Chapter 3)
3. Imagine that a recent study of the sexual behaviors of 5-college students (that is, students at
Mount Holyoke, Amherst, Hampshire, Smith, and UMass) revealed an alarmingly low rate of
safer-sex practices (that is, students are failing to protect themselves against unwanted
pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases). Now imagine that you have been awarded a large
grant to design an intervention to encourage these students to use safer-sex practices. Describe at
least two strategies you would employ, and explain why your strategies should be effective.
(Assume you have nearly unlimited funds at your disposal)
(Focus on Chapter 4)
4. How might gender differences be explained in terms of schemas for gender? That is, at an
early age we develop schemas for “masculinity” and “femininity.” How might those schemas
then influence our thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors to produce observable gender
differences?
(Focus on Chapter 5)
5. In what ways were principles of social influence (conformity, compliance, and obedience)
operating in Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment? Give specific examples from the Quiet
Rage video. (You might also wish to talk about roles and norms.)
(Focus on Chapter 6)
6. Myers says in Chapter 1 (page 9) that “our worlds arise from the interactions between
situations and persons.” What does that mean? How do these two influences on behavior
(personality and situation) interact? Give an example of such an interaction (and be sure to
explain why it illustrates an interaction)
(Chapters 1 & 5 provide some specific insights here)